Ha ha, you kids and your jokes.



An irreverent take on the RPG genre and perhaps all of gaming, Undertale would have been a smash hit for me if I had not passed through my third decade of existence many years ago. The blatant non sequitur humor of the chronically online generation a couple after mine informs every decision in the development of this title and will either be endearing or worrisome for an adult of certain vintages. Honestly, I got an hour or so in and expected a 4chan meme to make an appearance introducing the incel of the game or whatever and it took a while before I realized that I would be safe from the most heinous of "gamer" culture tropes. In truth, Undertale has a bit of a touching story couched in mild 12-year old online comment humor and surrounds it with a solid and original version of RPG gameplay. The graphics are top-tier early 8-bit style, the music is genuinely good, and the game is anything but boring or grindy, which sometimes RPGs can become.

However, maybe one of the things that makes this feel like a game that is trolling non-G@mer video game players is that every rule that is established is purposely bent or broken. Actually fighting monsters can be avoided and is actively encouraged by providing an alternate ending. It is turn based but also an action RPG. It can be difficult but is also very forgiving. There are many secrets but you can reach a number of them just by making certain choices. Perhaps these contradictions and blatant middle fingers to the established order are why this game seems so universally loved.

Or maybe it is bots flooding the reviews with positive takes. Was that a thing in the 2010's?

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