Now and then a videogame comes up that completely shakes up the landscape. Undertale is one such game that seems like an old-school RPG game at first but turns out to be something much more different. It’s going to require much more effort than just a few words to capture the brilliance of Undertale. Let’s begin with the man responsible for releasing this absolute gem the developer.
An Undertale simulator game:
Toby Fox – The developer
It’s rare for an indie game to become one of the most massive phenomena in gaming, it’s even more unusual for games that have only one person working on them to reach the same levels of mainstream popularity. Toby Fox is the genius behind the now critically acclaimed Undertale. After the game’s release in 2015, it blew up on the steam store receiving upwards of million sales globally.
The game became a pop culture phenomenon; on every form of social media you could see multiple discussing different aspects of the game. The fact that the game was entirely a product of his work was equally impressive. The only help Toby Fox took was on the character sprites, apart from that he did everything on his own. The success of the game put Toby on the Forbes 30 under 30 lists.
Toby is currently working on developing his next game which goes by the name of Deltarune. Many people posit that this game is an Undertale sequel while the development of the game has begun, we’ll have to wait until Toby completes the video game.
Game Trailer
Undertale Wiki
Starting up the game feels like the beginning of a classic RPG game, the game takes a lot of inspiration from this genre. However, the game is going to take all the conventional video game tropes you have in your mind and turn them upside down.
The story begins with two worlds, the human world and the monster world. You fall down a hole into the monster world and that’s when the story begins. Along the way you’ll discover so many memorable characters and so many new ways to interact with the environments in the game. The game doesn’t necessarily offer you any tutorials, it expects you to understand the mechanics of an RPG game and be familiar with how to play with them on the go.
Additionally, the game works on these existing mechanics and adds higher weight to them than ever before. The writing of the game is incredibly unique, and it perfectly understands the people playing the game. There are several different ways to play through the game.
You can be completely pacifist(peace-lover) in your gameplay or play aggressively. Each different type of gameplay has its own unique storytelling experience. The game further has an exact consequence sequence. You can’t take advantage of the reset system in the game, because it remembers all the consequences.
If you try taking advantage of the system a unique character will come to remind you that they remember your actions. Undertale is easily one of the unique gameplay experiences out there. There’s no real entity like it and trying it out is essential.
Gameplay
Undertale takes significant use of mechanisms already present in RPG games. The game follows a turn by turn pattern. However, when the monsters attack you, there’s a mini-game you have to play. The mini-game revolves around having to dodge different sets of progressions and attacks. However, the mini-game sequence isn’t a unique part. The gameplay mechanics are entirely integrated with the storytelling.
You except the boss battles to have a lot of unique interactions that will continue to surprise you as you play. However, even the most random of encounters in the game have a meaningful impact on the story. Whatever way you interact with the game, regardless of whether you employ pacifist strategies or choose to be aggressive each encounter has a unique impact.
Undertale allows you to play in a complete pacifist manner. You can play the entire game without eliminating a single monster and this playthrough can be incredibly rewarding. You can interact with the creatures in various pacifist ways. You can pet monsters, greet them, cheer them up and even on occasion flirt with the monsters.
Yes, the game essentially allows you to complete it in its entirety without killing a single boss, allowing you to build meaningful relationships with some of the most well-written characters in gaming history. All the Undertale characters are incredibly memorable.
Monsters Have Feelings
We’re so insensitive towards destroying everything we see in games, we don’t realize and stop for a second to understand our enemies. Undertale essentially allows you to do that. You can interact with all the monsters in the game.
Each monster will have their personality, and they’ll even share some of their greatest fears and hopes with you. This incredibly unique take on what are primarily supposed to be enemies you clear up along the way to bosses creates a world that feels incredibly alive. The writing in the game is brilliantly hilarious, and the characters are so quirky, that you may sometimes forget that each monster in the game is dealing with their struggles.
In spite of its hilarity Undertale tosses up several touching moments, some so touching that they may even cause you to overwhelm with emotion. The game talks about incredibly real subjects allowing those that play to relate to the games both in times of joy and sadness.
Amongst the games, most memorable characters are Sans and Papyrus. The skeletal brothers where one is overwhelmingly enthusiastic and spontaneous(papyrus), the other is quiet and brooding (Sans). Additionally, these characters represent an emotional problem as well that I won’t spoil for you.
Music and Art
Toby Fox is not only a game design genius, but he’s also a brilliant music composer. He made the entire score for Undertale himself. The musical score works incredibly well with the feel of the game. It further changes depending on your style of play, if you choose to play in a mass genocidal way the music becomes incredibly bleak and almost horror game like.
If you choose to play the pacifist way, you will experience a bright and cheerful musical score that you’ll be humming along to in no time. The artwork in the game may not be the best, at certain points in the game you could say it was bad. The interactive nature of the world makes sure that the artwork doesn’t become a major issue.
What To Do Once You Finish The Game?
When you look at the world of Undertale, it isn’t going to take too long to finish. Even if you spend massive amounts of time exploring and building relationships, once you end the game you can easily play through it again using a different style of play. Playing through the game again and again will earn you more knowledge of the game world. Undertale is a game that is one that rewards multiple playthroughs.
If you play through the game multiple times, you might be wondering where it is you go now. Undertale 2 or the new game Toby Fox is working Deltarune is currently in development. You could try out the console releases of the game, but they aren’t much different than the PC version.
Undertale Online
Undertale is one of the games that develop a cult-like following. The fans of the game border on obsessive levels. Their dedication essentially creates an online community that continually offers support to other players. Additionally, the group is responsible for creating minigames that are similar to Undertale.
There even exists a version of Undertale online that is playable. However, Toby Fox doesn’t endorse this version, and the game technically should be illegal. Moving away from talking about something serious, the Undertale community makes a lot of Undertale memes as well. It’s sporadic for a game to develop such a following immediately. Even if you play through the game multiple times, the existence of a community keeps the hope alive.
If you are suffering from immense Undertale withdrawal, you can always go to the community and swap stories with players. Undertale has that effect on gamers, what tend to be typically hostile areas for other gamers the Undertale following is incredibly supportive.
The Last Word
Undertale is easily one of the unique gaming experiences you could have. It’s no battle simulator or game that incorporates the latest in technology. It doesn’t have the best graphics in the world. However, what it has are story and meaning. Boy does it have account and purpose, the game will take you for one of the most meaningful adventures you could get in a game. The game is up there with leaders of the RPG genre such as the Witcher 3 in terms of storytelling.
Furthermore, the game is a must try for anyone. Even if you aren’t into RPGs, buy the game for the sake of the storytelling and the impact this game will have on you. Undertale is genuinely one game that may change your life.