I promised I would play Undertale if it won the GameFAQs contest, and sure enough, it did. It's a 2D RPG with 8-bit graphics made practically by one guy.

I have started it today. It's a rather weird game, but that's the point. A child falls down from the top of a mountain to some kind of underworld, and that's apparently the world of monsters. Humans and monsters fought a bitter war a long time ago, which humans won. Monsters apparently retreated into this underworld, and still hold a bitter grudge towards humans.

I meet Flowey, a friendly flower - for a little bit, then it attacks me. Some goat woman saves me, she's called Toriel. She likes me and starts treating me like her child, explaining how to solve puzzles, and how to talk to monsters that attack me so that the conflicts can be resolved peacefully. I follow her advice gleefully - fights don't give me any experience, but occasionally I get some money.

She soon leaves to do groceries, and I am on my own. She gives me a cell phone, though, which I can use to call her. The options are to say "Hello!", to flirt or to call her "Mom", or ask her about herself. I did the last one, then it disappeared. I also called her to say "Hello!", that doesn't do much. I refuse to do the other two because they're stupid. I wander around, and buy a donut from a spider sale. I solve some silly puzzles. I reach a boss fight and talk a cool ghost out of fighting by cheering him.

Eventually, I reunite with Toriel and she leads me to her house, where she's cooking some nice butterscotch-cinnamon pie for me. She shows me to my room, and I go to bed. I wake up, and, sure enough, a slice of pie awaits me! I pick it up and go out of my room, finding her sitting at the fireplace. I talk to her and ask her how I can come back to the real world, and she doesn't wanna help me because she wants me to live with her and be her child... I keep pestering her and eventually, she leaves. I follow her and she leads me to some passage that apparently lets me out of the "Ruins" her house is in. One step closer to the human world, I suppose.

But she wants me to prove to her that I'm strong enough to survive first, because the world out of the Ruins is a harsh place and I would most likely die. We enter the fight screen, and I find out that Sparing her countless times eventually ends the battle. She still thinks I'll die, but lets me go, anyway. She runs off. I try to follow her, but she's nowhere to be found. I go back to my room and sleep. Some voice awakes me, telling me I am the hope of humans and monsters. Nice!

I leave the Ruins and meet some skeleton called Sans. His brother Papyrus apparently wants to hunt humans. Since he's coming, Sans is having me hide between a conveniently-shaped and positioned lamp, so he doesn't see me. The two have a conversation and Sans is telling some jokes, making his serious brother eventually laugh. Papyrus seems like a rather sad skeleton who wants others' recognition at all costs. After he leaves, Sans asks me to reveal myself to him later, so he can finally see a human in his life... I suppose I'll see what happens when I do tomorrow.

I played some more. I "fought" a husband and wife who were also dogs. Dogs like to be pet. Then I solved some puzzles Papyrus had set up, can't say they were very difficult. Then I discovered a strange door inside a cave and mushrooms that were emitting light and could be switched on and off. I tried all the possible combinations, but the door never opened. Some stars were also floating around, and made strange sounds when I touched them. I'm certainly missing something here, but I gave up. Then I "fought" another dog who was very happy and licked me after the battle.

Then, it was a final, uber puzzle by Papyrus... And he decided it was too cheap and let me live. Then, I reached Snowdin town, doubtlessly named after modern day hero Edward Snowden. Saved there. Will continue tomorrow, probably.

Played some more today, hung out with Sans who invited me to the town's bar, where we ate fries. Apparently he's quite popular at that place. Learned about an "echo flower" that had been talking to Papyrus... Went forward a bit, and happened upon a conversation between Papyrus and Undyne, the monster royal guard's leader. Papyrus was quite reluctant at first, but eventually promised he'd help Undyne capture me... I believe in him, though. Surely, he was just lying to her so that he wouldn't get in trouble, and will secretly help me.

Then, I solved some really easy puzzles, fought a couple of "random" battles... Went through a "wishing room," where echo flowers made wishes gazing at the "stars" which were really sparkling stones... And finally, Undyne attacked me! I rushed forward, barely avoiding her spears, and hid in some tall grass. She caught up with me and smacked me, seemingly deadly... But at the end, it was her fanboy kid that she hit (I'd got to meet him a bit earlier). I thought she'd killed him and prepared to feel very sad. Fortunately, a few steps later, he showed up alive and well, and super hyped that she'd actually touched him. "Poor you," he uttered, "just a few steps to the left, and she would've touched YOU!" What a shame. Then, I saw cheese that had grown a magical crystal around itself, and saved.

First, I hung out with the ghost and listened to his music, ate a ghost sandwich and lied on the ground as a form of meditation. Then, I had fun at a "snail farm," and was also scammed out of 20G with some snail race game I evidently couldn't win.

Then, the kid wanted to hate me because Undyne had told him I was human... That didn't work out that well - he almost fell off a cliff and I rushed to rescue him, so he was then grateful and called me a friend. ^_^ Then, I was confronted by Undyne. She took off her helmet, and was really ugly! Apparently, I was the last human whose soul the monsters needed to break the barrier... They got 6 so far, need 7. Would I give up my soul willingly? Nope. So Undyne attacked me, trying to kill me. And succeeded 5-6 times, after which I decided to call it a day. This is a bit frustrating, and I'm sleepy.

Played some more today. First, I entered the lab, and met the strange Dr. Alphys there. But aren't all scientists a little strange. She'd apparently followed my every move (this explains the cameras I'd seen here and there through the game so far). Her human-killing robot Mettaton attacked, and I had to answer the questions correctly in his game show to survive. I didn't do too badly! She helped me on one of the questions about a visual novel, and the robot got pissed and asked me what her secret crush is. "The human", I naturally answered. He said that wasn't true, but then figured she'd been following my every move, and been happy when I succeeded, and sad when I failed, so it's a kind of love. Damn right it is, robot. So I bested him, and he took off, promising we'd meet later. Alphys went to the bathroom, but not before modifying my phone to shoot plasma (sadly, nobody will get the reference) and others. We apparently became friends on some monster social network, and then I kept getting updates from her. Man, what a socially awkward individual.

I then solved some easy puzzles (Alphys kept calling me with hints I didn't really need) and reached a kitchen. The robot appeared, hosting a cooking show this time. I was the assistant, and had to get ingredients for a cake! I got milk, sugar and eggs. The last ingredient? A human soul, of course. So he busted out a chainsaw in order to procure that ingredient as I watched stupidly, but Alphys called him, interrupting the process. She persuaded him to use a vegan-friendly replacement, instead, and he sent me to get it from a far-away counter. As I reached it, the counter unfortunately grew 1000 stories high. Mettaton said that I needed to reach the top in 1 minute, or he'd just go back to the original plan (killing me in the process). I was preparing to climb HARD, when Alphys called me again and told me that she'd made my phone able to turn into a jetpack, too. So it did, and I flew up. The robot didn't give up, and started showering me with crap and clouds in order to slow me down. I resisted and reached the top with some 5-6 seconds left. Mettaton admitted defeat again, and left. I reached a save point and saved before a huge, ominous building.

I walked forward, and got stuck in spider webs, as spiders were saying that I probably hated them... Then, the spider girl who I'd just seen selling some spider-made treats for 9999 G apiece attacked me! She turned my heart into a purple one, and I could only move between three lines, as spiders, boomerangs, and circles came my way... I died once, but on the next time, and at the expense of my last healing items except the snowman piece which I'm never using, I made it long enough to see the girl receiving a telegram where the other spiders I'd bought stuff from previously said I had helped them. I was promptly spared, thank goodness.

Then, Mettaton made another appearance in a poor man's Romen & Juliet play. He sang me a song as I was in the role of his "love," then tossed me into a dungeon and I had to do the coloured tile puzzle for 30 seconds. It was an incredibly long path of coloured tiles, I'd later find out... I wonder if it's actually possible to pass it within 30 seconds. Knowing this game, it probably is. And then, a bunch of flame jets were about to incinerate me, but Alphys saved the day again, disabling me. Then, Mettaton fought me, but Alphys had installed something on my phone which made my heart into a Space Invaders player ship, and I fired at Mettaton, "defeating" him. With a visibly fake exit, Mettaton made it too obvious him and Alphys are just working together to provide Alphys with some sense of accomplishment, which she admitted in receiving by aiding me... Probably there are other motives, too.

I told this fiery guy that I remembered his name despite not actually remembering it completely. Flamez or something. He was delighted, and said he'd always remember I remembered. I reached the entrance of a Mettaton-themed hotel... Sans was waiting for me in the front, and I agreed to have dinner with him. He told me a story about some woman he once met that laughed at his bad jokes behind a locked door... And eventually asked him, if a human ever passed through the door, to take care of him. It would seem he was talking about Toriel. He then left and I exited the restaurant, saving in the next room, in front of a big Mettaton fountain.

This game is really crazy... So, I managed to "defeat" Mettaton's ultimate form by getting the ratings high enough. He received calls from his fans, who convinced him to stay in the Underworld, instead of going to the surface, because without him, they'd have nothing. He thought they had a point, and humans already had many idols, so he decided to stay. Then he ran out of batteries and Alphys was scared, but hey... She quickly realised it's nothing. And that even if I'd busted him, she could just build a new one...

I moved forward, and Alphys followed me, eventually spilling the beans that I'd have to kill this Asgore king guy to go home. A human soul alone couldn't make it, I needed both a human and a monster soul... Alphys left, and I went forward, hoping there'd be a way around this, and nobody would have to die...

I reached the castle which happened to be almost identical to Toriel's house, and some monsters inside told me a story gradually, about the king's son who helped a human who had fallen in the underworld like me... They became great friends, but eventually, the human became sick, and died. Urged by his last wish, to see flowers from the human village, the prince ate his soul and crossed the barrier, taking his body with him and placing him on a flower bed in the human village. Sadly, humans then saw him and thought he'd killed the child, so they attacked him with full power. He refused to fight back, however, and went back home, battered. Sadly, he perished from his wounds... The King was thrown into despair, it's like he'd lost two sons at once. So he decided to break the barrier, and started collecting human souls. I am the last, seventh one.

I then met Sans, who said he'd "judge" me before the final battle. Seeing I hadn't killed anybody, he was happy and wished me good luck... I saw a coffin with my name on it in another room. How lovely. And then, I went to a throne room full of flowers, where Asgore was expecting me. He kinda looked like Toriel with beard and big horns. He was saying how he didn't want to do this and stuff... Whatever! What he did later undoes his words.

He pulled out a huge trident and destroyed the Mercy option in my menu, then proceeded to decimate me. I didn't have much money and could only buy a couple of healing items, which weren't enough to survive his onslaught. I lost several times and thought maybe I should lose some more and he'd finally spared me because we'd comment on how many times he'd killed me in the beginning of each battle. But nope. Nothing happens when I lose some more. I just die.

I suppose I'll have to check if I can earn money somehow to restock on healing items so I can survive this fight longer until he gives up. Or maybe, I'll have to use another method to defeat him. I suppose the story about the prince holds the key...

Flowey erased my save file (not really - I checked and the files were still there) and then turned into a horrendous monster. A vertical shooter-type battle ensued. I was horribly unprepared and got killed a bunch of times. Flowey wasn't above abusing save states to hurt me even worse! Nice touch. Eventually, the souls he had captured from the king started helping me, one by one. Once all six of them did, I started being able to hit Flowey for substantial damage, while they were slowly healing me. It was bullet hell, but, with their help, I survived. Flowey was defeated. The game offered me to kill him, but I spared him something like 20 times until he finally accepted I wasn't gonna kill him and ran away...

Then, I was placed somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I pushed forward and apparently crossed the barrier. Yay! I'm back home, in the human world! The credits rolled. Then, Sans called me to let me know that the queen had returned to rule over the underworld, and their life was tough, but there was hope. So I shouldn't give up, either. Papyrus took over the phone, and told me Undyne thought I was to blame for the king's death, and wanted to cross the barrier and beat me up. Since the Royal Guard was disbanded (humans were to be treated as friends under the queen), she was out of a job and Sans got her to make and sell hot dogs at his stand. Papyrus wished we would see each other again, and that was it.

Flowey then showed up and explained that, despite my best intentions, I had screwed the monsters up, and there was a better ending in store. He told me I could have been better friends with Undyne. I shouldn't have just gone up after the Flowey battle, huh?

The game restarted and I was all the way back to the king?! Screw that. Good thing I kept a copy of my save before facing Flowey. I'll check that extra Undyne content next time, and be done with this fascinating game. Certainly not doing a genocide run or anything like that, it's 10 hours long!

I continue to not be completely done with this game... I found all the keys in the "true lab" and actvated the elevator. Then, as the ghosts were about to attack me again, Alphys showed up and told them there was food, so they left me alone... Then she revealed what had already become apparent from the notes around the map - it was her fault these poor monsters had become ghosts. She'd tried to inject them with determination, but they, as monsters, didn't possess enough physical matter to contain it. So they melted and fused into these abominations... She decided to face reality and take them home to their families... They won't be very happy.

I took the elevator and it took me to Asgore's castle... I prepared to face him again, hoping a new dialog option would open to end the fight earlier, as Undyne suggested. However, as it was starting, something smacked him away. It was Toriel! She had come to save me. She blasted him for being a weakling and sitting there, hoping no human would fall to the underworld, instead of going and taking 6 souls from the humans and breaking the barrier himself. That was a bit out of character from her. Anyway... The others showed up, too - Papyrus, Sans, Undyne and Alphys. It felt like the ending was beginning...

But then, Flowey showed up. He was evil, as usual, he tangled all my friends up, and tried to kill me. They managed to protect me, however, and then even the regular monsters showed up. That was just what Flowey had planned all along, and he proceeded to take EVERYONE's souls! Suddenly, Flowey transformed into... Asriel! The kid of legend I had heard of, the son of Asgore and Toriel!

He was evil... And attacked me. But my determination didn't let me lose - whenever my heart shattered, it got back together! In other words, it was an unlosable battle. Still, pretty long. Surviving plenty of attacks, I eventually got Asriel to activate a new, meaner form... But I still survived. Fourth wall was broken numerous times. Eventually, a "Save" option appeared on the menu, and I could save my six friends whose souls Asriel had captured. Gradually, I released them all, and finally, I could "Save" Asriel himself. He didn't want to be saved, but I persevered... Eventually, he broke down and transformed back into a child, explaining how he was soulless as a flower, and was soon going to return to that form. I forgave him for his bad deeds, and he gathered his strength, destroying the barrier! Monsters are no longer prisoners of fate, they can now freely go in the human world! Finally, he asked me to take care of his Mom and Dad for him...

Then, I woke up next to my six friends... They'd been frightened because I'd been out for a while. Papyrus even cried. But all was well! We chatted a bit, joking and laughing. I even explained to Asgore what anime is. Anyway, everyone suggested I visited my other friends before returning to the human world... So that's what I'll be doing tomorrow - in search for the ghost dude, Mettaton, and the Undyne fanboy kid, among others.

Full review: http://betweenlifeandgames.com/reviews/undertale/