Disclaimer: I have not played all the different routes, these are my thoughts after getting the pacifist ending.
Reviewing this game is tricky, it's a prime example of why number scores don't mean anything really. Undertale Yellow is a fantastic experience, that is admittedly rough around the edges. Making a follow-up to Undertale is quite the task in the first place. That game is so unique with its commentary on game design and the different ways it breaks the fourth wall. That kind of magic can't be replicated in a follow-up, the novelty isn't there anymore. This is also a fan project, a very ambitious fan project, but a fan project nonetheless. With that in mind, its important to set expectations in check.
I'll get the negatives out of the way first. The game has a fairly weak start. The Ruins and Snowdin are so similar to their Undertale counterparts that it's not very engaging, the game feels like it's on autopilot for a while. Even the new areas aren't super interesting. The game is hard carried by its character interactions and funny setpieces, because these areas are so linear and uninteresting it's sad. There's a lot of just walking in a straight line, and the puzzles you do come across are pathetically easy, they may as well not be there. It's very odd when enemy encounters are so much more difficult compared to Undertale.
Every boss in this game works the same way. The act command and spare command do literally nothing, they're all just a matter of surviving for enough turns until the boss gives up. I wish they were a little more creative there, since the different soul gimmicks in these fights are pretty neat. On top of this, boss difficulty is super whack. A lot of attacks are just straight up not telegraphed properly, and do so much damage that trial and error was the only way for me to get through them. There is an easy mode option, but it kind of over-fixes the problem? It just makes attacks do like no damage at all. So its either suffer through some dumb attack patterns, or take all the fun away by making the game piss easy. I just think the balancing needed some more work. There's also one absurdly stupid design choice near the end of the game that forced me into easy mode just to beat the game, thanks for that.
Alright that's enough of that, let's get into why this game is awesome. Firstly, I love the characters here. Martlet, Ceroba, North Star and his group of trainees, hell I even liked Flowey, that's crazy. The game ties into the original in clever ways to really flesh out these characters and make you love them. They all have their arcs that are super satisfying. They bring a layer of this world that the original game didn't go into. How DO the monsters feel about King Asgore? How have his cowardly decisions affected people? What will monsters resort to for just a chance at freedom? Is that even something they SHOULD strive for? After all, humans already drove them all away before, what's stopping them from doing it again?
The world itself is so interesting to see in the past. Different takes on Snowdin and Hotland that make sense given Undertale's context are just really neat (thank you for skipping over Waterfall though I would've actually become the Joker if I had to go through that again). The Dunes and Steamworks are fun additions to the Underground that widen the scope of Undertale's world just a little, and I like that. I'm typically not one for desert biomes in games but here, it's pretty sweet.
And of course, the game is full of comedic moments. I don't think it's quite as funny as Undertale. Not every joke lands, but it's pretty great throughout. Shoutout to Mooch, I love her she's always funny. One thing I love is since it's Flowey handling the saving and resetting for you this time, he always has something to say when you die, usually ridiculing you. A lot of his lines made me smile.
I can't say much on this myself but it's worth noting that the music is amazing. If you told me Toby Fox himself composed this soundtrack, I would believe you. Again, not quite as good as Undertale but there's quite a few bangers in here.
All this to say, is this game as good as Undertale? No, absolutely not. It's got some questionable design, and isn't quite there in terms of balancing or its world layout. It's very important to remember though that this is a fan project, and in terms of those...holy cow. I have seen some truly horrendous shit come from Undertale fan works. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff. But this, this isn't even on the level of passable or decent. This is like, how in the hell is this even possible? This is beyond impressive and everyone behind it should be proud of themselves. It tells a new fun and creative story, and expands the Undertale lore in ways I never knew I wanted to see. With that in mind, I gotta say I kinda love this. Say all you want about this not being canon or important to the other games at all, but for me, it's so well done that I don't care. I love these characters and this story and that's all that matters.
Reviewing this game is tricky, it's a prime example of why number scores don't mean anything really. Undertale Yellow is a fantastic experience, that is admittedly rough around the edges. Making a follow-up to Undertale is quite the task in the first place. That game is so unique with its commentary on game design and the different ways it breaks the fourth wall. That kind of magic can't be replicated in a follow-up, the novelty isn't there anymore. This is also a fan project, a very ambitious fan project, but a fan project nonetheless. With that in mind, its important to set expectations in check.
I'll get the negatives out of the way first. The game has a fairly weak start. The Ruins and Snowdin are so similar to their Undertale counterparts that it's not very engaging, the game feels like it's on autopilot for a while. Even the new areas aren't super interesting. The game is hard carried by its character interactions and funny setpieces, because these areas are so linear and uninteresting it's sad. There's a lot of just walking in a straight line, and the puzzles you do come across are pathetically easy, they may as well not be there. It's very odd when enemy encounters are so much more difficult compared to Undertale.
Every boss in this game works the same way. The act command and spare command do literally nothing, they're all just a matter of surviving for enough turns until the boss gives up. I wish they were a little more creative there, since the different soul gimmicks in these fights are pretty neat. On top of this, boss difficulty is super whack. A lot of attacks are just straight up not telegraphed properly, and do so much damage that trial and error was the only way for me to get through them. There is an easy mode option, but it kind of over-fixes the problem? It just makes attacks do like no damage at all. So its either suffer through some dumb attack patterns, or take all the fun away by making the game piss easy. I just think the balancing needed some more work. There's also one absurdly stupid design choice near the end of the game that forced me into easy mode just to beat the game, thanks for that.
Alright that's enough of that, let's get into why this game is awesome. Firstly, I love the characters here. Martlet, Ceroba, North Star and his group of trainees, hell I even liked Flowey, that's crazy. The game ties into the original in clever ways to really flesh out these characters and make you love them. They all have their arcs that are super satisfying. They bring a layer of this world that the original game didn't go into. How DO the monsters feel about King Asgore? How have his cowardly decisions affected people? What will monsters resort to for just a chance at freedom? Is that even something they SHOULD strive for? After all, humans already drove them all away before, what's stopping them from doing it again?
The world itself is so interesting to see in the past. Different takes on Snowdin and Hotland that make sense given Undertale's context are just really neat (thank you for skipping over Waterfall though I would've actually become the Joker if I had to go through that again). The Dunes and Steamworks are fun additions to the Underground that widen the scope of Undertale's world just a little, and I like that. I'm typically not one for desert biomes in games but here, it's pretty sweet.
And of course, the game is full of comedic moments. I don't think it's quite as funny as Undertale. Not every joke lands, but it's pretty great throughout. Shoutout to Mooch, I love her she's always funny. One thing I love is since it's Flowey handling the saving and resetting for you this time, he always has something to say when you die, usually ridiculing you. A lot of his lines made me smile.
I can't say much on this myself but it's worth noting that the music is amazing. If you told me Toby Fox himself composed this soundtrack, I would believe you. Again, not quite as good as Undertale but there's quite a few bangers in here.
All this to say, is this game as good as Undertale? No, absolutely not. It's got some questionable design, and isn't quite there in terms of balancing or its world layout. It's very important to remember though that this is a fan project, and in terms of those...holy cow. I have seen some truly horrendous shit come from Undertale fan works. Truly bottom of the barrel stuff. But this, this isn't even on the level of passable or decent. This is like, how in the hell is this even possible? This is beyond impressive and everyone behind it should be proud of themselves. It tells a new fun and creative story, and expands the Undertale lore in ways I never knew I wanted to see. With that in mind, I gotta say I kinda love this. Say all you want about this not being canon or important to the other games at all, but for me, it's so well done that I don't care. I love these characters and this story and that's all that matters.