Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-32237043-20170607143625/@comment-26506863-20190408164335

a buffet doesn't have a narrative to uphold.

you seem to have missed the part where they specified that "bad" game design can be excused if it serves a narrative or thematic purpose.

but to really make this point you need to define what's good or not. sure, the undyne the undying fight isn't necessarily enjoyable, but it's still just as well made as the rest of the game, but it's serving the general theme of the genocide run, which is unenjoyable to serve as a juxtaposition of the enjoyable gameplay found in other runs.

it's a punishing fight with not a lot of flair or reward. getting through it is a slog. it feels stacked against the player in a lot of ways. and that is intentionally so, because the genocide route is made to be as unappealing as possible. but that unappealing side is what defines undertale and makes it a better work as a whole. without it the pacifist side of things would be a whole lot more unremarkable.

if you look at it on it's own, your points hold some merit, but when you look at the bigger picture and how it serves to make the work better as a whole, hopefully you'll understand why it's not a bad thing.