Why is undertale good?

[jacojerb]

I'm really sorry for posting this. But it really bugs me a lot more than it should

A while ago, I heard about undertale. The things I've heard made it sound like it'd be something amazing. There's undertale mods for several games I play. Basically every youtube lets play-er has done videos on it...

I heard it's very story based, so I avoided spoilers. Didn't watch anything about it. Eventually played it myself...

I finished it twice. A normal pacifist run and a pure special pacifist run. I have to say... I'm really disappointed.

Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad game. It's just not a great game. The way people were going on about it, it felt like it's a revolutionary thing, like portal or minecraft. It's just not that great, that significant.

It's got about 7 hours of gameplay. Sure, there's a handful of secrets. Sure, there's multiple endings. But playing the game for a second time... You just end up skipping all the dialogue, because you've seen it before. It just feels like a drag, and isn't very worth it...

I've seen people calling it an RPG... I really don't want to call it an RPG. For starters, it's very linear. Sure, you can get EXP and levels, but it doesn't mean much, and as you later find out, all it means is how big a dick you've been

The characters... Sure, they're fun, but they can hardly be called original. Their personalities are very generic...

The humor... I must admit, I had many good smiles, but nothing that made me actually laugh out loud

The actual gameplay... Attacking is simple, and the minigame to dodge things to not take damage... It really does feel like a minigame. Sure, they make it interesting, every monster has different things they attack with, but in the end, it's just dodging things. Sometimes more simple, sometimes bullet hell. Either way... Nothing utterly significant



So what am I missing? Why do so many people regard this game so highly? Yes, it was fun, but why is it that great? I tried to get into it. I'm disappointed...

[Ivic_Wulfe]

It's because it's a very story-driven game, many people like it for the fact, immersing oneself into the lives of the characters, bland as they may be to you, allows you to understand the consequences of your actions. Many games just have you killing everyone, but this game begs the question as to, what if your choices within "battle" mattered? What would it make you do.

I can understand your difficulty especially if there was a large amount of hype around it. To the Moon is much the same in this regard. However a lot has to do with the score, the way the game is played and, if one can, the immersion.

[Hargan]

*Tips his hat to Jacojerb*

Now if people could stop telling me to play the game, that'd be awesome. Side note, have you checked out my review for it?

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7171580/

Yes, it's a game that twists the 4th wall, and tries to play you as much as you play the game. While fun and refreshing in this time, I do agree a lot: It feels like a game that got more attention than it deserves.

[Gothic Collie]

Its hard to explain, but the game is a tribute to old school RPGs , mostly back to the snes days, especially Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, it isnt perfect but its designed and written in sutch a way that it leaves a lot to the imagination, it gives you a good foundation with the characters, a moderate plot and messes with you just enough to make you want to be involved in that universe, care just enough about the characters to want to know what their lives are like after your ending.

Its not so much the game as it is the content created from it.

[Hargan]

I can appreciate the style and homage to old school gaming. I get that it's choc full of goodies and secrets and surprises. I know that people are literally blown away by everything in the game.

I'm not though. And I think I discovered why recently:

When someone talks good about a game, I can become interested. I mean, I was interested in this game when I first watched Jim Sterling play it. The way he described the mechanics to mess with your mind, the combat, just everything about it made me interested.

And then a lot of people started talking about it. And then a lot of people went crazy about it. And then too many people were forcing the game at me, yelling at me: play it.

To me, the game is lauded as the best game throughout 2015, constantly. And maybe it is to a lot of people. But when I tried it, I found nothing exciting, nothing grabbing. I didn't even finish it, because I couldn't be arsed to.

Now don't get me wrong, I can get into games. I full on became a blood mage hunter in dragonage origins, all because of what'shisface betraying me in the mage starting area. I recently cried at a pokemon game (seriously, they're getting pretty dark and complex). I can get into games and stories.

But not this one.

I don't think I'm going to find my answer of why it is good from others. I've heard the record over and over and over and over again. Maybe it's just not my game. Whatever the reason, I think I'll only find the reason within myself, not from outside. If others have viewpoints that are new and bring other ideas in, I'll always listen. I love to hear opinions. Maybe I'll find a reason to love it, like I did with Morrowind, years after first trying it.

But as it stands, it's alright I guess.

[Gothic Collie]

I can understand and respect your opinion on the subject, especially that a lot of people are overly excited about it , it is much the same way I felt about MLP for a extremely long time, the fact that everyone told me "I must watch it" was a turn off.

Interesting thing about the two fandoms is I like the user content a lot more than the actual thin.

[rusted hydra]

I watched a video of someone playing the first bit of undertale and I... welll... it was fucking depressing. I dont want to play undertail.

[jacojerb]

I think I realized something. A month has passed, and I'm still thinking about undertale... I guess I do adore the characters. It was a pretty good story game... But I realized why I didn't like the game as much as I probably could've when I played it

Spoiler warning
I didn't want to leave Toriel's house... When I first met her, I had my suspicions about her, but she was just so... Welcoming. I really liked her place, was so nice, and she did so much effort to just make a great impression. So at her place, I take a nap in my new room. Wake up with a slice of cake next to me... Was so nice. Then I go to talk to her, and my only options is "can I leave now" and "nevermind". I kept saying "nevermind". Didn't want to leave... But soon all other dialog ran out, and I was forced to ask. She went down to the basement, I followed. She told me to go back up... I did. I went to my room, took another nap and everything. But when I went looking for her, she was just slightly deeper in the basement. Each time I saw her, she was slightly deeper, and she would tell me to go back up. And I did. I really didn't want to leave.

From a roleplaying point of view, what I was forced to do went directly against what I wanted to do. If I fell in some strange hole and met a flower that wanted to kill me, and this strange women saves me, and takes such great care of me, I wouldn't leave after just one night. But it seems this is what the game wants you to do, forces you to do. I understand, it's necessary for the story to progress. But even a "1 month later" screen would've been amazing

So after following her deep into the basement, trying everything possible to not have to go, we get to the door. Now I'm forced to fight her... I really, really didn't want to. I think I lost on purpose, and went back into my room. Had another nap... Only to find she's still waiting at the door to have me challenge her again

For those who don't know, sparing her is really not a straightforward thing. You have to keep spamming the "spare" option in the menu. There's a frog earlier that hints that you might have to do it... Well, I tried it. But after 5 times doing that, and not having any clear indication that it's actually doing anything.... And after all my trying to not have to fight her at all... I felt like the game was forcing me to kill her. And so I did

At that time, I was so angry at the game. They give me such a nice caretaker, with such a nice place... Then I get forced to kill her and leave everything there, for no apparent reason other than progressing with the story...

Then later, when I fought Undine, she rubs it in my face. "Did you feel nothing for the people you've killed".... Literally the only person I killed by then was Toriel. And only because (I thought at the time) I had no other choice.



With that all being said, I can't like the game. I refuse to. But, at the same time... I admire it. I like the characters, and even after not playing it for a month, I'm still thinking about them. Few pieces of fiction have done that to me. So... As much as I don't like the game for what it did to me, I must admit it's a good game. I'd still say the characters were generic, but in a good way. A likable, almost relateable way

[Hargan]

So I played Undertale.

And I'm done. It was so luckluster the ending, wherein it built up so amazingly just before. It was WTF is going on and just surprises everywhere

And then nothing.

I killed the bad guy, left, done. Nothing more to do.

Whelp, was fun, but no need to play it again. No desire to anyway.

Like I see where replayability comes into it, but... I'm not a replayability game man myself. If I have to go over and over and over again, the same places, same enemies, same everything, just to do everything right, well.... I'll be over there, playing a card game. Or racing game. Or something else that still challenges me.

Something that I still want to play.

[Hargan]

I want to curl up in a ball and jsut forget about this game...

... but no one came...

I think, I think I finally understand. I reached a place, somewhere.... I don't.... I'm not going to give away spoilers, but this second playthroguh revealed a hidden area, and I'm actually terrified. I'm scared, I don't want to fight the monsters but feel like I'd rather kill these things than anything else and what is going on and this is a nightmare worse, worse than the end boss.

Bring that nightmare back, I don't want this...

So in my final comments, I'd like to just give praise and awe at a game that managed to break me

... but no one came...