The game Undertale is quickly rising in popularity in the gaming community. It's been promoted by many well known youtube game play content creators such as Sky William, Videogamedunkey and GameGrumps. It has been acclaimed as hilarious, cute, emotionally moving and beautifully designed. How does Undertale stack up to previous 2-D "RPG"s? What is it that truly sets it apart as unique? Perhaps the buzz around it's release isn't because it's the best of it's genre, but that Undertale just breaks the mold of other video games currently being released? Does Undertale deserve it's reputation?
If you are a human being with a soul, and you regularly succumb to "the feel?" Then yes, it does deserve it's reputation. Simply put, "Undertale" intentionally appeals to both men and women of any number of gender and sexual orientations, due to its gender neutral main character, and the numerous relationships that blossom before your eyes as you go through the game: more than half of which are what we would consider homosexual in nature. It's a game that includes tropes and gags reminiscent of anime and manga: jokes that only a youth culture now familiar with Japanese humor could appreciate. Along with that, it is a virtual meme production machine, allowing any number of people to take numerous memorable screen shots and make up their own gags from them, not to mention an overabundance of fan-art. Basically, it's popularity on Tumblr is likely by no accident, as it is a game almost perfectly designed to cater to that crowd, and their sensibilities. I can't speak exactly for how it differs or improves on ideas and mechanics used in other similar 2D RPGs. But I don't think it's popularity really has anything to do with its game play, other than the fact that you are encouraged to be a pacifist rather than fight and kill all of your "enemy encounters." It's likely so popular because it appeals to an audience that loves everything this game has to offer as far as its characters, its story, and its romantic situations are concerned. No other game has achieved what this game has in those specific areas, and no other game that I know of has included more gay relationships than it has straight, because at this time, only an independent game by an independent developer is comfortable and courageous enough to design their game that way. For me personally, I love this game, not for the gameplay, but for the story. If I could have just read a comic book about it, or watched an animated video about it all, I may have preferred that. But, putting this all into a game makes the experience perhaps more rewarding, because you required to beat the difficult parts of the game in order to see how this incredibly well-conceived story continues, and how all your new monster buddies turn out in the end. Sure you can watch the cut-scenes on youtube these days. If you want the most out of it, though, then you'll play the game entirely by yourself, and experience it as it was intended. So yes, it deserves every accolade that it gets, because there's nothing else like it, and there might not be another for a little while still. – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
With all that I previously said, what I really meant to respond with was: No, it is by all means "not" overrated. If anything, it is still rather underrated by the rest of the gaming community who has yet to play it, and truly understand how enjoyable it is. Because I imagine there are still some reluctant people who have yet to try it themselves, and who may be convinced that what they see filling their Tumblr feeds is more annoying than enticing. lol – Jonathan Leiter9 years ago
Lol I am glad you are so motivated to express yourself about Undertale, and so strongly. I haven't played it personally, just watched commentaries and gameplay videos. It looks really interesting but I found it surprising no one has anything negative to say. I hope someone like you takes this topic and writes something really moving about Undertale with it! – Slaidey9 years ago
This could take a lot of research into demographics and the liking. I very much consider myself a gamer and an avid fan of YouTube, yet I've never heard of this game. Mind you, I rarely mix the two. I don't watch Let's Plays and such. – Austin Bender9 years ago
I think one of the more interesting aspects of Undertale is that it knows it's a game. During replays, or if you go back to another save to make a different choice, certain characters know what you did and will comment on it. That fact it's programmed to be self-aware is an interesting thing to bring to the gaming industry. – tateltael9 years ago
I think it's very important to know that the sort of moral choice present in Undertale has been done before and I would argue better executed in Indie Games like Iji. I think part of the reason Undertale has become such a runnaway success is partly due to changing winds in interests on Tumblr, and partly due to Toby Fox's placement in Homestuck fandom. Which isn't to say that the game isn't good, but its meteoric rise in popularity is not indicative of its quality. Similarly many members Undertale's have not actually played the game and only know it from lets plays. – MattHotaling9 years ago
