man I remember I was like "oh gee well muffet is clearly the cutie in this game" and then asriel shows up and enters adult mode and I'm like "...I'm gay furry trash" AND THEN THE DELUGE OF FEELS
cant find an original source link but apparently this is by tom fischbach aka markiplier's older brother who does that furry webcomic ive never read (i put it under a spoiler cuz it's like maybe a teensy bit lewd? not like a lot, but enough that i'm gonna spoiler it)
The arguments that because the game can be opaque about solutions make sense and I agree with them.
However, I reject the idea that the game should be played pacifistically, and only that. I think that since so many solutions are so opaque, you should do the best you can, with no foreknowledge, no matter what that is. There isn't a wrong choice, there's just your choice, whatever it is. So yeah, I guess it does have no elaborate moral insight.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
I also reject the idea that Chara (who is you) is "radically evil." Who's the one cheering you on in all the Game Over screens, no matter what you do? Who's the person who calls you right after the True Lab, transporting you to New Home? Who's to say that the Chara that crawled out of the coffin is the same Chara that tried to incite war again on humans and monsters/destroy humanity/lead monsters to the freedom and happiness they deserved? Who's to say that Chara hasn't been changed by the journey, as much as Asriel has?
You decide who Chara is, because you're Chara. You know of some of the things they've done, but not why. In a very definite way, Chara is another blank slate for us to write our own experiences on.
Even if you did, there's still clearly a layer of separation between that character and yourself as the player, because they can turn on you (and do, in the No Mercy Route, if you take certain actions).
in all other arenas, Undertale insists that conflict arises from unwarranted fear and misunderstanding. it rewards you for pacifism and forging friendships. everyone, it wants to suggest, can get along only if we’re determined enough. and yet, the no-mercy run offers the exact obverse suggestion: radical evil exists, and it cannot be expunged.
at the end of the pacifist run, when you are talking to Asriel he mentions something to the effect that the outside world is a much less forgiving place than the underground, and that not everything there can be solved peacefully.
Chara comes from the outside world.
there is a point being made here i think, but i'll need to think on it a bit more to articulate it so im gonna toss a word salad here
some sort of thing on how the real world works and how video games work
and how knowing that you dont know everything after finishing a pacifist run is intentional, there are some things that Mere Men Are Not Meant To Know, you will pay dearly for trying to figure out just how the world works and the true depth of Chara's evil.
so, the course the game "intends" for you is Neutral => Pacifist => Genocide => you try to fix everything with another Pacifist run but you cant
so like, there's a possible ( possible in that you dont have to engage with it and if you dont it just doesnt exist) meta-narrative going on that's a lot less fun and happiness than the "real" ending implies
I think there is definitely a right and wrong way to play Undertale and I feel like that's a sticking point for a lot of people given that that's not a very common way to develop a game and its narrative anymore.
so, the course the game "intends" for you is Neutral => Pacifist => Genocide => you try to fix everything with another Pacifist run but you cant
so like, there's a possible ( possible in that you dont have to engage with it and if you dont it just doesnt exist) meta-narrative going on that's a lot less fun and happiness than the "real" ending implies
i dont mean to imply that the game is like SECRET GRIMDERP here, i mean to say that it intends to bite you in the ass if you succumb to your need to know more but will leave you alone with your happy ending otherwise
so, the course the game "intends" for you is Neutral => Pacifist => Genocide => you try to fix everything with another Pacifist run but you cant
so like, there's a possible ( possible in that you dont have to engage with it and if you dont it just doesnt exist) meta-narrative going on that's a lot less fun and happiness than the "real" ending implies
i dont mean to imply that the game is like SECRET GRIMDERP here, i mean to say that it intends to bite you in the ass if you succumb to your need to know more but will leave you alone with your happy ending otherwise
Yeah that's what I was getting at too.
You are "supposed to" in my opinion, do up to a True Pacifist run, win, and then never touch the .exe again.
There aren't a lot of games--or media in general--that do that, so people don't like to hear it.
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
like by the time you hear it the theme is already familiar but then the drums kick in and it just feels so right
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
http://paychiri.tumblr.com/post/132189130493/youve-all-heard-of-grown-up-goat-son-and
http://sho-n-d.tumblr.com/post/130643299609
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
sometimes modeseven does art that isnt mind-bendingly bizarre porn
cant find an original source link but apparently this is by tom fischbach aka markiplier's older brother who does that furry webcomic ive never read (i put it under a spoiler cuz it's like maybe a teensy bit lewd? not like a lot, but enough that i'm gonna spoiler it)
but there is so much good art
Perhaps because of Cave Story.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
that would go downhill very quickly, with her looking more and more flustered and annoyed and trying to appologize to everyone in the video
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
i think it could have improved if it like, stuck longer on mundane job shit and then went into the thing with Debra at the very end
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
at the end of the pacifist run, when you are talking to Asriel he mentions something to the effect that the outside world is a much less forgiving place than the underground, and that not everything there can be solved peacefully.
Chara comes from the outside world.
there is a point being made here i think, but i'll need to think on it a bit more to articulate it so im gonna toss a word salad here
some sort of thing on how the real world works and how video games work
and how knowing that you dont know everything after finishing a pacifist run is intentional, there are some things that Mere Men Are Not Meant To Know, you will pay dearly for trying to figure out just how the world works and the true depth of Chara's evil.
so, the course the game "intends" for you is Neutral => Pacifist => Genocide => you try to fix everything with another Pacifist run but you cant
so like, there's a possible ( possible in that you dont have to engage with it and if you dont it just doesnt exist) meta-narrative going on that's a lot less fun and happiness than the "real" ending implies
there's a reason Chara's aesthetic leans heavily on dumb video game creepypastas
so like, there's a possible ( possible in that you dont have to engage with it and if you dont it just doesnt exist) meta-narrative going on that's a lot less fun and happiness than the "real" ending implies
i dont mean to imply that the game is like SECRET GRIMDERP here, i mean to say that it intends to bite you in the ass if you succumb to your need to know more but will leave you alone with your happy ending otherwise