Introduction

Under the Tree is a short, but heartfelt game exploring why Autumn hates the holiday season. On the plus side this game manages to cram a lot of character depth into a game that takes less then 60 minutes to beat. On the downside the gameplay itself could use a little tweaking. Though to be fair my review will only be discussing the original release and not the updated release. So, this review is a bit out of date.

Story

As stated earlier the game is about exploring why Autumn hates the holiday season. An explanation that is expanded upon as you work your way through the various bosses found in the game. Suffice to say her hatred is born from events that happened in the past concerning her best friend from a few years ago. And, while I realize my last comment may be a bit misleading I'd rather not spoil the plot of the game too much.

Gameplay

In terms of combat the game is rather difficult in my opinion. A lot of this I chalk up to the games learning curve. An additional factor that makes battles difficult is that the various enemies tend to require a specific strategy to defeat efficiently. As such this game can brutalize you if you aren't aware of what you need to do in order to take out a certain group of enemies quickly while only taking a minimal amount of damage. As such I'd recommend stocking up on revive and health potions if your going to play this game. Though, on the plus side I suppose the game legitimately requires the use of recovery items on your first play through.

Graphics

In terms of visuals the game is okay. Though, I do admit to finding the winter wonderland a bit dull after a while. I think, it's all the white that gets to me. And if an area isn't white it tends to be a lite blue in order to indicate that your walking on ice.

Conclusion

While Under the Tree feels a bit flawed from a gameplay perspective the strong characters make up for it in my opinion. As such I recommend people give this game a try. Though, it might be worthwhile to save it for the next holiday season. Since, it always feels nice to play a Christmas game around the time of the actual holiday.