Undertale (Part 2)

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

(Reminder: MAJOR spoilers ahead.)

*long fart noise*
Well that was an overly-long gag.

Continuing on this road because I really like this idea of sparing people and defusing drama. We’re now in Snowdin Forest. Walking through, I could swear this place isn’t as empty as it looks. Reaching a bridge, we’re approached by a shadowy figure who asks for a handshake, and when we turn around to offer it we’re greeted by a big sloppy fart noise. Whoopie cushion in hand, huh? Normally they have a buzzer in there. I guess that would just be too mean. This is Sans (or rather, sans, as he says), and he’s a joker. I mean, you’re reading this on the Internet right now, so you have heard of Sans. Everyone has heard of Sans. He’s become kind of an overdone meme.

"On the off-chance that there's a human hidden there who's
the exact shape of the lamp?"

The skeleton states that he should be on watch to find humans, but he’s too lazy to do so. His brother Papyrus, however, is very dedicated to that task. Upon getting to an open area, Sans tells us to hide behind a conveniently-shaped lamp, which we do to go unnoticed as Papyrus shows up. He asks his brother if he’s seen any humans, which the bigger-boned one responds by the negative. After the taller skeleton leaves, we move forward but Sans says we should try to make Papyrus happy by showing up for the guy. He wants to see a human so much. …Sure, why not!

A little later we see the two skeletons again, and Papyrus (eventually) realizes that we’re a human. Not the brightest bulb, this one, hm? He runs off to prepare puzzles for you to solve, because that’s how it’s supposed to go in video games I guess.

Well yeah, you showed me the way!

Papyrus challenges the protagonist to various puzzles, but keeps messing them up and making them easy for the child. Frequently, he just ends up giving him the answers!They turn into a walk in the park. Papyrus is very ineffective, laughably so - but the lighthearted comedy is very much welcome here. Gotta give it to the game, it knows how to be funny. These two skeletons will tickle your funny bone. Heh, sorry, I know it's an easy one, I couldn’t resist.

Well, at least that word search puzzle is literally unsolvable.

They must not be very effective Royal Guardsmen
if they can be defeated by petting.

On the way, we encounter the Royal Guard:  First, a blind anthropomorphic dog who only recognizes when there’s movement, and the fight against him brings in a new gameplay mechanic where blue attacks in the bullet hell sections will hurt your little red heart only if it comes into contact with the attack while moving. Pet ‘im to spare ‘im. Later, we also meet a couple of anthropomorphic dogs, and they’re a pretty decent challenge to spare - but that’s alright. There’s a way.

No skipping Papyrus’ puzzles, though! They’re harmless, but at least they offer some pretty good entertainment. The banter between Papyrus and Sans is hilarious. It’s like they’re trying to make it a good experience for you, make it so that you know they’re fun guys! Everything to make sure you don’t move away from the route of pacifism chosen so far. And pacifism is what I chose, so I’ll keep it up!

Oh hey, personalized message! Cool!

The land outside is snow and ice, but this shop looks warm.

At last, we step into Snowdin and talk to the townspeople. In RPG fashion, it’s an interesting way to learn more about the setting. Past Snowdin, we find Papyrus again, and this time he engages us into a fight. He won’t turn his attacks blue - he will turn YOUR heart blue! As it turns out, Papyrus wants to capture you, not defeat you - he won’t accept a Mercy, either, so there’s only one thing you can do - lose to him. He’ll stop when you’re down to 1 HP (he can’t kill you), and then he’ll bring you to his garage, turned into a makeshift “prison”… which you can super-easily escape from and fight him again. And again. 

Blue attacks don't hurt me if I don't move.
So the battle is currently at a... standstill.

Really, that’s how you beat him - eventually he gives up on fighting you because you won’t stop coming back, but then you can become good friends afterwards.

It's also possible to beat him by avoiding the entirety of
his attack patterns, leading to a "you're not losing, so I
say we got a draw" situation.

Just how many booklets can fit
inside that book? I guess it's
bigger on the inside.

You can even date Papyrus! BEST GAME EVER! And then you get his cell phone number, so you can call him anytime for a quip about the place you’re in, or in rarer cases a bit of advice on what to do. Look around his house, learn more about him, then have the playdate. Huh. That house has one of Sans’ books, one filled with jokes, yet containing a quantum physics book, which also has a joke book inside… Hm, wonder if Sans knows about quantic superposition? Hm, let’s continue on our way for now.

Next up is the Waterfall area, where some citizens are trying to see Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard. If I may break the retelling of the story a bit to raise a point… There’s a few issues with the Pacifist Run so far. As you can guess, your LV remains 1 and your HP stays at 20. You are very fragile. As a result, your best chance to survive is to grab any armor you find and hone these Bullet Hell skills. What doesn’t help matters is that your inventory is very limited (8 items maximum), and on a first playthrough you will often need to spend quite some time in a fight in order to figure out how to solve the puzzle of Sparing the current opponent(s). That S is in parentheses because some random encounters may involve multiple monsters at once, and they tend to combine their attack patterns. Which is, admittedly, pretty creative and adds some difficulty to the game, and that’s good.

You can learn something about everyone.
Except Grilby's. Nobody cares about the barman.

Staying on the Pacifist route is actually not that tough, since you just need to remember to never directly attack enemies. However you will be struggling with some puzzles. Speaking of which, the spirit of Pacifist also means growing to know and enjoy these characters; since you keep them alive you get to know them better. As a result, Pacifist is a much longer game in general. This world also has a big obsession with puzzles, so you’re forced to play through every puzzle they set up for you (Papyrus may walk you through those ridiculously easily, but there are more puzzles later that are much tougher and cannot be skipped).

Anyway, hopefully I can carry through without any problems.

Um… next will be Part 3… I guess.

*long fart noise*
What's this, an Adam Sandler movie? Family Guy?

Continuing on this road because I need to report entirely on it, beginning to end. We’re now in Snowdin Forest. Walking through, I’ve got like the impression that I’m being followed. It’s weird. Reaching a bridge, we’re approached by a shadowy figure who asks for a handshake, and when we turn around to offer it we’re greeted by a big sloppy fart noise. Whoopie cushion in hand, huh? Thank God it wasn’t a spike or something. That would have been nasty. This is Sans (or rather sans, as he says), and he’s a joker. I mean, you’re reading this on the Internet right now, so you have heard of Sans. Everyone has heard of Sans. He’s become kind of an annoying meme.

"Yeah! He's behind the lamp! Or maybe not..."

The skeleton states that he should be on watch to find humans, but he’s too lazy to do so. His brother Papyrus, however, is very dedicated to that task. Upon getting to an open area, Sans tells us to hide behind a conveniently-shaped lamp, which we don’t do even as Papyrus shows up. He asks his brother if he’s seen any humans, which the bigger-boned one responds by the negative - even though we’re RIGHT THERE. After the taller skeleton leaves, we move forward but Sans says we should try to make Papyrus happy by showing up for the guy. He wants to see a human so badly. Oh, and maybe show some emotion too? Come on, I can’t be that bad.

Pay no attention to Papyrus' puzzles, yet still look at the one
Sans set up - and Papyrus gets angry. Sore loser much?

A little later we see the two skeletons again, and Papyrus (through trial and error) realizes that we’re a human. Kind of a moron, this one, isn’t he? He runs off to prepare puzzles for you to solve, because that’s how it’s supposed to go in video games I guess.

Papyrus challenges the protagonist to various puzzles, but keeps messing them up and basically solving them for the hero. You have to be trying to be this incompetent. Papyrus is very ineffective, and it’s hilarious. Not sure if I should laugh at him or with him. Gotta give it to the game, it knows how to be funny, as long as you’re not too marrow-minded. Hey, I can do bone puns too!

And also, I can just walk past that cheap word search puzzle.

Right - I'm standing still, your blue attacks cannot touch
this little red soul!

On the way, we meet the Royal Guard: First,  a blind dog who can only see movement, and this fight brings in a new gameplay mechanic where blue attacks hurt your HP only if your red heart is moving when contact is made. But hey, if I’m in No Mercy route here, I can just attack and defeat him easily. Later, we also fight a couple of anthropomorphic dogs, but they’re not very difficult to defeat. We’ve got a high LV by now anyway.

We can even skip Papyrus’ puzzles now. They’re barely entertainment, especially the last one. The interactions between Papyrus and Sans are hilarious. They are like trying to appear as fun guys, perhaps to divert you from the path of destruction you may have chosen so far. One of them knows something’s up after all. But I want to report on Gen- I mean, No Mercy, so that’s what I’ll keep on doing. Whatever the consequences.

Oh hey, personalized message! Creepy.

Is it wrong that I want to see what it's like?
The wording sells me on it!

At last, we step into Snowdin and find it rather… empty. Considering all I’ve been doing so far, I can’t blame the townspeople. Man, this place sucks with nobody to talk to. Past Snowdin, we find Papyrus again, and he starts by telling us that, in spite of all we’ve done so far, there’s potential in the player character. He tries to become my friend, it’s adorable. I… he’s so endearing… I don’t… really want to hurt him now… he doesn’t deserve any of this… nobody here deserves this…

In fact, Papyrus will not fight. He refuses to, believing that there’s still some good in the player character. His name is instantly yellow. His text box says that he’s sparing us. To kill him now is a conscious choice and the easiest thing, but… it feels so wrong… But if I want to report on this… I have to play through the game… I must…

Well I disagree with the flavor text! But...

…Sorry, Papyrus.

Something broke in me, just now. I can feel it.

A single hit and he’s instantly defeated. Before his head disappears, he says he still believes in the player. In me.

Fuck, I feel guilty now. But… I still need to… Keep going… I am determined to keep going…

And of course, you keep causing heartbreaks and misery
everywhere you go. Bravo, champion.

Next up is the Waterfall area, which is rather empty much like all the areas before. It just makes things quicker. Just an armless kid in there. If I may break the retelling of the story a bit to raise a point… There’s a few issues with the No Mercy/Genocide Run so far. First off, you increase your stats with each level, and at some point you become too powerful. The enemies remain fair for a LV1 protagonist, to keep the opposite run (Pacifist) doable. Your inventory is limited, but it’s not like you need healing items all that much. Battles are done quickly. Actually, it tends to make the game very easy after a while, almost ridiculously so, with only a few notably tough encounters.

Still three? *sigh* Time for some backtracking.
Urgh.

Thing is, staying on the No Mercy/Genocide route is a conscious choice, you can’t accidentally stay there. There are requirements when it comes to killing monsters - a certain number in some areas, as well as some very specific monsters in some zones. One particular enemy in Snowdin named Snowdrake, as an example, has to be killed as part of the kill count. The Save area keeps track of how many monsters you still have to kill before you move on. If you don’t kill “everything” (the required kill count), you're thrown out of the Genocide Route. And since it’s a conscious choice you’ve made, your interactions with the characters sees them trying to veer you away from that path. Last but not least, since everyone’s scared of you (justifiably so, you’re slaughtering them all), a lot of later puzzles are skipped or deactivated, but the kill count remains and, eventually, the most boring aspect of the game is to look around an area to kill as many monsters as possible, which can be a pain in the ass.

Should be easy, just power through it all. Defeat them all! Yes, I have to! I need to!

See ya in Part 3.