Undertale and Backlash

Undertale.

I just got like double the pageviews for saying that, I'm betting. Undertale has settled into a bit of an odd place over the past few months. At first, it was of course the internet's darling, with everyone raving about it and the people who didn't care for it just not speaking up. Par for the course. It happened with Cave Story, it's currently happening with Overwatch, it's just a thing that happens in our constantly moving and sharing society.

But an odd thing has happened with Undertale. The voices who don't care for it are speaking up now. And they've been very, very vocal about it. Every single time Undertale is the focus of an article or whatever, dozens and dozens of comments pop up saying something along the lines of “Oh my god STOP TALKING ABOUT UNDERTALE”. Seriously, go to your favourite gaming site, look for the first article about Undertale, and check the comments. Go on, I'll wait.

So what the hell exactly happened? Undertale seems to be the victim of a wave of dissatisfaction. I know that I myself try to avoid bringing it up because I will inevitably get some comments like that. This didn't seem to happen with many of the games and popular stuff of yore. So... why?

Undertale's Kinda Preachy

This isn't a criticism, more a fact. It's an element that many like and many dislike, although more seem to prefer the non-preachy style. Undertale does indeed hit you over the head with the messages it's trying to convey. You WILL know what it's trying to tell you by the end, and if you don't you probably skipped all the dialogue. That spills over into the fandom.

Look, when a game has a very clear message, well that's part of the appeal for many. And everyone goes online to talk about it. And therefore annoying those who don't like that. I think the idea that the Undertale fandom is pushy as heck came from here. When you recommend a game with clear themes, you will likely mention said themes. Now imagine thousands of people telling you how amazing these themes are. You can see how this would lead to a lot of pushback. People don't like it when it feels like they're being forced to hear and agree with themes.

I think this hit critical mass this week when MatPat of Game Theory fame gave the pope Undertale. (Full disclosure, I have not seen his video on it. I have neither the time nor interest in Game Theory.) Many, many saw it as the ultimate act of pushiness, claiming that the Undertale fandom was trying to tell everyone THIS is how games should be. Many did not like that. Regardless of intent on all sides, the way Undertale is presented has indeed spilled over into the discussion around it and especially the fandom. Speaking of...

The Concept of Fandom in 2016

Anyone else think “fandom” is a dirty word now? The way it's used now is much different than even 2 years ago, and I rarely ever hear it used in a positive light. Fandom by a detached objective definition means a group of people who enjoy, talk about, and interact with a thing.

Fandom after the era of social media means a hive mind of people trying to aggressively push their stuff onto you in the worst ways possible. It's a few things that led to this. One, it's just bigger now. Of course, Twitter and Tumblr and the like have more users, which means more voices to talk, which leads to a greater annoyance from people who could not care less.

But for sure, the fandom concept as a whole has gotten a fair bit pushier recently. And beyond even that, there may be more at play.

The Culture of Extremes

I don't think it's a stretch to say that online, extreme positions, opinions, and ideas spread much faster than usual. It's easier to exclaim “I HATE THIS THING” rather than “there are things I dislike about this thing”. Extremism, in emotions, ways of speaking, just spreads easier. It's visceral, and easy to spread in a split second.

I think Undertale is a victim of this. You see, the game does have some fairly extreme ideals. The “VIOLENCE IS BAD” idea that is the most predominant is also the easiest to spread and talk about. Other things in the game, like the characters, world, humour, and bosses, people like just as much, but they're harder to talk about. Spoilers and the nature of explaining these things hamper the spread of them. Pacifism is a simple one word theme, doesn't spoil much, and is easy to explain. Combine that with the fact that it's the game's most predominant theme, and you can see how it spreads like wildfire.

And this will inevitably trigger the opposite extreme. Extremes feed off opposite extremes, and it is much much easier to respond to “I HATE THIS” with “NO YOU'RE WRONG IT'S AMAZING”. Compare that to “I like it because of these reasons” and you can see why a simple idea can kick up so much dust.

Ok, you can likely see where this is leading by now. The easiest way to get the word out about Undertale is the memorable themes, they inspire an extreme, that extreme inspires another extreme, and suddenly there's a veritable war over Undertale's high presence. And now that the hype has died down quite a bit compared to half a year ago, the people who were sick of it finally have room to speak. The hype died down might have been a good thing, however.

The Experience that is Undertale

Many have been realizing just how bad the way Undertale blew up was for the game itself. The game is at its best when you know NOTHING going in, and I mean nothing. Not even the premise. The hype kinda obliterated that. Many feel upset that large parts of the game were spoiled because of excited fans who wanted to share it with the world. A lot of that feels like it's turned into resentment and frustration, not against the game, but how people just will not stop talking about it.

Undertale in and of itself is almost a subculture at this point. There is so much to do, interact with, and talk about. It's one of those rare few games where discussion sticks around for more than a month or 2. Undertale content has been going strong for almost a year now, and only started to slow down around May this year. The sheer length of time it's been going strong is astounding. Undertale the game is barely even part of the experience anymore. Undertale the experience, in and out of the game, is what's more important. And that experience has, at its conclusion, led to some backlash.

This isn't a reflection on the quality of Undertale, the fandom, the people who are tired of it, any of that. I think it's been fascinating to watch this game's path, and in many ways an equally interesting showcase of how internet culture and games collide. If anything, this sure couldn't have happened a decade ago.

Thanks for reading. I will be gone without internet for 5 days this week, so there's gonna be a week gap between this and the next article, rather than the usual 4-5. Apologies.