Returning to the Town Above
Walking through the quiet neighborhood streets in the light world always brings a gentle wave of nostalgia, but Toby Fox makes sure the quietness carries its own peculiar weight. You step out of the house, pass Toriel, wander down the sidewalk, and exchange dry greetings with familiar townspeople like Sans while wondering what has actually changed in this strange parallel timeline. It feels like stepping into an old coat that has been altered just enough around the shoulders to keep you constantly guessing about its true shape.
The writing remains distinctively witty, leaning on understated character exchanges and deadpan humor before pulling the rug out with a sudden emotional wallop. There is no English voice acting here, which suits the presentation completely because the chirping text crawls and musical timing do all the heavy lifting for every joke and confession. Every dialogue box demands patience, giving even ordinary small-town gossip a deliberate, theatrical cadence.
Tactics, Bullets, and Dodging Grazes
Once you drop down into the Dark World, the pacing shifts gears into an inventive hybrid of classic party combat and frantic arcade survival. The battle system borrows direct inspiration from Chrono Trigger and Touhou, seating your party across from colorful adversaries while dropping your soul heart into a tight containment box whenever the enemy attacks. Dodging intricate patterns of bouncing projectiles while managing your team turns standard turn-based choices into active spatial puzzles.
Choosing whether to fight or spare your foes continues to define how encounters unfold. Taking the pacifist route requires studying enemy moods and using team acts to tire them out, while direct combat provides a punchy, aggressive alternative if your reflexes slip. Hidden bosses push those bullet-dodging patterns to punishing extremes, forcing you to memorize projectile trajectories until dodging becomes second nature.
Temmie's Handcrafted Visual Rhythm
Temmie Chang's pixel animation shines brightly across these expanded chapters, giving every party member and goofy enemy encounter an expressive liveliness. Battle sprites bounce with energetic personality, shifting from ridiculous slapstick poses to subtle expressions of exhaustion during protracted duels. It is a visual style that cherishes clean silhouettes and readable sprite work rather than excessive visual clutter, keeping the action readable even when the screen floods with glowing sparks.
That visual charm pairs naturally with the massive soundtrack composed by Toby Fox. Melodies wander into your head and refuse to leave, evolving from quiet piano musings in desolate hallways into roaring, synth-heavy battle anthems that drive the tempo of your dodges. Even the menu screens feel snappy and tactile, carrying a crisp, retro responsiveness that makes managing equipment and party items feel effortless.
A Five-Chapter Package That Carries Real Weight
Having Chapters 1 through 5 gathered together in a single $24.99 package on Steam changes the rhythm of the entire experience. You are no longer playing isolated episodic experiments separated by years of waiting; instead, you get a sprawling adventure with coherent narrative momentum and plenty of room for characters to breathe. The linear, chapter-based structure lets you jump in and play through specific sections cleanly, which helps if you want to revisit tricky optional encounters or test different battle tactics.
The looming question about whether this tale truly offers only one ending hangs over every major story beat, lending a faint undercurrent of melancholy to all the silly jokes. While future updates are promised down the road without extra cost, the current collection feels substantial, cohesive, and remarkably confident in what it wants to say about choice and friendship.
Comments 14
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three layers of irony and then it got under my skin lol. hated forgetting Ralsei. boss fight made me cry... fine then. dont say anything to the reviewer ok?
y'all are fixin to be real mad about this one lol. my sweet tea had better game balance than this bullet dodge nonsense. the music is fine though, dont give it too much grief ok?
Music carries the bag but combat gets old fast. Stopped after chapter 2.
spin to win baby (i still got wrecked by the secret boss). my inventory management is basically laundry.
20 quid for five chapters with that music and pixel work? Proper bargain mate. Those hidden bosses are the proper old-school punishment we used to get in JRPG manuals. Shame the linearity's a bit... well, linear. Reminds me of the good old days when a game manual would have a full map and lore. Still, can't grumble too much.
chapter 3 was feeling sluggish and within an hour i got noticeable frame drops during cutscenes. is this an optimization issue or is my pc just getting old?
y'all are fixin to be real mad about this one lol. my sweet tea had better game balance than this bullet dodge nonsense. the music is fine though, dont give it too much grief ok?
I am enjoying the bullet dodging quite a bit. It offers a nice challenge without feeling unfair for the main story. Thank you for the review.
@danke_danthe bullet dodging's fine until the screen gets cluttered and your hitbox feels smaller than a pixel. then it's just paying twenty euros for a mediocre pub burger. still, music's good. i'll give it that.
yo played the first 2 chapters on steam - chat was losing their minds at the mall mystery theme song. Toby Fox really did it again
@chimneyMusic carries the bag but combat gets old fast. Stopped after chapter 2.
@l33t_strpurecombat died by chapter 2 lmao. just spin through it and listen to Toby Fox provide lol. idk i used to love rpgs
Wait, what hidden bosses? Did they mention those in the review? I hope they aren't required for story.
@outofpaperagainNo spoilers, but those hidden bosses are pure evil. One of them made me tear up a bit afterwards though. Emotional damage AND physical lol.
Y'all fixin to get wrecked by those hidden bosses. Feels like a med dosage increase every fight.
@cjh91three layers of irony and then it got under my skin lol. hated forgetting Ralsei. boss fight made me cry... fine then. dont say anything to the reviewer ok?
@radishTwenty-five bucks for five chapters that flow together? That's about five bucks per chapter. Heaps fair for the art and music alone. The hidden bosses can get stuffed though, not worth the frustration for me. Good value if you can handle the difficulty spikes.