Even setting the META stuff aside, Undertale's story on its own is already very well-written.
The game is filled with fun and memorable characters.
Like Sans, who shakes hands with the main character using a whoopee cushion, and his brother Papyrus, who's obsessed with using puzzles to block the player's path.
Sans comes off as super laid-back and likes using skeleton-related puns to mess with his brother.
Papyrus, on the other hand, takes great pride in making puzzle traps, but when the player doesn't engage or can't figure them out, he ends up giving away the answers himself.
There's also the nerdy, shut-in scientist.
But what really hits players hard is what Sans says in the golden hallway right before the final boss fight.
It's here that Sans judges the player for everything they've done.
And you learn from him that EXP isn't "experience points" like in normal games—it actually stands for "execution points."
And LV doesn't just mean "LOVE" either. It's short for "Level of Violence."
Every time you kill a monster, your execution points go up—and as they increase, your violence level rises too.
It's not experience, and it's not character level—it's a measurement of how brutal you've been.
This is where Undertale completely flips the standard RPG logic.
In most RPGs, killing monsters to level up is just what you do.
But in Undertale, it's totally different.
Most new players end up getting the normal ending first and feel the impact of Flowey's final reveal.
But if, at the end of that normal route, the player chooses not to kill Flowey, they'll learn from him how to unlock the true pacifist ending.
To get it, the player has to go through the whole game without killing a single monster—making friends with every one of them through conversation.
And while going for that ending, players begin to realize that each monster has their own personality.
Some of them may look scary, but they all have cute or funny sides—for example, Undyne is the perfect example of a tsundere!
"You listen here, human—being friends isn't enough!"
"We're gonna be besties!"
"I'll make sure you're totally hooked on me!"
"This is my perfect revenge!"
Thanks to Papyrus egging her on, the legendary Royal Guard captain ends up welcoming the protagonist as a friend.
She even throws in a full-on cooking lesson—though it burns her house down.
The skeleton brothers, Goat Mom, Undyne…
And especially when it comes to the final boss—the king and Goat Mom's son—it's where the game hits players the hardest.
During that battle...
When you die, the game doesn't just say "Game Over."
Instead, you see a line of text: "Your determination refused."
With the help of all the friends you've made, you finally manage to defeat the small goat boy.
And through him, you learn more of the backstory behind the game.
A long time ago, a human child fell into the underground and was saved by the goat boy.
He was taken in by the king and Goat Mom, and they became the best of friends—until something happened, and the goat boy lost his friend.
He then absorbed the human child's soul, becoming a powerful being able to pass through the barrier. He went to the surface to fulfill his friend's last wish.
But humans mistook him for the killer and attacked him.
Wounded and barely hanging on, the goat boy returned home, collapsed in the garden, and turned to dust.
His determination, however, flowed into a single golden flower—and that flower became Flowey.
In this final fight, the goat boy finally finds peace, letting go of all the pain he had been holding on to.
Both the normal and pacifist endings had already been unlocked.
You'd think players would be satisfied by that—but curiosity is just human nature.
The violent route, the execution points, Flowey's darker side… all of it pushed players to dig deeper and discover one last ending.
And in that ending, they were hit by something beyond words—something that shook them and made them stop and think.
......
Sitting at his desk, Jason had a serious expression on his face.
"Three scenes left."
That's what the screen said.
In the underground world, the monsters had all been wiped out. Only three were still missing in this area.
The map was completely empty. The once lively pub was now silent and dead.
And Jason couldn't explain the strange feeling he had.
Even though Mirror was the kind of game meant for gentlemen, he was still really curious about Lucas's new game—Undertale.
He'd started the game with no expectations, but the ending had completely shocked him.
After getting both the normal and pacifist routes, he grew curious about what people called the genocide route.
But now… he kind of regretted it.
In his last run, he'd killed all the monster friends he'd made—just to meet the requirements of the story.
Even Papyrus. That sweet, innocent skeleton who still believed in him, even in his final moments.
"What a perfect excuse, right? You, of all people, know how comforting this method can be!"
"But at least we're better than those fake saints who just sit back and watch. Those pathetic ones want to see it too—but they're too scared to do it themselves!"
The game's narration was full of sarcasm.
Still, he didn't stop.
Every monster he ran into was taken down in one hit.
Until he faced Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard.
She appeared by a waterfall, jumping in to shield a tiny bean-shaped monster from his attack.
As the captain, she had always protected the monsters of the underground. But now, she said she'd let them all down.
And just as she was about to fall…
The music swelled.
The wind howled, and a white flash filled the screen.
Undyne the Undying had arrived.
"This hero rebuilt herself through the 'determination' to save the world."
As the powerful theme Battle Against a True Hero kicked in, Jason felt nothing but irony.
The monsters were the true heroes of the story.
And the character he controlled… was doing what the monsters were supposed to be doing.
It was the toughest boss fight in the game so far.
After struggling to take down Undyne, he pushed forward, eventually reaching a familiar place.
The castle throne room. Covered in gold. And up ahead, a familiar figure was waiting.
Before this, Sans would normally judge the player's actions.
But now?
No more dialogue.
Just a fight.
"What a beautiful day, huh?"
"Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming."
"On days like these… people like you…"
"Burn… in hell!"
Right after those words, a wave of attacks came crashing in like a flood, instantly killing Jason, who had no way to defend himself.
He kept trying, over and over.
And finally, just when he was about to beat Sans…
Sans in the game seemed to think of something—he stayed completely still during his turn.
But in the end, Sans still lost.
Jason took the chance while Sans was resting, moved quietly into attack range, and struck a surprise blow that killed Sans.
Then Flowey showed up—but this time, unlike in the normal ending, Flowey was terrified of the main character and begged for its life.
The next second, eight slashes in a row chopped it into pieces.
Everything seemed to be over.
But just then, someone appeared and completely shocked Jason.
Chara—the first human who ever fell into the Underground—had been awakened from death.
Two options showed up: destroy the world, or don't destroy it.
Looking at the pitch-black void and the creepy Chara,
Jason felt a heavy weight pressing on him.
At first, he just wanted to see what the ending was like.
He regretted it halfway through, but didn't stop.
And now, that regret was even stronger.
So, he chose "No."
But right after that, Chara's expression turned cold and sinister.
[You seem to be mistaken. When did you get to decide anything?]
As Chara's voice echoed, a flash of the knife appeared.
The screen shook violently, and rows of blood-red "9999" damage numbers filled the screen.
Then the whole game force-closed by itself.
So this… is the genocide ending?
Sitting in front of the computer, Jason took a deep breath and pressed his lips together.
(End of chapter)
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