An RPG that slyly subverts its own genre. Being able to spare every enemy changes everything, and the witty writing hides genuine depth. The retro presentation can throw you off, but few games leave such a personal mark.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
A child falls into an Underground full of monsters they can fight or spare. Published by tobyfox, released worldwide in 2018. Battles built around dodging projectiles, witty writing, multiple endings shaped by your choices and a beloved soundtrack.
Undertale review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Toby Fox wrote everything solo, in leitmotif-driven chiptune: a single motif disguises itself, mutates, returns transformed depending on whom you meet. "Megalovania" became a phenomenon in its own right. That cunning writing rewards attention and forges an unexpected bond with every encounter, proof that a handful of bleeps can move you as much as an orchestra.
Few games turn a player's expectations inside out like this. Every monster you meet has a voice and a reason, and the simple choice to spare or strike rewrites the whole journey. Tender, funny and suddenly devastating, it folds its very mechanics into an unforgettable moral.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Easy"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Short on the surface, the journey multiplies the moment you grasp that sparing or striking changes everything. A pacifist run, a genocide run, dozens of endings and reactions tied to your choices: it takes several passes to see the whole picture. That replay value built on the player's conscience rather than padding secures its lasting place.
The battle system bends entirely to staging here: dodging swarms of projectiles inside a heart turned bullet-hell weaves fights where every foe talks, pleads or taunts. Sparing or striking changes everything, and a few guardians orchestrate duels of mechanical and emotional intensity that few games ever match.
An underrated gem
Undertale is famous for its multiple endings, less for what makes them possible: a combat system that refuses the inevitability of violence, where sparing becomes a real mechanical choice. Built almost single-handedly by toby fox, it hides writing and music of rare finesse beneath modest pixel art. Worth rediscovering for that boldness, perfect for anyone who thinks they've seen everything RPGs can do.
Is Undertale still worth playing in 2026?
Undertale marked a generation through its boldness more than its tech. Its modest pixel art hides a system where you can spare every enemy, and where your choices genuinely rewrite the story and its endings. The fights mixing bullet-dodging and dialogue stay clever and unpredictable. The humour, the melancholy and a now-cult soundtrack form a whole of rare coherence. Its brevity and deliberately scrappy look may unsettle those after a grand spectacle. But for its writing and its way of toying with RPG conventions, it remains a striking experience to live through once.
