Celebrating One Year of Undertale

Just one week ago a revolutionary video game celebrated its one-year anniversary. That game was Toby Fox's "Undertale," the story of a human child who falls into the underground world of monsters. The storyline sounds pretty basic, but it has a feature that is unique: you don't have to kill anyone! This is, however, a choice you have to make, as there are several different ways to play the game and three main paths that players generally follow: Pacifist, Neutral, and Genocide. In the Pacifist route, you don't kill anybody, no matter how hard they fight you; in Neutral, you might kill some characters but spare others; in Genocide, you kill everyone you come across.

Pretty simple, right? Not so much. Another unique aspect of this game is that it really makes you think about you decisions and feel remorse for mindlessly mowing down every monster you come into contact with, giving you a disturbing ending. It also gives you rewarding friendships if you choose to spare the enemies you face, giving you a much more fulfilling ending.

The game also has a fantastic blend of humor and horror. Many of the characters are downright funny (in my opinion, the portion of the game near Snowdin with Sans and Papyrus is the best part). There are some pretty creepy moments throughout the game, though, such as the underground level of Dr. Alphys' lab, where amalgam experiments and ghosts of the past abound.

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I could praise "Undertale's" soundtrack for days! Toby Fox knows how to make a catchy tune. The game, whose pixelated style is an homage to those many of us played on NES or SNES systems, features some great synth-y beats to make your adventures in the underground world of monsters that much more exciting. Here's "Last Goodbye," which is one of my favorites.

Now, I could really get into talking about the secrets and plot twists of the game (because they're awesome and I totally didn't expect them), but I don't want to give too much away. If you think this game sounds rad and you've got some spare change in your Steam account, you should get "Undertale" and play through it yourself, or with friends. You won't regret it!