Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27524978-20160915112952/@comment-5956954-20160915120914

I remember when I saw Undertale on Metacritic. It aggregated a score of 98 at the time it was released. Since I didn't know how to count critic numbers, I pirated the game to give it a try.

When I saw the icon of the game for the first time, I thought it was a romance novel game because of the heart. "Well, if it aggregated 98, it must be gripping," I thought.

When I entered the game, it was not the case. I play as a completionist, exploring every inch of the game, learning about fire magic, etc. When I learned about SPARING, I knew I could just spare the monsters, but kill some to get EXP needed to survive the harder challenges in the game.

I didn't know how to spare the bosses, however, so I killed them all instead because I have the mindset where I will be your friend until it comes down to it, and therefore, I show no remorse. Undyne's neutral route death was an exception, but I forgot about it. Before that, I thought it was a glitch in the game that Undyne had a fish face next to the dialogue with her helmet still worn. That's when I learned from her that there were choices from killing or sparing.

One memorable moment during the Mettaton games, I was in the cooking show rocketing to the can of some human-substitute ingredient. Since there was a pillar in the way, I thought I was stuck on one side, so I kept getting bombarded. I was literally only a millisecond away from losing, and it was the best win ever.

When I got to New Home, I heard the story from the monsters I have encountered, but it didn't interest me too much. Now for the juicy part that changed my look on the game forever. The Judgment hall. I was honestly shocked to learn the real acronym for LOVE and EXP. Then I got the question whether I would use my special power for the greater good. I chose yes because it makes sense, but then again, " why did I kill [Sans'] brother? "

That moment thereon made me actually think about myself and what I do in my life. Am I really that screwed up to be blind to my own actions and become a hypocrite? It made me feel so horrible.

Besides the whole fight with Asgore and Flowey, I got the call from Sans and the feeling wouldn't go away. "go to hell," he said. I felt like I deserved it. What other wrongs on this magnitude have I also committed blindly? Am I actually hurting people thinking I am doing a good thing? It hurt.

Flowey came back because I spared them, and they hinted to the pacifist route. It worked perfectly here. I actually wanted to earn a little sense of redemption, finding out how to spare, etc.

When I reset, there was the dialogue that obviously changed to reflect my past playthrough. Sans gave me advice on how to fight Papyrus. "don't..." ... Yeah, fuck you, too, Sans.

That's when I got to the true lab which I didn't really care about until the VHS tapes where Asriel was speaking, referring back to the story the monsters told me through New Home. It got me interested. The Asriel fight ending where I hugged Asriel didn't really make me cry, but I understood him.

I played a mobile game called Deemo which I consider the best rhythm game of all time. It had a plot like this where you have to accept the loss of someone you love and cherish and move on instead of living in limbo keeping them in your arms for the rest of eternity. I won't spoil anymore, but that is how I could understand Asriel at this point.

Flowey came up to tell me not to open the game again. There was a true reset option. Huh, how convenient. That's when my gencide run began when I just grinded for power. The route is not that interesting to talk about, though.

So yeah. That was my experience. I obviously left out qother quirks and details, but if I included that, then this comment would be too long. Overall, Undertale changed my way of thinking like a blind brute who gives a crap about people but cannot see what he does that hurts them. It's wonderful. Thank you, Undertale.

I'll forever be loyal to you.