Jun'ya Ōta ( 太田 順也 , Ōta Jun'ya ) , known professionally as ZUN , is a Japanese video game developer and composer, known for creating the Touhou Project video game series through his one-man doujin group Team Shanghai Alice .
115-512: Undyne is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale and the 2018 video game Deltarune . She is a monster who serves as the captain of the Royal Guard of the Underground under its king, Asgore . She is initially an antagonist to the player-character, the human , but depending on the human's actions, she may become their ally. She is reluctant to befriend the human, but through persistence by
230-442: A Nendoroid figure from Good Smile and multiple pieces from Fangamer . Undyne was created by Toby Fox for the video game Undertale , and was also designed by others involved, such as Temmie Chang . According to initial concept designs, Undyne was originally meant to look more fish-like. Other early concept designs created by Temmie were meant to look like an Axem Ranger's head from Super Mario RPG per Fox's vision. Undyne
345-762: A cloth face mask based on Undyne was sold alongside a storage pouch based on Waterfall.. A soundtrack based on music related to Undyne, including an Undyne medley remix, was also released by Fangamer. Fangamer also released a plush toy of Undyne, designed by Audrey Waner. Banpresto has also produced various pieces of Undertale merchandise, including an acrylic figure of Undyne. Since her appearance in Undertale , she has received generally positive reception, with Kotaku writer Kirk Hamilton identifying her one of Undertale ' s most memorable characters. IGN staff praised her for her charm, which they explained comes from being able to see her from "multiple facets" depending on
460-418: A cult following . About a year after release, Fox commented that he was surprised by how popular the game had become and though appreciative of the attention, he found it stressful. Fox said: "It wouldn't surprise me if I never made a game as successful again. That's fine with me though". Ana Diaz of NPR stated that Undertale "shaped the entertainment tastes of an entire generation", and that it "took on
575-552: A mobile game programmer, whom he has a son and daughter with. ZUN likes to drink beer, and has said that he drinks at least once a day. He has created his own beer (sometimes called ZUN beer), and written reviews for beers in Comptiq . His favourite brand is Kirin . ZUN attended Tokyo Denki University , where he majored in mathematics . It was during university that he created the first Touhou game, Highly Responsive to Prayers. The first five Touhou games were developed for
690-408: A "no-holds-barred approach to everything," as well as her having her own vulnerabilities and insecurities despite that, finding her arc among Undertale ' s "most compelling." She has also been praised as a favorite LGBTQ character by multiple critics, including Nintendo Life writer Kate Gray. In an article celebrating LGBTQ representation in video games, RPGFan writer Stephanie Sybydlo regarded
805-453: A "potential problem" due to the decreasing nostalgia factor for each new character and ever-increasing size of the roster. The Undertale fandom has also been noted for the creations of various fan games that offer unique stories and gameplay mechanics based on the Undertale world. Among the most anticipated fangames was the spinoff Undertale Yellow , which after seven years of development
920-402: A child and completes objectives in order to progress through the story. Players explore an underground world filled with towns and caves, and are required to solve numerous puzzles on their journey. The underground world is the home of monsters, many of whom challenge the player in combat; players decide whether to kill, flee from, or befriend them. Choices made by the player radically affect
1035-507: A circus troupe performed in front of the Pope during his weekly audience at the Vatican to the tune of "Megalovania", drawing parallels with MatPat's symbolic gift of the game to Pope Francis. Undertale 's fandom has been among the most prone to fan theories due to the mysterious nature of many plot elements. A commonly proposed theory by the fandom is that Chara, the first human who fell into
1150-489: A combined total of 80 copies, and was surprised when he was able to sell all of them. Touhou games were sold through Comiket until 2004, when the convention Reitaisai was founded. The same year, ZUN wrote Curiosities of Lotus Asia, short stories that appeared in various magazines, which were then put together in a 2010 anthology . This was the first of several pieces of in-universe Touhou literature. Silent Sinner in Blue ,
1265-428: A game with a miko main character and a Shinto aesthetic. ZUN was part of his school's orchestra club, and originally wanted to create music for video games. As he did not know anybody else who was making games that he could put his music in, he made his own games for this purpose. Around 2001, he applied to Comiket as a music group under the name of Shanghai Alice Ensemble , but was rejected. In 2012, ZUN married
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#17330847859181380-495: A miniskirt and changing the lighting of the sprite to make her more intimidating. When designing a "cute outfit" for Undyne, artist Gigi commented that it looked too much like jogging clothes. A friend suggested adding a jacket, which Fox did. When designing Undyne the Undying, an alternate form Undyne may assume, Fox intended for her hair to be more vertical, but found that it would not fit on screen. Fox originally considered giving her
1495-461: A mom", and "genuinely cares" about players' actions. Initially, Toriel had to be killed in order to progress the game, but Fox changed it before the release of Undertale 's demo. Papyrus and Sans are named after the typefaces Papyrus and Comic Sans , and their in-game dialogue is displayed accordingly in their respective eponymous fonts. Both characters are listed in the game's credits as being inspired by J.N. Wiedle, author of Helvetica ,
1610-663: A new life through memes". Reid Young, CEO of Fangamer , said that the game became "an absolutely dominating force". The character Sans has been well received by players, being the subject of many fan works. Professional wrestler Kenny Omega has expressed his love of Undertale , dressing as Sans for the October 30, 2019, episode of All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite . Sans's addition as a Mii fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate garnered positive feedback from fans, although The Commonwealth Times considered his addition to be
1725-450: A number of metafictional elements in both its gameplay and story. When players participate in a boss battle on a second playthrough , the dialogue will be altered depending on actions in previous playthroughs. Undertale is set in the Underground, a realm where monsters were banished after war broke out with humans. The Underground is sealed from the surface by a magic barrier with a singular gap at Mount Ebott. A human child falls into
1840-462: A pet fish, but found it strange since Undyne was also a fish. Her design was first revealed through a Steam digital trading card shortly before the release date illustrated by Gigi. Toby Fox intended to make it clearer what players had to do in the fight against Undyne due to multiple players having trouble understanding that they had to run away. He added an extra line to her dialogue to telegraph to players that they needed to run away. When composing
1955-610: A relationship between [Undyne] and current gaming environment." He later talked about the genocide route, talking about how Undyne's selfless actions of protecting Monster Kid with her life contrasted the protagonist's selfish actions, representing Toby Fox's interest in clarifying the "notions of good and evil." He noted that, despite her violent nature, she is given tonal tracks due to the "purported noble intentions with which they operate." When analyzing Undyne's leitmotif , writer Jason Yu noted that it appeared well before her actual theme in other themes such as her first encounter, as well as
2070-498: A small Japanese fan community slowly emerged, leading to an unofficial fan localization patch being released in early 2016. Since Fox had envisioned a Japanese translation as an eventual goal while working on the game, he consulted a number of different companies, eventually choosing 8-4, which had previously translated Aquaria and Shovel Knight . To ensure a consistent voice for the game, 8-4 chose to employ only one primary translator, Keiko Fuchicho, even though it would lead to
2185-455: A text system for an RPG. After completing it, he came up with the idea of creating a battle system. This system, which was created using the game creation system GameMaker: Studio , informed how Fox wrote the story, as both are intertwined. He wanted to develop a role-playing game that was different from the traditional design, which he often found "boring to play". He set out to develop a game with "interesting characters", and that "utilizes
2300-465: A webcomic series about a skeleton named after the font of the same name . Papyrus in particular was conceived as a sketch in Fox's notebook; he was originally a mean spirited character named " Times New Roman " who wears a fedora. The game's soundtrack was entirely composed by Fox with FL Studio . A self-taught musician, he composed most of the tracks with little iteration; the game's main theme, "Undertale",
2415-468: Is a lesbian monster who serves as the captain of the Royal Guard of the Underground under its king, Asgore , tasked with getting a human's soul to free the monsters in the Underground. She is first seen in a full suit of armor, though when her helmet is removed, she is shown to be a fish woman with red hair pulled back in a ponytail, blue skin, fangs, and only one eye. She fights with a blue spear, and can summon energy spears as well. When not in her armor, she
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#17330847859182530-529: Is also friends with Alphys , whom she met in the dump. She pursues them throughout Waterfall, and eventually fights them in a duel. The human can either fight Undyne or run away, but cannot spare her. If they run away enough, Undyne follows them into Hotland, causing her to overheat. The human can give her water, and if they do, as well as avoiding killing any monsters, they are able to visit her home, where Papyrus and Undyne are. Papyrus leaves them alone together as part of his manipulation of Undyne into befriending
2645-426: Is possible to clear the game without killing a single enemy. Monsters will talk to the player during the battle, and the game will tell the players what the monster's feelings and actions are. Enemy attacks change based on how players interact with them: should players choose non-violent options, enemy attacks are comparatively easy, whereas they become less easy if players choose violent options. The game relies on
2760-480: Is revealed to be a reincarnation of Asriel accidentally created by Alphys's experiments. During the fight with Asgore, Toriel stops the battle and is joined by the other monsters the human befriended. Flowey ambushes the group, absorbing the souls of all the humans and monsters in order to take an older Asriel's form. During the ensuing fight, the human manages to connect with the souls of their friends, and eventually defeats Asriel: He reverts to his child form, destroys
2875-403: Is seen wearing a tank top and pants. She was difficult for Fox to decide on a final design, both in terms of appearance and characterization, with the only consistent detail being that she would be the first boss to try to kill the protagonist. He tried various accents and hobbies, such as fashion and singing, but was not satisfied. The final concept only materialized for Fox once he began writing
2990-476: Is the first boss character where the player lacked an emotional connection to, contrasting Papyrus and Toriel, and that they only get to see their perspective once they begin the battle with Undyne. Undertale Undertale is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox . The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under
3105-515: Is the third-highest rated Windows game released in 2015, and among the top 50 of all time. It was temporarily the highest-rated PC game of all time on Metacritic after release. Praise was particularly directed at the game's writing, unique characters, and combat system. GameSpot 's Tyler Hicks declared it "one of the most progressive and innovative RPGs to come in a long time", and IGN ' s Kallie Plagge called it "a masterfully crafted experience". Daniel Tack of Game Informer called
3220-821: The PC-9800 series of computers, of which ZUN owned the PC-9821 model. While ZUN did make a few games before this, the first one being a copy of Puyo Puyo , these were never published, and are assumed to be lost . After university, ZUN worked as a programmer at Taito from 1998 to 2007. He got the position by showing his interviewer the Touhou games he had created, after which, he was hired immediately. During his career at Taito, ZUN helped work on Greatest Striker , Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color , Bujingai , Graffiti Kingdom and Exit , as well as some other games that were ultimately cancelled. He left as he did not enjoy working at
3335-440: The Touhou characters have elaborate stories, little detail is given to them in-game, saying that " danmaku is how the story and characters are communicated." Additionally, he has claimed danmaku is meant to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, which is also the main reason why the majority of Touhou characters are female. ZUN believes there is a feminine charm to danmaku , which would be lost with male characters, and that
3450-734: The "genocide" route. YouTuber Markiplier refused to complete his initial play-through of the game, stating that he was "not having fun" due to fan demands. In July 2016, during a summit about the Internet held at the Vatican , YouTube personality MatPat gifted a copy of Undertale to Pope Francis . MatPat explained his choice of gift by referencing the year 2016's status as the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy , and connecting this to Undertale ' s overarching theme of mercy. Later, in January 2022,
3565-420: The 13th greatest game of all time. After previously teasing something Undertale -related a day earlier, Fox released the first chapter of Deltarune on October 31, 2018, for macOS and Windows for free. Deltarune is "not the world of Undertale ", according to Fox, though characters and settings may bring some of Undertale ' s world to mind, and is "intended for people who have completed Undertale ";
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3680-564: The Annoying Dog's frequent interruptions a standout, and Kill Screen considered absurdity a signature quality of Fox's humor. The game's visuals received mixed reactions. Giant Bomb ' s Walker called it "simple, but communicative". IGN ' s Plagge wrote that the game "isn't always pretty" and "often ugly", but felt that the music and animations compensate. The Escapist 's Croshaw remarked that "it wobbles between basic and functional to just plain bad". Other reviewers liked
3795-535: The Japanese version taking longer to release. She was supported by a small team of editors and proofreaders, and a programmer which modified the game to work with Japanese writing systems . Before the translation began in early 2016, Fox provided development notes and annotated dialogue to the team, and he continued to support and advise them throughout its creation. As PC gaming is less prominent in Japan, they concurrently made
3910-569: The Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award and Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game from the SXSW Gaming Awards . Undertale garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with praise for its story, narrative and for its role-playing. At IGN ' s Best of 2015, the game received Best Story. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Undertale for Role-Playing/Massive Multiplayer Game of
4025-635: The Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game, and awarded it the Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award. The same year at the Steam Awards the game received a nomination for the "I'm not crying, there's just something in my eye" award. In 2019, Polygon named the game among the decade's best. In 2021, IGN listed Undertale as the 20th greatest game of all time , while in Japan , a nationwide TV Asahi poll of over 50,000 players listed Undertale as
4140-403: The Underground from Mount Ebott and encounters Flowey , a sentient flower who teaches the player the game's mechanics and lies about "LV", or "LOVE", in an attempt to kill them. The human is rescued by Toriel , a motherly goat-like monster, who teaches them how to survive conflict in the Underground without killing. She intends to adopt the human, wanting to protect them from Asgore , the king of
4255-463: The Underground. The human eventually leaves Toriel to search for Asgore's castle, which contains the barrier to the surface world. They encounter several monsters, such as the skeletons Sans and Papyrus , two brothers who act as sentries for the Snowdin forest; Undyne , the head of the royal guard; Alphys , the kingdom's royal scientist; and Mettaton , a robotic television host Alphys created. Most of
4370-505: The Undying and vowing to destroy the human in order to save monsters, humans, and all other life. Undyne also appears in Deltarune , a video game featuring multiple characters from Undertale , though in a different incarnation than the one in Undertale . She works as the chief of police of hometown in Deltarune's light world instead of a knight, with it being later explained that she acquired
4485-971: The Year , Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction , and the D.I.C.E. Sprite Award . Undertale was nominated for the Innovation Award, Best Debut, and Best Narrative at the Game Developers Choice Awards . In 2016, at the Independent Games Festival the game won the Audience Award, and garnered three nominations for Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Narrative, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize . The SXSW Gaming Awards named it
4600-472: The ability to avoid combat, opting for friendly conversations instead. Jesse Singal of The Boston Globe found the game's ability to make the player empathize with the monsters during combat if they opted for non-violent actions was "indicative of the broader, fundamental sweetness at the core" of Undertale . Reviewers praised the game's writing and narrative, which IGN ' s Plagge called "excellent". The Escapist 's Croshaw considered Undertale
4715-447: The arrangement, he felt it did not sound enough like "being heroically punched in the face." Both of her boss themes, "Spear of Justice" and "Battle Against a True Hero," use a combination of real and synthetic instruments. In Undertale , she appears as an antagonist to the protagonist, the human , attempting to kill them in order to extract their soul and use it to free the monsters from the Underground to fulfill Asgore 's plans. She
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4830-403: The barrier, and expresses remorse for his actions before leaving, revealing the human's true name as Frisk . The human falls unconscious and is awoken to see their friends surrounding them. The monsters peacefully reintegrate with the humans, while the human has the option of accepting Toriel as their adoptive mother. A third ending, known by fans as the "No Mercy" or "Genocide" ending, ensues if
4945-499: The best video game women of 2015, saying that she was the best female character to choose from in Undertale . She praised her character arc, going from an antagonizer who is "frightening and merciless" to having more depth. She discussed Undyne's reluctance to accept the human's friendship, as well as discussing how her romantic interest in Alphys helps drive players towards completing the "true pacifist" route. She also appreciated how she has
5060-460: The best, giving additional praise to her battle theme. The boss battle in the genocide route Undyne was considered a favorite by Game Informer writer Daniel Tack. Writer Matthew Perez discussed how Undyne and her music contrasted the earlier game's "whimsical aesthetics," calling her first theme - "Undyne" - "haunting and threatening" - which he felt matched Undyne. He discussed how "Waterfall" using elements later associated with Undyne helped "create
5175-479: The best-written game of 2015, writing that it "is on the one hand hilarious... and is also, by the end, rather heartfelt". Destructoid ' s Ben Davis praised the game's characters and use of comedy, and compared its tone, characters, and storytelling to Cave Story (2004). PC Gamer ' s Richard Cobbett provided similar comments, writing that "even its weaker moments... just about work". Undertale ' s absurd humor attracted praise; Game Rant found
5290-424: The company, and Touhou was already successful enough for him to make a living from it. However, he did not initially plan for Touhou to become his life work. While the Touhou games were initially created as a passion project, ZUN found that they were very successful – the first games he sold were Highly Responsive to Prayers and its sequel, The Story of Eastern Wonderland , at the 1997 Comiket . He brought
5405-518: The complications involved in adding another difficulty setting. The game's dialogue system was inspired by Shin Megami Tensei (1992), particularly the gameplay mechanic whereby players can talk to monsters to avoid conflict. Fox intended to expand upon this mechanic, as failing to negotiate resulted in a requirement to fight. "I want to create a system that satisfied my urge for talking to monsters," he said. When he began developing this mechanic,
5520-400: The concept of completing the game without killing any enemies "just evolved naturally". However, he never considered removing the option to fight throughout development. When questioned on the difficulty of playing the game without killing, Fox responded that it is "the crux of one of the major themes of this game", asking players to think about it themselves. Despite not having played it, Fox
5635-399: The concept of ludonarrative resonance semiotic metaphor, citing examples such as Undyne's attacks growing more sluggish in battle, suggesting Undyne was growing more weary. They also cited how the ability to run away was removed during this fight, requiring players to follow Undyne's comment about needing to face her head on so long as the human's heart is locked in place. They noted that Undyne
5750-540: The decision to release Undertale for consoles, with the porting also being handled by 8-4. After the localization's announcement, many fans were surprised by the decision to use the Japanese pronoun oira ( おいら ) for Sans, leading to the term oira shock . The localization was released for PS4 and Vita on August 16, 2017, and for PC on August 22. Undertale received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . There, it
5865-451: The efficiency of generative artificial intelligence (AI) but remarked that "the beasts are the ones building a world of mental enrichment and a palpable sense of life". He referred to the case where the means by which artists create passionately their dojin works, which he calls AI's "opposing symbol of imperfection, organicity, and the importance of ' the process ' ...", cannot be comparable to AI works. ZUN has acknowledged that while
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#17330847859185980-501: The enemy. If the player uses the right actions to respond to the enemy, or attacks them until they have low HP (but are still alive), they can then choose to spare them and end the fight without killing them. For some boss encounters to be completed peacefully, the player is required to survive until the character they are facing has finished their dialogue. The game features multiple story branches and endings depending on whether players choose to kill or spare their enemies; and as such, it
6095-416: The fight. However, the antagonist Flowey shows up, taking the monsters' souls and becoming his true form, Asriel Dreemurr, forcing the human to defeat him and rescue the souls of Undyne and the others. After managing to pacify Asriel, the human is able to break the barrier, freeing the monsters from the Underground. During the end credits, Undyne and Alphys are seen at the beach, where Undyne kisses Alphys. If
6210-657: The finished release. ZUN (video game developer) In 2010, the Guinness World Records called the Touhou Project "the most prolific fan-based shooter series" ever created. ZUN is also known as the Hakurei Kannushi (博麗神主), which is also the name he uses for his Twitter account. ZUN was born in Hakuba on March 18, 1977, and described himself as a "normal countryside kid." His first exposure to video games
6325-504: The first official Touhou manga , was published in 2007. Literature continues to be produced, with the latest being the on-going Cheating Detective Satori and Lotus Eaters . ZUN has voiced criticism of the video game industry , saying that games have become easier and less mechanically complex when they try to appeal to a wider audience. However, he noted that the dojin game market has allowed for danmaku and other niche genres to still thrive. ZUN works alone, and each Touhou game
6440-455: The font Wingdings , his role as the royal scientist, and creating the CORE (a magical and technological power source for the Underground's monsters who live in the most populated areas) within Undertale only to "fall into his creation" and have his body shattered across time and space. Upon the release of Deltarune , players en masse speculated that Gaster played some role in the plot of the game and
6555-531: The game due to the engine's lack of support for these platforms. A patch was released in January 2016, fixing bugs and altering the appearance of blue attacks to help colorblind players see them better. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced during E3 2017 that Undertale would get a release for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita , and a retail version published by Fangamer. These versions were released on August 15, 2017. A Nintendo Switch version
6670-466: The game had an estimated total of three and a half million players on Steam. Japanese digital PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita sales surpassed 100,000 copies sold by February 2018. By March 2019, Undertale was one of the ten best-selling indie games on the Switch. As of August 29, 2024, Steam Spy estimates that Undertale has sold between 5 and 10 million copies on Steam. Undertale quickly developed
6785-509: The game progresses, new elements are introduced, such as colored obstacles, and boss battles which change the way players control the heart. Players may choose to attack the enemy, which involves timed button presses. Killing enemies will cause the player to earn EXP (in turn increasing their LOVE) and gold. They can use the ACT option to check an enemy's attacking and defending attributes as well as perform various other actions, which vary depending on
6900-458: The game's combat system "incredibly nuanced", commenting on the uniqueness of each enemy encounter. Giant Bomb ' s Austin Walker praised the complexity of the combat, commenting that it is "unconventional, clever, and occasionally really difficult". Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of The Escapist commended the game's ability to blend turn-based and live combat elements. IGN ' s Plagge praised
7015-435: The game's soundtrack. Tyler Hicks of GameSpot compared the music to " bit-based melodies ". The Undertale soundtrack has frequently been covered by various styles and groups. As part of the fifth anniversary of the game, Fox streamed footage with permission of a 2019 concert of the Undertale songs performed by Music Engine, an orchestra group in Japan, with support of Fangamer and 8-4. Undertale 's first demo
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#17330847859187130-417: The game's true ending route, Undyne will ask the human to deliver a love letter to Alphys, who misinterprets the letter as being from the human, going on a date with them. Undyne shows up during the date, and Alphys ultimately admits her feelings to Undyne, at which point they talk out their feelings. After the human learns more about Alphys' past and reencounters Asgore, Undyne and other monsters show up to stop
7245-434: The game, instead leaving it optional to players. He also did not wish to introduce fetch quests , as they involve backtracking, which he dislikes. In terms of the game's difficulty, Fox ensured that it was easy and enjoyable. He asked some friends who are inexperienced with bullet hell shooters to test the game, and found that they were able to complete it. He felt that the game's difficulty is optimal, particularly considering
7360-581: The game, with the dialogue, characters, and story changing based on outcomes. Outside of artwork and character designs by Temmie Chang and other guest designers, Fox developed the entirety of the game by himself, including the script and music. The game took inspiration from several sources, including the Brandish , Mario & Luigi , and Mother role-playing game series, bullet hell shooter series Touhou Project , role-playing game Moon: Remix RPG Adventure , and British comedy show Mr. Bean . Undertale
7475-448: The genocide route makes Undyne serve as a heroic character against the human's villainous nature. She has been considered among the best female characters by multiple critics. Game Informer writer Elise Favis identified as both one of her favorite female characters of 2015 and one of the best Undertale characters. She praised her for being "at times terrifying and merciless." Polygon writer Allegra Frank also regarded her as one of
7590-447: The graphics: Daniel Tack of Game Informer felt that the visuals appropriately match the characters and settings, while Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer commended the ability of the visuals to convey emotion. By the end of 2015, according to a preliminary report by Steam Spy , Undertale was one of the best-selling games on Steam , with 530,343 copies sold. By early February 2016, the game surpassed one million sales, and by July 2018,
7705-401: The human before their confrontation, revealing that the human's "LOVE" and "EXP" are acronyms for "level of violence" and "execution points", respectively. Sans judges the human based on their accumulated "LOVE" and "EXP". The human then fights Asgore, but Flowey interrupts, killing Asgore, stealing the human souls and transforming into a more powerful form with their power. During this battle,
7820-426: The human calls the souls for help in weakening Flowey. After the battle, the human leaves the Underground. They then receive a phone call from Sans, detailing the state of the Underground after the human's departure, with the specifics depending on who was killed or spared. If the player kills no monsters before completing a "Neutral" ending, they can reload their saved game to complete the "Pacifist" ending. Flowey
7935-415: The human instead makes a point of killing every monster possible before fighting Undyne, a child named Monster Kid, who had been trying to befriend the human, finds themselves nearly dying by the human's hands; however, Undyne steps in the way, nearly dying in the process. Due to an abundance of "Determination," the quality that allows the human to survive death, she manages to survive, transforming into Undyne
8050-436: The human. she is reticent to do so, but is chided into doing so by Papyrus. Undyne and the human accidentally burn down her house while cooking food; she believes they can't be friends, so attacks them, though discovers that the human doesn't want to hurt her. She feels the same, and befriends the human before going to hang out with Papyrus. Depending on the player's actions before fighting Asgore, Undyne's ending will change. In
8165-417: The impact the player's actions are having on the game's world. When the human reaches Asgore's castle, Sans attempts to stop them, but fails and is slain. Flowey kills Asgore in an attempt to obtain mercy, but is killed by the human. Chara , the first fallen child who befriended Asriel, then appears and erases the world. To enable further replays of the game, the player must give their soul to Chara, restoring
8280-419: The medium as a storytelling device ... instead of having the story and gameplay abstractions be completely separate". Fox worked on the entire game independently, besides some of the art; he decided to work independently to avoid relying on others. Temmie Chang worked as the main artist for the game, providing most of the sprites and concept art. Fox has said that the game's art style would likely remain
8395-413: The monologue she spoke before her boss battle with the protagonist. At this point, he found her natural to write. Her face and body were also difficult to settle on, taking a long time to pick a final design. Her first sprite by Temmie was deemed too much like a "normal knight" by Fox, who addressed this by tweaking her helmet. Other changes he made included making her waist-armor longer to avoid looking like
8510-491: The monsters are fought, with the human choosing whether to kill them or to spare and possibly befriend the monster. During their travels, the human learns that many years ago, Asriel, the son of Asgore and Toriel, befriended the first human who fell into the Underground. When the child abruptly died, Asriel used the child's soul to pass through the barrier, intending to return the body to the surface. The humans living there attacked and killed Asriel, causing Asgore to declare war. In
8625-495: The music separately, and connect them on a track. To celebrate the first anniversary of the game, Fox released five unused musical works on his blog in 2016. Four of the game's songs were released as official downloadable content for the Steam version of Taito 's Groove Coaster . Undertale ' s soundtrack has been well received by critics as part of the success of the game, in particular for its use of various leitmotifs for
8740-431: The name Deltarune is an anagram of Undertale . Fox stated that this release is the first part of a new project, considering it a "survey program" to determine the project's future direction. Fox clarified that Deltarune will be a larger project than Undertale , stating it took him a few years to create the game's first chapter, much longer than it took him to complete the Undertale demo. Chapter 2 of Deltarune
8855-518: The player kills every single monster in the game that can be fought. This involves continuously triggering random encounters in each area until no more monsters remain. Going down this route changes many aspects of the game: the game's soundtrack becomes more ominous, and most other characters are absent from the Overworld, having evacuated to escape the player's rampage. The few remaining characters that can be interacted with have changed dialogue, reflecting
8970-418: The player's play style. This ranges from her being a "fairly intimidating warrior" if the player kills any monsters or, if they are doing the genocide route, the "hero of the game." Additionally, they note how the pacifist route shows her as someone who cares deeply for those she loves. Writer Evan Marzahn similarly discussed Undyne's changing dynamic, highlighting how characters could be both good or bad, and how
9085-663: The player, eventually realizes that they were a good person. If the human makes a point of killing every monster possible, Undyne will transform into Undyne the Undying, vowing to destroy the human in order to save humans, monsters, and all other life from their actions. She is a lesbian, revealed to be in love with Alphys . Undyne was created by Toby Fox , who created most of the rest of the game. He received assistance from other artists, including Temmie Chang . Undyne went through multiple depictions in early concept designs, including being more fish-like in art by Fox and resembling an Axem Ranger from Super Mario RPG in art by Temmie. She
9200-409: The plot and general progression of the game, with the player's morality acting as the cornerstone for the game's development. When players encounter enemies in either scripted events or random encounters , they enter a battle mode. During battles, players control a small heart which represents their soul, and must avoid attacks unleashed by the opposing monster similar to a bullet hell shooter. As
9315-472: The position after Asgore was removed from the position for unknown reasons. Also unlike Undertale Undyne has no relationship or connection to Alphys, and does not wear an eyepatch on her right eye making both her eyes visible. Cosmetics based on her were included in Among Us , alongside other Undertale characters. Undyne has received multiple pieces of merchandise. A Nendoroid figure of Undyne by Good Smile
9430-427: The present day, Asgore has collected six souls from fallen humans, of which he needs one more to destroy the barrier. The game's ending depends on how the player handles encounters with monsters. If the player completes a playthrough without killing any monsters (or killed some but not all of the monsters) they experience the "Neutral" ending. The human arrives at Asgore's castle and is forced to fight him. Sans stops
9545-504: The relationship between Undyne and Alphys as best encapsulating the article, encouraging Undertale players to help ensure that they get together. Writer Max Delsohn discussed their gender journey and how they reacted negatively to certain media, including what they describe as "Alphys and Undyne's easy, lesbian love in a whimsical, faraway world" due to the complications they were undergoing. Undyne's boss fights and music have been well-received. Elise Favis identified her boss fight as one of
9660-461: The release of Undertale , he was best known for composing music for the webcomic Homestuck , starting in 2010. Undertale was the first full game that he wrote. According to Fox, he was casually reading Misplaced Pages in December 2012 when he found its article for array data structures , something Fox didn't have knowledge of. After reading the page, he thought about how he could use it to create
9775-407: The same if he had access to a larger team of artists. He found that "there's a psychological thread that says audiences become more attached to characters drawn simply rather than in detail", particularly benefiting from the use of visual gags within the art. Retrospectively, Fox described Undertale as "a huge katamari of things that [he likes] that [he] combined arbitrarily," adding that part of
9890-523: The songs were composed specifically for the game. " Megalovania ", the song used during the boss battle with Sans, had previously been used within Homestuck and in one of Fox's EarthBound ROM hacks. For each section of the game, Fox composed the music prior to programming, as it helped "decide how the scene should go". He initially tried using a music tracker to compose the soundtrack, but found it difficult to use. He ultimately decided to play segments of
10005-647: The story "was almost written improvisationally at the last minute". The defensive segment within the battle system was inspired by the Mario & Luigi series, as well as bullet hell shooters such as the Touhou Project series. When working on the battle system, Fox set out to create a mechanic that he would personally enjoy. He wanted Undertale to have a battle system equally engaging as Super Mario RPG (1996) and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003). Fox did not want grinding to be necessary at any point in
10120-450: The surface of the Earth, separated by a magical barrier. The player meets various monsters during the journey back to the surface, although some monsters might engage the player in a fight. The combat system involves the player navigating through mini- bullet hell attacks by the opponent. They can opt to pacify or subdue monsters in order to spare them instead of killing them. These choices affect
10235-555: The theme in Undyne's first boss battle, Fox used the same trumpet sounds used by ZUN in the Touhou series. Her home was designed by artist Gigi, with the only notes given by Fox being that it needed to look funny when it catches on fire. Undyne had another song that was planned before being scrapped, which was the most complete of all scrapped songs in Undertale . It was made before Fox fully understood Undyne's personality, and despite him liking
10350-494: The themes of Waterfall and the Ruins. He discussed her Undyne the Undying theme, "Battle Against a True Hero," feeling it represents Undyne after she has been "maxed out, stretched to her limits." He also pointed out that Undyne's theme, similar to the other two female characters (Toriel and Alphys), have a triple meter for their themes, as opposed to the male characters, whose themes are in common time. Writer Tobias Salte Klausen discussed
10465-479: The underground and is credited to causing the destruction inflicted in the Genocide route, is the narrator of the game. Among all theories proposed by the fandom though, the story regarding the former royal scientist W. D. Gaster is often cited as the deepest rabbit hole in the story of the game. The Gaster story has very few pieces of evidence confirmed to have been known by the community outside of his association with
10580-550: The use of the companion character Fi in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword , in which the answers to puzzles were often revealed early. Fox also felt that role-playing video games generally lack strong mother characters; in the Pokémon series , as well as Mother and EarthBound , Fox felt that the mothers are used as "symbols rather than characters". In response, Fox intended for Toriel's character to be "a mom that hopefully acts like
10695-479: The various characters used throughout various tracks. In particular, "Hopes and Dreams", the boss theme when fighting Asriel in the Pacifist run, brings back most of the main character themes, and is "a perfect way to cap off your journey", according to USgamer ' s Nadia Oxford. Oxford notes this track in particular demonstrates Fox's ability at "turning old songs into completely new experiences", used throughout
10810-602: The world and causing a permanent alteration to the Pacifist ending. Undertale was developed by Toby Fox across 32 months. Development was financed through a crowdfunding campaign on the website Kickstarter . The campaign was launched on June 25, 2013, with a goal of US$ 5,000; it ended on July 25, 2013, with US$ 51,124 raised by 2,398 people. Fox had little experience with game development; he and his three brothers often used RPG Maker 2000 to make role-playing games, though few were ever completed. Fox also worked on several EarthBound ROM hacks while in high school. Before
10925-551: The world was a natural process, as it expressed the stories of those within it. Fox felt the importance to make the game's monsters "feel like an individual". He cited the Final Fantasy series as the opposite; "all monsters in RPGs like Final Fantasy are the same ... there's no meaning to that". The character of Toriel, who is one of the first to appear in the game, was created as a parody of tutorial characters. Fox strongly disliked
11040-493: Was an attempt to link both Undertale and Deltarune together aside from sharing the same characters. The game appeared on several year-end lists of the best games of 2015, receiving Game of the Month and Funniest Game on PC from Rock Paper Shotgun , Best Game Ever from GameFAQs , and Game of the Year for PC from The Jimquisition , Zero Punctuation , and IGN . It also received Best PC Game from Destructoid , and
11155-405: Was born shortly after his grandfather's death and his parents spent most their time working, ZUN was mostly raised by his grandmother, who was particularly strict, and heavily regulated the time he could spend playing video games. ZUN's first interest in developing video games came during his high school years. While most shoot 'em up games utilise a military or science fiction theme, ZUN wanted
11270-426: Was considered one of the best characters in and out of Undertale , particularly as a female character. Her boss fights were also praised, with Game Informer calling the "genocide" route boss fight against her one of his favorites. Her music was also discussed, with critics and writers discussing how her music reflects her personality and actions. She has been the recipient of multiple pieces of merchandise, including
11385-466: Was created from the ground up, including the engine. The only exception to this are the fighting games , the first of which was Immaterial and Missing Power , created in 2003 with dojin group Twilight Frontier . In the game's afterword, ZUN mentioned that he disliked having to manage other workers, and that he produced things "six times more comfortably" when doing so alone. In the addendum of Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost (2023), ZUN lauded
11500-554: Was difficult for Fox to design at first before Fox settled on her final design and characterization. Undyne later appeared in Deltarune , though in an unrelated role to the one she has in Undertale, as she was now depicted as the chief of police of Deltarune's hometown in the light world, has no connection to Alphys, and does not wear an eyepatch. Since her appearance in Undertale , she has been met with positive reception. Undyne's sexuality, as well as her relationship with Alphys, were praised by critics for how they were depicted. She
11615-407: Was inspired by the concepts of Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (1997), which involved the player repairing the damage of the "Hero" and increasing their "Love Level" by helping people instead of hurting them. Fox also cited Cave Story (2004) as a general inspiration for the game. According to Fox, the "idea of being trapped in an underground world" was inspired by the video game Brandish . Fox
11730-545: Was made available for download in the crossover title Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in September 2019, marking the character's official debut as a 3D model. This costume also adds a new arrangement of "Megalovania" by Fox as a music track. Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai noted that Sans was a popular request to appear in the game. Music from Undertale was also added to Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun! as downloadable content. After Undertale ' s release,
11845-410: Was nominated for multiple accolades and awards. Several gaming publications and conventions listed Undertale as game of the year , and others have since listed it as one of the greatest video games ever made . Two chapters of a related game, Deltarune , were released in 2018 and 2021. Undertale is a role-playing video game that uses a top-down perspective . In the game, the player controls
11960-736: Was originally meant to be two hours in length and was set to be released in mid-2014, but experienced delays. The game was released for Windows and OS X in September 2015. It was also ported to Linux in July 2016, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in August 2017, the Nintendo Switch in September 2018, and Xbox One in March 2021. The game was acclaimed for its thematic material, intuitive combat system, musical score, originality, story, dialogue, and characters. The game has sold at least five million copies and
12075-414: Was partly influenced by the silliness of internet culture , as well as comedy shows like Mr. Bean . He was also inspired by the unsettling atmosphere of EarthBound . Fox's desire to "subvert concepts that go unquestioned in many games" further influenced Undertale ' s development. Fox found that the writing became easier after establishing a character's voice and mood. He also felt that creating
12190-453: Was performed and released in 2016 by saxophonist Norihiko Hibino and pianist Ayaki Sato. A 2x LP vinyl edition of the Undertale soundtrack, produced by iam8bit , was also released in the same year. Two official UNDERTALE Piano Collections sheet music books and digital albums, arranged by David Peacock and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales, were released in 2017 and 2018 by Materia Collective. A Mii Fighter costume based on Sans
12305-449: Was released by video game music label Materia Collective in 2015, simultaneously with the game's release. Additionally, two official Undertale cover albums have been released: the 2015 metal/electronic album Determination by RichaadEB and Amie Waters, and the 2016 jazz album Live at Grillby's by Carlos Eiene, better known as insaneintherainmusic. Another album of jazz duets based on Undertale ' s songs, Prescription for Sleep ,
12420-427: Was released in 2023 and met with immense popularity by fans on multiple social media networks. Undertale ' s fanbase has also been subject to controversy, leading to it gaining a negative reputation. Part of it was due to the disagreement between fans over the correct way to play the game. After the game's release, some live streamers were harassed by fans of the game for killing in-game enemies and attempting
12535-548: Was released on March 16, 2021. As with the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions, the Xbox One version features unique content specific to that platform. All the console ports were developed and published by Japanese localizer 8-4 in all regions. Other Undertale media and merchandise have been released, including toy figurines and plush toys based on characters from the game. The game's official soundtrack, Undertale Soundtrack ,
12650-417: Was released on May 23, 2013, which at the time was said to account for about 25 percent of the full game. It had an initial release timeframe of Summer 2014. The game was released on September 15, 2015, for OS X and Windows , and on July 17, 2016, for Linux . Fox expressed interest in releasing Undertale on other platforms, but was initially unable to port it to Nintendo platforms without reprogramming
12765-452: Was released on September 17, 2021, after Fox acquired a team to help him with further development. Once all chapters are complete, the game will be released as a complete whole; Fox stated that he does not have an anticipated timetable for completion. Deltarune is planned to have only one ending, regardless of what choices the player makes in the game. Although the first two chapters were released at no cost, Fox plans to charge players for
12880-455: Was released, featuring accessories such as her spear and fish-shaped mug, and multiple swappable faces. People who pre-ordered the figure would also receive a special backdrop. A figure of Undyne was released by Fangamer as part of the second set of the "Little Buddies" series of figures. Fangamer has also released multiple pieces of merchandise based on Undyne and other Undertale characters, including multiple sets of stickers, sticky notes, and
12995-407: Was revealed during a March 2018 Nintendo Direct , though no release date was given at the time; Undertale ' s release on Switch highlighted a deal made between Nintendo and YoYo Games to allow users of GameMaker Studio 2 to directly export their games to the Switch. The Switch version was released on September 15, 2018, in Japan, and on September 18, 2018, worldwide. The Xbox One version
13110-413: Was the only song to undergo multiple iterations in development. The soundtrack was inspired by music from Super NES role-playing games, such as EarthBound , bullet hell series Touhou Project , and the webcomic Homestuck , for which Fox provided some of the music. Fox also stated that he tries to be inspired by all music he listens to, particularly those in video games. According to Fox, over 90% of
13225-520: Was when he was around 5 years old, when he played the Game & Watch and arcade games from Hakuba ski resorts. Later, his parents bought him a Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the Nintendo Entertainment System exclusive to Japan). ZUN claimed that SonSon , Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter II were the games that left the greatest impression on him during this period. As ZUN
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