Undertale
• PC (Windows) • Adventure, Puzzle, RPGUndertale is set in the Underground, a realm where monsters were banished after war broke out with humans. The story follows a human child that has fallen into the Underground, and the relationships they form with the monsters they encounter as they try to make it back home.
Thoughts
I keep things a bit cryptic for the sake of remaining spoiler-free. I think this game is best experienced like that. Please keep that in mind as you read.
Undertale is practically impossible to avoid if you’re within a certain age range, are at least a bit interested in games, and have an internet connection. Since its release, it has sold over 5 million copies and been listed as one of the best video games ever made by many different publications. It is an impressive achievement considering it was made almost entirely by one person. It has also given way to many derivative works of art, generating a very engaged and creative community around it. Knowing that, it’s almost a miracle that I managed to remain completely spoiler-free for 10 years!
I couldn’t tell you exactly why I had never gotten around to playing it. It was one of those games that had remained in my backlog for so long that I had become used to its presence. But then Deltarune, its episodic alternate story, was released. My timeline was flooded with fanart, and soon the FOMO kicked in. However, I wanted to experience Deltarune “the right way”. The same way that someone that had played Undertale would. So before I knew it, I was sitting in front of the TV with my partner, getting my ass kicked by a crew of dancing spiders.
”It fills you with Determination”
Undertale is one of the most charming games I’ve played in a long time. Its humorous dialogue, silly characters, and adorable pixel art will have you smiling ear to ear. The soundtrack is so good that it’ll have you questioning whether the game is actually just an elaborate marketing strategy for a fantastic album. The storytelling is captivating, and once you begin to connect the dots it’s easy to fall into a rabbit hole of theories. But… there are many other indie games that tick those boxes, so what makes Undertale unique?
While the story of Undertale covers many themes such as friendship, love, acceptance… what is arguably the most prominent one of them is reflected in the gameplay itself. It switches up the classic formula, and gives the player the ability to spare anyone they encounter. Interestingly, it is an turn-based battle game where you don’t have to fight. Now, whether you fight or not is up to you, but know that there will be consequences. Paving your own freedom, and having the determination to carry out your will and accept its outcome, are probably the concepts that stuck with me the most. It not only made me put more thought into my own actions within Undertale, but gave new context to actions that I’ve taken in other video games before.
”Don’t you have anything better to do?”
I’m no completionist, but I am one of those people that will do one last lap around the room before moving on. If there is hidden dialogue, I will attempt to trigger it. If there are different endings, I will leave just as many save files ready to witness them all. Undertale might have changed that.
The game has lots of content for you to explore and it makes you aware of it, yet it also begs you to put it down once you’re done. That human curiosity to see what a character does if you poke around, the accomplishment in having seen all possible outcomes… Undertale makes you question these, and even attaches a feeling of guilt to them.
Learning to let go is a powerful message that can be applied to many different situations in life, and one that will stay with me for a while.