Indie UNDERTALE: A Fall into a memorable story

Five days and a decade ago, a humble developer named Toby Fox released a game, today everybody and their dog knows the name of UNDERTALE, but back then, the game was relatively obscure, it took lots of word-by-mouth publicity however for the game to spread its popularity like wildfire, within the same year it was released it came to places most releases would like to reach its half of success, and even then, the game remains a great game... alas, nowadays the game can't be deemed as flawless

Pictured: half of Internet over an honest critique
LET ME EXPLAIN GOSH DANG IT!

I came late to the party, exactly I played the game in 2019, I played it just as the Pandemic begun, the stress of Online Hi-school, next to the stress of the infamous New Normal AND THEN I got a sudden fear of mortality, it was a heavy age for me, fortunately I got my games to blow steam between studies, I got the game by... methods, and decided to play it, the gameplay, the music, and specially the Characters, they touched my SOUL, they were a calming wave of wind in a harsh period on my life, I treasured the game with my life, even extracting the save file and putting in a USB that I still keep,

Six years later, now with a small but still constant salary, I honored the game that kept my mental health safe and paid for it, in discount but the idea is the same, I decided to give it another go now with a cold head for its tenth birthday... and the game is still fire, but some aspects didn't exactly age well, today, in this late gift to the Underworld's tenth birthday, we will review...

UNDERTALE

Remembering the Plot of this adventure fills you with DETERMINATION

A kid falling down has never been so important since Son Goku
Long Ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters
One day, war broke out between the two Races
After the long battle the humans we're victorious
They sealed the monsters underground with a spell
Many years later...
MT EBOTT 201X
Legend says that those who climb the mountain never return
With those snippets of Lore the game receives us, the story featuring a child that dared to climb the “cursed” Mountain, however thanks to a mishap with a wild vine he ends up falling into the Underground, the place of the legends narrated, the reason why you made it safely from that fall is because you fell into a convenient bed of yellow flowers, a small walk and you meet your tutorial, a sappy flower named Flowey the Flower, even the theme that plays sounds like something out of a nursery, you are taught how stuff work, here rather than raising Levels, you raise LOVE, oh, so I guess the game isn’t that aggressive after all, heck, rather than dodge the attacks, you are goaded into letting yourself get hit, this is getting really Nick Jr, so let’s hurry up and…

WHAT THE ACTUAL (Redacted) FLOWEY YOU CHEATING WEINER
With this we learn that this game is dominated by Darwinian rules and that here is Kill or Be Killed, fortunately as soon as Flowey hits you your health is restored and Flowey gets sent to the Shadow Realm thanks to a fireball, now the true tutorial, and with that the plot truly begins with Flowey seemingly being the only one that believe that

The summary is simple, but the plot has enough plot twists to keep you engaged, basically you are a Human, and at that point Monster kind is a soul short of breaking the barrier that has casted them out of the outside world, so logically monsters are looking for your throat, After the tutorial Toriel (Yep, the pun is intentional) warns you that Asgore wants your SOUL to break the barrier and now his Royal Guards are looking for you, you are given hope to leave though, you need to reach Asgore and sort things out… or maybe not, then again, is up to you, oh, and Flowey will stick around, even with that humbling blast to its face… cool

You are given three ways to let the story progress:

GENOCIDE/NO MERCY: The evil route, you don’t have to kill anyone in your path, you have to actively leave zero survivors per zone

NEUTRAL ROUTE: You need to kill some monsters, but not exactly all of them, only kill what you need to kill

PACIFIST: The game’s selling point rather than just mashing Attack, the game actively encourages you to negotiate and pacify the enemies of the game, making a Low-Level Run, usually a challenge in RPG’s, not only plausible, but also mandatory, there is a second variant, the TRUE PACIFIST ROUTE, but for that you have to play Neutral first

Warning those who still haven’t played about this section’s spoilers fills you with DETERMINATION

Granted, this game’s beats are known by even people under rocks, still, unless you have played the game or weren’t lucky enough to dodge the spoiler flood in Internet that year, skip to the Gameplay section


GENOCIDE is a brutal deconstruction of Level grinding, the game already stablishes those mobs you kill for loot and to become stronger are their own beings with their own wishes, this route showcases how a normal RPG player in this context would look like for the monster themselves, and I assure you, when the game tells you this route will give you a Bad time, they aren’t bluffing



NEUTRAL: This one isn’t exactly special, but you will have to pass here first for the true ending anyway so let’s see what’s the deal, this route kind of makes sense for a first player, The Fallen Child (You name him) is faced with hostile creatures and told that once they leave the safe have that is Toriel’s HOME, you will be at the mercy of hostile monsters wanting to take your SOUL not exactly willingly, so of course you will want to get at least your hands dusty a little, all for the sake of being stronger to be able to negotiate with Asgore, but in your journey certain plaint will have plans for your SOUL…



PACIFIST/ TRUE PACIFIST: The true route, after certain event in NEUTRAL ROUTE’s Final boss, you get a second chance to make everything better, The Fallen Child has learned the truth of the events in the War, now with his great DETERMINATION he is set to make amends for the lives ruined in NEUTRAL, Flowey will still be a thorn, but maybe here you will learn more about his why of acting, and with all your mercy lessons, you will really want to give even him a hug…

The plot is thick for a game where the routes can be done in two hours if you know what to do or in Four at Worst, leveling isn’t the only trope that exist diegetically (Inside the game’s narrative), but that will go into Gameplay, speaking of…

You learn how to brave the kind but harsh Underworld, that fills you with DETERMINATION

One is Adrian Monk as a magic made monster, other is Johnny Bravo's furry brother, they fight crime... i guess
Navigating your way is nothing more complex than just walking, the game is set in Four “Levels”

New Home: the place where you literally fall, and your Tutorial place

Snowdin: The first proper place, a cold place where you start to get used to the Underground’s… eccentric population

Waterfall: A beautiful place, an area full of the desires of the monsters to simply be free

Hotland: The climax of the game, most parts of the lore are revealed here, and from here, a simple walk to face the King of the Monsters…

Battle is another story, the HUD is first person, in your turn you canchoose to attack, where a bar will go from left to right and you have to hit space/ bottom button when it reaches the center for extra damage, the meat of the combat is when the enemies attack, you have to play a sort of Micro Danmaku where you have to dodge attacks, every enemy has unique attacks, some even having combos if you get a specific monster formation, hard as they come you can survive dire attacks by simply dodging them

Now with combat aside, let’s talk about the meat of the game: *SPARING

Aside of combat and running, you get a third choice in acting, that menu lets you pick a monster and the way you will interact with him, the point here is trying to figure how to pacify the monster, if done correctly his name will become yellow in the SPARE tab, after which you simply choose SPARE and the enemy will no longer attack… or if you are a psycho and are in Genocide or in Neutral but are a dick, one-shot them regardless of stats and remaining life

The game isn’t just meta regarding battles, but tried and done tropes in most RPGs are spoofed or analyzed here:

Stores will NOT buy your junk, try to do so and snark at you or politely refuse, the only store that buys stuff is one attended by a literal Krazy Kat… thingy

Something as simple as Saving is attributed to the arc words of the game: DETERMINATION, and the Fallen Child’s large amounts of it lets him literally undo his defeats, in fact
, is one of those games where the player and the PC are separate entities

That satisfactory animation of Bosses fading away? Monsters that die literally become dust

And in more Spoilery ways even terms are integrated in the narrative


LOVE isn’t a fake term Flowey made, regardless of which route you get, you are explained that LOVE means Level Of ViolEnce, and EXP isn’t Experience, but EXecotuon Points, meaning that by getting stronger, you got better at combat you got worse as person

Determination isn't just a virtue, but a solid substance that can be removed from Human Souls, unfortunately monster SOULS can't handle it, so if they get it directly... well, ask Alphys


The game is perfectly tuned, but it still has lots of stuff they could polish, like the Equipment menu being clearer rather than make you check how many ATK or DEF you currently have compared of your new toy, some monsters having OBTUSE ways to Spare, like Undyne, how you spare her:

Spoiler: Well...

BY RUNNING AWAY, AND YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY AS SOON AS YOU START, MEANING YOU HAVE TO EAT LIKE 4 TURNS OF ATTACKS BEFORE YOU CAN SCRAM!

Pacifist route makes sense you not getting level powerups, but a sort of protection would work, IDK, for every boss spared you earn extra HP, but the worst one is *Deep BREATH*
NO
SPRINT
BUTTON

And The Fallen Child isn’t exactly a runner by virtue of being just a kid, but come on

Remembering the hardships, you went for your trials in the Underground fills you with Determination

The Yellow arros come from a side and flip to hit you from where they actually point, and as the battle goes on she start spamming them... well, shit
The game lacks proper difficulty settings, fortunately each route has varied challenges

NO MERCY

Remember the Bad time threat? It isn’t the route is hard… with two BIG exceptions, but rather the route is TOO EASY, enemies fall in a shot, shops are closed you letting you get stuff for free, NPC’s are gone, almost as if instead of punishing your bloodlust with harsh difficulty the route decided to punish you with something simple but effective: Boredom, and if you let a single monster live before reaching the next stage, all your efforts will be for nothing, you will get two thought fights, but their difficulty isn’t meant to be a challenge or a bonus, you are getting punished


NEUTRAL

Ironically the “Easy mode” as long as your kills only remain as the necessary you will both remain free of guilt and be able to get stronger, letting you tank more hits, both final bosses are still hard, but Asgore can be fell down easily, the next boss on that route… not so much


PACIFIST/TRUE PACIFIST

The middle ground, yeah, you don’t get sucker punched by the No mercy Bosses’ BS, spared enemies doess't drop money, so you can't update your armor and buy food easly unless you micromanage, but worse of all YOU REMAIN STUCK AT 20 HP AND WITHOUT ARMOR YOUR DEFENSE WILL REMAIN AT NOTHING, the final battle fortunately adds a great mechanic where if you die your DETERMINATION saves your rump and lets you respawn,


You hear the echoes of a civilization down the earth, their songs fill you with DETERMINATION

To swallow the frustrating parts of the game, let’s talk about the ANOTHER aspect the game is remembered for, the music, I don’t need to remind you who made the OST, here Toby showed us how great his talent is, weaving together many songs tidy tying them together via usage of Leitmotifs, ¿you know the “Toby fox only wrote a song and rewrote it”? that comes from the fact that the songs are weave together in a organic way uniting them in themes, the Royal Family has Heartache’s melody, anything related to Alphys got Napstablook’s music, and the intro’s them joins the chat in the true final battle, the music is a big deal, and the concert made for the date proofs that even with the equivalent in music making to crayons Toby redraw Renaissance art, just listen to the best hitters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HIKNbnV8nw

And obviously

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3KXAECte4

Absolute music

Seeing the graphical ambient in your journey fills you with DETERMINATION

I am a sucker for river levels, and this one is the tamest graphical display
Just as how the music is an absolute banger, the Graphics are greatly varied, the battle screens are simplistic, you could put them in a GB and barely you would notice where you put them, but the Overworld feels so… alive, each monster is unique and recognizable, the characters are expressive be in battle or in mugshots and the Shop screens give the shop owner their unique charm and tells his personality without even needing to talk to them, and Neutral and ESPECIALLY the True Pacifist Route’s Final boss is a great extent of how creative the graphical department can get

And now, the part we need to address…

Braving a critique on the morals of the game, while still making clear the plot is still solid… you will need lots of DETERMINATION

Granted, the plot has a solid plot about prejudice and realistically even if you come ready to SPARE every monster, the monsters have no way to know that, especially the crummy reception of the previous SOULS (The description of the Green SOUL’s weapon, a pair of ballerina shoes implies they was dusty…), but come on guys, the Underground itself gives a poor reception

Spoiler: *Deep breath*

Toriel gives us a subtle but still poignant example, she gives us a Home, a safe place and an age haven from the hostility of the Underground, fine and dandy, but you obviously NEED to leave to progress, ¿what should you do? Insist, that make her go to the only exit to the Underground proper, declaring she will destroy it, then demands you to prove you can make it out there… via killing her, you most likely spare her, and while the hug she gives is sweet, she more or less tells you to forget her, even refusing to answer your calls
Bakuma’s edition note, apparently there is an obscure talk that practically is an Easter Egg where the Annoying Dog, the Running Gag NPC stole her phone… still wanted to keep you sheltered
Even then, with revelations of the Lore, she basically begs you to kill Asgore, later revealed to be HER HUSBAND…well, Ex-husband, considering your SOUL is the only thing that can release the Monsters, she comes across as petty, and even if you wanted to stay with her ¿What will happen to your SOUL, she will hand it to Asgore the person she is mad for not fulfilling his promise of breaking the barrier?

Undyne literally tries to kill you the second she sees you, yet you are supposed to appease her by proving you aren’t as humanly repressive, even when you actually become her friend, she merely forgets what she did to you and when she apologizes, she merely laughs it off

Metatton just want your SOUL to be famous, that’s all, even when you don’t want to kill him, he is a total dick to Burgerpants for no reason and is implied that he removed the fountain on the Hotels of the Core to place a statue of himself, said statue? The statue dedicated to Asriel, the Prince of the Monsters

Alphys… Oh God Alphys… you can argue it was just her duty regarding her job as Royal Scientist, but she ruined many lives by keeping to herself the mistakes the experiments with the SOULS made, said experiments being Amalgamates, twisted versions of the monsters you fight/befriend, twisted by her experiments, what make it worse is the fact that said experiments came from Monsters with families, families that as soon as she noticed they could be saved she notified that they could be saved, but as soon as the horror settled, she jus slammed a metaphorical door on their faces, ¿What she gets for that?

Nothing

If you befriend Undyne, you get the catharsis of having humbled her by not being like her, knocking her down some pegs, but Alphys gets a simple reassure that she did nothing wrong and at worst she gets “fired”… in the ending where the Barrier is broken thereby she has no use anymore in the Royal Family, at least she has the decency to actually feel bad, and in the true ending she finally reveals what happened to the Monsters she tried to experiment on and released them to their families, so at least she finally is giving them closure

Seriously, the only Monsters that can’t be deemed as guilty are Papyrus since he is too kindhearted, Sans, who is too apathetic to see you as a threat (Unless you become one =) ) and Ironically Flowey, who does everything out of madness and the revelation that he is the slain Prince of the Monsters reincarnated in a flower… by Alphys… accidentally at least

Even without the bosses, some monster mobs still attack you out of just being cretins or being TOO unaware of the harm they do to you, so is logic you want to defend yourself, but the narrative and the narrative nods disapprovingly if you try to at least last longer

Fortunately, the TRUE PACIFIST ending allows them all to sort their messes and start over with a new chance, but still…

Giving your final thoughts in this game makes you use all the DETERMINATION GATHERED

Well, playing the game now with a far more objective view I realized that Gameplaywise as well as Plotwise the game isn’t as flawless as I remember it, that means the game is bad now?

NO, YOU SILLY

The pacifism morale is clumsy, yet the rest of the RPG deconstructions still work, it goes dark at times but it never stop being a cute RPG where you DETERMINATION prevails not by hitting hard, but by resisting the hits and sorting it out, the gameplay is still kind of fizzy, but the battle system will not stop being unique and original, and for as hypocrite at times the pacifism is, the True Pacifism Ending is easily the most satisfactory ending in a videogame PERIOD, the payoff, the freedom you allowed a entire species to reach, the characters, be minor as well as major, finally having closure, that will make you want to go for all the Bullet hells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUaeXgFlFFY

The game isn’t exactly a masterpiece now, but still it is a great comfort game, a funny experience, a heartwarming tale and a great plot with an awesome payoff for all the hardships, the game’s idealism is even idealist right now, in a genre where apparently outedgying each other has become a norm instead of subversion for the sake of “Deconstructing” a genre, seeing a game deconstruct the genre while still retaining the hopeful idealism and heroism is far from redundant, in fact, lots of people would need the message the game wants to tell, not the pacifism one, but rather the one to...

*STAY DETERMINED
After a long way in your life, you will still be you

With all said, this review comes to an END, roll it boys, and...
HAPPY FIRST DECADE UNDERTALE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiaO05_ImsA

BAKUMA OUT​

 

[CyberRabbit]

Thanks for blurring the spoilers @Bakuma1997 !! Really appreciate it, I haven’t played Undertale yet, I’ve played Deltarune but not the original, I remember one of my cousins playing this game on his switch some time back in 2017 when I was 8 (yeah I was and still is pretty young). Would like to play this game someday also nice There She Is!! reference

View attachment 112513

BAKUMA OUT​

(If it is one)
Also this song still exists after all this time (I hope someone gets this reference)

 

[Dany28]

Nice game.

 

[Sorion]

The most memorable song of the game in my opinion:

Spoiler

It gives you hope against impossible odds.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 12:33 PM

I played undertale for the first time in early 2016, and it was a life-changing experience, to say I was obsessed with it it's putting it lightly. earlier this year the game was at a heavy discount on steam, I decided to purchase it and play it again (back in 2016 I didn't know what a "steam" was, whoops) and yeah, it still holds up, some of the jokes I forgot made my laugh out loud, but I indeed questioned the morale of certain characters a bit more on this newer play through , that part of the story doesn't quite hold up compared with the rest of the experience.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Thanks for blurring the spoilers @Bakuma1997 !! Really appreciate it, I haven’t played Undertale yet, I’ve played Deltarune but not the original,

You welcome, popular or not, not everybody has the chance to play/watch something, so blurring it for those is simple decency

 

[kioskmanagerBERT]

i finally played it recently its overrated. The 3d mod demo was pretty cool, i hope some continues the undertale vr thing too very cozy.

 

[CyberRabbit]

when I was 8 (yeah I was and still is pretty young).

Edit
I was 5 not 8, my bad :(

 

[VillainViran]

I'm so thankful I played before the game blew up. I agree with Toby that the game is pretty good, remix of good ideas straight from its inspirations, and the the fandom is kinda gay xD

 

[CyberRabbit]

I'm so thankful I played before the game blew up. I agree with Toby that the game is pretty good, remix of good ideas straight from its inspirations, and the the fandom is kinda gay xD

Wait until you see the Deltarune fandom

 

[DaeZun]

Actually, i feel that Undertale has inflicted an irreparable damage on the indie industry and on impressionable people who had never played an RPG before. The whole game generally feels like a caricature of pacifism, with humour as insufferable and Tumblr-esque as a Scott Pilgrim comic.

 

[CyberRabbit]

Actually, i feel that Undertale has inflicted an irreparable damage on the indie industry and on impressionable people who had never played an RPG before. The whole game generally feels like a caricature of pacifism, with humour as insufferable and Tumblr-esque as a Scott Pilgrim comic.

Quick question, what’s going on in your profile picture?

What did he do?

 

[DaeZun]

Quick question, what’s going on in your profile picture?View attachment 112881What did he do?

 

[CyberRabbit]

View attachment 112885

Oh ok that makes sense