I’ve played PC games Since I was six years old. Not the classic games you’d think, like Resident Evil, Red Dead Redemption, or any other game with violent graphics. There is nothing wrong with those games, but as someone who is a bit more on the sensitive side, I find that violent video games can be distressing for me. That said, most of the video games I’m drawn to are RPG (role-playing games), such as Pokemon, Imaginary Friends by Mannytsu, and Heavy Rain. I love games that are interactive with the other characters and can have multiple outcomes and endings that make you question, “What the heck just happened? I need to lie down.”
Undertale, created by Toby Fox, has all the characteristics that I seek out when I’m starting a new video game. This video game was released on September 15, 2015, for PC and Mac. I first played it when it was released, year after year, I keep coming back for the nostalgia and brilliant story. The game is just that good. Due to it being the 9th anniversary of Undertale on September 15, I figured since I loved the game so much, I could recommend it to all other video game lovers!
The Plot (Minor Spoilers!)
For those of you who don’t know what this indie-fantasy game entails, you are an 8-year-old kid who sets off on an adventure to Mt. Ebott. On the top of this mountain is a deep, dark hole that drops down to a city called “The Underground.” The Underground is where monsters were banished to reside after a war struck between them and humans. Sadly, the monsters did lose and are now shunned from being out into the real world. The humans put a magical seal over the mountain’s original entrance, making it hard for anyone trapped there to get out. This happened hundreds of years before the main character was born. Stories and fables are what I believe piqued the interest of the child to go and check out if the monsters were real or not. Unfortunately, we don’t know the real reason the main character goes to Mt. Ebott, and this is highly speculated in the fandom. While you’re down there, you get to meet tons and tons of different monsters! Some are curious about you and want to be your friend; others want to kill you, and some want to capture you and take you to their King… who will also want to kill you. The point of the game is to try and safely get out of The Underground. You can save the monsters and free them to live happily above ground with you or eliminate them all while you go home. It’s up to you during the game to figure out if you will take a neutral, pacifist, or genocide approach to these characters. Every action you take in the game will affect the outcome, and every time you restart the game, some of the characters will start to catch on that their reality may not be what they initially thought it was.
On the surface, it may look like you’re saving the monsters and allowing them to live not in fear but in harmony with humans. If you dig deeper, however, you’ll start to find the secrets- and skeletons- this game has to offer. The characters have lived in The Underground for over a millennia, and over time, you’ll start to notice that your character was not the first human that had fallen down in The Underground. Seven other children had been there before you. Once a human dies, all that is left is their SOUL. The SOUL cannot be destroyed, only transmuted into magic. This magic can be consumed by monsters and was believed to be able to break the magical seal that was cast over Mt. Ebott. The King of The Underground, King Asgore, expected that if he captured and destroyed seven humans and consumed their souls, he would be able to free his people.
But wait a minute- seven humans were already there before the main character, so wouldn’t the King have had enough SOULs to be able to free all the monsters? I guess you’ll have to play the game to find out!
“The friendly RPG where nobody has to die!”
Undertale would have to be my all-time favorite video game I’ve ever played. First off, I love the game’s graphics and music. It resembles Pokemon, another game that is very nostalgic and has a special place in my heart. The graphics give the perfect 90’s feel, but also a great mixture of the mid-2010s. Alongside the sentiment I feel for the game’s illustration, I also love the characters. If you choose the pacifist side, you’ll make tons of friends with the monsters and be able to observe their character development! It’s the first time in a very long time that any monster has seen a human, so imagine how their views (and actions) must change when you prove to them that not all humans are deceitful. Not only do you make friends, but you help the characters be able to process that humans are not all bad, and neither are they. This game portrays some forms of mental illness that I feel everyone can relate to. Depression, anxiety, unpacking trauma. You get a front-row seat of the toll it took on all the monsters to have to leave their homes and hide away from society because they’re “different” or “scary looking”. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know from first-hand experience that I’ve felt that I’ve had to hide some parts of myself from others, too. This game gave hope to 15-year-old me that someday I’ll find genuine friendships that I won’t have to shield myself from. Not only does it have a serious side, but a silly side, too! With funny puzzles, pranks, and witty small talk while on dates (yes, with the other monsters), this game really does have it all! This game is definitely fun-loving, but it does have a dark and mysterious side. If you want to unpack this game’s complexities, I highly recommend playing on all three routes- neutral, pacifist, and genocide, specifically in this order.
The first time I played, I played neutral. I wasn’t sure how to play the game correctly, so I may have destroyed a monster or two. I was extremely unsatisfied with the ending, as I didn’t free the monsters. Again, I didn’t know how to play the game the “right way,” so my character was a bit selfish and left all the monsters to be unhappy in The Underground. The second time around, I played pacifist. This is my go-to whenever I play because I genuinely love all the characters so much, and it makes me sad to watch any of them perish. There’s a “flawed pacifist” and a “true pacifist” ending, and each ending is very different depending on every little minute of detail you do in the game. Yes, literally everything. I freed the monsters and lived happily with them. This is my all-time favorite ending. The third time around, I did genocide. Genocide was extremely difficult, especially the final boss. You must eliminate absolutely EVERYONE, which means you can’t leave a room in a game until you get a pop-up that says, “But nobody came.” Monsters will eventually hide and run from you, and before you know it the cutesy lil’ town that you arrived at has turned into a deserted graveyard. Once you’ve completed the ending to genocide, the game will remember that you’ve done this, and each ending will always have a reminder that the monsters’ blood is on your hands, even if you do pacifist the next time around.
“Despite everything, it’s still you.”
This magical, entertaining, and sometimes emotional game is the epitome of what an RPG should be. I thoroughly enjoy this game very much, and I always recommend it to any video game lover who enjoys relaxing dialogue with cute little characters, a mystical aesthetic, and secrets that may or may not be uncovered. With the anniversary of Undertale upon us and the spooky season drawing near, I highly recommend this instant RPG classic. It’s the perfect fall game to put on while you’re sipping on a pumpkin spice latte and snuggling up with a heated blanket. Toby Fox outdid himself on this adorable but yet mysterious game. This game deserves all the hype and praise and is available to play on any console you prefer. Not all monsters are like the ones that are hiding under your bed, and they may just end up being your friend!
