A Game of Love and Cruelty

Kabir Vega Castellanos

HAVANA TIMES — I am aware that there might not be very many gamers among Havana Times readers, however, I’m going out on a limb today and will talk a little bit about a game that deserves a review.

“Undertale”, a fantasy RPG (role-playing video game) game, with graphics similar to those games played on the oldest Nintendo consoles, has been amazingly successful. You can see that just from the searches made by users on Google, they exceed those of many other games of a higher caliber.

The most recent version, which came out onto the market a while ago, highlighted its popularity so much that it even caught the ever controversial Donald Trump’s attention, who asked where he could get it from on Facebook.

Did he really want to play it, or was he maybe just trying to win over young people? Of course, this very detail sparked a debate.

Now, what makes Undertale so cherished in spite of its primitive design?
First and foremost, it has quite a fun and unique combat system. It also has really well-conceived characters, with changing dialogues that are so moving that you forget that they aren’t real and are just programming codes.

But, what really separates it from other games is its “Forgive” option. Not only is it a beautiful detail to make you feel like a good person, similar to the karma concept (law of action-reaction). The game unfolds around your decisions, and depending on how you act, you can find yourself a wonderful future in history, or an unpleasant future that can make you weak at the knees.

You have to give a pat on the back to the game’s young creator Toby Fox, who at just 25 years old set a new milestone in the gaming world. However, this game’s same virtues are also its most terrible flaws:

Due to the many mysteries in Undertale, as well as the excessive number of versions that exist, it’s easy to get gamers hooked. For players who are a little older this isn’t a problem, but the intensity of the dialogue along with the disorganized and constant music, can influence and even drive somebody with a fragile mind mad.

Without detracting from its merits, it’s good to keep this potential risk in mind. Unfortunately, like everything in the world of markets, only games that sell are promoted.