Graphics are beyond simple, the main hero of the game doesn’t speak but yet, Undertale is one of the top-selling video games of all times. What’s the secret? Let’s read and find out.
Undertale may be the most successful indie game of all times – it is on the “top sellers” list of the Steam for almost five months so far. Most of the AAA titles drop from the list in one-month maximum, so what’s the “secret” behind the success of Undertale? Well, we can say that it is not the graphics quality, because this is a “retro” game in all aspects. It even looks like a NES game from centuries ago, we have seen hand-held console games with better graphics than this game. It is not the sound effects either, because there are none. Not kidding, the main character of the game doesn’t speak, almost everything is text based. So to sum it up, the game has no graphics and no sounds either, what’s left?
The story, of course. The most important aspect of all video games: a charming story which offers different choices and lots of endings. Undertale may not have the most basic things, but it has that kind of story, we assure you. It looks like Final Fantasy – Dragon Quest, plays like Shin Megami Tensei and manages to make you feel like you really made a difference in that world. The main story is simple: ages ago, the “humans” and the “monsters” fought in a battle that lasted for centuries. At the end, humans “locked” the monsters under the mountains and forgot about the whole thing – they become fairy tales to scare the children. You, as the main protagonist, fell into a crater and step into the world of these monsters. What will you do? Hey, there is a heart-broken monster in this corner. Will you talk with it and comfort the monster? Or you just simply break the other parts of its body?
Undertale really offers you this choice by the way. This is an RPG game which you can complete without harming a single soul in it. We mentioned Shin Megami Sensei above, that combat system of the game is exactly like that title. First, you “check” your opponent and gain info about its situation. Then, you can use this info to do anything you want – you can “attack”, you can “talk” or you can simply move away. Finding and analyzing the weakness of the monsters is one of the main features of the game; it is even like a puzzle sometimes. You can solve the puzzle but it is up to you to decide what to do with that answer – fix it or break it? Remember, every action of yours has a consequence in the world and affects everything, including the ending of the game. The game is short (you can complete it in maximum 7 hours) but the re-playability of it is almost endless. You can play a different game with each session – that’s the “secret” of the game. Be a hero or a bloody maniac, it is up to you. If you played JRPG’s in your childhood and loved them, Undertale may be the perfect game for you. If you didn’t, still get it – indie developers like this deserve support and Undertale is not your ordinary RPG, it is a completely different thing.
