Undertale (Video game)

Genre and conventions

The genre of this game is RPG(role playing game).

The avatar: The main character played by the user is that of a fallen child by which the user named.

The world and other characters: The world is based on an under ground world inhabited by monsters, while humans allegedly live on the surface.  The monsters are trapped under ground in fear of the humans after a war.  The main characters are: Flowey(an evil flower), Sans and papyrus(brother skeletons who are trying to capture yet help the main character), Mettaton( an evil karaoke machine that is one of the boss levels), Asgore (the king whom is the final box level to return to the surface), Asriel( the wife of ashore who finds the fallen human and takes them in as her own child), chara( the first human to have fallen into the underground world).

Controls and goals: z/enter=confirm, x/shift=cancel, c/CTRL=Menu(in game), F4=fullscreen, Hold ESC=Quit.  The overall objective of the game is to get the fallen child back to the surface and to explore the world.

This game is an online game and has recently become a multiplayer game.

The intertexuality of the game is that every option you take can lead to a different ending, as well as every character contributes to the story and what your options are.  It allows the user to interact as they please with characters within the game and have different outcomes.

Industry

The game was animated by Zorox but created by Toby Fox.  Toby Fox was originally a music composer for video games such as MS Paint adventures as well as hive swap.  He is also a contributor to profound waste of time magazine as well as now chosen for the 2018 games forbes 30 under 30.

Production and distribution:  The game was written and developed solely by Toby Fox, with only additional art done by additional artists.  It was released for Microsoft Windows as well as OS X, then later for Linyx and play station 4 and playstation vita.

Marketing and publicity: Away of marketing the game and getting it publicity was by use of well known gaming you tubers such as for e.g.; Jacksepticy, Pewdiepie, Markiplier,etc.  This was a way of not only getting feed back on the game but getting the game more known as these youtbers have millions of followers.

Reviews and feedback:  (1) Was seen at first with silly puns and cutesy but then had an unexpected twist that gave users a new perspective. (2) seen as brilliant and clever manipulation of gameplay mechanics. (3) seen as an imitation of real life and humans but that through monsters.

Social and cultural

Audience appeal; although  most enjoyed the game and found it witty and unexpected some found it boring and a waste of time.  Its colours and mechanics made the game enjoyable and fun for most.  Its representation is that of some human expressions and characteristics, it represents most persons in that of gender and personality.

The only ethical issue is the slight deception in the ending, the way it toys with the users emotions.  The not so innocent possible plot twist at the end that tugged at users hearts and emotions.

Overall, it is a wonderful game to watch and play, with an experience that leaves a mark on your heart and mind and possibly even your life.