>>37933I finished this game yesterday. Did four routes: pacifist, flawed pacifist, genocide and neutral. I am surprised to see a thread for this game here so I am going to drop my thoughts completely unsolicited.
Before I started, people told me the characters were written much better than the original Undertale cast. What the fuck were they talking about? The game completely ignores Undertale’s metanarrative, probably because it would’ve been impossible to top, fair enough. Instead, it goes for a more narrative-driven approach, but the result is that it constantly lives in Undertale’s shadow. The original’s metanarrative is what made it incredible.
I struggled to care about the characters. Going pacifist first, all I could think about was how they’d react if I killed them. To be fair, the main writer was 16 when they started making Undertale Yellow, so they likely didn’t have much literature or life experience to draw from. The first character is some vampire guy whose name I’ve forgotten. He’s written like a socially inept, anxious teenager. Martlet in Snowdin? Same thing, also written like a socially inept, anxious teenager. No unique traits, no meaningful development. The game is missing date scenes or specific character interaction moments for growth like in Undertale.
Starlo was probably the one I liked most. His arc was simple but effective, despite being surrounded by a shopping cart of characters we’re apparently meant to see as our best friends. Why do the Feisty Five exist? Who even are they? They just become completely irrelevant 10 minutes after meeting with them.
Then the game shoves Ceroba at you. Sure, you hang out with her in the Steamworks and learn a bit about her, but then the plot dumps a whole heap of drama on you. Her daughter, her husband’s evil plan… honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to care. The writing nosedives at the end of Steamworks, just when it seemed like it might turn around. I thought we’d head to the lab, meet the daughter, maybe help her. Instead, Ceroba runs off to a rooftop and you get thrown into a FOUR-PHASE boss fight. The final phase uses Hopes and Dreams as a completely undeserved leitmotif.
The game tells rather than shows, to a painful degree. You get clunky flashbacks and constant cutscenes instead of subtle environmental storytelling like in Undertale. The Waterfall ar
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