I haven't played it yet. What I'm hearing about it doesn't really make me want to play it, either.

I never bought it, kinda didn't look like my kind of thing after seeing the quick look. I didn't hate anything I saw of it either, so I guess I'm neutral or something, it just didn't grab my interest at all.

It's fine? I enjoyed parts of it and thought it was pretty clever in a few ways, but I wasn't as completely enchanted with it as most other people seem to be. If anything, I found it entirely boring and repetitive at a point, wishing it was over faster. It's not that funny and it's craziest moments are cool but not entirely original.

Hard to tell if it's just overhype and my own cynicism that kept me from loving it or if it just isn't as good as the Internet wants people to believe.

Somewhere between dislike and hate. On one hand, what I've experienced of the tone, themes, and humor all seem enjoyable and occasionally great. On the other hand, the entirety of the gameplay is constantly fluctuating between boring, tedious, and frustrating to the point where I couldn't keep playing because I didn't need all that aggravation. So I dislike the game as a whole but also sorta hate it because it's actively preventing me from experiencing a narrative that, by all accounts, is right up my alley.

Liked it. Lots of smart ideas, writing created a world that was worth exploring for the most part but ultimately the overhype around the game kind of diluted the experience for me. Great foundation that i hope inspires more games that i would rather play, to be honest.

While it didn't help that folks have been hyping that game up to a ludicrous extreme, I didn't really think it was that good of a game. The sense of humor didn't really gel with me, and they had a habit of sticking on one joke too long. The narrative felt a bit too earnest, I suppose, in what they were trying to convey. A little too first-year-art-student-doesn't-this-make-you-like-really-THINK, man? The bullet-hell stuff was kind of inconsistent. Enjoyable fights, dull fights, and everything in between. Puzzles were forgettable. I was a pacifist, so I don't know if the RPG stuff was at all engaging. As for the ending (that I reached), I disliked it. The idea of doing another run through the game, watching the same cutscenes, seeing the same jokes, and fighting the same enemies wasn't an appealing idea. All for what, a little more closure? I know the game is only four hours long, but fuuuuuuck that.

I love it. But when I see people calling it their GOTY or even their GOAT, I'm a little befuddled.

It's an awful game with half-decent humour masquerading as some fantastic piece in the medium

I didn't like it while I was playing it, and like it even less now

I'd like it more if the characters weren't awful, the jokes not terrible, and the game wasn't so obvious as the 'right' way to play it.

I heard it's the best game of all time, right?

Sadly haven't found the time to actually play it myself yet, so right now I don't hold any opinion on it.

Voted no opinion because I haven't played it, but for what I've seen it seems to me as it's way overrated.

Just a cute game that people lost their shit over because you can rug everyone instead of killing.

Where's the best game ever option?

Looks alright. Didn't buy it, but didn't seem bad or amazing. Just ok.

Love it. I think a lot of the "better than thou" attitude people get from it is mostly from the community. Similar to how The Witcher 3 is a pretty great game despite the obnoxious attitude of that game's following.

I stopped playing after an hour because I was feeling nothing but ambivalence. I keep hearing people talk about it like its the second coming, but I didn't, so maybe this game just isn't for me. I also don't give a fuck about stories in games, and I definitely don't get any satisfaction from breaking them down to analyze them afterwards, so maybe that has something to do with my reaction.

If I ever go back and finish it, it will be because of my desire to play a JRPG.... but the game tries to, "balance," away all the things I loved about old JRPG's, so I dunno.

One of the best games I played this year. I am in the "love it" category, but not in the "OMG BEST GAME EVER" category.

The excessively rabid fanbase pushed me from dislike to hate.

i haven't played it i kinda wanna do it to see what the buzz is about but i really hate turn based combat so i probably hate it if i do it

I liked it. It was something I'm glad I experienced. Innovative engaging combat system, amazing soundtrack, and it's the most inspiring indie game I ever played. Incredible how he made this with Gamemaker, and FL. The game really did come out at the right time, and this Gamefaqs Tumblr army is giving the game lots of publicity. Much overblown praise, but I don't mind it since I found myself quite fond of UNDERTALE.

Dude you play a game that you bought for an hour, and drop it in an hour(waste of $$$ man!)? Give it a fair shake. If it helps, the whole game's quality kind of hit me all at once with the last 2 hours . It get's better, and everything you are finding "silly" kind of comes full circle, and makes sense by the end. Surprisingly powerful too.

It's okay. I think the huge amount of praise is a little ridiculous, but I'm not offended by it or anything. But the fact that it pisses off GamerGaters is enough for it to make me smile.

Still not finished so not final thoughts but I like parts of it.

As I documented in another thread, I found the boss fights to be hugely frustrating. After seeing the initial twist on the mechanics for a particular fight I wanted them to be over as soon as I could. The 'bullet hell' mechanics in those fights are not fun for me at all. It either feels like you can't dodge the attack and you need to brute force your way with luck and healing items, or you need to spend time dying over and over to perfectly memorise the incoming sequence of attacks.

And it feels like I have spent more time batting those boss mechanics than enjoying the characters and music. Which are both great, the writing and the world and the structure of the game are all very nice.

I still need to see the ending because I hear it's neat. As it stands I am in the ''parts of this are cool and parts are un-fun" category.

Now let me tell you about a game called Hotline Miami.

It's my personal goty, but I'm not in the "rabid" following of the game. I think a lot of what does it for me stems from how I had no idea what to expect going in because I had never heard of the game before watching the quick look. Then it did something I love in games, which is revealing itself to be deeper than it first appears after my first playthrough. I don't think this game is revolutionary or anything, but it was fun to play, had a decent story, and was pretty deep for what it was. It was one of the happiest surprises I've had in gaming in a long time.

I feel like I'm 80-90% through the game right now based on time spent with the game and where I am in the story. So I haven't finished it.

That said, I really like parts of it. However, most later boss fights are tedious. A few random encounters can be tedious as well. Some characters are great, some are not so great, but it still feels like the game is trying to go "He he, what a charmingcharacter this is!! Woo-hoo for this charmingsituation!!" Don't get me wrong. Some parts and characters are awesome. But some parts are just "pretty good."

I haven't seen anything that made me cry or change who I was as a person though. This really feels like one of the cases the internet sours something good by turning up the HYPE!!! and throwing around random memes and inside jokes. (Guys!! Did you know spiders have bake sales?!?!?!?!??!?!?! Guys!!!!! You can date a skeleton!!!!!!1!11!! Determination!!!!!!! hahahhahahahahhahahahha) I would just say "Yeah, this game is really good" if there wasn't this mystic about it.

Who knows. Maybe the last part of the game is fucking incredible, but so far Undertale seems like it is only "really good". I don't quite get the GOAT HYPE around it though...

No interest whatsoever, and the more then pushy fanbase it has makes me even less interested, so I won't be playing it. I'm not huge on the art style, and the whole mini-game aspect as combat would probably drive me up the wall, as I'm sure I'd die a lot.

That being said, I hope it wins that Gamefaqs poll, cause that would just be grand. Not L-Block for best character grand, but still pretty good.

pretty good. Not a life-changing game though. 8/10

I enjoyed it. I did not find it outrageously high-larious like a lot of people seemed to, but I had a good chuckle now and again. Though, I honestly don't quite understand the massive amounts of praise it gets, making it seem like it's the second coming of christ. Maybe I just don't "get it", but it just seems like another one of those fun little indie games that I'll completely forget exists a few months from now.

@clagnaught: This is how I feel like almost every cult hit in history ends up being. Small but dedicated fanbases picking up something unexpectedly pretty good and beating their chest about how it's one of their favorite ____s of all time, and almost anytime you look into a cult hit that gets that kind of loud support, it almost always ends up being "Yeah, this is good" and can never possibly live up to the hype. I finally stopped giving every cult phenomenon my attention when I got tired of listening, for years, to people talking up how good the Clue movie is - it was alright with an amusing and quirky sense of charm, but ultimately it's just above average with an unusual element or two. In other words, basically every cult hit you've heard about since Rocky Horror. Undertale just strikes me as another example of this.

I enjoyed it. Thought it was pretty funny, great music, played off tropes, etc. I knew nothing at all about it going in except for the fact that it was well received. And I probably did not get a lot of the references, but I played a ton of games this year (probably ~40ish) and it's currently 11th on my GOTY list. That said, some of the hyperbole is a bit offputting, so I voted that I liked it.

It had a lot of heart and would be on my shortlist for GOTY.

@asilentprotagonist: When you get old enough time becomes a LOT more valuable than money.

I didn't like the Steam description, it also seemed pretty unfunny and like it was relying mostly on subverting tropes or something in the Quick Look which I'd prefer with some more finesse, so pass.

I wasn't sure about it, but once I met the skeleton brothers some 30 minutes in, I knew why people enjoyed the game.

It's not GOTY, but it's pretty great.

It's cool. The characters are fun to draw, too.

Is "mildly obsessed" an oxymoron?

I feel like Undertale has left a real impression with me, out of all the games I played this year (which, admittedly, wasn't much). I'm still in the post game afterglow, having finished my last run only yesterday, so that's coloring my feelings I'm sure. On the other hand, if before this game you had come at me with the phrase 'post game afterglow' in reference to a fucking video game I probably would have thought you were insane.

Someone bought it for my girlfriend, and we tied it to my steam account, so I didn't have to pay for it, but after completing the Pacifist run I bought the soundtrack at $10 mostly to give the guy some money. I appreciated that it was such a short experience, because it was also a dense experience (plus I don't have an abundance of time). Excluding the Hotlands. That was a grind. Was kinda relieved when the Genocide run skips over almost all of it.

And it just feels so genuine, and the writing is fairly versatile with its tone. It was described as "twee" on the Bombcast before, and that is certainly one way to play that game, but it can also be the exact opposite. It can be dark, and way more importantly it can actually pull off dark well. Most games (and really media in general) that go for "dark" drop the ball completely, but the Genocide run, I feel, really nailed what it was going for. Especially with the whole addressing/pleading to the player. I find that stuff by default hokey and trite, but Undertale managed to be subtle about it, though my subtlty could easily be someone else's sledgehammer.

I don't necessarily think it's the best game ever made, but its a short list of games that have really stayed with me the way Undertale managed to. A lot of it felt real. Not realistic, just real.

Also, I managed to avoid the hype. Which, you know, I'm not helping with this. But hey, it's an opinion thread.

Factually and objectively the greatest game of all-time.

Haven't played it.

I mean, we have determined this through science.

For the people wondering what all the hype around the game is about I suggest you beat and complete the game. No, I don't mean you beat the game once and put it down. You need to FULLY beat the game. The things that everyone talks about can't be experienced in the first playthrough. It isn't like you are playing the game again for a new 5 minute ending. There is literally a large part of the game/story that isn't available at the start because that situation is part of the plot.

It's this year's Shovel Knight. A really good indie game that aped a classic NES games's graphics and gameplay that people hyped up to absolutely insane levels.

Seriously though, ask me again after it's been on Steam Sale and I've had a chance to really play it.

To be fair, the game straight up tells you that there's still some shit left after getting the first credits roll--"maybe if x had y"--remember?

Unless you're talking about killing absolutely everything, sure. I guess. Never touched it myself mainly because of how tedious it gets (and that last fight is a bit too tough, so I'll pass), and it's easily watchable and still interesting on YouTube anyway, if that's your kind of thing.

Undertale's pretty rad. #2 or #3 on my personal GOTY list, easily.

Came in pretty ambivalent, thinking it's just blatant nostalgia pandering (ala Shovel Knight)-ended up being my GOTY. Don't get me wrong, there are issues with it, but as an experience greater than the sum of its parts, I think it makes a really powerful impact on an emotional level that a game hasn't made on me in a while. The gameplay doesn't have a lot of depth and I understand why some people might be turned off by its bullet hell nature, but I loved the way it uses its mechanics to reflect each individual monsters'personality and each subsequent boss fight was memorable and fun in the way it added a new gimmick or element to a boss fight. There are some issues that need to ironed out, but I think it's brilliant that gameplay is working in tandem with the story in a very narrative driven game. It's my personal favourite game this year, but I feel like the hyperbole from the fanbase is building unreasonable expectations that's its never going to fulfill if you're going into this game with them in mind. Definitely something that needs to be experienced in its entirety (as in neutral, pacifist and genocide route) to really get the gist of what the game is building upon and something that needs to be experienced in general even if you'll end up hating it. Spending an hour or two, or just watching the quick look really doesn't reveal the entirety of what's lurking beneath the surface of this game. I knew my mind wasn't blown away by it an hour or two in during my first playthrough.

It was fine, relatively simple gameplay and easy fights, but thats kind of the point. I liked it, im not in the crazy cult status of fans though. I think it introduced enough storywise and humor wise to keep me interested, but it was fairly linear and not too in depth. I say its a solid 4/5 or so.

@starvinggamer: @wemibelec90: I largely agree with you two. The game took on some themes which are not often explored in games. That may be why many have latched onto it so hard. However the handling of the topics remained slightly juvenile compared to how they're handled in other art forms like film, contemporary art, books or music. The humor was good in some spots and dull in others. The gameplay felt innovative on a few occasions, but grew annoying over time and the pacing and level design could've been tightened up considerably.

Overall it was an interesting game, but I'm not putting it anywhere near my top 10 of this year.

EDIT: Oh the music was pretty dope tho'!

Liked it. Just short of loving it, I didn't think the combat was actually much fun and the pacing wasn't tight enough for me.

I'm in the love it camp. Played it back to back with MGSV and had one of the best gaming times I've had in a long while. Pretty much polar opposites on the gaming spectrum, but they complimented each other well. Metal Gear was the more uneven of the two, so it's certainly looking like Undertale is my GOTY for 2015.

Damn it. That game was so good! I want to go play it again so I can hang out with a bunch of MSPaint monsters. :P

I feel nothing. It doesn't seem like the kind of game I'd enjoy, so I'll probably not play it.

I do enjoy reading about this whole GameFaqs debacle, though.

It handles them in a juvenile way...because it is juvenile? The game and its characters are never presented as some high brow or art house spectacle, but always as a collection to various tropes and cliches from 16 bit era JRPGs from the 90s. It's like expecting a Disney film to be Dostoevsky. It's fine if you're not into that, but expecting it to be something that it never set out to be is disingenuous. I don't understand people berating the game's storytelling for a lack of subtlety. This is a game with goofy skeletons and dumb robot talk show hosts.

It's good. Gave me the same experience as a good jrpg(the going on an adventure with friends-type) in 10 hours instead of 80. Flowey's backstory is annoyingly convoluted, and for as short as it was the combat dragged by the end. But I had a good time and I like the cast. The fandom can be tiresome, but whatever. If you let fans ruin your enjoyment of something there will be nothing left to enjoy.

Also the animations were funny and the music was cool.

i'm like an hour into it but i have no drive to go back to it at all

I'm sure I haven't played enough to have a real opinion on it, but I'm a long way from convinced. I kind of hate it early on.

It's not as good as SSX or TimeSplitters.