Undertale

***Undertale*** (stylized as ***UNDERTALE*** and formerly ***UnderTale***) is a role-playing game developed independently by Toby Fox with additional art by Temmie Chang in the Game Maker: Studio engine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on September 15, 2015, for Linux on July 17, 2016, for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on August 15, 2017, and for Nintendo Switch on September 18, 2018. The game has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

There's also a special collector's edition sold exclusively on Fangamer, which includes the game's soundtrack and a music box locket, among other things.

## Gameplay

*Undertale* is a role-playing game that utilizes many of the traditional mechanics normally seen in role-playing games but with a number of differences.

The battle system in *Undertale* is turn-based and seems to be heavily inspired by bullet-hell games – in particular, the *Touhou* series – where the protagonist's SOUL, represented by a red heart, must avoid attacks unleashed by the opponent. As the game progresses, new elements are introduced, such as colored obstacles which require the soul to stay still or move through them, and some battles (including some of the Boss battles) which change the way the heart is controlled. During the player's turn, they have the opportunity to fight the opponent (involving quick-time input), perform actions that can change the opponent's mood, use items, and show mercy by sparing the enemy, which ends the combat if the correct actions have been used. Killing an enemy will reward EXP and LV, but neither are given if they are successfully spared; GOLD is earned in both cases. The game has a large emphasis on the morality of killing and sparing the Monsters encountered, as the player's actions determine what ending they will receive. Unlike traditional RPGs, it is possible to complete the game without ever killing a single monster.

The overworld mostly consists of puzzles that the player must solve to progress. Monster battles can also be seen as puzzles, requiring the right set of actions to resolve the fight peacefully. However, should the player decide to commit to murdering every monster they encounter, almost all the puzzles are disabled, and the player is required to grind to progress the game. Unlike traditional RPGs, grinding (under a neutral setting) and backtracking are not mandatory, and no side quests exist within the game.

The game is also known for its dialogue that is witty and humorous as well as having drastic alterations based on the player's actions, and occasional breaking of the fourth wall. While killing/sparing results in notable dialogue changes, the most prominent alteration involves the manipulation of the game's SAVE feature, particularly quitting or resetting the game: almost every major character possesses meta-knowledge, remembering actions the player had performed in previous playthroughs.

## Main Story

Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two races and, after a long series of battle, the humans were victorious. They gathered and witnessed as the greatest of their magicians confined the monsters to the Underground with a magic barrier.

Many years after the war, in 201X, a human child climbs Mount Ebott for their own mysterious reason. It is said that those who climb the mountain never return. When they seek shelter in a cave, the child discovers an enormous hole in the mountain and trips on a root, ultimately falling in. They soon land on face-first on the ground of a large, ruined cave. After that, the story begins.

The human starts off their adventure in the Ruins and soon meets Flowey, a sadistic flower who attempts to kill the protagonist for his own amusement. He is thwarted by a motherly monster named Toriel, who teaches the child how to solve puzzles and resolve conflicts in the Underground. After a boss fight with her, she allows the child to exit the Ruins, ending the demo.

## Development

The earliest known screenshots of *Undertale* were posted in a joke thread in the PK Hack section of Starmen.Net, where Toby "Radiation" Fox claimed that the game would be an *EarthBound* ROM hack called *UnderBound 2*.

The first known demo of *Undertale* was sent to the video game merchandising website, Fangamer, to play back on May 2, 2013. The game was met with positive reviews, so a public demo was later released on May 23, 2013.

*Undertale* was later funded through a kickstarter campaign with a goal of $5,000. It ended up receiving $51,124 from 2,398 people. Due to the short length of the demo, Fox expected the game to be completed as early as August 2014.

## Version History

There have been five patches for *Undertale* so far; the current version is v1.06 on all systems except for Nintendo Switch, which is currently at v1.11.

## Trivia

* On two preview images of the official website's "about" section, the character's name is Taco.
* The page title of the website's "demo" section is "UNDERTALE Delicious Free Sample."
* If one tries to check the official website's HTML, they will find this message by Toby Fox, which says: "What are you doing? Looking for secrets? Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong. Or you might learn something you DON'T like... Hee hee hee."

## External Links

* Official website
* Undertale on Humble Bundle
* Undertale on GOG
* Undertale on Steam
* Undertale on PlayStation Store
* Undertale on Nintendo eShop
* Official blog
* Official merchandise
* Official Twitter
* Undertale Wiki