 All right, so since I'm a big Super Nintendo guy, I have to get this out of the way right away. Undertale has gotten endless comparisons to Earthbound to the point that some even refer to it as kind of a modern update or sequel of some sort. Now I get the comparison, the obvious parallel comes from the fact that the mind behind Undertale, Toby Fox, made one of the best rom hacks ever in Earthbound's Halloween hack. And not only that, but he also worked on Mother 3's English translation. And of course, there's the similarities between the visual presentation, the weird dialogue, and the feeling that this game is slightly holding something back. Something big. But I just want to stress, that's where the similarities end. Undertale is not Earthbound. Both games have earned the right to be evaluated and enjoyed as individual games unrelated to each other, okay? Deal? Alright. The reason I stress this so much is because Undertale is one of those games that's a hundred times better if you go into it with no knowledge of it whatsoever and no expectations. So I'm just trying to do my part here. Undertale really is something special in the gaming world because it's one of the few games that really makes you think. About life, about death, about human nature, about sandwiches. Really ten different people can play Undertale and come away with ten completely different opinions. The brilliance here is that this is an emotionally driven story that's really well executed and it doesn't come across as pretentious. Really it's hard to craft a game with an earnest quality like this without the player just rolling their eyes and mocking it. But Undertale toes the line by displaying self-awareness, intelligence, genuine heart, and a sense of humor that doesn't overstay its welcome. Now here's the part where I would usually start to go into the story of the game but again I don't want to give too much away. So I'll just give you the bare bones of it. Long ago humans and monsters coexisted on Earth but of course eventually there was a war between the two. The humans win sending the monsters deep underground where they're sealed in by a magical barrier. You play as a kid who falls into the monster world and you have to find your way out. Some monsters are hungry for your soul because it can potentially break the magical barrier and free the monsters. But some of the monsters are just odd folks as you find out quickly. The catch here is in Undertale's tagline, the friendly RPG where nobody has to die and yeah you can play this entire game without killing a single enemy. The battles here share the same perspective as games like Dragon Quest or Lufia or Earthbound I suppose. Your attack is controlled by a sliding bar, the more toward the middle the more damaged. What's really cool here though is when the enemies attack because the battle suddenly becomes almost like some kind of Atari mini-game where you have to dodge various patterns to avoid taking damage. I really love this because for the most part it takes the monotony out of the battles so you always have to be ready for anything. But yeah, like I said you could conceivably beat every enemy without killing them, even bosses by using the act button here that opens up another menu. You can do everything from petting the monster, singing to them, criticizing them. The goal is to just persuade them to stop fighting which enables you to use the spare option and that would end the fight. So yeah you can go all Rambo and destroy everything or you can go the passive route which the game kinda encourages you to do because that path lends itself well to the overall theme of what the game tries to get across. And conversely it makes you feel like a dickbag for ruthlessly killing everything. And yeah I get it, it sounds sappy, it sounds pretentious but speaking as a smartass, surly drunk that usually hates stuff like this, Undertale is wonderful. I don't usually use words like that but that's the word that comes to mind. It starts out establishing an alluring sense of mystery almost like the simple visual style is holding back something bigger, then the game wins you over with its charm. It's seriously hard not to laugh out loud at some of the doofy characters you come across and by then the story will have sucked you in, you can't help but want to find out more about these weird ass monsters. And the further you progress you'll learn that Undertale is the rare game that has something to say and not only is it worth saying, it's worth listening to and experiencing. No Undertale is not Earthbound, Earthbound is Earthbound and Undertale is its very own thing and I'm very thankful for that. This is one of the best games and most rewarding experiences I've ever had with any game.