The Human Soul Toby Fox Never Wrote
Long before Frisk fell into the Underground, another human child made the same trip — Clover, the bearer of the soul of Justice, whose story fan developer Team Undertale Yellow spent years turning into a full-length prequel. Undertale Yellow doesn't retell the events of the original game; it builds an entirely separate cast, region, and emotional arc around characters like Ceroba Kimberclove, Starlo, and Martlet, all while staying faithful to the tone, humor, and heartbreak that made the source material beloved. It's the rare fan project that earned genuine respect from the Undertale community for matching the original's writing quality rather than just imitating its aesthetic.
Navigating the Underground and Its Battles
Move Clover through the world with the arrow keys, interact with objects, NPCs, and menu options using Z, and cancel or check your inventory with X. Combat drops you into the same hybrid system the series is known for: a turn-based menu lets you choose to Fight, Act, Item, or Mercy against each enemy, while your actual survival depends on real-time bullet-hell dodging inside a small bounded box once the enemy responds. Since Clover carries the soul of Justice rather than Determination, the game leans hard into that theme — encounters are framed less around simple survival and more around what "justice" means for each character you meet, and Acting your way through a fight often reveals as much story as Sparing or Fighting does.
Getting the Most Out of Each Encounter
Try Act options on unfamiliar enemies before defaulting to Fight — many of Undertale Yellow's fights hide dialogue and lore behind specific menu choices that a straightforward attack skips entirely. Pay close attention to bullet patterns during boss fights; several encounters telegraph a pattern shift right before it happens, and reacting a beat early instead of on-reaction saves you from cheap damage. If a fight feels unbeatable through combat, consider whether a Mercy or dialogue-based resolution is available — the game rewards players who look for the non-violent path as much as those who fight through. Save often at save points, since some boss encounters in this prequel run notably long and a fresh checkpoint saves real frustration on a retry.
A Prequel Worth the Fan Hype
If you're drawn to Undertale Yellow for its narrative depth and turn-based-meets-bullet-hell combat, Deltarune is the closest thing to a spiritual sibling, sharing the same creator's DNA even though it's a different story entirely. For more story-driven indie experiences with a distinct voice, the rest of Machita 66's games library is worth a browse once Clover's journey wraps up.
