Undertale – Nindie Spotlight – One of the Best Modern Day RPGs
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Undertale, one of the best indie games of all time, if not simply one of the best video games. With its creative cast of NPC’s, electric score, and unique idea of an RPG where no one has to die, it easily stands out as an incredible video game.
My name is The Never Yak, and this is your Nindie Spotlight for today: Undertale.
The premise of Undertale follows a blue and pink shirted human who has fallen into an underground world filled with monsters. How you interact with said monsters is pretty much entirely up to you, as the player. Although some will encourage you to act a certain way, whether you befriend, kill, flee, or show mercy to the creature is entirely your choice.
With this very open play style comes a vast number of story paths, meaning that no two players are likely to have completely identical experiences with the game. Whether you’re dating a ghost or eating butterscotch pie, the consequences of each action ripple through the game, often making you feel either sincerely apologetic or completely overjoyed by the story path you take.
On top of the incredible personalities, the fantastic pixel art character design of Undertale is simply amazing to look at. The main world is filled with colour, where as the actual fight scenes are mostly monochrome, keeping only the most important parts of the palate visible.
The combat system in Undertale actually really surprised me with just how clever it is. When fighting an enemy, you will have four choices on your turn. Fighting the character, speaking with or acting upon the character, using an item such as food or a stronger weapon, or sparing the creature. The enemy will then retaliate with its own unique attack, which will consist of it firing white pellets for your character, represented by a small red heart, to avoid. The pellets and attacks look different depending on the enemy you’re fighting.
Sometimes your heart will even change colour, completely changing how you dodge the attacks. It’s a challenging combat system, but an instantly recognisable one that feels amazing to master.
Undertale also has one of the best soundtracks ever written, in my opinion anyway. The music buzzes with so much life and matches the retro RPG-vibe of the game perfectly. With each character and area having their own unique tune, it feels amazing to listen to even when not playing the game. All the different sounds and tempos just fit together and sound really cool.
The lore and legend surrounding Undertale is also really fascinating to explore. It achieves that perfect world-building balance between telling you solid information and still leaving room for fans to speculate. All of this is definitely helped by Deltarune, Toby Fox’s other game set in the same world as Undertale.
To sum it up, Undertale is an absolutely stellar game. Everything about it, from creative and funny characters, complex lore, a phenomenal soundtrack, and an emotionally packed story is genius. Each second of the experience flows with life, and it’s always well worth replaying to experience another of its fantastic storyline paths.
There is your Nindie Spotlight on Undertale. Check back again next time for a look into another great Nindie title. What are some of your favorite indie games? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for visiting Nintendo Link. Happy gaming, everyone.
