Undertale Yellow is a game I've heard rumblings about for years. As much as I adored Undertale, I can't say I was too interested in engaging with much of its fan works. What makes the game special is its uniqueness, that it's not just another RPG. It kickstarted an indie RPG boon which has had some wonderful results. Point is, an Undertale prequel meant very little to me. I didn't need more backstory, nor did I need another game that played just like Undertale. After seeing the release date trailer, I decided I should play it. There must be some merit to a project that's been in development this long, right?
The first half of Undertale Yellow is fairly derivative. You travel through the ruins and Snowdin, and while these areas are different from the ones in Undertale, I felt myself going through the motions nonetheless. You meet a surprisingly friendly monster in the ruins, you explore their house then leave. You meet a royal guard obsessed with puzzles in Snowdin, then they give up on capturing you and become your friend instead. It's rote, but fun. There's plenty new here, from the enemies and remixed music to the actual areas, which are solid extensions to Undertale's. Martlett was greatly endearing, and her fight was a highlight of the early game. Yet the whole time, I just felt the team had gone the easiest direction for a game like this. It was incredibly safe, essentially a re-telling of Undertale's story, which would lead to a more unfortunate conclusion... right?
The Dunes were the big addition to this game, though they don't immediately stop the game from feeling like a path well tread. The trek through this sandy place is consistently engaging, with solid interactions, bosses and a segment in the Wild East that felt truly unique. The addition of Starlo and Ceroba keeps things fresh enough, but travelling through the Steamworks felt a little too similar to Mettaton's section in Undertale. Enough new, and some fantastic moments throughout, but that feeling of deja vu continued to linger.
This was until the very end of this portion, where the game flips your expectations upside down. While I felt the game careening into an encounter with Asgore, it goes totally off rails with a twist I could never have seen coming. This part kept me on my toes, with a feeling of dread creeping up. I'd grown far too comfortable, and the game exploited that. In this respect, while I felt the game fun but plodding up to this point, the build up to this moment had been utterly worth it. Everything after is fabulous, and the final boss was more captivating than anything the franchise had thrown at me prior. Gameplay and narrative wrapped together effortlessly, which had me trying to avoid some of the most brutal bullet patterns in the game while wiping the tears from my face.
The pacifict route end phenomenally, but the other routes are no slouch either. The neutral route has an exhilarating - yet familiar - final boss, making it the route I enjoyed the least. The genocide route was tedious, and I feel as if the structure could have been a tad different from Undertale's, but the bosses did not disappoint at all.
Undertale Yellow is brilliant. While that initial experience of finding the game deriviative keeps me from giving it a perfect score, the end of the pacifist route will stick with me for a very long time, possibly longer than anything in Undertale or Deltarune. Fans are truly something special, eh?
The first half of Undertale Yellow is fairly derivative. You travel through the ruins and Snowdin, and while these areas are different from the ones in Undertale, I felt myself going through the motions nonetheless. You meet a surprisingly friendly monster in the ruins, you explore their house then leave. You meet a royal guard obsessed with puzzles in Snowdin, then they give up on capturing you and become your friend instead. It's rote, but fun. There's plenty new here, from the enemies and remixed music to the actual areas, which are solid extensions to Undertale's. Martlett was greatly endearing, and her fight was a highlight of the early game. Yet the whole time, I just felt the team had gone the easiest direction for a game like this. It was incredibly safe, essentially a re-telling of Undertale's story, which would lead to a more unfortunate conclusion... right?
The Dunes were the big addition to this game, though they don't immediately stop the game from feeling like a path well tread. The trek through this sandy place is consistently engaging, with solid interactions, bosses and a segment in the Wild East that felt truly unique. The addition of Starlo and Ceroba keeps things fresh enough, but travelling through the Steamworks felt a little too similar to Mettaton's section in Undertale. Enough new, and some fantastic moments throughout, but that feeling of deja vu continued to linger.
This was until the very end of this portion, where the game flips your expectations upside down. While I felt the game careening into an encounter with Asgore, it goes totally off rails with a twist I could never have seen coming. This part kept me on my toes, with a feeling of dread creeping up. I'd grown far too comfortable, and the game exploited that. In this respect, while I felt the game fun but plodding up to this point, the build up to this moment had been utterly worth it. Everything after is fabulous, and the final boss was more captivating than anything the franchise had thrown at me prior. Gameplay and narrative wrapped together effortlessly, which had me trying to avoid some of the most brutal bullet patterns in the game while wiping the tears from my face.
The pacifict route end phenomenally, but the other routes are no slouch either. The neutral route has an exhilarating - yet familiar - final boss, making it the route I enjoyed the least. The genocide route was tedious, and I feel as if the structure could have been a tad different from Undertale's, but the bosses did not disappoint at all.
Undertale Yellow is brilliant. While that initial experience of finding the game deriviative keeps me from giving it a perfect score, the end of the pacifist route will stick with me for a very long time, possibly longer than anything in Undertale or Deltarune. Fans are truly something special, eh?