Undertale Review and Why Sparing Monsters Still Matters

Undertale has been out for more than a decade, its music is everywhere, and its jokes have been quoted to death, so you might wonder whether it can still surprise a player who already knows the memes. This Undertale review is for exactly that player. The short answer is yes, because the thing that makes it special is not a twist you can spoil. It is how the game reacts to the way you choose to treat everyone you meet.

I replayed it this autumn on Switch, roughly 25 hours across three different routes, and kept notes on what still works, what has aged, and who should play it now.

What Undertale is, in plain terms

Undertale is a short role-playing game made almost entirely by one developer, Toby Fox, and released in 2015. You play a child who falls into an underground world sealed off from humans and filled with monsters. Your goal is to get home.

It looks like a simple 16-bit era RPG, with top-down exploration, puzzles, and random encounters. A first run takes about 6 to 8 hours. It costs around 10 to 15 dollars on PC and most consoles, and it runs on almost anything, including older laptops.

The hook is that every fight can be ended without killing. You can talk to monsters, compliment them, joke with them, or simply refuse to fight until they lose interest. The game remembers all of it.

Combat that turns mercy into a mechanic

Each encounter gives you four options: Fight, Act, Item, and Mercy. When an enemy attacks, the battle switches to a small box where you steer a heart around falling bullets, a bit like an arcade shooter in miniature.

The Act menu is where the design shines. A nervous monster might calm down if you pet it. A vain one wants you to admire its muscles. A sad ghost just needs you to stay and listen. Once you find the right action, its name turns yellow and you can spare it.

This turns every fight into a small puzzle about character rather than numbers. You are learning who each monster is so you can let them go. After a few hours, sparing feels less like a rule and more like a habit, which is precisely the point.

Why this Undertale review still recommends it in 2026

Plenty of games since have borrowed the idea of choices that matter. Few make those choices feel as personal. Undertale tracks small things across your save, and even across resets, and characters comment on them. Reload a save to undo a mistake, and someone may notice. That makes the game feel like it is paying attention to you, not just to a branching plot.

The writing is the other reason. The skeleton brothers Sans and Papyrus are funny in completely different ways, and Toriel, the motherly guardian of the ruins, gives the opening hour real weight. Jokes land, then the game uses that warmth against you in quieter scenes. Few RPGs move between silly and sincere this smoothly.

And then there is the soundtrack, roughly 100 short tracks that reuse melodies cleverly. Hearing a theme from the first hour return, reshaped, in a late boss fight is still one of the best musical moments in the genre.

Routes, replays, and how much to play

Undertale has three broad paths. A Neutral run happens when you mix sparing and fighting. A Pacifist run asks you to spare everyone and then finish a set of friendship scenes. A darker route asks you to do the opposite, systematically.

My advice is to play your first run however you feel like playing, without a guide. The game is designed around that honest first attempt, and the endings you get from it mean more than any you chase later.

Where Undertale shows its age

A common line is that Undertale is perfect and every flaw is intentional. I do not agree. Some of the puzzles in the middle areas are thin, little more than walking over the right tiles. Backtracking between save points can drag, especially on later replays. The overworld art is charming but sparse, and a few areas feel empty compared with the rich characters who live in them.

The bullet patterns can also spike in difficulty for players who do not grow up with arcade games. One or two late fights can take 20 or 30 attempts. If tough but fair challenge is your thing, it compares well with the boss design in our Cuphead review. If you prefer something gentler, it may frustrate you in places.

None of this ruins the game. But it is fair to call it a brilliant small game with rough edges, not a flawless one.

Who should play Undertale now

If you enjoy games that care more about people than about loot, Undertale is an easy recommendation. Players who liked the kind heart under the difficulty in our Celeste review will find a similar spirit here. Fans of quiet, character-driven stories like the one in our Firewatch review will appreciate how much it does with very little.

It is less ideal for players who want deep RPG systems, long playtime, or lavish visuals. And if you have already watched a full playthrough online, some impact will be gone, although the interactive moments still land differently when you are the one holding the controller.

Verdict: 9 out of 10. Short, funny, occasionally clumsy, and still one of the most thoughtful games about kindness ever made.

Frequently asked questions

Is Undertale worth playing in 2026?

Yes. Its writing, music, and mercy-based combat still feel fresh, and it is cheap and runs on almost any device. Play it blind if you can, because the first run is the one the game is built around.

How long does it take to beat Undertale?

A first run takes about 6 to 8 hours. Completing the Pacifist route adds roughly 4 to 6 hours. Seeing all major endings can take 20 hours or more.

Is Undertale suitable for kids?

Mostly, yes. It has cartoon violence that you can avoid entirely by sparing enemies, and its humour is gentle. A few later scenes are sad or a little unsettling, so younger children may want a parent nearby.