“Undertale” is a single-player pixel RPG created by Toby Fox, released Sept. 15.
After falling through a hole in a mountain, the gender-ambiguous main character, whose name is not revealed until the very end of the game, wakes up in the underground society of diverse beings known as “monsters.”

The main character must travel through this world, from the the purple-walled Ruins to the metal-covered Core and beyond, in order to reach King Asgore’s castle and ask him to help them get home. Along the way the main character runs into monsters they can befriend or kill.

There is far more to this story and its characters than meets the eye. This game is unique in its gameplay in that it has a morality system that affects the direction the story goes in. There are three different ways to play: Neutral, in which you fight some enemies but spare others, Pacifist, in which you spare everyone and befriend the main characters and Genocide, in which you kill absolutely everyone. When encountering an enemy, the player can choose to fight the enemy and defeat them for gold and XP, or act upon the enemy to befriend them and then spare them for gold.

The fighting style is one of the things that makes “Undertale” one-of-a-kind: the main character’s heart-shaped soul is trapped in a box and must dodge a series of attacks that float around the box, each attack type unique to the specific monster being faced.

The game is available on Steam for $9.99 and is worth the price. With a memorable cast and captivating storyline, it draws the player in from start to finish. The artwork might not be the best, after all it is a pixel game, but the music is absolutely amazing. Tracks like “Megalovania,” the music for one of the genocide route boss battles, and the music from the Waterfall area stick with players long after the game has ended.

The cast is very memorable, from wacky skeleton brothers Papyrus and Sans to the fierce and aggressive aquarian Undyne and the flamboyant and fabulous killer robot Mettaton. These characters are not only interesting, but also relatable, as well as LGBTQ+ friendly.

Sans is known by fans to suffer from depression. Papyrus struggles with making friends. Alphys deals with her feelings for Undyne. Asgore deals with a divorce while still taking care of his kingdom. This game is full of jokes, puns and memes, but can also get pretty deep and serious in its themes and story.

“Undertale” is a wonderful balance of A+ character development, plot development, interactive environment, soundtrack, humor and seriousness, all wrapped up into a seemingly-innocent, LGBTQ-friendly pixel RPG. It is definitely worth the purchase.

Rating: 4 out of 5