How ‘Undertale’ Kills Expectations
After stabbing its motherly figure in cold blood, a small child takes a lonely walk through a dark forest. A calming wind blows through the area. A camera is hidden in the bushes, watching the child’s every move. A heavy tree branch expectedly snaps, creating a familiar sound. As the child approaches a short bridge, a shadowy figure approaches behind it. The figure asks the child to turn around and shake its hand. As the child reaches out for the hand, the sound of flatulence breaks the tension. The same old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s never been funny – in fact, it’s not even worth a change in expression.
Undertale is a masterclass of subverting expectations, even on repeat playthroughs. Consistently throughout the entire experience, Undertale creates scenarios that are both depressing and unexpected. This begins with its core gameplay mechanics – in addition to the normal turn-based RPG options, the fight command includes a timing-based mechanism to increase the damage output. The closer to the center the mark is, the more damage is done, and a perfect swing results in a massive damage boost. In a way, Undertale is part rhythm game.
The available equipment is uniquely woven into the gameplay as well. The human child starts with a stick and a bandage, but can find the gear of all of the past humans who happened to wander into the underground. One such set includes a ‘cowboy hat’ and an ‘empty gun’, items that increase the human’s damage output. The gun in particular deals a lot less damage than normal on a mistimed input, an interesting narrative element in that a poorly aimed bullet won’t do nearly as much.
Expectations are shattered at the introduction of the first character in the game. Flowey the flower greets the human child, offering to explain how the game works. He introduces the bullet hell-like combat system, where the player moves around their ‘soul’ around a small box. Already different from normal turn-based combat, the player is invited to collect what he calls ‘friendliness pellets’. Instead, these are actual bullets, nearly killing the human. According to Flowey, in this world, it’s kill or be killed – a fact that will surely be followed throughout the rest of the playthrough. Flowey is promptly removed from the picture by the motherly goat, Toriel. Undertale then transitions smoothly into the early tutorials.
Going down the path of a killer takes an extra amount of effort the average player wouldn’t normally go through. To do so, every monster must be killed – that means taking the time to grind out an area until nothing is left. The more that are killed, the less remain, so the spawn rate drops as a result. The human only stops when they receive the message “But Nobody Came”. For the first time in an RPG, there are simply no enemies left. True genocide is about to occur.
As early as the first boss fight, another curveball is thrown at the player. Toriel only wants the best for the human, blocking the way to the rest of the underground. However, she falls in a single blow. The more the human kills, the easier it becomes to kill more, and the easier they can shrug off attacks. Toriel isn’t protecting the human from the other monsters, she was actually protecting the monsters from the human. Thus, the true monster of the game is born – the player.
The path to Snowdin is more melancholic than it was on the previous playthrough. The human will not put up with Papyrus’ antics, ignoring every puzzle in its path. Many of the puzzles are already solved by the time the human gets to them, a subtle indicator that Flowey is aiding their quest. The music takes a more somber tone as the residents meekly fight back. Of course, the human is growing ever stronger so no monster stands a chance. Before reaching Snowdin, Sans offers a word of advice: If the human continues down this path, they will have a bad time. Those words echo true throughout the rest of the journey.
Snowdin itself is an empty shell of what it once was. Word about a serial killer has reached the town, and everyone has fled. The shop has no one running it, letting the human take whatever it wants. The only remaining resident is a naive monster kid, believing that Undyne will save them. Upon reaching Papyrus, he elects not to fight, instead opening his arms for a welcoming hug. This is a defining moment for the player: An innocent soul is offering one last chance at redemption. Sadly, to see the rest of what Undertale has to offer, Papyrus must die.
Waterfall goes about the same as it normally does, except a lot lonelier. At this point, every monster is walked over with little effort. That is, until the monster kid takes a stand. It looks like free EXP, but Undyne jumps in at the last moment. This isn’t just about monsters anymore. If this human is let go, all life will be extinguished. This determination gives Undyne a second chance at life. Finally, a heroine has appeared to vanquish this abomination of a human. For the player, a real challenge is finally here. The fight with Undyne is an incredibly difficult roadblock, purposely so from a narrative standpoint. After a lengthy bout, Undyne goes down, but not without a final message: the monsters are being evacuated.
Travelling through Hotland, it is immediately apparent what the result of the human’s actions have been. Many areas are blocked off and the elevators are functional, creating an almost direct route from the start to the end. The remaining monsters are trying to push the human along, hoping they decide to move on instead of going out of their way to slaughter every last one of them. Mettaton attempts to make a stand at the exit, but the human’s determination is too strong at this point. Their level of violence is too high, thus Mettaton falls in a single strike.
Upon reaching New Home, things take a drastic turn. Text becomes red, showing the human’s inner thoughts. The player has had less control throughout Undertale, and now it is clear why: the spirit of the first fallen child is taking over. Flowey appears to talk about his actions and what happened to him. After Asriel became a flower, he had lost all of his emotions. He also gained access to a save file through sheer determination, an ability he used to explore all of the options available to him. Like the player, Flowey wanted to know all of what the world had to offer. But now that there is a being with even greater determination, Flowey no longer has access to his save file, and starts to become wary of what the human has become. For the first time, Flowey becomes scared for his life.
Once in the final corridor, Sans makes a reappearance to give the human one last chance to back down. The human takes another step forward without any player input. What follows is one of the most intense fights in gaming history as Sans throws everything he has at the human, starting with one of his most powerful attacks. He has meta knowledge about the game, commentating about how the player only did this because they had to know what happens and that the human can retry the fight as often as they wish. His only chance is to wear down the human enough that they give up, but their determination stays strong. Sans makes one last attempt to make sure the player never gets another turn, but his exhaustion gets the better of him as the human physically moves the combat box in order to finish the job.
The human is no longer a human. It has turned into some kind of abomination that not even monsters recognize. Asgore, being the sweetheart that he is, still offers it some tea before being slaughtered where he stands. Flowey makes a last plea for mercy before similarly being cut down.
The player is faced with the image of the first fallen child. Their genocidal tendencies awakened it from death. It was the player’s determination that brought them here, face to face with the demon that comes when people call its name. But the player is no longer in control, and the child takes aim at the player themselves. In a single strike, the game is closed. Upon reopening it, only darkness remains. There is nothing left of Undertale. But, after waiting a lengthy period of time, the demon offers a way out: Offer their soul to it, and the world can be reborn once again.
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