izigame.me

It is fairly impossible to discuss Undertale and what it is, without discussing what it isn't. It truly isn't the most revolutionary game on its engine, but it did prove to be innovative. Toby Fox, a veteraned modder of Earthbound/Mother 3, who had cut his teeth with making ROM hacks, went on to make something truly interesting with Undertale.
Undertale is not so much a game, it is more a vehicle for a much larger fandom. And a fandom that has proven to be so significantly diverse, talented and at times, outright insane and intolerable, that it ironically had become the anti-thesis to the thesis of the game. But Undertale, itself, a game the embraces minimalism and yet, has ambitious, big ideas and remarkable presentation at the cost of anything being fairly high-brow, truly does something that few media forms can do.
And that is give an entire generation of internet denizens schizophrenia. There was a time where you could not escape the Undertale memes. Even if you have never played Undertale, you sort of 'have' through symbiosis. Like background radiation, you have absorbed so much of this game without realizing it by simply being on the internet during a certain time. But to actually play and experience it for yourself is oddly intimate, despite it arguably being more enjoyable via vicariousness.
When I lived in Denmark, ever briefly for three years, I more or less was attending the Viborg Animation Workshop, Graphic Storytelling course for free. I simply would just show up to classes, simply because I knew people there, as a perpetual 'guest' and while I would gain no credential, I would be surrounded by peers of the creative pursuits and arts. Not only that, but I got to meet many guest teachers from around the world, who made some significant IPs. Be they cartoons, be they comics... I also knew people who were studying 3D animation and modeling for video games and CGI special effects.
But one person, I remembered very significantly was an Israeli man, who had boldly given up his Israeli citizenship for a Romanian one, just to get away from his country. His name was Tomer and he was gay. And he had a wicked sense of humour and some strong artistic direction with his own works. The man had also formerly been an Israeli commando and had grown to greatly resent this time in his life. Regardless of the details, he was an individual who was the embodiment of an art student. An open Marxist-Leninist. A conscious objector to the nation he was once born in and once served. And above all, a fan of Undertale.
A game he only played once.
I had played Undertale years prior around its release, inspired by videogamedunkey's video, which admittingly, spoiled a lot of the game. But I still enjoyed the humour and while it is far from my favourite game of this sort (Note, I am a huge fan of Fear and Hunger 1 and 2, which I've jokingly called "Undertale but good and edgy"), but what got me to REALLY play it again on this very steam account, having had to make a new one upon migrating to Denmark, was Tomer's unquestionable appreciation for his first playthrough.
A playthrough so absolute and impactful, blind and entirely driven by his own motivations to see it through for himself, that he wished to never play it again to preserve it a perfect memory.
I had already forgotten some of the finer details in Undertale at this time and when I did go through it again, it clicked. And I 'got it'. My second playthrough of Undertale was 'that' play through, an experience of my own and one... I don't want to sully by playing again anytime soon.
Undertale is a psy op, a cult. A fandom that was vile, but also immensely impressive. Undertale has some immense flaws and some drawbacks, but it was made with passion. And frankly, love it, hate it. I recommend letting go of your vicarious enjoyment from memes and other people's opinions, do your best to just erase any memory of it and then play it blind without any worry of getting the best or worst ending.
It is definitely one of the most games of all time. Toby Fox has dedicated himself to become a Yoko Taro-esque figure in recent years as he developed Deltarune, but it is cannot be understated how much he earned himself a spot in the unique zeitgeist of this era of the internet.
Decades from now, this game will be remembered. And you will remember the people who remembered it before you played it even. A friend, now long gone and lost from this physical existence on Earth, once had her icon as Napstablook on skype. And I remember, with one of her quotes in her status, everyone was suddenly concerned for this person's mental health. Years later, we were certainly reminded that this was a healthy concern we should have kept up.
Still, I will remember Undertale as a very strange experience that prominently will be bathed in nostalgia for a world that does not exist anymore. And memes left still quoted, but otherwise unspoken.
It was bigger than it deserved, but as satisfying than it needed to be. Just like your mum. Am I right lad, or am I right lads? (You are right lad)