Board 8 > Does anyone here like Undertake?

(+) Yeah! (+)

My daughter got me to try it, and I'm about an hour in and I just don't get why people love it. I am putting on a brave face trying to muscle through a playthrough for her, but I am absolutely bored.

She talks about how good the story is, but I haven't really seen much in regards to story as of yet (just got to a snow town). All I know is I'm some kind of kid that fell into a hole and wants to go home or something, lol.

I get bored of the battle mechanics and started to run from most of them. The forced ones I pretty much just fumble through while basically playing a mini bullet time game.

Someone tell me what I'm missing that made this game so popular years ago.

I'm the same, it's not for everyone. My sister loved it though.

To me, the battles and music were the only interesting things about it. There was little engagement outside of battles, and the writing definitely seemed like it was from an musician-turned-game developer in their early 20s.

Top 10 game for me.

I mean.......

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79323228/951264528

If nothing about the game's charm or humor has taken for you by this point then the more 'interesting' parts of the game later probably won't change your mind

Paratroopa1 posted...

If nothing about the game's charm or humor has taken for you by this point then the more 'interesting' parts of the game later probably won't change your mind

It being my 9th favorite game of all-time aside, this is pretty accurate. It has a super-defined target audience, and if you aren't the target audience, you're gonna know pretty quick.

Snow town is basically the perfect time to know, too. If Sans and Papyrus don't even warrant a mention then yeah it's not your game

She talks about how good the story is, but I haven't really seen much in regards to story as of yet (just got to a snow town). All I know is I'm some kind of kid that fell into a hole and wants to go home or something, lol.

Out of curiosity, you wouldn't call, say, exploring Toriel's house story? Like, finding out what kind of person she is, what her hobbies are, why she's so nice to you and so on? To me, that's what Undertale's story is about. It's in taking time to stop, explore your environs, and learn about everyone around you. This includes your 'enemies' in the random encounters, by the way.

It's one of my favourite games ever!

It feels like a bit of a bait to ask about it here though, because GameFAQs is a bit of an echo chamber of hate for it, even outside of b8.

If you don't like it by the end of Snowdin, I'd say there's pretty much zero chance of your opinion changing as you go further. It's just not for you.

I'd say it's a game for people who seek irreverent, quirky things, simple joys, and stories that are optimistic and sincere, and that wear their heart on their sleeve. It's not for people who strongly prefer tightly written, intellectually stimulating, dramatically intense stories, layered in intrigue and metaphor. Nor people who put focus into gameplay over narrative, since it's such a mechanically simple game. Also, some of its defining traits were mildly novel at the time it came out (e.g. not killing things, and the game being aware of multiple playthroughs), but aren't particularly remarkable now.

Would you enjoy games like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon or Earthbound? Shows like Adventure Time or Owl House? Then Undertale probably has a chance to resonate with you. If not, then it probably won't.

Nor people who put focus into gameplay over narrative, since it's such a mechanically simple game

I couldn't disagree with this more strongly

Undertale is a ludic masterpiece. It's one of its strongest aspects, in fact -- the intermixing of gameplay and story is what makes it such a memorable experience and without it it'd land a lot less hard. There's a reason tons of 'boss fight' mods exist for it too, like for example Undertale RED. It holds your hand a lot early on and if you stay on the 'correct' path, but the deeper into it you go the less true this is. That one fight (you know which) made like ten hours of my life vanish in a flash and I can't say that a game that did that has weak gameplay.

I really thought the original post was going to end with Mankind getting thrown off Hell in a Cell.

I'm tremendously disappointed.

KanzarisKelshen posted...

I couldn't disagree with this more strongly

Undertale is a ludic masterpiece. It's one of its strongest aspects, in fact -- the intermixing of gameplay and story is what makes it such a memorable experience and without it it'd land a lot less hard. There's a reason tons of 'boss fight' mods exist for it too, like for example Undertale RED. It holds your hand a lot early on and if you stay on the 'correct' path, but the deeper into it you go the less true this is. That one fight (you know which) made like ten hours of my life vanish in a flash and I can't say that a game that did that has weak gameplay.

I agree with the ludic aspect but stand by what I said. I think we're talking about slightly different things.

The gameplay fits the narrative yes, but I don't think Undertale would have been the hit it was if you ditched the story and just made it a mostly-storyless bullet hell dodging game with its current mechanics. And that's what I mean by it not being carried by its gameplay.

I frequently see people complaining about the gameplay being boring / clunky / half-baked, and that's because it's so simple. There's almost no items other than healing items. Acts are often very simple and just involve trial and erroring the correct answer. Fight is completely ignored in most playthroughs. For people who want a little more strategy and RPGness, or want the act trees to be a bit more involved, or for the battle system to vary it up more than it already does, it's disappointing. Something like Shapes and Beats gets away with it by being even more extra with its presentation, and extremely focused.

For some people, narrative is deeply secondary and they aren't going to give it a chance unless the gameplay bangs on its own, ignorant of its context. I know people like that.

I think it's best not to really think of Undertale as an RPG and more as a narrative-driven game with bullet hell minigames that have the dressing of an RPG

Honestly, the opening sequence was my favorite part of the game, so if that did nothing for you, it's probably not for you.

No what's that

sorry i'm not a wrestling fan

It's very driven by its charm and tone. The way you describe the game is absent of any mention of that - I don't know if you it's somehow going right over your head or you see it and are completely unamused by it or what. But if the tone doesn't appeal to you then this game has nothing for you.

What is that, like Graveyard Keeper?

Thank you Take

It was the best game that year imo. However if youre not vibing with it it might just be not to your taste. I would say give it until the end of Snowdin, the boss of that section is where the game really starts to reveal itself and pick up. Of course the game is only 5-6 hours anyway so you can push through if you want.

I'm surprised it took 17 posts for someone to make fun of the typo.

No.

azuarc posted...

I'm surprised it took 17 posts for someone to make fun of the typo.

13 actually

It's my favorite game of all time, but I agree with everyone saying that it's not for you if you're not enjoying it by this point. If you're not into the characters, music, style of humor, or gameplay then there's absolutely nothing coming up that's going to change your mind.

...Unless your only complaint about the gameplay was "too easy" in which case, *maybe*, you might tolerate a few boss fights later. But given your opening post, I'd say that's so excessively unlikely as to not be worth consideration.

UF8 posted...

sorry i'm not a wrestling fan

typo didnt register for me until here

Suprak_the_Stud posted...

I really thought the original post was going to end with Mankind getting thrown off Hell in a Cell.

I'm tremendously disappointed.

Yesss

BakusaiTenketsu posted...

She talks about how good the story is, but I haven't really seen much in regards to story as of yet (just got to a snow town). All I know is I'm some kind of kid that fell into a hole and wants to go home or something, lol.

i just have no idea how to engage with a post like this

Steiner posted...

i just have no idea how to engage with a post like this

Yeah like...obviously Undertale isn't for everyone, but I get the impression that there was minimal effort made to actually engage with what the game is presenting. Perhaps as a consequence of basically being forced to play.

Ok, so what am I missing?

A flower wanted to kill me. I was rescued by a monster who then wanted me to stay with her forever because she was worried about me. Most of the monsters aren't actually bad, they just want someone to talk to.

After I leave the first area, I run into some skeletons and dogs that are supposed to stop humans, but don't really take it too seriously.

The writing feels like it targets preteens who are into quirky Disney shows. And if the story is simply, Monsters aren't bad, I kind of got it.

My favorite wrestler Undertake

Undertales story is fantastic, but also if you are really going to engage with it seriously, we cant tell you why. But also, its not going to be apparent for a while from where you are.

Honestly, finish the section youre on and if you dont find the boss neat you dont have to continue.

Undertale is one of those games that you should experience at least once. It's got a charming cast, and good music. I don't think I ever really 'loved' the game until I beat it.

I will finish it, so maybe I will "get it," at the end, lol.

I'm just trying to figure out what my character's motivation is. Am I trying to save the monsters from the humans? Is there an evil plot that I haven't seen yet? Or is the story basically, "the friends we made along the way?"

Undertake more like hot take

Well, the protagonist is a cipher by design, so I understand why that question is so difficult.

BakusaiTenketsu posted...

Ok, so what am I missing?

A flower wanted to kill me. I was rescued by a monster who then wanted me to stay with her forever because she was worried about me. Most of the monsters aren't actually bad, they just want someone to talk to.

After I leave the first area, I run into some skeletons and dogs that are supposed to stop humans, but don't really take it too seriously.

The writing feels like it targets preteens who are into quirky Disney shows. And if the story is simply, Monsters aren't bad, I kind of got it.

You have correctly inferred that you're Missing Something.

The real reason people are super into the game is that it's very meta. "Big deal, every indie game is like that." Every indie game is like that now. This was the game that really popularized that trend so it's uniquely resonant with a bunch of people along that axis.

As an example, the following cutscene happens if you kill Toriel and then do some spoilery stuff. This little dialog is responsible for a big % of what you're seeing (you're already past this part of the game and i've already given you a spoiler warning lol):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kt2f5Lw21I

That kind of thing was rare in 2015. It's also why there's a lot of "you have to see it for yourself," because it's considered impolite to just say "it's metafiction"

Isn't the protagonist a kid? I don't really remember.

But perhaps you should view it less as "protagonist is a thoughtful person with agency who has a goal" and more like "kid ends up in weird world, just starts exploring and meeting people and going along with whatever they're told" (as i recall, toriel and other NPCs start guiding you around and telling you what to do pretty quickly)

I prefer Kane.

BakusaiTenketsu posted...

I will finish it, so maybe I will "get it," at the end, lol.

I'm just trying to figure out what my character's motivation is. Am I trying to save the monsters from the humans? Is there an evil plot that I haven't seen yet? Or is the story basically, "the friends we made along the way?"

You're a little kid who's in an unfamiliar place. What do you think your children would do if they ended up far, far away from home?

Baku, have you watched Ted Lasso? If so, what was your reaction as you were watching the first few episodes?

I liked Undertale decently enough but it's for sure flawed. Half-baked combat, weird difficulty curve, minimal story (with high highs but a lot of lows in between), humor that misses more than it hits.

Deltarune solves basically all these problems immediately so I'm really looking forward to the rest of that game.

CoolCly posted...

Baku, have you watched Ted Lasso? If so, what was your reaction as you were watching the first few episodes?

I would, but we don't have Apple TV. Maybe in the future.

On topic, played more last night and I realigned my expectations a bit and enjoyed a little more than my first hour. I did Undyne, and the followup best friends segment, and I did the fight against Mettaton. The best friends with Undyne segment was a highlight.

I was gonna post to try giving it until Undyne, but I see that has just been done.

Follow your instincts on if you want to continue at this point. It was my #4 game of the decade for reasons like the video Neato posted, but your mileage may vary.

Undertale remains my favorite game ever made, but if you end up bouncing off it I completely understand

Finished it tonight. Finished Asgore, and then did the part after with Amalgamations and Asriel. Let's just say I was filled with Determination to see it to the end.

I feel like I approached it from the wrong gamer side of me. I was expecting an RPG, or, well, I dunno what I was probably expecting. I started the game thinking it was a puzzle RPG that I had to stumble through dialogues to try and beat encounters. After I realigned my perspective, I started treating it more like a visual novel, and I wasn't as put off by it towards completion.

I wouldn't say it will make my top 20 games or anything, but I do respect it more than I gave credit a few days ago. I do think I am definitely not it's target audience, which might be hypocritical of me to say since the first two things I look for in games is the story and the characters. I don't play a lot of indie games, tbqh. My entire library is pretty much Triple A or by big game publishers. Overall, I am glad I played it since it made my daughter's week.

I did the Pacifist run when I played, which probably enhanced the experience for me. If I didn't know about that and just played it like a "normal" game, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

I did pacifist because my daughter guided me towards that early. The tutorial area encourages it, but she told me that the entire game can be done that way and that I should try if I wanted.

Oh I'm glad to hear you actually did kind of come around on it at the end, that's cool