Undertale's most interesting story arc is the one it reflects back at the player, specifically the player's "determination" to certain fantasies. Its design for enemy encounters is also remarkable. The issues I have with this game are twofold: the game's actual narrative progression is mediocre, and the celebration of the player's commitment to the main route feels hollow.
The game does little or nothing to challenge you for sticking to pacifism. To some extent, this makes sense. The characters in the world are fully intended to be non-threats, as opposed to you. However, for a game about peaceful conflict resolution and staying determined, there is noticeably little conflict that's truly inconvenient. And sure, you likely want to see the good ending and what funny things the characters have to say next, but the game doesn't really interrogate why you'd prefer this.
Very few of the conflicts you have to resolve act as though they have stakes, and the ones that do (e.g. Alphys') are underdeveloped. Undertale repeatedly pulls back from getting too serious, occasionally toying with more difficult ideas without ever committing to anything memorable. The resulting dissonance feels unsatisfactory. Even if you pursue an alternate route, the game doesn't have much to say about the concept of being determined it keeps bringing up. It winds up being shallow moralizing.
It feels like the game is taunting you with its overwhelming optimism at its end; it literally juxtaposes its happy ending with the idea that a happy ending is impossible. I can't be the only one who thought that I really didn't do anything to earn the friendship of the majority of the cast; that there really is no guarantee of assimilation/integration for them; that the most troubling events in the Underground's history were skimmed over. It all came off to me as horribly insincere.
In the end, this is a damn ambitious one-man project from 2015 that has inarguably influenced many. I just think there's more to the "soul" than Undertale is willing to confront. There is so much Undertale does that's cool, it'd be a shame if these ideas weren't expanded upon somehow.
The game does little or nothing to challenge you for sticking to pacifism. To some extent, this makes sense. The characters in the world are fully intended to be non-threats, as opposed to you. However, for a game about peaceful conflict resolution and staying determined, there is noticeably little conflict that's truly inconvenient. And sure, you likely want to see the good ending and what funny things the characters have to say next, but the game doesn't really interrogate why you'd prefer this.
Very few of the conflicts you have to resolve act as though they have stakes, and the ones that do (e.g. Alphys') are underdeveloped. Undertale repeatedly pulls back from getting too serious, occasionally toying with more difficult ideas without ever committing to anything memorable. The resulting dissonance feels unsatisfactory. Even if you pursue an alternate route, the game doesn't have much to say about the concept of being determined it keeps bringing up. It winds up being shallow moralizing.
It feels like the game is taunting you with its overwhelming optimism at its end; it literally juxtaposes its happy ending with the idea that a happy ending is impossible. I can't be the only one who thought that I really didn't do anything to earn the friendship of the majority of the cast; that there really is no guarantee of assimilation/integration for them; that the most troubling events in the Underground's history were skimmed over. It all came off to me as horribly insincere.
In the end, this is a damn ambitious one-man project from 2015 that has inarguably influenced many. I just think there's more to the "soul" than Undertale is willing to confront. There is so much Undertale does that's cool, it'd be a shame if these ideas weren't expanded upon somehow.