What is Undertale? Why Should You Play It?

#opinion_piece #Undertale #games_to_play #game_spoilers

My favorite thing in the world, besides art, is video games. Specifically, a game called Undertale.

Now, if you know anything about this game, its community, its fandom, etc., then you know that makes me kind of weird. It's a weird game, as far as video games go.

Undertale came out September 15th, 2015. Last year, in 2025, it celebrated its 10th anniversary, with many community members creating fan art of their favorite characters. It's had multiple spin-off games, music remixes, etc., etc.

Skip Ahead:

What is Undertale?

Combat

Plot and Personal Insights

Game Routes and Endings

Final Notes

What is Undertale?

Undertale is a role-playing game with turn-based combat. Visually, it uses a 16-bit pixel art style, and the music combines 8-bit and orchestral elements.

The art style and music are two of the game’s best selling points. They make the game feel like a visual, interactive novel.

It can be played on PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. (I would recommend playing on PC, though.)

Combat:

In Undertale, you play as a human child making their way through a dungeon crawl-type adventure.

A lot of the story and role-playing happens within the combat itself, but you don't technically have to fight. The game even takes measures to discourage the player from killing.

Within the combat, you can learn little things about the monsters that you're fighting, and ways to defeat them without killing them.

Plot and Personal Insights:

Two of my all-time favorite things about Undertale are the characters and worldbuilding.

Immediately after being unceremoniously dropped into the dungeon, called the Underground, the player comes across a flower monster, named Flowey, of course. Flowey teaches the player the basic mechanics of the game's combat. Only, he is entirely misleading. He encourages the player to run into bullets, and it doesn't matter if the player is gullible or not; the combat ends when the player is near death and saved by another monster called Toriel. Toriel then gives the player the actual tutorial.

The player leaves the tutorial area and makes their way through the rest of the Underground's five distinct landscapes, fighting and/or sparing monsters along the way.

Game Routes and Endings:

At the end of the game, the player faces one of three monsters, depending on the route they chose:

• If the player actively decided not to kill any monsters in the game, no matter the circumstances, they would face a humanoid goat monster called Asriel. This is called the Pacifist Route.

• If the player made more self-defensive choices by killing some monsters, but sparing others, the last monster to fight would be Flowey. This is called the Neutral Route, and there are many variations depending on which monsters the player killed.

• If the player chose to kill all monsters, even if the situation would have allowed for mercy, they would face a skeleton monster named Sans in the end. This is called the Genocide Route.

What I find so fascinating about these characters is the fact that they blur the lines between character and player. Each of these final bosses has some meta ability that calls back to the genre of RPG itself:

• Asriel can change his own stats,

• Flowey can change the basic rules of combat,

• and Sans can attack the player out of turn, among other things.

Final Notes:

Was it obvious how I zeroed in on the details? I've loved Undertale and a lot of its spin-offs since I was a wee little baby in middle school. It helped me find friends with similar interests, and it gave me a focus when I was depressed.

I know for a fact that this game, its story, its characters, and its message of everlasting kindness and mercy kept me afloat when I was drowning. I know a lot of people could use that message of HOPE, so I encourage you, dear reader, to play this game. If nothing else, you’ll know why it got so popular.