Undertale

Hooo boy, Undertale. Clearly in the top 50 games on Steam. Rare we roll such a treat to play. I've heard a lot about it, mostly escaping spoilers. So, I could finally play through it, but what impression did it leave on me?

Undertale was one of the biggest games to come out in 2015 (Witcher 3 took the top spot, sorry) and so I had high hopes for it. From it's description and initial impressions, it wasn't anything special. Sort of an RPG Maker-esque game with the additional option of not fighting back. Running for about 6 hours, you get to experience a bunch of dialogue, complete some puzzles, and dodge some bullets, optionally fighting back or using other means to "best" your opponents. And I suppose most importantly, depending on your actions onto the world, the response from the world differs as well.

While the concept was somewhat novel, I must admit it left me cold. Looking at each of the aspects of the game, none really appealed to me. The puzzles - far too simple. The gameplay - challenging at times, but still not even close to being fun. There's miles better RPGs and bullet-hell games. Art was meh as well, though I really liked the music.
Now, I know, I know, "Torn, this isn't at all what Undertale is about". It's about the story, the world, and the characters. And these were the best part of the game, but I just didn't find them that stellar. It tried to be quirky, and make jokes, and satirize certain concepts in other games, but it didn't hit the mark often enough. I had a genuine laugh or chuckle every now and then, but just as often the attempted joke was annoying instead. Most of it was just bland and predictable after the tone of the game was already set. Sans was probably the best character, but I couldn't develop an attchment to them, let alone anyone else. For a game's standards, the story was good, but sadly I've come to expect stories in games to be terrible, and for a truly good story, it needs to be absolutely exceptional among games. Undertale's was only just "good".

So, yeah, I ultimately failed to see the reason for the hype around Undertale. I was expecting something a little bit more different, but I still got the standard RPG Maker experience with bad gameplay and a mediocre story. Maybe there was more potential in the game, maybe you would consider it unique enough to enjoy it, but I didn't. As is standard with these immensely popular and highly rated games, I can't truly not recommend it, because statistically speaking, you will like it, but I can't personally recommend it. Not that it matters. Everyone who's going to has already played it anyways.