Undertale is an interesting case of a game with decent gameplay being something stellar because of its writing, music, and attention to detail.

Regular enemy fights are fine. They’re nothing special, nothing revolutionary, just fine. The ACT menu is a fun twist on encounters, making them more like a puzzle where, if you pay attention to their dialogue, you can figure out how to spare each enemy. Though there’s also a clunkiness to encounters, especially when there’s multiple enemies; fights can feel like a slog to get through.

Bosses are the exception, most of them being interesting encounters that play with the game’s mechanics in an interesting way. The actual patterns of each boss are solid and almost all do something interesting (sole exception for me being Toriel, which to be fair is intentional). Though I feel like the ACT menu was very underutilized for bosses. The ACT menu can have effects and often build on the character of the boss themselves, the example that stands out to me most being Muffet letting you pay to weaken her attacks, but the only bosses that use the ACT menu are Mettaton and Asriel, the latter of which being hard to compare to other bosses due to Asriel essentially being a cutscene. And it’s a shame, because the use of the ACT button when it WOULD be used was always really fun!

But battles feel more like an accent to Undertale, the main draw being the game’s characters and storytelling. Straight up, if you don’t like Undertale’s cast, you’re not going to like Undertale. The game’s central focus is on its characters, after all a major point of the game is that you don’t have to kill monsters (and that it's better if you don’t). Undertale’s characters are the most important aspect of the game, and my god they are written well.

There is something to love about every character, some reason to want to be their friend and help them out. The random monsters in the overworld often have something interesting or funny to say, and even regular enemies in fights are charming and have personality to them. The Underground is vibrant with life, which really encourages the player to care about monsterkind. And the main cast? They all have a certain level of complexity to them, whether it’s explicitly shown or something you need to find yourself. Basically every main character has nuanced writing that can resonate with players. When Undertale exploded in popularity, it wasn’t for its gameplay or visuals, but for its characters. There’s a reason why so many people have made AUs of Undertale characters, because the cast is what makes Undertale special. Pair a great cast with a genuinely funny game filled with charm, goofiness, and heart, and it becomes evident that Undertale’s writing is something special.

And you can’t mention Undertale without mentioning its music. While Toby Fox has definitely improved in his music, Undertale’s soundtrack is spectacular. Waterfall, Another Medium, and CORE are spectacular overworld themes; Hopes and Dreams, Death by Glamour, Finale, and of course Megalovania are spectacular boss themes, and Undertale makes me feel genuinely emotional everytime I listen to it. And this is only my personal favorites, so many of the songs in Undertale are fantastic and iconic.

Undertale is a masterpiece to so many people because of how impactful its writing is. The game had a major impact on both indie gaming and gaming in general, and having made a major impact on culture in general. Whether you’ve played Undertale or not, you’ve heard Undertale’s soundtrack, you know who Sans is, you’ve interacted with some kind of media that has been influenced by Undertale. If Undertale had better combat, it’d be an easy 5/5 for me. Undertale is well deserving of the love and praise it receives, it’s truly something spectacular.