Cortex Papers - OMORI v. Undertale From A Game Perspective

The following is a research paper written by the Cortex Stem University that has been declassified and released to the public on April 9'th, 2022.

* Written by: Langemarck Austen.
* Writing period: Feb 14 2022-Apr 8'th 2022.
* Publication date: April 9'th 2022

## Content

### 1) Opening

What is a videogame? literally it is just lines of code, some files, and a download button. but there is much more to a videogame than the actual videogame, and for a paper on that, see my colleague Glenn Pahraiah's paper on Undertale v. OMORI trough a different, more 'feeling'- lens.

But, that's her paper- I'm here to talk about those lines of codes and files. Worth to note this paper is entirely subjective, but with how CSU works, it's objectively subjective.

### 2B) Brief Overview On Both Games

But first, a brief overview of both specimens we will analyze.

### 2A) Undertale

***Undertale*** is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. In the game, the player controls a human child who has fallen into a whimsical fantasy word filled with monsters called 'the underground' located beneath the earth's surface. The monsters that inhabit the underground are exiles, as monsters and humans used to coexist on the earth's surface, but the former waged a war on the latter, a war that would see the humans triumphant and seal the monsters underground with a magical barrier. The game labels itself as the friendly RPG where no one has to die, which would be correct, as the player can choose to either SPARE or ATTACK the monster inhabitants of the underground. The player can take a peaceful pacifist outlook on the creatures beneath earth, or they can exploit, ravage, and murder their way trough the monster's home, and everything else in between. These choices affect the game's story, characters, dialogue, and ending.

Outside some artwork and character designs, Fox developed the entirety of the game by himself, including the script and music. The game takes inspiration from many sources, like the *Touhou Project,* or the comedy show *Mr. Bean*. The game has sold over one million copies, has been released on many platforms, and is regarded as a true masterclass of game design, praised by critics and fans alike for it's lovely characters, atmospheric settings, excellent soundtrack, and unique spin on the RPG trope.

### 2B) OMORI

***Omori*** (stylized as ***OMORI***) is a 2020 story heavy, role-playing video game developed by indie studio Omocat. The game is based on the director's webcomic series of the same name, OMORI had a successful Kickstarter campaign which was funded one day after it was announced. The game's development took six long years with many delays along the way, but eventually the game was fully released to the public on December 2020.

The game follows Sunny (stylized as SUNNY), a shut-in antisocial and his alter-ego named Omori (stylized as OMORI, but note he is different from the game itself) as the player explores both the real world in the form of Sunny's small American suburban hometown of Faraway, and Sunny's personal imaginary world known as Headspace, where Sunny takes the role of Omori. The game's story revolves around Sunny and his closely knit friend group, their falling out with each other, and, if things go well- how their bond can be reformed. Along this journey, the player will encounter charming fantasy worlds, characters, enemies, and slowly piece together what had truly happened to Sunny and his friends.

The game has been well received, it's story has been hailed as touching and greatly emotional by many, the artstyle and soundtrack of the game have also received similar compliments, and the game itself has garnered a cult following, although it has it's own shortcomings in the form of it's gameplay, which fans and critics have mixed feelings about in general. But overall the game has been reviewed positively.

With that out of the way, it's finally time to start analyzing

### C) Let's Talk Combat

Undertale wins, easily, one and done. I can move on right now, but- i'm being paid to write this so i won't.

Each game has their core mechanic of combat, OMORI has the Emotion System, and Undertale has the Bullet Box