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[Tagyhag]

No I beat it once and that is more than enough. I killed everything.

Yeah that's a problem with the game to be honest. People don't see its true value unless they do multiple endings and if they don't know what to do beforehand they end up just not going for it because it's a hassle.

NieR has the same problem.

 

[LotusHD]

I'm sensing a NieR Automata situation 8some people who play this game.

Lmao, that both this and Nier are two of my most favorite games is not a coincidence I suppose. I have no issue with multiple playthroughs that subvert expectations.

 

[IrishNinja]

beat it with the neutral ending first, got the pacifist last night...no way i'm going back the for the other one, just gonna look that one up. i can't do it.

 

[Eric the Red]

Just wow.

I was really into Tumblr when Undertale came out. It came hot off the heels of an extremely irritating and pervasive presence of "Homestuck" culture that was so heavily proliferated by its fans that you couldn't help but hate it. As Homestuck petered out, Undertale took its place, and everywhere you looked you were bombarded and sickened by "determination" and "spider" memes. It was fucking awful. For as cool and "like Earthbound" that the game supposedly was, there was no game I wanted to play less than Undertale. Any instance of the imagery was immediately offputting. I didn't want anything to do with it.

Everything I saw or read about the game was - to pull a GAF favorite - cringey. One character talks in Comic Sans and another one talks in Papyrus! Isn't that SO FUNNY AND CHARMING? I was like, God, this has to be the most self-indulgent community I've ever seen. The game could not possibly be genuine or actually funny or thoughtful.

But the game cooled down and so did the fans and years went by without me really thinking about it. In this time, I was able to avoid spoilers and knew very little about the game except for some in-jokes, some characters, and the tone.

I played Undertale for the first time this last week and I'm just... remorseful. I get it now. It's so weird to me that I went from hating a game to loving a game so dramatically, and all it took was for me to... actually play it.

I am humbled and deeply respectful of what this game accomplishes. I am particularly in reverence at the depth of the writing - both verbal and non-verbal. The cohesiveness of the universe and its compelling denizens is a monument to creativity. Undertale may be "like Earthbound", but there is nothing else like Undertale.

I repent for my former negligence towards this piece of work. I understand why people seemed to so unabashedly obsess over the material. That's not me, and never will be, but I have a newfound tolerance for all those super fans who loved the game so desperately they couldn't even communicate what made it so unique.

To them, it was so obvious what made Undertale special. There was nothing to be said or explained. You just needed to play it and see for yourself.

Childish? Yes. Annoying? Yes.

But, at least for me, they weren't wrong. I am an assuaged cynic.

What would you have liked to have heard or explained that would have been a proper introduction to the game and why it's special?

Beat it today. Great writing and charm but I don't know, it felt...lacking. Maybe I overhyped myself. Would score 7.5/10 if I had to.

No I beat it once and that is more than enough. I killed everything.

After I gifted Undertale to my brother, I told him that the best way to play is blind BUT, (since I know my brother) if he was only going to play it once and never replay it, he should absolutely just do the pacifist run first time.

Playing neutral your first time can be a powerful exploration tool to feel out what the game is really about but if that's all you do and you just stop there you miss the whole point of the game. It's like going on a fishing trip just to experience the boat, the scenery, but you never throw out the line and catch anything.

Personally for you, since you killed everything blind, your 2nd run would be more ideal than most other players since the experience would be SO different.

 

[Suburban Thug]

I might go back in a year or so but I honestly have no desire to complete a second play through right now. I very rarely beat games more than once.

 

[HeresSomeWeapons]

Hoooooooly shit,

Spoiler

Sans

.

What a wonderfully difficult fight. It's perfect.

Though...I still haven't beat him yet.

Maybe I'll take a break for tonight.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

I feel like I'm gonna have a bad time.

 

[ThisOne]

Having a hard time beating (final boss?)

Spoiler

Asgore.

Where's the quickest place to go back to buy healing items?

 

[Syril]

Having a hard time beating (final boss?)

Spoiler

Asgore.

Where's the quickest place to go back to buy healing items?

You can get to

Spoiler

MTT Resort and the alleyway quickly via the elevators.

 

[ThisOne]

You can get to

Spoiler

MTT Resort and the alleyway quickly via the elevators.

Good to know.

Question about the endings:

Spoiler

I have killed a few things but not many. Am I correct in assuming that if I had done a true Pacifist run or a true Genocide run, there would be an extended ending for me?

 

[Kinsei]

Good to know.

Question about the endings:

Spoiler

I have killed a few things but not many. Am I correct in assuming that if I had done a true Pacifist run or a true Genocide run, there would be an extended ending for me?

Correct.

 

[Clear]

Yeah that's a problem with the game to be honest. People don't see its true value unless they do multiple endings and if they don't know what to do beforehand they end up just not going for it because it's a hassle.

NieR has the same problem.

I don't consider that to be a "problem" at all. Nothing better imho than a game that rewards you for digging around and finding the juicy stuff!

But then I find the whole concept of burning through games as fast as possible so as to get onto the next thing to be utterly bewildering. I want replayability and deep content.

 

[epmode]

I might go back in a year or so but I honestly have no desire to complete a second play through right now. I very rarely beat games more than once.

I dunno, this is kinda like Nier in that the extra playthrough is considered part of the main game. There's a ton of unique stuff you don't see the first time through, and it really amplifies the story's impact.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

What would you have liked to have heard or explained that would have been a proper introduction to the game and why it's special?

This is a really interesting question and, admittedly, I have been wondering this myself since I finished the game for the first time. I don't know if I have an answer. In some ways, playing Undertale in 2017 feels like a different dimension than 2015. Even before I played the game, the name "Undertale" conjured up completely different feelings for me today than it did back then.

Back then, Undertale had the curse of being closely associated with extremely aggressive fandoms. Homestuck, Adventure Time, and Undertale seemed like an inescapable whirlwind of consumer masturbation. In 2017, this stigma is nonexistent. So right away, Undertale is able to shed the burden of its previous bedfellows and exist as independent material.

Because even though Undertale became an overnight phenomenon, it was exceedingly popular with people whose tastes I did not appreciate. When somebody who is obsessed with things I don't like, their passion over a new property becomes a deterrent. Although it had faded by 2015, people's obsession with Homestuck was still fresh on the minds of bystanders like me. People who loved Homestuck loved homestuck. Every second of their lives seemed to be dictated by fanart, cosplay, memes, in-jokes, fan-theories, and idol worship. When you are not a participant in this kind of culture, it is extremely alienating. Other people's love becomes abrasive and irritating and you begin to hold animosity towards your inability to escape something you do not understand.

The first time I ever heard the name Toby Fox, it was in relation to him "composing music for the webcomic series Homestuck." And I remember thinking, how does a webcomic have music? The meta of this community was so aggressive and so well-established that it became impenetrable. And no matter how level of a head I tried to keep and how live-and-let-live I operated, people's fascination and adoration with this property and its cousins always results in a constant and consistent feeling of utter and sheer annoyance.

When Undertale made waves, the impact was similar. Fan art, cosplays, memes, in-jokes, fan-theories, and idol worship took over every corner of the internet that this game got attention. People's obsession with the property was something I'd seen before. It was something I didn't like. I concluded I wouldn't like Undertale either.

But none of this is fair and this is an extremely subjective situation. As we get further and further away from the original launch of the game, these surrounding circumstances of its initial popularity become more and more meaningless.

But, objectively, I think there were/are other ongoing factors that could legitimately be addressed when introducing people to the game moving forward.

1. Undertale players are very, very cautious of spoilers. But they are also very, very liberal with references, jokes, and imagery, This creates a really unusual dynamic where people know about "the Undertale flower" and "the skeletons" and "the spider" but don't know anything about them. But protecting the actual identities and impact of these characters is essential to the most fulfilling player experience.

This means people's questions about material from the game are often answered with the suggestion to go play Undertale. This is good-intentioned, but irritating. I remember asking once what was up with "the Undertale flower" and I was prompted to play the game to find out.

Since players don't want to tell non-players what makes these characters interesting or cool, uninitiated people must just accept that these characters are interesting and cool at face value. Most people are not going to do that and will perceive the content negatively because it's not cool without context.

Having played the game blind, I can absolutely concede that this is the best way to play the game. I am glad

Spoiler

I didn't know what Flowey was. I am glad I tried to collect its friendship pellets. I am glad I got to experience one of the game's first surprises without knowing what was going to happen.

But I wish, back when I asked, somebody would have just answered my question, even if they were withholding about it.

Moving forward, if people ask me about something from Undertale, I would explain the element in a way that is only true before any sort of ensuing twist. Mettaton, for example, is a killer robot. Flowey is the first creature you meet in the Underground. Undyne is a powerful knight and head of the royal guard. This gives a person who hasn't played the game enough information that they don't feel excluded while still preserving the game's finer plot points.


2. People are historically too eager to refer to the game as "like EarthBound." I understand why people do this, but I think we must suppress the temptation. Undertale is not a derivative work. Talk about Undertale for what it is, not what it is like. Because constantly referring to the game as being "like EarthBound" doesn't do the game justice and it makes people feel like the game only has something to offer for people wanting to recapture the feeling of a single cult franchise.

Undertale is an RPG that is as unrelentingly funny as it is darkly emotional. It is a game that makes every attempt to create expectations and then subvert them. It introduces the player to rules and then breaks them. In Undertale, almost everything is a twist, and the surprises never stop. Just when you think you know what's going on and even how the game is played, Undertale reminds you that it is always one step ahead of you.

And all of these qualities should be communicated with specificity. Undertale is a game for people who want to play something like they've never played before. Not for people who want to play something "like EarthBound."


3. The game has truly phenomenal writing. This cannot be stressed enough. The depth and thoroughness of Undertale's script. Characters have entire conversations, with changing options, and time-sensitive dialog. The way characters relate to each other and their world makes the Underground feel like a true breathing society with personality and culture. I've played lots of good RPGs, and lots of RPGs where the people lament the story but praise the "battle system". But Undertale never stops the story for its combat. Its combat IS the story. Every battle and enemy interaction is a scene, it's part of the script, and the story never stops for a frivolous random encounter.

Someday, when I have more time and have committed more of the game to memory, I will have to make a thread about how big of a triumph I find Undertale's writing. But until then, enforcing that it is one of the game's strongest qualities is really important.



These are just sort of my gut-check thoughts. I know it's all very stream-of-consciousness nonsense, but someday I'm going to do justice to this game and find a way to recommend it to people without them reacting like I did.

 

[PhantomThief]

Finished a pacifist run on this game on ps4 this week. What a brilliant game, the soundtrack and writing is so good!

 

[pbayne]

Beat the game a couple times now. No kills then kill everything.

Might have missed it but spoilery question.

Spoiler

What exactly is Sans/why is he so omnipotent? Or why is it his role to judge the player?

 

[Steroyd]

So just done the pacifist run aaaaand, thank the lord for cross buy, and no cross save, I ain't tainting my PS4 save with a genocide run. *boots up Vita*

 

[NEO0MJ]

Beat the game a couple times now. No kills then kill everything.

Might have missed it but spoilery question.

Spoiler

What exactly is Sans/why is he so omnipotent? Or why is it his role to judge the player?

Spoiler

Sans was asked by Toriel to help the human who comes out of the cave so that's why he was keeping an eye on you. As for why he's so strong, based on the hints thrown across the game the main fan theories are:

1- Sans already had a heavy scientific background and might have been involved in the experiments done in the underground lab as he seems well known to Alphys.
2- If you got the key to his garage you'll find strange contraptions and notes left around including hints to a relationship with the character I'll talk about below.
3-There are well hidden files and scenes in the game involving a characters known as Gaster who was the previous head scientists that got caught up in an accident that turned him into some sort of strange being who exists outside the confines of the game's world. He seems to have been a humanoid skeleton and follow's Sans and Papyrus naming motif. The skull-like weapons Sans uses are even called Gaster Blasters. So there's a good chance Sans build up on Gaster's previous research to find out more about his world and gain more power but he eventually realized the truth behind their existence which broke him and mad him a bit of a nihilistic couch potato.

If you're curious about more details you can always visit the wiki.

 

[Psyrgery ES]

Beat the game a couple times now. No kills then kill everything.

Might have missed it but spoilery question.

Spoiler

What exactly is Sans/why is he so omnipotent? Or why is it his role to judge the player?

Spoiler

It's hinted throughout the game that Sans is related to Gaster and is aware of the alternate realities created by different playtrhoughs from the player, even if he doesn't remember them all. He even mentions he once managed to reach the surface before someone "reloaded" a savefile and dragged him back in.

 

[Muskieratboi]

Umm, Unrelated to the PS4 port, but the PC version just got a 104MB update?

Adding Japanese Text support, or something more?

 

[Saikyo]

Umm, Unrelated to the PS4 port, but the PC version just got a 104MB update?

Adding Japanese Text support, or something more?

The last updates on pc havent added much, it has

Spoiler

dog shrine and its theme

but its dummied, japanese support, "tm" on the splash and title screen and finishing typing

Spoiler

gaster

in the name screen it reset the game.

Spoiler

He even mentions he once managed to reach the surface before someone "reloaded" a savefile and dragged him back in.

Wait, I dont remember that.

 

[Steroyd]

Okay genocide run.


WTF at Sans first attack, easy my ass.


And now he's trolling me if I'm too slow in the menu's... I love this asshole.

 

[Tizoc]

beat it with the neutral ending first, got the pacifist last night...no way i'm going back the for the other one, just gonna look that one up. i can't do it.

So
How did you feel about the true

Spoiler

final boss

in Neutral?

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

Undertale explores a similarly child-minded premise, similar to that of Toy Story. Whereas Toy Story explores the idea of "What if the toys you grew up with are secretly alive?", Undertale is the first game I've played that asks its players the question "What if this video game world you are exploring was actually alive, and your actions has permanent consequences on those characters?". The game goes as far as to take into consideration the player avoiding consequences too, such as reloading a previous save to avoid a accidental kill or to make a different choice, etc. Characters also occasionally break the fourth wall time to time to call out a player's action directly, all to further establish this theme.

Thus, during the [SPOILERS! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!]

Spoiler

final confrontation of a No-Mercy run, Sans mentions that he's aware of the player being able to reset the world at any time. To me, this is the ultimate tragedy behind his character. Why should he bother trying to accomplish anything in life if he knows it's all going to be simply reset? Even if the player were to achieve the best ending, he knows he will likely be doomed to return to the same original world of Undertale once the player is bored and resets their world to "play the game again". It's why Sans is so lazy time and time again throughout the game. For people who suffer from depression due to nihilistic world views, Sans can be a incredibly relatable character.

 

[PSqueak]

I think that's the best part of how undertale incorporates the player as part of the story,

Spoiler

Every time you replay the game, it's not you going through a different instance of the same story, it's you continuing the story by yanking everything and everyone back to square one, every play through stacks and that's why Flowey begs you to not play the game ever again after the pacifist ending, and even then he acknowledges that you have probably already done it countless times, Undertale's story doesn't end when you see the "the end"
screen, it ends only when you, as a player, decide to NEVER PLAY IT EVER AGAIN.

beat it with the neutral ending first, got the pacifist last night...no way i'm going back the for the other one, just gonna look that one up. i can't do it.

I hope you waited until about now to look up the other ending.

Here is an advice to everyone who plans on looking up a lets play of the Genocide ending: Wait a few days after you have gotten the Pacifist ending.

Don't look it up immediately, you will feel like shit, i made that mistake and i really had a bad time.

 

[PhantomThief]

I think that's the best part of how undertale incorporates the player as part of the story,

Spoiler

Every time you replay the game, it's not you going through a different instance of the same story, it's you continuing the story by yanking everything and everyone back to square one, every play through stacks and that's why Flowey begs you to not play the game ever again after the pacifist ending, and even then he acknowledges that you have probably already done it countless times, Undertale's story doesn't end when you see the "the end"
screen, it ends only when you, as a player, decide to NEVER PLAY IT EVER AGAIN.

Damn shouldnt have deleted my true pacifist ending run

I cant do Genocide.. i tried and I just cant

 

[Steroyd]

Damn shouldnt have deleted my true pacifist ending run

I cant do Genocide.. i tried and I just cant

I took advantage of cross buy and went on my PS Vita (no cross save yay!) for the reason of not tainting my pacifist save... Only to find out after some research that I was quite literally not tainting my save doing that, holy crap the meta with the save function is incredible, Toby Fox took a shit load of things into consideration.

 

[rackham]

The trophies for this game are hilarious. I made it to Hotlands before going back to get the 15

Spoiler

Dognation

trophies that I found on my own.

 

[IrishNinja]

So
How did you feel about the true

Spoiler

final boss

in Neutral?

that was crazy, I thought I could hang but NOPE

 

[Glitchesarecool]

Has anyone gotten a collector's edition yet?

nvm didn't realize they hadn't even shipped out yet

 

[sixteen-bit]

Any ship date info beyond the nebulous "late September"?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Fangamer physical release starts shipping today
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=250068276

 

[AlexFlame116]

Fangamer physical release starts shipping today
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=250068276

Yep just got the email yesterday night! Hooray!

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

Fangamer physical release starts shipping today
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=250068276

I really hope I'm in the first batch cause I ordered right when the preorder went up.

 

[Phenomenal Flea]

I'd forgotten when it was coming out, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the email yesterday! Can't wait for it to arrive.

 

[TheMissingLink]

Played and enjoyed on Vita.

Quick spoiler on how I played...

Spoiler

I had heard you could go through the game via pacifism, but didn't realize that you have to beat the game once for a true pacifism ending?

I'll prob go through the game again in a month or so.

The writing is so good.

 

[Szadek]

Played and enjoyed on Vita.

Quick spoiler on how I played...

Spoiler

I had heard you could go through the game via pacifism, but didn't realize that you have to beat the game once for a true pacifism ending?

I'll prob go through the game again in a month or so.

The writing is so good.

Spoiler

If you haven't kill anyone, you can reload your last save file after getting the neutral ending.
You can unlock the pacifism ending from there, no need to replay the game unless you killed someone.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Just wow.

I was really into Tumblr when Undertale came out. It came hot off the heels of an extremely irritating and pervasive presence of "Homestuck" culture that was so heavily proliferated by its fans that you couldn't help but hate it. As Homestuck petered out, Undertale took its place, and everywhere you looked you were bombarded and sickened by "determination" and "spider" memes. It was fucking awful. For as cool and "like Earthbound" that the game supposedly was, there was no game I wanted to play less than Undertale. Any instance of the imagery was immediately offputting. I didn't want anything to do with it.

Everything I saw or read about the game was - to pull a GAF favorite - cringey. One character talks in Comic Sans and another one talks in Papyrus! Isn't that SO FUNNY AND CHARMING? I was like, God, this has to be the most self-indulgent community I've ever seen. The game could not possibly be genuine or actually funny or thoughtful.

But the game cooled down and so did the fans and years went by without me really thinking about it. In this time, I was able to avoid spoilers and knew very little about the game except for some in-jokes, some characters, and the tone.

I played Undertale for the first time this last week and I'm just... remorseful. I get it now. It's so weird to me that I went from hating a game to loving a game so dramatically, and all it took was for me to... actually play it.

I am humbled and deeply respectful of what this game accomplishes. I am particularly in reverence at the depth of the writing - both verbal and non-verbal. The cohesiveness of the universe and its compelling denizens is a monument to creativity. Undertale may be "like Earthbound", but there is nothing else like Undertale.

I repent for my former negligence towards this piece of work. I understand why people seemed to so unabashedly obsess over the material. That's not me, and never will be, but I have a newfound tolerance for all those super fans who loved the game so desperately they couldn't even communicate what made it so unique.

To them, it was so obvious what made Undertale special. There was nothing to be said or explained. You just needed to play it and see for yourself.

Childish? Yes. Annoying? Yes.

But, at least for me, they weren't wrong. I am an assuaged cynic.

I'm a bit late, but this is an awesome and heartwarming read. I'm so glad you specifically came to enjoy it.

What would you have liked to have heard or explained that would have been a proper introduction to the game and why it's special?

Is it a bit meta that I think that writeup may be a great way to get other people that may be annoyed by the memes, to actually get to try the game?

This may be a bit out of left field but, as someone who's involved with cat rescue, it feels a lot like convincing people to adopt two or three cats (or get people with one cat to adopt one or two more). Everyone thinks you just want to "get rid" of more cats, yet the ones that actually do so (which in many cases takes years) immediately become true believers of having more than one cat, and become even more ardent than us at pushing others to do the same. It's just so much better psychologically for the cats.

So yeah, ahem... probably a weird example. Carry on!

 

[Commander Kook]

My PS4 Collector's Edition came today, and it's in immaculate condition. They really went out of their way to ship this properly by doubling the bubble wrap and using a cardboard sleeve. I'm not able to provide pics, but the set itself is definitely high quality, or at least feels that way.

Glad I can finally play this game, after all the praise and whatnot. I imagine the wait will have been worth it.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

My PS4 Collector's Edition came today, and it's in immaculate condition. They really went out of their way to ship this properly by doubling the bubble wrap and using a cardboard sleeve. I'm not able to provide pics, but the set itself is definitely high quality, or at least feels that way.

Glad I can finally play this game, after all the praise and whatnot. I imagine the wait will have been worth it.

can't wait to get mine, they didn't ship it yet!

 

[AlexFlame116]

My PS4 Collector's Edition came today, and it's in immaculate condition. They really went out of their way to ship this properly by doubling the bubble wrap and using a cardboard sleeve. I'm not able to provide pics, but the set itself is definitely high quality, or at least feels that way.

Glad I can finally play this game, after all the praise and whatnot. I imagine the wait will have been worth it.

Dang mine still says unfulfilled.

 

[Chesskid1]

did a quick search on the undertale hashtag on instagram and found like 5 or so PS4 CE photos, i'm guessing vita users will have to wait a bit.

packaging is really nice, here's a youtube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDULue09EyE

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

just received my collector edition! It's beautiful!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Okay, I've fought him about 6 or 8 times and just can't work it out... How do I defeat Papyrus in our first battle (at the end of that snowy town) as a pacifist? It just constantly says he's too distracted to hear my insults or compliments, and eventually my health runs down and he puts me back in the doggy jail cell.

 

[TheOGB]

Okay, I've fought him about 6 or 8 times and just can't work it out... How do I defeat Papyrus in our first battle (at the end of that snowy town) as a pacifist? It just constantly says he's too distracted to hear my insults or compliments, and eventually my health runs down and he puts me back in the doggy jail cell.

If ACTs stop working there's still another way to advance or end a battle peacefully.

Keep in mind, their name doesn't have to be yellow.

 

[Syril]

Okay, I've fought him about 6 or 8 times and just can't work it out... How do I defeat Papyrus in our first battle (at the end of that snowy town) as a pacifist? It just constantly says he's too distracted to hear my insults or compliments, and eventually my health runs down and he puts me back in the doggy jail cell.

Does it really seem like he has it in him to do to you what he says he wants to? Maybe he just wants someone to show off to. Practice dodging his attacks and stock up on healing items if you need to so he'll have more time to show off his super cool moves.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

Does the PC version now have the same controller/UI options as the console release?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Okay, thanks. I managed to get past him although used a few health items. Might reload and try to do it again.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Yay my Undertale CE just shipped!!!

 

[L95]

Oh, it looks like mine shipped today as well

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Okay, I've fought him about 6 or 8 times and just can't work it out... How do I defeat Papyrus in our first battle (at the end of that snowy town) as a pacifist? It just constantly says he's too distracted to hear my insults or compliments, and eventually my health runs down and he puts me back in the doggy jail cell.

the fight is quite long, continue until it stops