Undertale (Part 1)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

The OG killer enemy.

I love games with branching paths. Games where your choices matter. It’s like Schrödinger’s Plot: Two or more options, they’re all possible, and your actions determine which option you choose. You could argue even the most basic of games has millions of possibilities. In a way, even Super Mario Bros. branches off as soon as you meet a Goomba: You jump past it, stomp it, or get killed by it.

That part will never cease to amaze me.

You could also compare it to quantum superposition: Multiple states existing all at once, all happening at the same time, and as a result none of them is actually happening. …Quantum physics are a pain in the ass to explain. You might remember that concept best from the Rick and Morty episode “A Rickle in Time”. It may have also been a part of other stories, but it’s the best example I can think of. Not to shill a show I like, but… Hey! You try finding another story out there that utilizes a concept like quantum superposition! The only other example I can think of that somewhat applies is the movie Mr. Nobody, and that was just a mess!

Well, there is a reason I’m talking about this today, in my introduction to this review of Undertale: This is, after all, one of those games where your choices have larger ramifications in the long run. Your first actions will radically alter the course of the story. Don’t @ me about “But spoilers!” The game’s almost three years old now, and the fanbase has spoiled it all to Hell and back. To say that Undertale has multiple paths, the most prominent two being an all-pacifist option and an all-murderous one, is about as much a spoiler now as Vader being Luke’s dad or Rosebud being the name of a winter sled. Although, Undertale is more like one Pacifist route, one No Mercy route, and enough possible neutral paths between the two to fill an 8X8 grid, possibly even more.

But still, here’s my fair warning. If you haven’t played Undertale yet, or do not wish to read spoilers about the game, then you might want to skip this review. Come back in four weeks or so. Because I’m going in deep, and I will be revealing just about everything.

You’re staying? Good! Welcome to Planned All Along’s fifth year anniversary review, in which I am reviewing a Steam indie game! Felt like I needed to do something else than a Nintendo game for once, for the occasion.

It always makes me happy to see a crowdfunded game
become so popular. 

Released for Windows on September 15^th, 2015, Undertale is the project of indie developer Toby Fox, financed through Kickstarter. Crowdfunding has a bit of a bad name due to the sheer number of projects that never come to fruition in spite of reaching their funding goals, but one can’t deny that a lot of great games also came out, that would have never been made without these platforms. I reviewed a few games that had been crowdfunded. From a stating goal of 5,000$, the campaign for Undertale actually amassed more than ten times that amount, managing to fulfill the requirements for every additional stretch goal.

And so the game was released, stunning everyone and becoming the source of hundreds of memes. So beloved and praised that many folks got sick of it – but that’s never stopped me from ever reviewing a game everyone had heard of, right? Good ol’ me, swinging the bat one more time after everybody’s gotten sick of beating the dead horse! Heh. Hopefully this entire review doesn’t become a long-winded jab at myself.

This game is officially described as an RPG, and it is, but it’s also a puzzle game and a Bullet Hell. It’s another of those instances where a fusion of genres leads to a truly unique gameplay. This, my friends, is Undertale.

But no instances of "The Beauty and the  Beast"-like
relationships were ever recorded.
As far as we know.

The intro tells of a time where two species lived together: Humans, and monsters (which are apparently all the same genetic code, like Pokémon? I dunno). One day, war broke out between the two kinds and the monsters lost, to be driven underground and trapped there with a spell. Cut to modern day (more precisely, year 201X – AKA, 18 months from now, this game will be officially set in the past), as we see a young child climbing Mount Ebott, tripping and falling down a hole at the top of the mountain…

Cue the title screen and the closest chiptune can get to the Inception horn.

*BWOWM*

From there, we can start the game. Let’s name the save file! As one of many, many, MANY Easter Eggs in the game, if you try to name the six-character file after most of the major characters in the game, you won’t be allowed to (exceptions are made for some different spellings of character names, like PAPYRU). I can't use NICOLAS, not enough room. Let's just do NICO.

And so the game starts with the protagonist waking up on a bed of flowers. Walking towards the only door in the area, they come across a flower with a face, which presents itself as Flowey – and it shows how things work down here, in the Underground.

"Now let me try to kill you in the friendliest of ways."

I'm already a lot less afraid! Thanks!

There is an RPG element to this game, but you don’t just attack and then receive hits. No, on the enemy’s turn to attack, a window appears on the screen with a little red heart – your Soul – and white… er, bullets and stuff. I say that because the "bullets" (anything white) can take any form, though the concept is the same: Avoid the white items, they hurt your Hit Points. Flowey tries to get you to run into the bullets, but you can mess with him if you know better – either way, he traps you in an inescapable attack. A trap from which you’re saved by a fireball coming from the side of the screen, sent from a motherly goat who walks in and decides to present this world to the child, in a much friendlier manner.

The video game equivalent of covering the child in
styrofoam to make sure they never get hurt, ever, ever.

These are the Ruins, her current home. Her name is Toriel, and she knows all the puzzles in here. At first, she keeps solving the puzzles in the child’s place, never letting them do things on their own. Hey, I know this is a tutorial… from Toriel… but come on now, we won’t learn unless we do things on our own. Goatmooooooooom! I don’t need your hand-holding! You’re giving me shame in front of… er… oh wait, there’s nobody else here. We get to a hall where Toriel presents a new puzzle to us, but then we encounter our first actual enemy, a Froggit.

Avoiding bullets is important (considering how few HP you have at the beginning), but you also need to know the other combat options. First is FIGHT: A horizontal area will appear on-screen, with a moving vertical bar. You stop it with the Z button, and the closer to the center the bar is when you stop it, the more damage you’ll do. If you want to fight, that is. Instead, you can ACT, which first opens a menu where you pick the enemy you want to interact with, then one of some possible actions. That frog, you can either give it a compliment or threaten it. Some actions will change an opponent’s opinion of you, often leading it to accept your option to spare it. There’s the usual ITEM option, to use healing objects or such. Then there’s MERCY, which can be used after successfully befriending an opponent. It ends the fight, you get no EXP, but you will get some Gold. It’s easy to find out when an enemy is ready for Mercy, its name becomes yellow (most of the time). Alright, what do I do now… FIGHT, or ACT… Let’s go with FAICGTHT

Two options are highlighted? That's not right.

Wait, what?

No! I pick AFICGHTT! No! I choose FIAGCHTT! No!

I CHOOSE ACT                                                                       I CHOOSE FIGHT

Whoa whoa! What is what is

Wwhhaatt iiss ggooiinngg oonn

WWHHOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA                                       AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Well... that was weird. Well, now with ACT picked, I choose to Compliment the Froggit, but it doesn’t understand me, it just leaves when Toriel gives it the death glare.

Hopefully that thing that just happened won’t affect me too much.

I'll admit I'm surprised too. I normally don't call a goat
my mom.

Past that point, Toriel still does quite a bit of hand-holding when it comes to puzzles, at least up to a point, after which she leaves you alone to see if you can handle things by yourself. The enemies become more common by this point. They’re still easy to convince and spare, this is just the first area after all. Toriel even gives you a little cell phone, which can be used to call her! Say hello, call her “Mother”… Why not?

More puzzles follow, along with new enemies. If you gathered enough money by sparing enemies, you can buy food from a spider bake sale, and continue on your way up to a path of leaves taking you deeper into the Ruins. Near that entrance, there’s also a secondary path leading to a large view of a faraway city. With a toy knife on the floor. Hm, wonder if I should…

I'm so sorry Toriel... I can't stay. I hope you understand...

And so, we find a dark tree, and Toriel nearby. Just up there, her home. Ooh, it looks cozy and charming in here. Toriel shows the child their new bedroom, though you’re free to explore the house as you wish. But there’s no going downstairs just yet. Sure enough, after the child sleeps in their new bed for a bit, they wake up to a slice of freshly-baked pie, and come into the living room to find Toriel reading. Upon the child asking repeatedly how to leave the Ruins, she gets up and hurries somewhere.

She’s found downstairs, where she menaces to blow up the exit of the Ruins, the only exit leading outside. Toriel explains that every child who left her died out there, at the hands of a certain Asgore. You know he’s evil, his name’s in red in the dialogue box. Still, the child refuses to listen and follows Toriel, who realizes there’s no way to change your mind. The first proper boss battle ensues, and there’s no fleeing her.

I always wondered why those green squares were there,
around the opponent.

Do I attack, or do I try something? Her stats say 80 ATK 80 DEF. Nope, way too strong for me. Goatmom is badass. And she’s not in a mood to talk, either, so any attempt to ACT leads to nothing. Here’s the first real puzzle, the one that makes you think outside the box. It took me a lot of time to figure it out, but the only way to beat her is to ask for Mercy repeatedly. Once the child’s health is low enough, she stops trying to hit their soul in her Bullet Hell box. Clearly she doesn’t want to beat you.

Maybe if I just keep on asking nicely she’ll move away… surely that’s the solution… Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy… her dialogue isn’t changing all that much… is it really the solution? Maybe there’s a different way? No, let’s keep trying. Eventually she doesn’t fight back at all, and your clicks of Mercy bring her to accept that you want to leave and she cannot stop you. I’m sorry, Toriel. I don’t want to hurt you, but… I still need to find my way home.

Still, thanks for everything, Toriel.

This hug unfortunately has no actual healing
properties... but it makes one feel good inside.

On the way out, the child meets with Flowey again, who laughs off the fact that there were no kills just yet. Hey, if I have the option to hurt no one, I will try. Flowey blabs about a much darker plan incoming, but then leaves, allowing the child to step out of the Ruins… in Part2.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Well! That was weird. Well, now with FIGHT picked, I set the cursor near the center and punch the Froggit, which dissipates into dust.

Hopefully that thing that just happened won’t affect me too much.

I am not being cute, I am being flirty! Stop it!

Past that point, Toriel still does quite a bit of hand-holding when it comes to puzzles, at least up to a point, after which she leaves you alone to see if you can handle things by yourself. The enemies become more common by this point. They’re still easy to defeat, this is just the first area after all. Toriel even gives you a little cell phone, which can be used to call her! Ask about her, get all flirty… Why not?

More puzzles follow, along with new enemies. Best to defeat them all and gather cash and EXP for what’s coming. If you gathered enough money by beating enemies, you can buy food from a spider bake sale, and continue on your way up to a path of leaves taking you deeper into the Ruins. Near that entrance, there’s also a secondary path leading to a large view of a faraway city. With a toy knife on the floor! Awesome!

That pie will be useful, I'll need the calories if I want to
get out of this Underworld alive.

And so, we find a dark tree, and Toriel nearby. Just up there, her home. Ooh, it’s such a pretty nice house in here. Toriel shows the child their new bedroom, though you can explore the house as you wish. But there’s no going downstairs just yet. Sure enough, after the child sleeps in their new bed for a bit, they wake up to a slice of delicious, tasty pie, and come into the living room to find Toriel reading. Upon the child asking repeatedly how to leave the Ruins, she gets up and hurries somewhere.

She’s found downstairs, where she menaces to blow up the exit of the Ruins, the only exit leading outside. Toriel explains that every child who left her died out there, at the hands of a certain Asgore. He must be some jackass monster if his name’s in red in the box. Still, the child refuses to listen and follows Toriel, who realizes there’s no way to change your mind. The first proper boss battle ensues, and there’s no fleeing her.

Do I attack, or do I try something? Her stats say 80 ATK 80 DEF. Holy Hell, that’s tough. Goatmom is badass. And there’s nothing to say to her, either, so no talking. Here’s the first proper challenge, the one that makes it or breaks it for the child. But she’s been so nice, I feel awful attacking her… I must prove I am tough enough for the outside world! Once the child’s health is low enough, she stops trying to hit you in her Bullet Hell box. Clearly she doesn’t want to beat you.

Well I just felt my heart split as well.

Maybe if I whittle down her HP like in Pokémon she’ll move… surely that’s the solution… Attack, attack, attack, attack… I barely do scratch damage… is it really the solution? Maybe there’s a different way? Okay, let’s do some Mercy. Combo Mercy/Fight till she’s at 50% and vulnerable… Some more convincing, another attack, and… instead of bringing up a white flag, her HP falls to zero, she says I’m a monster, and disappears. Toriel!! Toriel…

I’m sorry… I didn’t want to get to this…

On the way out, the child meets with Flowey again, who declares his desire to become even more powerful than the child… whom he addresses by the name we used on the save file. And from there, he disappears and we leave the ruins… in Part 2.

Sure, let's do as the villain tells us to do!
What could go wrong?

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.