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By Anthony Labonté

Sports 15

/ DID YOU GET THAT
SCHOLARSHIP FOR
ACTIVISM?

By: L. A. Bonté

NO... 1 GUESS THEY

UJEREN T IMPRESSED
WITH MY INVOLVEMENT...

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Video Game Review: Undertale

Colin Slark
Editor in Chief

here has been an embarrassment of riches for gamers

this year. Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, and the latest
installments in various series with annual installments have
been released to critical success and high sales numbers, but
none of them can compare with what is truly the greatest
game of the year. Released back in September, indie PC game
Undertale has taken critics by surprise, becoming one of
the top rated games of all time for computers. How has it
managed to do this? Copious amounts of originality and
charm.

Created by indie developer Toby Fox and friends, Undertale
is an 2D role-playing game that mixes elements of turn-
based and real-time combat systems. When fighting a
creature, you play a timing minigame to determine how
much damage you do and then when you are attacked, you
play a minigame reminiscent of bullet hell games where
you control a heart representing your character and guide
it so enemy attacks do not connect and damage you. It is a
fun addition that lets you feel more involved in your battles
than the standard, where you select an action, then your
opponent selects an action and so on, without the player
doing anything other than selecting items from a menu.
While the bullet hell aspect is new, the idea of interactive

battles in turn-based role-playing games is not as various
RPGs, especially the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series
have been doing it for years, but what is really remarkable
are the nonviolent ways you can interact with enemies.

You have a list of actions you can perform with every enemy
in the game. You can flirt with some, joke with others,

and even get into flexing contests with one particular
creature. The upside to this is that you forsake your ability
to attack or flee for a turn, but in return you get to weaken,
distract, or even convince enemies that they should stop
fighting with you. That is right, you can complete Undertale
without killing a single living creature. Doing so means

you do not earn any experience points, which means

it is possible to beat the game with your character still
being at level 1. It is more than a novelty too, the game’s
characters will react to you differently depending on how
violent or nonviolent you are. This brings up another high
point of the game; the writing and character design.

Undertale is the funniest, most charming game in ages. Every
character, down to random creatures standing around has

an unique design and personality. The principal characters
are so interesting, that you are heartened to see them appear
again, because you want to figure them out or read their
laugh out loud dialogue. The humour is great because it does
not rely extensively on references to outside material, or

stereotypes, but the characters’ actions and personalities.
That being said, the game gets surprisingly dark if you choose
to be a murderer. If you play nonviolently, you can befriend
many of the game’s characters, but if you play violently, they
will react to you differently according to different levels of
violence. They always retain their core essence, but the way
they, and the world with them shifts to match your demeanor
as a whole is impressive. Many games let you indulge your
inner sociopath, letting you carve a bloody swath through
various places. It is easy to do so in such a game because
many of your victims are featureless, uninteresting shells,
devoid of any distinguishment from anyone else in the
environment. In Undertale, when you kill a creature, you

feel like you are killing a person, and you feel guilt.

This review has been scarce on exact details, because this
reviewer feels that the game is a personal experience.
You should play the game exactly how you want to play
it and you will get a variation of the story to match. Once
you have played through once, go ahead and look up how
to reach all the endings and easter eggs, because they are
many, and most of them help flesh out the game’s world
or backstory. The characters are interesting, the writing
carries weight and is funny, the music is varied and a joy to
listen to, and the attention to detail is extraordinary. For
what it attempts to do, Undertale is essentially perfect.