Indie Gaming - Blog Posts
!Undertale True Pacifist Ending Spoilers!
I can't believe Undertale is turning ten years old this summer. I cannot stress how much my life changed after experiencing this silly little game.
Little Me had been playing video games their whole life, but had only really thought of them as fun things to do on weekends. I mean, I knew they could have storylines and stuff, but I hadn't really considered they could be stories in the same way as books or movies.
Then I found Undertale in the form of a YouTube lets-play. And at first I was like; "haha, this game's cute and funny". But the person I was watching was doing True Pacifist, and so it quickly turned into so much more than that.
A game where there are monsters and you don't have to fight them? Where you are encouraged to make friends with them? As a Neurodivergent tween who would write Pokemon fanfictions about cities ruled by humans and Pokemon together, and attempt to befriend Endermen in Minecraft by wearing pumpkins and placing cool blocks for them to pick up, it felt like finding someone who finally got it.
I couldn't stop thinking about it. I loved all the characters. I laughed so hard, even at the jokes I didn't really get. I was so invested.
It was the first time I ever cried at a video game. Comforting Asriel at the end was the most emotions I'd ever felt over a piece of media that wasn't a Pixar movie. I remember thinking; "wow, I didn't know video games could be like this".
I grew up with my parents playing games like Dragon Age and Uncharted, which Little Me couldn't comprehend in the slightest. And even as I started to understand more complex stories, I still didn't really think the plots or characters were part of the appeal of games like that. I thought my parents just liked stabbing and shooting things.
Undertale changed my perspective on video games as a whole. They could be like movies. They could be like novels. They could be art.
It was the gateway drug that got me into indie games (and made gaming one of my primary hobbies). I loved the music so much it got me into listening to video game soundtracks outside of their games. The "despite everything, it's still you" line will stay with me for the rest of my life. It had some of the first LGBTQIA+ representation I'd ever seen in media. It helped me find friends. Omega Flowey is still one of the most terrifying boss designs ever. It taught me how to spell "spaghetti". In every game I've ever experienced since, there has been at least one thing I can't help but compare to something in this one.
And, of course, it taught me to always stay determined.
Undertale did so much for me. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for this game.
Sorry for the long, sappy post. I just really can't believe it's been ten years already. Wow.
Guys he's gonna be nice during December2023; I promise. (This is false.)
Let him in; he's brought You something nice. (Don't let him in. He's just holding a neatly-wrapped box with nothing inside.)
He just wants to be your friend. (Questionable. Need more evidence. Perhaps true?)
Please ḑ̴̨̨̬̲̮͕̂ͅò̴̺̞̱̈́̿̇͌̿̄́̏̚͘n̷̡̛̖͍̞̯̳̘̯̒̆̈́̆̆͋͐̇́̃̕͜͜͝͝͝ͅ'̷̲̻̥̳̘͙͎͓̱̞͓̻̪̼͗t̸̨̨̛̳̙͚̻̞̹̼̖̝͓͍̞͛̀̂̍͜͠͝͝ ̴̨̨̣̭̃̈͌͑͜ĝ̶̡̧̬̹̘̦̝̗͙̰̘͇̜̝̐́̈͑̄̊̀͆͠ǒ̵̥͎̭̩̣̰̔̋̇̿̕ͅ ̸̠̼̳͈͉͈̏̍͒͐͝ͅi̴͂͗̈̉̉͛͆̍͜͝͝ǹ̷͚̠̉͘͝t̸̥͙̭̰̠̤̝͎̫͕̙̅̂̈͛̈̂͒̊̀͘̕͜͝o̶̰̱̣̝̐́̎̾̔̍́̈́̋̀͆͜͝͠ ̴̨̨̘͙̺̫̗̳̭̻̣͉̮͈̽̅̈͋͐͒̈́͠͠ͅt̵̜̭̔͊͑͐̍͊̊́̎̕͠͝͠ĥ̴͖̦̓͂͌̀̄́́̉̑̉̐ḛ̶̫͚̙̟̪̜̩̪͓͛̈́͊͆ ̴̡̧̬͈̞̖̻̦̱̫̙͌͛̏̉͐͒̈̆͛̓͘͠f̴̛̱̩̤̲͉̈̈́̅͆͒̂͠o̴͍͖̮̘̤̟͍̍̂͂̔͌͊͂͂͑͛͊̌̊͘͝ͅr̶̼͓͖̺̺̪̪̯̗̘̝̱̘̱̯͂̍͒̒̈̑͋ę̵͚͙̱̹̘̬̦̗̳̖͚̀̊̒͆͆̏̉̈̿͛͘̚͘̚͜͝s̸͓͇͇͚̊̋͌́͊̍̀͒͒̃̚͝͝t̵̞̘͖͑̒͑̓̊̇͒͗̄ ̸̣̑̈́̅͆̚ͅa̶̧̰͇̯͓̰͎͚̲̠̺̮̙̎̒͒͌̀̎̾̈͌͒͝͝t̷͎͓̻͎̱͎̏̉̃̂̀͐ ̴̡̡̧̥̮̙̭̣͎͓̞̲̜̹͔͂̐̔̀͊̾̊̽̕̚̚ņ̶̡̻̓̐i̵̘̭͓͎͙͇̦̠͙͂̈̀̑́̓̚͝g̸̼̟̜̝͎̯̭̫̘̝̈̉̿̃̅͊̈́ḩ̵̟͈̦̺̘̠͙̜̺̣̫͊̓͌͊͑̐̑̆͌̈̕t̷̛͔͕͓̳͓̩͙̦͗̈́̋̈̿̎̎͠.̶̡̛̱̜̣͔̺͙͍̗̥̣̅͒̈́̅̀̅̎̓̋̏̑̕͜