![]() If you intentionally get hit by all spears in her first turn, she'll think you are making fun of her and unleash a vicious barrage of attacks. One enemy, for example, fights by throwing spears at you, which you must block. Moreover, combat frequently tells a story of its own, with some characters spending the entire encounter talking to you, evolving their attack patterns, and reacting to your actions. Not only does this combat system break the mold of JRPG battles and offer something unique, it's also expertly used for characterization and storytelling. All standard fare so far, except the part that follows, in which the monsters retaliate in a bullet-hell/SHMUP section and you have to dodge their attacks with your character in the shape of a little heart. You can attack them each turn by selecting "Fight", followed by a brief mini-game that has you time your key presses to deal more damage (the pattern depending on the weapon you have equipped). In Undertale, random battles trigger as you walk around, pitting you against 1-3 monsters. ![]() Onward then, to the defining feature of Undertale: its combat. Suffice it to say, those do work very well. Which is why, for this review, I'll focus on a mechanical analysis and leave the feels and emotions as a surprise to the player. Unfortunately, talking in detail about any of that would spoil most of the game's fun, as it is something that has to be witnessed first-hand, not read about. Overall, the whole experience is a breath of fresh air of a sort that I haven't experience in quite a while. The meta-play is fantastic, too, as it fully explores the simple fact of playing a video game. In particular, some of the characters it introduces are among the most memorable in the last decade - in design, personality, and presentation. From the artwork to the soundtrack, from character design to battle systems, Undertale is easily one - if not THE - most coherent and consistent game I've ever played, where everything exists for a reason and I couldn't imagine it any other way. Not only due to its design choices, but also to the amazing quality of the game as a whole. Yes, you traverse mostly linear dungeons and areas, fight monsters, collect weapons and armor, occasionally battle a boss, re-supply at a vendor, and talk to weird characters.īut unlike such recent games as LISA or Citizens of Earth, Undertale manages to be much more than a spiritual successor or tribute to Earthbound, setting itself as the new standard for this kind of game to be measured against.Īnd that's because, despite the Earthbound-ish elements, it stands on its own as something entirely unique. Yes, it's a quirky JRPG lite, with 16-bit styled graphics, a surreal atmosphere, colorful characters, meta jokes, and clever trope subversion. It would be easy to describe Undertale as an "Earthbound clone", but that would mean underselling it. As we'll see, the Earthbound / Mother games are a clear influence here, so it comes as no surprise that Toby used to be a ROM hacker, creating an award winning Earthbound hack called "Radiation's Halloween Hack". The brainchild of Toby Fox, a composer known for his work on the Homestuck webcomic (or whatever the hell you may call that), Undertale was funded by a 2013 Kickstarter, which raised $51,124 compared to the initial goal of $5,000. Watching the trailer again, who is that appearing right after that quote? Why, it's Flowey the Flower, winking at the camera. This is certainly not what I expected from "the pacifist RPG where no one has to die". Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Dev Diary #1.George Ziets on RPG Design and the State of Digimancy at GameBanshee.Dungeons of the Amber Griffin is a dungeon crawler about Ancient Pomeranians.Retro RPG Nox Archaist getting Lord of Storms expansion pack next March.Swords and Sorcery: Sovereign resurfaces, tentatively releasing in Q4.Underrail: Infusion Dev Log #5: Character Model Customization.Colony Ship Early Access Update: New Location - ECLSS.THQ Nordic Showcase 2022: Gothic Remake and Jagged Alliance 3.Broken Roads now being published by Versus Evil, coming in 2023. ![]()
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