Undertale's quiet little brother. It may not be as loud or have as much personality, but it is just sooooo endearing. Probably one of the warmest, coziest games I've ever played in spite of its apocalyptic setting, which is saying a lot considering A Short Hike is one of my all time favorites. Yet it's incredibly nuanced and bold too—the large chunk of Undertale that I've already finished, quirky idiosyncrasy and all, never evoked as much of an emotional response as this game did in just how overwhelmingly cute and bittersweet it is. Definitely and admirably wears its influences on its sleeve loud and proud (and especially in the soundtrack, in which you can hear everything from Undertale and Minecraft VGM to lo-fi hip-hop and jazzy chords and maybe, just maybe, even a little impressionism) yet it still manages to stand on its own foundations as something wholly original (probably because of the gameplay though). Don't even get me started on the meta-elements of this game because 1. it's absolutely ingenious and 2. talking about it is basically a massive spoiler in and of itself that just ruins the fun. If I had one thing to pick on about this though, it would probably be the relative lack of the more meta-gameplay elements, which was a shame because of just how interesting and resoundingly creative the concept is. But hey, who am I to complain? This is one adorable, touching, great game, and you bet it is every ounce as good as its contemporaries if not better. Although I uphold the latter. lolol also sorry for the rambling spiel