Undertale

Undertale employs a bullet hell/turn-based hybrid combat system in which the player controls the heart, avoiding attacks from enemies in between fighting, acting, healing, or showing mercy.

Undertale is a role-playing game that uses a top-down perspective.[3] In the game, players control a child and complete objectives in order to progress through the story.[4] Players explore an underground world filled with towns and caves, and are required to solve numerous puzzles on their journey.[4][5] The underground world is the home of monsters, many of whom challenge the player in combat;[5] players decide whether to kill, flee, or befriend them.[4][6] Choices made by the player radically affect the plot and general progression of the game, with the player's morality acting as the cornerstone for the game's development.

When players encounter enemies in either scripted events or random encounters, they enter a battle mode. During battles, players control a small heart which represents their soul, and must avoid attacks unleashed by the opposing monster similar to a bullet hell shooter.[4][5] As the game progresses, new elements are introduced, such as colored obstacles, and boss battles which change the way players control the heart.[7] Players may choose to attack the enemy, which involves timed button presses. Killing enemies will cause the player to earn EXP (in turn increasing their LOVE) and gold.[8] They can use the ACT option to perform various actions, which vary depending on the enemy.[4] If the player uses the right actions to respond to the enemy, or attacks them until they have low HP (but still alive) they can choose to spare them and end the fight without killing them.[9] For some boss encounters to be completed peacefully, the player is required to survive until the character they are facing has finished their dialogue. The game features multiple story branches and endings depending on whether players choose to kill or spare their enemies; and as such, it is possible to clear the game without killing a single enemy.[10]

Monsters will talk to the player during the battle, and the game will tell the players what the monster's feelings and actions are.[11] Enemy attacks change based on how players interact with them: should players choose non-violent options, enemy attacks are easy, whereas they become difficult if players choose violent options.[5][11] The game relies on a number of metafictional elements in both its gameplay and story.[12] When players participate in a boss battle on a second playthrough, the dialogue will be altered depending on actions in previous playthroughs.[13]

Undertale takes place in the Underground, a realm to where monsters, once equal to humans, were banished after war broke out between them. The Underground is sealed from the surface world by an imperfect magic barrier, the only point of entry being at Mount Ebott.[14] A human child falls into the Underground and encounters Flowey, a sentient flower who teaches them the game's mechanics and encourages them to raise their "LV", or "LOVE", by gaining "EXP" through killing monsters.[lower-alpha 4] When Flowey attempts to murder the human to take their soul for himself, the human is rescued by Toriel, a motherly goat-like monster, who teaches the human to solve puzzles and survive conflict in the Underground without killing. She intends to adopt the human, wanting to protect them from Asgore Dreemurr, the king of the Underground.

The human eventually leaves Toriel to search for Asgore's castle, which contains the barrier leading to the surface world. Along the way, the human encounters several monsters, including: the skeletons Sans and Papyrus, two brothers who act as sentries for the Snowdin forest; Undyne, the head of the royal guard; Alphys, the kingdom's royal scientist; and Mettaton, a robotic television host Alphys created. Some of them are fought, with the human having to choose whether to kill them or to show mercy; should the human spare them, they may choose to become friends. During their travels, the human learns the cause of the war between humans and monsters. Asriel, the son of Asgore and Toriel, befriended the first human child who fell into the Underground and was adopted by Asgore and Toriel. One day, the child killed themselves by eating poisonous flowers. When Asriel returned their body to the humans, they attacked and fatally wounded him, resulting in Asgore declaring war. Asgore now seeks to break the barrier, which requires him to collect seven human souls, of which he has six.

The game's ending depends on how the player resolved encounters with monsters.[10][lower-alpha 5] If the player killed some but not all monsters, the human arrives at Asgore's castle and learns that they also need a monster's soul to cross the barrier, forcing them to fight Asgore. Sans stops the human before their confrontation, revealing that the human's "LOVE" is an acronym for "level of violence" and "EXP" for "execution points." Sans judges the human based on the combined resolution of the encounters. The human fights Asgore, but Flowey interrupts them, killing Asgore and stealing the human souls. With the aid of the rebelling souls, the human defeats Flowey, falls unconscious, and awakens on the human side of the barrier; they receive a phone call from Sans, explaining the state of the Underground after the human's departure.

If the player instead kills no monsters and has completed a previous playthrough of the game,[17] Flowey is revealed to be a reincarnation of Asriel, created as part of Alphys's experiments. Toriel intervenes before the human fights Asgore and is joined by the other monsters the human has befriended. Flowey ambushes the group, using the souls of all the monsters to take an older Asriel's form to fight the human. The human connects with their new friends during the fight, eventually triumphing. Asriel reverts to his child form, destroys the barrier, and expresses his remorse to the others before leaving. The human falls unconscious and is awoken to see their friends surrounding them, with the knowledge of the human's name – Frisk. The monsters reintegrate with the humans on the surface, while Frisk has the option of accepting Toriel as their adoptive mother.

Another ending ensues if the player kills all monsters,[13][17] in which Frisk becomes influenced by Chara, the fallen human child whose body Asriel attempted to return. When Frisk reaches Asgore's castle, Sans attempts to stop them, but Frisk kills him. Flowey kills Asgore in an attempt to get mercy, but Frisk executes Flowey anyway. The fallen human child assumes control and, with or without the player's consent, destroys the universe. To enable further replays of the game, Frisk must first give their soul to the fallen human child in exchange for restoring the universe, which will permanently alter every subsequent Pacifist run.

Promotional art used in the Kickstarter campaign

Undertale was developed by Toby Fox across 32 months.[18] Development was financed through a crowdfunding campaign on the website Kickstarter. The campaign was launched on June 25, 2013 with a goal of US$5,000; it ended on July 25, 2013, with US$51,124 raised by 2,398 people (1022.48% of the original goal).[19] Undertale's creation ensued after Fox created a battle system using the game creation system GameMaker: Studio.[20] He wanted to develop a role-playing game that was different from the traditional design, which he often found "boring to play".[21] He set out to develop a game with "interesting characters", and that "utilizes the medium as a storytelling device ... instead of having the story and gameplay abstractions be completely separate".[21]

Fox worked on the entire game independently, besides some of the art; he decided to work independently to avoid relying on others.[18] Fox had little experience with game development; he and his three brothers often used RPG Maker 2000 to make role-playing games, though few were ever completed. Fox also worked on several EarthBound ROM hacks while in high school.[21] Temmie Chang worked as the main artistic assistant for the game, providing most of the sprites and concept art.[22][23] Fox has said that the game's art style would likely remain the same if he had access to a larger team of artists. He found that "there's a psychological thread that says audiences become more attached to characters drawn simply rather than in detail", particularly benefiting from the use of visual gags within the art.[24]

The game was released on September 15, 2015, for Microsoft Windows and OS X,[37] and on July 17, 2016, for Linux.[38] Fox expressed interest in releasing Undertale on other platforms, but was initially unable to port it to Nintendo platforms without reprogramming the game due to the engine's lack of support for these platforms.[18] A patch was released in January 2016, fixing bugs and altering the appearance of blue attacks to help colorblind players see them better.[39] Sony Interactive Entertainment announced during E3 2017 that Undertale would get a release for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, a Japanese localization, and a retail version published by Fangamer. These versions were released on August 15, 2017.[40][41][42] A Nintendo Switch version was revealed during a March 2018 Nintendo Direct, though no release date was given at the time;[43][44] Undertale's release on Switch highlighted a deal made between Nintendo and YoYo Games to allow users of GameMaker Studio 2 to directly export their games to the Switch.[45] The Switch version was released on September 15, 2018, in Japan,[46] and on September 18, 2018, worldwide.[47] All the console ports were developed and published by Japanese localizer 8-4 in all regions.[1][2]

Other Undertale media and merchandise have been released, including toy figurines and plush toys based on characters from the game.[48] The game's official soundtrack was released by video game music label Materia Collective in 2015, simultaneously with the game's release.[49] Additionally, two official Undertale cover albums have been released: the 2015 metal/electronic album Determination by RichaadEB and Ace Waters,[50][51] and the 2016 jazz album Live at Grillby's by Carlos Eiene, better known as insaneintherainmusic.[52] Another album of jazz duets based on Undertale's songs, Prescription for Sleep, was performed and released in 2016 by saxophonist Norihiko Hibino and pianist Ayaki Sato.[53] A 2xLP vinyl edition of the Undertale soundtrack, produced by iam8bit, was also released in the same year.[54] Two official UNDERTALE Piano Collections sheet music books and digital albums, arranged by David Peacock and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales, were released in 2017 and 2018[55][56] by Materia Collective. A Mii Fighter costume based on Sans was made available for download in the crossover title Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in September 2019, marking the character's official debut as a 3D model. This costume also adds a new arrangement of "Megalovania" by Fox as a music track.[57] Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai noted that Sans was a popular request to appear in the game.[58] Music from Undertale was also added to Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! as downloadable content.[59]

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic (PC) 92/100[64] (PS4) 92/100[65] (NS) 93/100[66] Review scores Publication Score Destructoid 10/10[4][67] Game Informer 9.5/10[68] GameSpot 9/10[36] Giant Bomb [69] IGN 10/10[16] PC Gamer (US) 91/100[70] USgamer [71]

Undertale received critical acclaim, and was quickly considered a cult video game by numerous publications.[72][73] Review aggregator Metacritic calculated an average score of 92 out of 100, based on 43 reviews.[64] Metacritic ranks the game the third-highest rated Windows game released in 2015,[64] and among the top 50 of all time.[74] Praise was particularly directed at the game's writing, unique characters, and combat system. GameSpot's Tyler Hicks declared it "one of the most progressive and innovative RPGs to come in a long time",[36] and IGN's Kallie Plagge called it "a masterfully crafted experience".[16] By the end of 2015, in a preliminary report by Steam Spy, Undertale was one of the best-selling games on Steam, with 530,343 copies sold.[75] By early February 2016, the game surpassed one million sales,[76] and by July 2018, the game had an estimated total of three and a half million players on Steam.[77] Japanese digital PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita sales surpassed 100,000 copies sold by February 2018.[78]

Daniel Tack of Game Informer called the game's combat system "incredibly nuanced", commenting on the uniqueness of each enemy encounter.[68] Giant Bomb's Austin Walker praised the complexity of the combat, commenting that it is "unconventional, clever, and occasionally really difficult".[69] Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist commended the game's ability to blend "turn-based and live combat elements in a way that actually fucking works".[79] IGN's Plagge praised the ability to avoid combat, opting for friendly conversations instead.[16] Jesse Singal of The Boston Globe found the game's ability to make the player empathize with the monsters during combat if they opted for non-violent actions was "indicative of the broader, fundamental sweetness at the core" of Undertale.[80]

Reviewers praised the game's writing and narrative, with IGN's Plagge calling it "excellent".[16] The Escapist's Croshaw considered Undertale the best-written game of 2015, writing that "is on the one hand hilarious... and is also, by the end, rather heartfelt".[79] Destructoid's Ben Davis praised the game's characters and use of comedy, and compared its tone, characters, and storytelling to Cave Story (2004).[4] PC Gamer's Richard Cobbett provided similar comments, writing that "even its weaker moments... just about work".[70]

The game's visuals received mixed reactions. Giant Bomb's Walker called it "simple, but communicative".[69] IGN's Plagge wrote that the game "isn't always pretty" and "often ugly", but felt that the music and animations compensate.[16] The Escapist's Croshaw remarked that "it wobbles between basic and functional to just plain bad".[79] Other reviewers liked the graphics: Daniel Tack of Game Informer felt that the visuals appropriately match the characters and settings,[68] while Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer commended the ability of the visuals to convey emotion.[70]

About a year after release, Fox commented that he was surprised by how popular the game had become and though appreciative of the attention, he found it stressful. Fox said: "It wouldn't surprise me if I never made a game as successful again. That's fine with me though."[81]

• List of GameMaker Studio games

• Official website