UNDERTALE

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

hi. i'm back from the dead to talk about undertale because why aren't you guys talking about undertale.



this game came out nearly two weeks ago, but the demo (which you should play if you're at all on the fence) has been out since mid-2013.

the game itself is a jrpg with a couple of neat mechanics not usually seen in jrpgs. while attacking enemies is fairly straightforward, when enemies attack you, you have to move a heart symbol around in a confined area while objects of varying sizes and shapes comes at you from various angles. the sizes, shapes, and angles are all determined by what enemy/enemies you're fighting, and different enemy attack patterns will stack when facing more than one in battle. this bullet-hell-like system leads to much more active and engaging battles without delving into the realm of real-time strategizing, simultaneously relieving some pressure while adding pressure in a different area.

the other big mechanic is mercy.

in undertale, you don't have to kill anyone. the battle menu has two submenus that exist mostly to serve this: ACT and MERCY. every enemy in the game has their own unique set of actions the player can perform on them, such as "compliment" or "threat", which can potentially put them in a state where they no longer want to fight. in that situation, you can show mercy by sparing them, ending the battle right then and there. however, you won't gain any EXP if you do this.

as a result of this second mechanic, there are many ways to play undertale. will you be a pacifist, refusing to fight anyone? or will you strike down everyone in your path and become stronger? or, maybe somewhere in the middle...?

there is a lot more to this game than what it seems.

[Kosheh]

hi. i'm back from the dead to talk about undertale because why aren't you guys talking about undertale.

well, maybe if you came back from the dead A LITTLE SOONER maybe we'd all be talking about undertale A LOT QUICKER
and our coolness quotient would go up by at least 1 due to your presence
!!!!!!!!

[TomGuycott]

I remember the demo. Loved it. I think I might get this.

[Helmo]

I remember the demo. Loved it. I think I might get this.

Spoiler

There be skeletons in this game

[Koh]

The game's art is kinda meh, but the gameplay looks pretty fun and unique C:.

[Vipershark]

TORIEL ;_________;

[MoneyMan]

this game is probably the best examination of the relationship between player and video game i've ever seen

also it's really fun and cute and hilarious and well written and you should play it

[Dolphman]

I dunno. I have a feeling this game is gonna be super overrated to the point we get sick of hearing about it. And I haven't played many JRPGs.
Also agree with Koh. NES style graphics is getting old these days with indie games. I want to see something 16-bit instead for a change.

[Helmo]

I dunno. I have a feeling this game is gonna be super overrated to the point we get sick of hearing about it. And I haven't played many JRPGs.
Also agree with Koh. NES style graphics is getting old these days with indie games. I want to see something 16-bit instead for a change.

I'm got sick of hearing about it quite a while ago, but Jesus any game that gets recognition is considered "overrated" these days.

Also this game isn't "NES" styled it just has a minimal colors :/

People have been calling it the new "Mother" due to it's very deep and emotional story and all that, but Undertale actually has good gameplay. 

[Koh]

Nah, I only consider things overrated when people blow them way out of proportion than what they really are, like Flappy Bird or Five Night's At Freddy's, and you see them so bloody everywhere to the point you wish you had an app to block them all like Ads, lol.

Minimal colors is one thing, but even in that regard it doesn't look very appealing. The style itself just looks so bland and uninspired. We've seen great examples of graphically limited 8-bit games that look fantastic, like Bram Stoker's Dracula NES.



I'm not saying they need to be the most detailed thing ever, but when the graphics don't really invite me into the world just by looking at them, then it just doesn't do it for me.

[Kriven]

Koh, I won't lie, your example there of "Good-looking 8-Bit graphics" looks like bland, busy crap.

[Helmo]

I think the color choices in your example are really good but that's about it

the black & white in battle sprites are very nice looking imo

[Koh]

Koh, I won't lie, your example there of "Good-looking 8-Bit graphics" looks like bland, busy crap.

Would you prefer I used something like Kirby?


Even so, it's not as busy as you're making it sound...you can actually tell what everything is for one.  If you want busy, look at Die Hard NES xD


As AVGN put it:  "What's this?  What's that?  What's everything!?"

[Silversea]

When I was watching playthroughs of this game I didn't notice the art style as "distractingly simple". I didn't exclaim "wow, these graphics are awesome and they fit the game perfectly", but on reflection I don't see it as a problem.

Perhaps it comes down to the idea that art isn't always everything, the story and gameplay seems to make up for it.

[Sketchasaurus]

a game isn't guided by its art direction. It should be made abundantly clear that a game's "look" is far from any of the important elements of the game. While art direction is somewhat important for a game, the most important thing about a game is whether or not it's mechanically playable; and in addition, whether the story can be followed easily enough in the case of RPGs. It's naive to assume that game design is all about the visuals, and being hung up on that misconception is going to interfere with any discourse of the subject. Sure, there are often games that I'll avoid because of their poor art direction as a knee-jerk reaction, but if I see something about their gameplay that I think "hey, this could be fun" I'm more inclined to try it out.

good art =/= good game
bad art =/= bad game

Now that's out of the way:
I found the battle system to be rather interesting to see (I haven't played it, so this is all from observation) Having more-involved battle segments is something I like to see in RPGs. The vibe I've gotten from watching a bit of this game was a sort of "Cave Story meets Earthbound" feeling, which I find to be somewhat interesting.