Undertale [SPOILER-FREE REVIEW]

Small note: This game was generously gifted to me by my friend Melissa. Thanks so much for sharing this game with me, Melissa, and for making this review possible!

The moment I saw snippets of a Let's Play of Undertale, I knew I'd have to play it.  I had a feeling this was a game I'd want to experience fully. Absolutely nothing would prepare me for what was to come.

At its surface, Undertale looks like an unassuming, quirky, old-school RPG with heaps of charm, humour, and personality.  The battle system is unique, boasting the typical attack/flee/item formula of most RPGs, but with some new features: ACT and MERCY. ACT allows you to take specific actions with the enemies, and MERCY allows you to either flee or spare the enemy. Undertale, you see, doesn't require you to kill or even battle its monsters. You can complete the game without landing a single attack on an enemy. Also, the player is forced to dodge attacks in a bullet hell-style minigame. The enemy will fire attacks of various kinds and you will have to dodge them with a small red heart, which represents your player character. The game is also rife with fun little puzzles. None of the puzzles are too terribly difficult, especially after playing through the game once. Boss battles are satisfying, regardless of outcome, and reasonably dramatic.

The music, which is always a high selling point for me, is practically perfect--it's genius, really. It's self-referential--you'll notice the same leitmotifs popping up here and there with remixes and other melodies threaded with new ones. Each song fits its context perfectly. There is a lot of chiptune music that is backed by strings or other instruments, hearkening to the game's classic feel with a new twist. The soundtrack also features touching piano melodies, goofy themes for bumbling characters, the occasional disturbing low-frequency tune, and a few sweeping epics. I recommend listening to the soundtrack in the context of the game before listening to it solo.

It's difficult to talk about aspects of the storyline without spoiling anything, so I will omit that entirely and say that you simply need to play this game for yourself--Undertale needs to be experienced to be understood, and deserves the attention it requests. The game can be beaten from start to finish in about 5-7 hours, but I recommend playing through twice--10-14 hours altogether.

This game is very complex, and nothing is quite what it seems. There is an unsettling quality to the game that's hard to describe. I'm not sure if it's in the retro-styled graphics, the music, or something else, but there always seems to be something bubbling under the surface, even amid the lighthearted moments. The game itself is humorous; it never takes itself too seriously, all the while subverting and poking fun at typical gaming conventions. The fourth wall is frequently broken.

If you enjoy this game, you will certainly play it twice, and you'll enjoy going back to see the hints of foreshadowing, as well as Easter eggs. If the game interests you, I urge you: stop at this article, and don't read anything else until you've played it through at least twice. This game has a ton of layers. In some ways, it reminds me a little bit of Journey--ways that aren't evident if you haven't played.

I loved this game and I don't think I'm finished with it yet. It was an expertly crafted experience--fun, quirky, and just the right amount of heaviness. I can't stop thinking about it.  I honestly believe that every game developer, whether indie or AAA, can take notes from Undertale. The fact that this game was Kickstarter-funded and received over ten times the requested amount is a testament to the excellence that was produced here. It is transcendent of video games and offers a story that cannot be told through any other medium. My only regret about the game is that I didn't hear about it when the funding was underway.

Undertale is available on Steam for $10, and I really can't recommend it enough. If you want to talk to me about it, please get in touch with me--especially if you want to talk Journey parallels with me! If you want to leave a comment, please avoid any plot spoilers.

Happy Halloween from thisindiegameblog!

I have a very special Halloween review for you today. This game has been released through Kongregate in recent instalments. I'm anxiously awaiting the third, which is available on their website as a pay-to-unlock, as is the fourth. Chapters one and two, plus the prologue, are all available on Kongregate.

The Last Door is a Kickstarter-funded piece of horror magic. The Game Kitchen--group behind the game--used their stretch goals to make the game even better, through ordering new music programs and other add-ons. This is a definite example of a Kickstarter success story.

I can honestly say that I was too terrified while playing this game to even think to grab screenshots.

You play as a man named Devitt, whose friend has sent him an urgent letter. Upon visiting your friend's house, you find it empty and eerily silent. In the fashion of an old-school point-and-click adventure game, you will be navigating around the house and looking for clues regarding your friend's whereabouts, all the while unraveling the mystery of the vacant house. Picking up certain objects and interacting with them can help you progress.

The graphics are heavily pixellated, but still have a high level of detail. You can plainly see the subjects in the various pictures hanging on the game's walls, and any other little details of the like. Even if you can't immediately tell what something is, clicking on it will often bring up a description.

The game's mood is perfectly set by its original score. All music is composed by The Game Kitchen's in-house composer, Carlos Viola,

If you love something creepy and don't mind being more than a little bit unnerved, I urge you to give The Last Door a play. In the dark. With headphones on. Or surround sound.

Prologue
Chapter 1: The Letter
Chapter 2: Memories

Happy Halloween!

K8-bit

The Sea Will Claim Everything

Recommended listening for this article. Music by Chris Christodoulou.

Not on Steam has some real gems. I left the site with a tiny wishlist for later use, but there was one that I knew I had to buy before the sale expired. Looking back on it, I wish I'd paid full price, because I'd like to contribute to this creative team. Jonas Kyratzes is the mind behind this masterful game.

The trailer for The Sea Will Claim Everything grabbed me. Something about the colourful hand-drawn graphics, the mystery that came from being unable to see the screenshots in full, the atmospheric music and, of course, all the testimonial reviews being quoted throughout told me I would have to play this game as soon as possible.

An example of the level of detail that comes standard in this game's art.

The first thing you'll likely notice is the graphical style. If the game looks like it was drawn by hand, well, that's because it was. This game has hundreds of hand-drawn screens and items, all done by the designer's wife, Verena Kyratzes. That takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and the result fits flawlessly with the game's unexpected-but-welcome melange of whimsy and depth. The graphics are not HD, not in three dimensions and not in retina display, and that makes a refreshing change.

The graphics may be two dimensional, but the world and story are anything but. You start off in the sentient house Underhome, which has undergone a recent attempt of foreclosure. You're immediately introduced to The Mysterious-Druid--not a title, but a full name--who lives in the Underhome. The Underhome is thrown completely out of whack, and all its systems are in a state of chaos. The Mysterious-Druid--you can call him The--informs you that the Underhome has been in his family for centuries and there is no reason for it to be foreclosed. It is now up to you to help heal the Underhome and find out just why someone tried to foreclose it.

In the meantime, you get sucked into an immersive, fiercely political world. There is a serious reason behind the turmoil in the Fortunate Isles which encompass the game. You must travel all through these isles to unravel the mystery and, finally, the message behind The Sea Will Claim Everything. The game doesn't fit into any traditional boxes, but if I were to call it anything, I would say it's an exploration-based puzzle game. It's not puzzle in the traditional sense, either--you have to find specific items on your travels, and in order to do that, you often have to complete a task of some kind for a character. You also can make items through a fun and amusing alchemy system.

While playing this game, you will be doing a lot of reading, and the unique interface lays it out in a way that is comprehensive. Each screen has dozens of things to click on and read about, with witty, original flavour text. My personal favourite is the recurring Bob the Spider, who seems to lead quite an incredible life. Some unique elements exist as well, such as the lever which turns the graphics on and off. This lever becomes crucial later on in the game, but I won't say why.

The music is another highlight of this game. Chris Christodoulou paints a gorgeous musical picture for this title, with calming interludes and some sweeping epics. Give the soundtrack a listen to see what I mean, or just, you know, play the game. The music fits perfectly with the game's themes and mood.

For a modest ten dollars, you get a solid 6-7 hours of gameplay. The story is beautifully crafted, and the characters are memorable and detailed. By the time the game comes to an end, you'll walk away feeling like you truly accomplished something, and you'll be sad to leave it behind.

What I love about TSWCE is that it really encourages you to take a moment and think about your life, the choices you make, and about the lives of those around you. The meaning you find waiting for you is up to you, but if you want to find it, you will. Though heavy in its subject matter, the game is balanced expertly with wit, whimsy, and just the right amount of silliness. One part of the game reminds me of a MUD, as your surroundings are, very briefly, fully described to you rather than portrayed. This only happens once and has a uniquely unsettling quality to it.

I have only one complaint about TSWCE, and it's that it isn't Mac-friendly. That is literally my only complaint. And I fully realise that not all developers have the resources to make a multi-platform game! (Hint: go buy it so that could happen some day. I'm just saying.)

I admit that I derped slightly on this screenshot and that was 110%
my fault. Pay attention to the wisdom, though!
It's pretty wise.

Please, play this game. Talk about this game. And after all that, think about this game for a long time. If you're anything like me, the latter won't be a problem, because you won't be able to get it out of your head.

In summary, this is a beautiful, meticulously crafted story. The characters are memorable and the environments are full of detail.

I have learned that Kyratzes has a number of other games available, most of which are for free, that exist in the same Land of Dreams that TSWCE is based. This likely will not be the last review of Kyratzes' games on this blog.

A quick note that as of posting this, Gone Home is currently on sale on Steam, so grab it while you can. I picked it up this morning and I can't wait to play it!

-K8-bit

Public service announcement and Cassiopeia Drift

One of the things I want to make clear about this blog is that we write about indie games.

Shocking, I know.

But when I say we write about indie games, I mean that we write about them in all stages of development. This is all to say that if you have a project you're working on that you want featured, let us know. If you need help with some crowd-sourcing, let us know. thisindiegameblog was created to spread the indie love, and if that requires us helping draw attention to some projects in the works, then so be it.

That said, we won't be able to feature every project. But we'll certainly do our best!

Now that all that business talk is out of the way, let's talk about Cassiopeia Drift.

This project is currently being funded on Indiegogo. It's an MMO space adventure title based in a post-apolcalyptic society. Human societies, in this game, are completely decimated, and all humans are exiled from their own galaxy for mysterious reasons. Since they're exiled, they're forced to explore this new galaxy and adapt.

You have a choice of four different factions to play as, and game mechanics include building ships, commanding space stations, flying around space to your heart's content, and managing shops. It promises to provide a rich player atmosphere with a diverse and growing science fiction world.

As far as contributor incentives go, donating to this game will give you a variety of tiers. Some of these incentives include the ability to design races (at the $500 mark). At the $5,000 mark, you actually contribute to a large portion of game design. Have you ever wanted to gain valuable game dev experience? The Admiral of the Fleet tier could give you just that. If I had $5,000 to spare, I'd certainly do it!

Funding ends March 24th, so if this seems like a project that interests you, please throw them a few dollars and get some neat rewards along the way. If you want to find out more, check out this thread in the Crowd Funding Forum. There are lots of pictures and FAQ answers.

-K8-bit