Reviews

UNDERTALE

Like many people, I played UNDERTALE in 2016, but I never finished the game. Last week, I finally got back into it and completed the game on August 24, 2026. It took me 12.5 hours in total, but the average playtime is 6 hours, so it will probably take you less time.

This page is deliberately vague because I do not want to spoil anything.

UNDERTALE opening
The UNDERTALE opening running on an RG35XXSP

Story

One aspect of UNDERTALE that is interesting is that there are two narratives: the one in the game and the one surrounding the act of playing the game. Combined with the various twists, I was pleasantly fooled a few times as the game unfolded.

I would suggest avoiding spoilers about the game if possible. Even the less obvious parts are strongly hinted at by the dialogue and whatnot. The main thing to remember is that, as stated in the marketing material, you do not need to kill any of the monsters.

Gameplay

I am horrible at playing games, and I died at least 30 times during the various boss fights. However, it was manageable, and the game has mechanisms to make the fights more accessible.

Most of the game is more of a guided experience than a challenge, and I appreciated that. The majority of it involves walking through the underground and learning about the story.

I played the game on a handheld shaped like a Game Boy Advance SP (ANBERNIC RG35XXSP), and it was the best experience I’ve had playing the game. If you have a handheld with muOS, it can be installed through PortMaster, and I definitely recommend doing so.

Music

The soundtrack is tightly aligned to the game and fairly important in setting the mood. It makes very heavy use of leitmotifs, soundfonts, and NES-style sounds. Most of the tracks are also easy to learn on the piano.

Verdict

UNDERTALE is critically acclaimed for a reason, and it’s definitely worth playing at some point.

DELTARUNE

There is a related game series called DELTARUNE that is marketed as a “parallel story” to UNDERTALE. I’m sure that it is good, but there are now five “chapters” in the series, and that amount of content seems overwhelming, so I’ll probably never play it.

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