This game is hard to review, but not because I don't know if I like it or not. I do like Undertale, I think it's wonderful, but it's a journey that should be taken by someone who knows as little about it as possible. I made the mistake of listening to podcasts and reading articles that gave away bits and pieces of the mechanics and I feel like I shouldn't have. However I still want to write a bit about it, so if you have an interest in playing Undertale, stop reading now (this is why I included the FnaF review first, so at least you would have something to read), but if you have no interest in ever playing it, or have already played it, go ahead and read on to see what I thought about it.
Undertale is a turn based RPG stylized as a retro era game. You travel around talking to interesting characters and visiting interesting places. The main gimmick of Undertale is the battle system. You can go throughout the entire game without killing anyone. Every battle can be resolved in a non-violent way by telling jokes, not picking on someone, or petting a dog. With that in mind there is still a skill element involved. After you take your turn, you have to fend off the enemy's attack by moving a red heart around a box, dodging projectiles. Sometimes this is actually very hard and requires some fast reflexes. Think of Shin Megami Tensei combined with Touhou, with the graphical style of Earthbound.
While the premise is fairly unique, the game thrives through its writing. Having the choice to not kill anyone wouldn't really mean anything if the game couldn't get the player to care about the characters, and invested in, well, not killing them. There's some genuinely funny moments throughout, however some jokes probably go on longer than they should (the dating mini-game comes to mind). When the game mentions, at the start, that it's possible to not kill anyone, it raises a red flag in my mind. When the tutorial character (who is much more than just a tutorial character) praises you and says she is proud of you that you chose a non-violent path, it immediately tells me this: Undertale has two endings; a 'good' ending and a 'bastard' ending. Once you learn this, you start to play a the game in a certain way, with the promise of the best ending waiting on the horizon. It seems to program you like many other games with moral choice systems do. I usually think this is pretty cheap, however, Undertale endears itself to you with having likable characters.
When I finished the righteous path and saved the world, etc. I thought about doing the other ending. It was actually pretty clever to subtly let the player know that there was a bastard ending from the start. There are many characters that you spare that become NPCs you can interact with later on, or have extended dialog with, and play mini-games with. I tried to imagine those places and events without the characters and it actually made me sad. I didn't want to do anything bad to this world, so I didn't attempt the bad, a.k.a 'Genocide' run. Not completing the other run probably means that I won't see all of the content that the game has to offer, but screw it, I don't want to kill my friends.
Undertale has some flaws. Like I said, sometimes, the game has a hard time figuring out when it should just let a joke go. Most of the time, the game is pretty clear on what actions to take to end a fight in a non-violent way, other times, it's not so clear. After choosing to not fight anyone throughout the entire game, one of the last boss fights requires you to fight no matter which ending you want to get. Being at level one and not bothering to upgrade my weapons at all, this was very hard fight. Having the knowledge that there is a good ending and a bad ending led me to second guessing even minor choices throughout the game, causing me a lot of anxiety. Again, this could have been the intended effect, but it drew me out of the game at some points. I suddenly realized that I was playing a video game, if that makes any sense. However, this could also be intended as well, as you near the end of the game, it becomes very meta, commenting on the very nature of RPGs and video games themselves.
Overall, I think this game is excellent and lives and dies on its writing. It's interesting to see a artfully done game with a message, that actually has a skill element as well. You will actually come to care about the characters and they'll start to care about you as well. Give this game a try, it's very well worth it for $9.99.