Playing Undertale Post-Fandom

08/02/23

So, a couple of weeks ago Steam had its annual summer sale. With one of my newly acquired gift cards in tow, I bought a couple of games, including Undertale.

When Undertale first came out, I was ten years old. The closest thing I had to a computer was an iPad. However, I'm pretty sure I started seeing Undertale related content on YouTube in early to mid 2016. I remember watching many comic dubs and running into one of the worst parts of the Undertale fandom: Sans fangirls. 

For those unaware, Sans fangirls were a bunch of young girls who typically posted art and other fan work of their personas dating and interacting with sans. A few other common traits that these girls had were being extremely possessive (similar to yandere) and having a skeleton self-insert. I didn't really care for sans fangirls; in fact, I don't know why people were bullying and making fun of young tween and teen girls on the internet for having a fictional crush. Though this was at the height of cringe culture, so at this point in time it couldn't be helped.

I also remember seeing some more suggestive stuff, such as this one comic featuring Undyne and Alphys going to a bathhouse only to realize when they get there that they must go in naked. Antics ensure. There was nothing p*rnographic in nature; there wasn't even any explicit nudity, but I do hope that video was age restricted lol.

Okay, that's enough about the fandom. How's the game? It's great, and it's also a ticking nostalgia time-bomb. Firstly, since I heard so much of the game's music from the comic dubs, I was hit with a familiar feeling when playing the game. I mean, this game feels like something you would find and play over winter break, especially while you're in Snowdin. Snowy is such a beautiful song.

However, I think the thing that made Undertale so beloved was the characters. You get to know so much about them before you fight them. I now understand why there was so much fanfiction and comics: it's simply because there's so much to work with! Even minor characters have their own quirks and such.

Almost eight years after release, I'm so glad to have purchased this game, even if I was "late". I hope that those who weren't able to play or were turned off by the fandom come and play Undertale! I wonder if anything's in store for the game's 10th anniversary...