Ok I beat Undertale Yellow's true pacifist run. The game is good, but has a few issues that dont make it perfect. Here are my thoughts.

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FULL GAME. It's overall a very good game and your experience will definitely be ruined if you read this before playing.
It's free.
Go play it!


Lets start with the issues.

Loneliness:

One of Undertale's strong suits was having both exciting and lively moments and quiet, more reflective moments. UT Yellow doesn't quite understand this balance. The best example I can think of is shortly after the mines. You ride an elevator up to a silent cliffside vista of the land. As you walk along the cliff, you get the first silent moment in a while to think about whats happened and as you look into the distance, you- JUST KIDDING theres a BOSS FIGHT! El Bailador ruins a nice, quiet moment. This happens all over the game. The part that is best about this is The Steamworks. You and Ceroba are the only 2 living people there and it helps create a really good atmosphere of loneliness and shows that they dont need to make a completely empty area to have somewhere feel lonley. In Undertale, Waterfall is pretty lively, but despite that, it still feels somber and metative because it makes sure to break up the liveliness with quieter parts. UT Yellow often doesn't do this.

Pacing:

The game's pacing is very good, aside from the issue I just mentioned, there is only one place where the game feels like it slows down too much. The Feisty Five section should have come a little earlier. When I got to it, I was already getting bored of the desert area and its slow pace really got on my nerves.

Ceroba:

Ceroba's story was amazing up until the ending. She worked really well as a final boss for the pacifist route. Having to stop her from killing both you and her daughter is a really interesting and well executed plot point. In her eyes, she's trying to save monsterkind and is blinded to the harm she would be causing. And then it's revealed that she killed her daughter. Instantly my empathy for her was gone! Her main motivator was to honor her late husband, but the first thing she does is go against his wishes by testing his experiments on their daughter. I don't understand why this needed to happen! Luckily this didnt take away from the ending.


Now it's time for the good stuff. There's a lot of it. Most of it I don't mention here.

Music and Art:

This is the section I have the least to say about. The art and music is good. Really good! Both elements capture Undertale's style and elevate it in a natural way. At points, the music does sound a little fangame-y, but what can you do! Its a fangame!

Writing:

The writing is spot on, the writers clearly understand both Undertale and Toby Fox's styles and use that ability well. The game is written so convincingly that the few jokes that dont feel Undertale-y stand out like a sore thumb. Thats not a bad thing, that just shows how well the game is written.

Areas:

I love the area themes in this game. A deeper ruins is a great expansion on the ruins. I liked seeing more of snowdin and a wild west theme literally just had to be in the game. Finally, The Steamworks was my favorite area. It captured everything I loved about the CORE in Undertale and amplified it.

Finally, The Ending:

The game's ending was great. It's very rare that I feel so content with an ending that I dont even want to look up the others, but I am so happy with UT Yellow's conclusion that I would like to leave it like that. At least for me. I'm sad I didnt get to see Asgore, his motivations and turmoil will interest me to no end (Thats a whole other blog post waiting to be written hehe), but I'm glad Clover got to give up their soul willingly.

Conclusion:

Undertale Yellow is amazing. Even at its worst its great and at its best, its something else. The dev's love and care for Undertale and its universe is clear in every corner of the game. The eight years of effort that went into the game show.

Good job UT Yellow team! You made something great.