Undertale
| Undertale | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Publisher | Toby Fox | ||
| Senior Developer | Toby Fox | ||
| composer | Toby Fox | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
Windows, macOS: September 15, 2015 Linux: July 17, 2016 PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita: August 15, 2017 Nintendo Switch: September 18, 2018 |
||
| platform | Windows , macOS , Linux , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Vita , Nintendo Switch | ||
| Game engine | GameMaker: Studio | ||
| genre | RPG , Danmaku | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Keyboard , gamepad | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
Windows XP or newer, 2 GB RAM, 128 MB graphics card, 200 MB storage space | ||
| medium | Download , BD , Game Card | ||
| language | English , Japanese | ||
| Current version | 1.06 | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
Undertale (also spelled UnderTale or UNDERTALE ) is a computer role-playing game that was developed and published by the American indie developer Toby Fox. Toby Fox is responsible for the script, design and soundtrack; the game also includes artwork by designer Temmie Chang. It was released for Windows and macOS on September 15, 2015.
When it was released, Undertale was recognized by many game critics for its story, characters, and combat system as well. The game has sold over 1,700,000 copies and has been nominated for awards at a number of awards ceremonies, including Game of the Year from various gaming publications. Metacritic aggregates an average rating of 92 out of 100 possible points for the PC version of Undertale .
On August 15, 2017, Undertale was also released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita . The ports were developed by the Japanese studio 8-4. The PlayStation 4 version has a metascore of 92.
On March 8, 2018, Undertale for the Nintendo Switch was introduced at the Nintendo Direct presentation . It was released digitally and on data carrier on September 25, 2018. 8-4 was again responsible for porting. The metascore of the Nintendo Switch version is 93.
content
Gameplay
In Undertale the player controls a human child and navigates it through the "underground" (English. Underground ), a large, remote region below the surface. The inhabitants of the underground, called "monsters" in the game, are a group of non-human, intelligent beings who were banished from the surface of the earth after they lost a war against humans. The player or the child falls into a ravine that leads underground, whereupon they interact with many monsters in the course of the game with the task of returning to the surface of the earth.
Undertale provides, in addition to a neutral game history, span, two special game modes: the so-called Pacifist Run (dt ". Pazifist run ") and the so-called Genocide Run (dt ". Genocide -Lauf"). During the game, the character has to decide whether to either kill the monsters that appear or befriend them. Such decisions change the course of the game significantly by changing the dialogues and the story according to the decisions. The Pacifist Run leads to a good end, the Genocide Run to a bad end. However, no two game runs are the same, as a FUN variable is determined beforehand with each new run . This variable determines what small details will appear in the run. That means there is a different little detail to discover every time.
control
Undertale uses a bird's eye view . In the game you control a human child using the keyboard . The player discovers an underground world with monsters, villages and different locations and has to solve a number of puzzles . The underground is the home of monsters that can be challenged in battles. Save points are distributed across the world map , which heal the player and save the player's current progress.
Combat system
If the player encounters a monster, a fight starts. During a fight, the player controls a small heart that is supposed to represent the character's soul . One tries to avoid the attacks that are carried out by the enemy. This system is similar to the shoot 'em up genre.
The player in turn can make attacks against the opponent in fights. With Fight ( Engl. For "fighting"), the player can hurt a monster and defeat by or kill and then get items or get off at LV. Alternatively, the player can also send Act (Engl. For "acting out" / "action") with a monster interact, for example, tell a joke or say something nice. The third option available to the player is the command Spare (English for "spare"). If an opponent's name display lights up yellow, the monster can be spared and the fight ends peacefully. As the game progresses, the battles become more difficult and new obstacles are introduced. These are expressed in special attacks on the part of the opponents, which are highlighted by different colors: For example, if the opponent carries out a blue attack (the opponent's weapon lights up forget-me-not blue ), the player may not move his heart. However, if the opponent makes an orange attack (the opponent's weapon lights up orange), the player is forced to move his heart very well. There are also bosses who can manipulate the player's control of his heart.
Some of the monsters talk to the player during a fight, and the game informs the player about the opponent's actions and feelings. If the player challenges a boss in a second game, the dialogues the opponent has with the player are based on the course and outcome of the fight that took place in the player's first game. Monsters attack differently depending on how the player interacts with them.
action
Backstory
Many, many years ago, humans and monsters lived peacefully together on earth. But one day a surprisingly heavy war broke out between humans and monsters, which humans finally won. The monsters were banished into a huge underground cave system with the help of a powerful spell. The only access to the underworld was surrounded by a barrier that allows entry but does not let anyone out. Trapped in the underworld, the monsters founded a new kingdom . King Asgore and Queen Toriel ruled over this kingdom , their son was the little prince Asriel .
One day a small human fell into the ravine that leads to the underground realm. They felt sorry for the child and the royal couple finally adopted them. Asriel and Chara (placeholder for the name you give the child at the beginning of the game, if you supposedly choose the name for your own character) became best friends and played a lot together. But soon afterwards the child became seriously ill. Despite all attempts to cure the disease, Chara died. Sadly, Asriel decided to grant the child his last wish: to return to the human world. But in order to be able to cross the mighty barrier, a human soul had to be sacrificed. Asriel finally managed, thanks to Chara's sacrifice, to overcome the barrier, to bring Chara to his / her home village and lay down there. But the villagers, who had never seen a monster before, mistakenly believed that Asriel had killed Chara and so the people attacked Asriel. Fatally wounded, the prince returned to the underworld and crumbled to dust in front of his parents. Deeply shaken and shattered by suffering, King Asgore issued the order that from now on every person, young and old, should be slain as soon as they set foot underground.
But Queen Toriel disliked this order because, based on the beautiful memories with Asriel and Chara, she always believed in the good in people. In disgust, Toriel withdrew into the ruins near the entrance gorge. She wanted to help every fallen person and thereby offer a chance to prove to the inhabitants of the underworld that there are still good people. In the meantime, King Asgore commissioned the scientist Dr. Alphys trying to find out more about the human soul. Dr. Alphys and her predecessor, Dr. WD Gaster , discovered that human souls can be captured because - unlike monster souls - they do not perish after they have left the human body. An ominous force called "determination" (English. Determination ) ensured the survival of the human soul. King Asgore wanted to use this ominous power to destroy the magical barrier to the upper world and to overrun the human world. For this he needed seven human souls, six of which he had already collected.
The player's story begins at this point. As a small child (who is actually called "Frisk") he falls into the underworld and first meets a devious monster named Flowey in the form of a small, golden flower. Fortunately, the child is saved by Toriel and finally, after some hurdles, is admitted into the kingdom. During the adventure, the player discovers that the evil Flowey is in truth the heartless and uncaring rebirth of Asriel. Thanks to a secret experiment on a flower from the royal garden, over which the dust of the dying prince had spread, he was resurrected and had acquired unusual powers. The experiments only served the purpose of giving immortality to monster souls. And so Asriel could drive into a golden flower at the moment of his death. But with this act Asriel gradually lost all of his positive emotions and feelings. And soon Asriel regretted his decision, because no one recognized him as a flower. And so Asriel began, initially out of grief, then out of envy and resentment and finally out of sheer boredom , to play the inhabitants of the underworld against each other. He also seems to have lured the people who came to the underworld after Chara into their doom.
The three game ends
If the player manages to get to King Asgore without a single murder and to confront him (so-called "True Pacifist Route"), Toriel intervenes indignantly and admonishes the opponents to reason. Then other characters (Undyne, Dr. Alphys, Papyrus, Sans and, if only briefly, Mettaton) arrive and encourage each other. Suddenly, Flowey appears and takes all friends hostage. Then he takes the form of Asriel and the actual final battle begins. If the player wins, the real Asriel appears and bursts into tears. Then he clarifies everything to the player and releases all stolen souls. Then he destroys the barrier. The good end shows Toriel, Asgore, Dr. Alphys and all friends, how they enter the human world with Frisk and look forward to getting to know a new world.
If you play the True Pacifist Route and make friends with Dr. Alphys (by "accompanying" her on a date with Undyne), you also get access to the so-called "True Laboratory". In addition to clashes with ghost-like phantoms, you learn two things here: The reason for Alphys' shyness and (later also in relation to Asriel's dialogues) what really happened when Chara died and the reason for his / her death.
If the player makes it to King Asgore, but has killed several monsters (which leads to a neutral game end), a bitter final battle between child and king breaks out. If Asgore is defeated, Flowey appears and destroys Asgore's soul. Then Flowey steals the six human souls, mutates into a figure called "Omega Flowey" and attacks Frisk directly. If the player wins this time too, he can spare Flowey and leave the underworld.
If the player has really killed all the monsters (so-called Genocide Run ) and is facing King Asgore, Asgore is slaughtered with one blow. Then Flowey appears and tries to ingratiate himself with Frisk. But Flowey is also struck down. Then Chara appears and reveals that the player had been manipulated and incited by her all along. Chara didn't want to give up his / her soul back then either. She was reborn as "Frisk" because her soul had made it into the human world (thanks to Asriel), but due to her sacrifice, Chara's soul was now just as loveless and cold as Asriel's soul after its transformation. Chara then gives a choice between two options: delete the world or not delete it. Whatever is chosen, the end of the game culminates in the world being erased, which also kills Frisk.
reception
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Undertale received extremely positive reviews for all platforms. On Metacritic , the version for the PC received a rating of 92% and a user rating of 8.3 out of 10 based on 43 reviews. The version for the PlayStation 4 received a rating of 92% and a user rating based on 18 reviews of 6.6 out of 10. Based on 8 ratings, the version for the Nintendo Switch received a rating of 93% and a user rating of 7.6 out of 10. The Nintendo Switch version currently has the third best rating for Nintendo Switch- Play on Metacritic.
IGN's Kallie Plagge praised how much the gameplay was integrated into the plot, and judged that Undertale only worked as a computer game because of this. She also positively emphasized that every attack reflects the personality of a monster and that the outcome of every fight influences the plot. Mitch Vogel from NintendoLife liked the fact that although you knew how a fight against monsters would go in principle, you could never foresee how the outcome would be. Destructoid's Ben Davis enjoyed the variety of ways and alternatives for dealing with opponents during a match and how opponents reacted to the selections.
The writing style of the dialogues and the narrative style received a very good rating. IGN's Plagge praised the characters, puns, and actions of the characters and monsters. Some jokes in particular are sensitive to the target group. The depth of personality is also important for Undertale's morale , as you have to fight multiple monsters that interact with the player. Destructoid's Davis found that every character was "unique" so many of them would remain "unforgettable." GameSpot's Hicks found that while Undertale wasn't exactly unique in terms of dialogue, some dialogue challenged video games and human nature.
The graphic presentation of the game received a mixed rating. IGN's Plagge judged that it was often ugly, but that the great music compensated for this. Vogel from NintendoLife found the graphic presentation of the game to be "uninspired" and some sprites were weak, and criticized Undertale for not showing its creativity through its graphics. Destructoid's Davis found some areas and characters well-designed so that the style is getting used to and appreciated.
The game's music, however, received consistent praise. Vogel from NintendoLife positively emphasized the large variety, which is particularly found in the music of boss opponents, and the atmosphere that many tracks would provide. GameSpot's Hicks praised the fact that the music fits in very well with the gameplay and appropriately expands the personality of many opponents and characters. He described the soundtrack as "timeless".
Delta rune
On October 31, 2018, Toby Fox released the first chapter of his game Deltarune for free . Deltarune is an anagram of the word "Undertale" and is set in a similar but different universe that many characters use again. The game was released for Windows and macOS, versions for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 followed on February 28, 2019.
Web links
- Official website
- Undertale on Steam
- Wikia page
Individual evidence
- ^ Official website for Undertale at steampowered.com (German).
- ↑ Metascore Undertale (PC) on metacritic.com, accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Jens Bischoff: Undertale: Implementations of the 2D role-playing game for PS4 and Vita announced on 4players.de, accessed on June 16, 2017
- ↑ Metascore Undertale (PS4) on metacritic.com, accessed September 26, 2018
- ↑ Nintendo Direct: March 8th, 2018
- ↑ Undertale at Nintendo
- ↑ Metascore Undertale (Switch) on metacritic.com, accessed September 26, 2018
- ↑ Undertale - Walkthrough, Tips, Review. In: Jay is games. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Laura Hudson: In Undertale, you can choose to kill monsters - or understand them. In: Boing Boing. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b The RPG Scrollbars: Undertale. In: Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Review: Undertale. In: Destructoid. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ Undertale is an EarthBound Inspired Indie RPG. In: The Escapist. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b WebCite query result. In: www.webcitation.org. Retrieved February 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Undertale for PC. In: Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Undertale for Playstation 4. In: Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Undertale for Switch. In: Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Kallie Plagge: Undertale Review. In: IGN. September 18, 2018, accessed April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d Mitch Vogel: Undertale Review (Switch eShop). In: NintendoLife. September 14, 2018, accessed April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d Ben Davis: Review: Undertale. In: Destructoid. September 24, 2015, accessed April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Joel Peterson: Review: Undertale (PS4). In: Destructoid. August 15, 2017, accessed April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e Tyler Hicks: Undertale Review - Nintendo Switch Update. In: GameSpot. September 14, 2018, accessed April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Best Switch Video Games of All Time. In: Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Deltarune
- ↑ New game from the Undertale maker - Deltarune announced and published directly on gamestar.de, accessed on November 20, 2018