When comparing Undertale vs Machinarium, the Slant community recommends Machinarium for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games on Steam?” Machinarium is ranked 7th while Undertale is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Machinarium is:
The player is forced to move their character across the map in order to find objects of interest. This, coupled with the great sound design and soundtrack which also do their part in giving cues as to where the objects are and if the player is close, really help you immerse into the atmosphere and art style of Machinarium.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Incredible soundtrack
Just like the simple but pleasant graphics in the game, the music matches this with a retro-sounding score that fits right in with the art style. There are a lot of catchy tunes that only use a few sounds to make up memorable songs. The simplicity really adds to the charm, with some of the songs easily able to get stuck in your head for days at a time. It's nostalgic enough for older gamers who grew up in the early eras of gaming, while still having enough to pull in newer gamers who aren't as familiar with games from the 1980s and 90s. There's something here for everyone.
Pro Amazing characters
The characters in the game are written well, each with their own unique personalities. Some may be too shy, and will lower their hit points when you attack them in battle, just to avoid offending you. Others are deeply caring and do their best to help and protect their friends and family, including you as the player. Many of the characters are quite funny in their dialog and the unexpected choices they make throughout the story, including the ways they react to your choices. Almost every character is incredibly memorable and enjoyable to get to know better.
Pro Many interesting secrets to find
There are many secrets to discover in the game, like hidden mechanics that might take you by surprise. It may take a couple of playthroughs to find them all, but once you do, it may completely change how you see the story, the characters, and a lot more. There's a lot more to Undertale beneath its simple-looking surface.
Pro Your choices lead you down different story paths
Depending on your choices, your playthrough can change in drastic ways. If you don't want to kill enemies in battle, you can choose to have a dialog with them instead. Doing this consistently is basically a pacifist playthrough where you don't kill anyone, and characters respond to you in certain ways based on that. Or you can go for a genocide playthrough, which is basically what it sounds like, where you kill everyone you come across whenever you get the chance. This can have serious consequences, since the game does its best to make you feel bad about this approach, by having certain characters hate you. It's an interesting way to get to see the world and story from different angles.
Pro The gameplay is perfectly interwoven with the overall aesthetic and atmosphere of the game
The player is forced to move their character across the map in order to find objects of interest. This, coupled with the great sound design and soundtrack which also do their part in giving cues as to where the objects are and if the player is close, really help you immerse into the atmosphere and art style of Machinarium.
Pro Beautiful art style
Machimariums hand drawn graphics exude a very steam punk style that definitely has a very unique look by being all hand drawn.
Pro Challenging puzzles
The puzzles are quite challenging to the point of frustration but in the end give a sense of immense reward when figured out.
Pro Interesting protagonist
The main character and the one controlled by the player is just a normal, average, everyday robot. He doesn't have any special powers or abilities other than being able to slightly extend his midriff in order to reach high ledges or making his body shorter. He's pretty much an ordinary robot thrust into an extraordinary situation.
Pro Built-in hint system
For those that do find some of the puzzles too challenging there is an inbuilt hint system shown through "thought bubbles" on top of the playable character.
Every level has its own hint when pressed and it's usually a hint on where to go or what kind of object you need. Although it's advised not to rely on the hint system too much since it takes away from the experience of actually enjoying the game.
Pro The well-designed gameplay mechanics avoid making the game boring to the player
Unlike most point-and-click games, objects of interest in Machinarium light up only when the main character is close to them; this completely changes the way the game is played. In point-and-click games where this is not the case, the gameplay is usually reduced to aimlessly flailing the cursor around waiting for something to light up.
Machinarium on the other hand completely avoids this, keeping levels interesting and the player interested to the game.
Cons
Con Replaying can be a chore
The first time going through the game it's a nice experience, especially when you know nothing about the characters, story, mechanics, etc.. By your next playthrough, you already know all the jokes and plot points. Even when taking a new route, it can take a while for you to notice anything different from one playthrough to the next, making things feel like a drag.
Con The visuals could be better
Much of the game is plain-looking with simple graphics, but sometimes the visuals are just awful. The pixel art can be charming for some players, though it's hard to ignore when certain areas are barren or have ugly textures. It's notable that a single person created the whole game; it would have been nice if they'd had more time or resources to clean up some of the visual problems.
Con Community
The community is not very mature. That's all.
Con Punishes you for playing an RPG game like you would normally do
Remember when you accidentally killed that monster? Well, we're going to make you hate yourself for it.
Con Items may be difficult to find due to similar colors
At points in the game there are needed items that blend in too well with their surrounding making it quite difficult to actually see them.