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Undertale - Megalovania(MP3_128K).mp3

Feeling hype?

Isn't It a Meme Game?

You've probably heard of Toby Fox's 2015 hit indie game Undertale, though for it's notorious memes. It is a very popular 2D top down indie game, where the player has to escape the underground world, exploring a retro aesthetic fantasy world and fight monsters to make it through. Off first glance, it seems like a traditional RPG (role-playing game) with a lot of humor that has incited all those popular memes.

But Undertale is a lot deeper than most anyone thinks. Behind all the funny humor and retro gameplay, is a very dark metacommentary that completely subverts the player's expectations.

What is Undertale Really About

Undertale is a JRPG (Japanese role-playing game). The genre conventions of a JRPG include a linear progression and a turn-based combat system, and a big focus on storytelling. Undertale follows these genre conventions to build a very compelling and engaging game. But what makes this game stand out, is it's subversions. From the start of the game, something feels off, shown through the strange dialogue of the NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) and even the main character breaking the fourth wall. Eventually, these subversions become very apparent.

More Than Just a Player

Often in video games killing monsters and enemies is just a simple obstacle that you have to take care of. Not Undertale. The game isn't just a test of your skills. It is a test of your morals. The staple feature of this game that really immerses the player is that it evokes the feeling of guilt. Every choice you make matters. Those choices will follow you. It will follow you into the interactions with other characters. It will follow you into the ending of the game. It will follow you when you restart the game.

You aren't just a player controlling the main character who can do whatever they want. You are the main character and your actions have consequences. Sometimes very good consequences, where all the NPCs are happy
and thus make you happy. Sometimes very bad consequences.

You can fully complete this game as a pacifist. Everyone will be happy at the end and you'll be happy at the end. But it's hard. You barely have health to last all the fights. You have to survive with barely any resources. It's an endurance test. And after every challenge that comes in your way, it becomes hard not to want to kill. It's an appealing choice. So you kill someone once because they were hard to beat. But you spared the other guy? Aren't you a hypocrite? You have to kill them too. It becomes hard not to. Many enemies will offer you peace and beg for your mercy. In fact, these enemies aren't just one-sided. Some of the even have a bit of likability. You have to consciously turn them down. It is no accident. You had a choice.
The choice of whether to commit genocide or be a pacifist is
completely up to you.

But Games aren't Real

The RPG structure itself becomes an allegory in Undertale. The main character never speaks in the game so that we can project ourself in them. Its “Fight” or “Mercy” options is supposed to be a reflection of who we are when we play games in general. Games are forms of escapism, where the real world has no affect on your experience and the game has no affect in the real world. We can so easily kill someone in a game. It's not like that in the real world. The game has no consequences, or it has good consequences because the perspectives of the villains don't matter. And this game makes it matter.

What's the Purpose

These subversions have a reason. Toby Fox has a story to tell. He makes you question "Am I really the good guy?" It is an allegory for morals and ethics, which are very absent in the other games we play that reward violence with game progression. Violence is a choice, not the only choice. The game’s genre conventions (experience points, boss battles, and dialogues) serve as imagery for moral growth.

Undertale is critically acclaimed and highly respected for being one of the most powerful storytelling games of all time. It has fostered a giant community, with players talking with each other about the different decisions they've made throughout their runs of the game.

Works Cited

Sans Gif: https://tenor.com/view/sans-undertale-gif-13227293
Undertale Characters Image: https://realwomenofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/635879030988515034-2064425665_undertale.png
Sans Judgment Hall Speech: https://64.media.tumblr.com/c03ba2875b7666f254c34847677c9a72/tumblr_inline_oivg2ol3sR1tnlh39_500.png
Flowey Interaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kt2f5Lw21I
MEGALOVANIA and Undertale by Toby Fox 2015

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