The year was 2016. Everything seemed to be going downhill yet so fun at the same time, a political battle between Trump and Hilary captured everyone’s attention, Harambae, the start of YouTube’s downfall, and it was the biggest year for the controversial “GamerGate” in the gaming community. Yet, there is a game that captured everyone’s attention. What was the game? Well, it was a small indie game called “Undertale”!
When the game first came out, its popularity blew up because of how unique everything was for being an indie game that is turned-based and the game is the definition of a “you had to be there” moment as this game was huge for gamers and non-gamers.
The story and what makes it unique:
To summarize the game quickly as I don’t wanna give out spoilers to a short game, it is about a character named “Frisk”, he/she fell into a hole in another world full of monsters that look evil, but are quite lovely. Not getting too much into the story but I highly recommend YOU to play this amazing gem as this game has an amazing art style, story, and music. Not to mention, it was all created by one man, “Toby Fox”. – Fun fact: Toby Fox was brought in by Nintendo to create a soundtrack for “Pokemon Sword/Shield” and “Smash Bros Ultimate” to play with the creator of the game, “Sakurai”, as they brought his character from Undertale to Smash Bros.
But there was something that stood out in this game: the option to play as a “true pacifist” as the game offers four routes to be played. In Undertale, it is encouraged you don’t hurt or kill anyone during your encounter, but instead get to know them and spare them from harm. This ranges from regular enemies to boss fights. If you complete the game without harming and killing anyone, you have completed the game as a “True Pacifist Route”, everyone lives, and it is quite a wonderful moment in the ending. There is much more I want to go into, but I think it is better to experience this on your own. But as a side note, if you do this route, you will only need to fight one boss and that is “King Asgore”, but you spare him in the end.
Did you notice how I said “Routes”? Or how I mentioned that you are encouraged to spare the monsters? What would happen if you harmed and killed the monsters? Well, if you killed EVERYONE in each section (and you will know when you have done this), you will be completing the “True Genocide Route”. The music goes from warming and fun to an eerie ambience. You are all alone, with your thoughts, thinking about what you have done to the monsters that were living their life in peace. You have a skeleton friend in the game named “Sans” (puns on “Comic Sans”), he is a funny and very bubbly person. But in the end, you will be stopped by him in each route as you recount your action in the game, but if you did the “True Genocide”, you will have to fight him. He has 1 HP, but is considered the hardest boss in the game, and as he said before you fought him, “Do you wanna have a bad time?”.
If you manage to beat him, you will encounter a character named “Chara”, she will jump-scare the player, kill them, and close out of your game.
Another spooky element in the game is a character named “Gaster”, you never see the character but you see his name a lot near the ending in a room full of… something. I can’t say it since it spoils the twist and ending of the game for the pacifist route. But he is up there and has many theories about people trying to figure out who he is, how he looks, and his relation to “Sans” and his younger brother, “Papyrus” (his name is also a pun of a font). For a small indie game created by one person, it has many secrets and lore packed into the game and it is quite fascinating.
The Music:
After briefly going over the game, I just wanna say that Undertale is honestly amazing, I highly recommend checking it out. The music alone is beautiful, the game is short but very fun, and many secrets that are waiting to be found in the underworld full of fun monsters. If you have the time to check out the soundtrack, Click on this link to access the soundtrack on Spotify. But in the meantime, I wanna share my favourite soundtrack from the game that I recommend listening to. It is quite a beautiful track, and I think this song would give you a taste of what you’re getting into when you explore the rest of the soundtrack.
Conclusion and links to the game:
If you would like to purchase the game, you can check out these links on where you can get them for your consoles! Again, thank you for taking the time to read this as I discuss the story, the uniqueness of the game and the amazing soundtracks!
Please feel free to comment about your favourite game or what you like about Undertale!
PC | PlayStation 4/5 | Xbox One/Series X and S | Nintendo Switch
“You are filled with Determination.”