#mechanics do for Undertale

[lintwriting]

Undertale and Crow Country: More Alike Than You Think!

A lot of what’s sweeping about Crow Country reminds me of what swept Undertale into massive popularity. Great music, retro but in a way that plays with the source materials, a good story—but most importantly, one with time to breathe.

Like some of Undertale’s most memorable aspects were the way it played with the player in a way unique to video games and RPGs.

Genocide and pacifist routes play with the standard RPG violence that most games never question.

The player chooses to name a character at the beginning who is NOT your player character, but instead a different character altogether, and your player is actually a character in their own right (named Frisk) rather than a character you can project onto/role play as, as would be the norm in a ROLEPLAYing game lol.

(The RPG Disco Elysium was also famous for these kind of meta elements, with the game making it clear (through the narrative device of amnesia) that while you can customize the player character, he is not a blank slate/player insert either! Much like the way someone in real life will still find themselves predisposed to certain traits through nurture/their environment, even if they make their own choices. Read my thoughts here!)

Undertale I remember being considered very retro at its time for being an 8-bit RPG. Particularly memorable is that people clowned on the graphics, which I thought were cute as someone who wasn’t very familiar with video games, but I didn’t realize that the 8-bit stuff wouldn’t be commonplace for most gamers. So yeah, it was considered weirdly retro at the time.

Similarly, Crow Country plays with nostalgia in a way that I’m not familiar with at all. I’m unfamiliar with its influences—unfamiliar with Final Fantasy, unfamiliar with PS1 graphics (except as the new trend that’s been making the rounds as of late). As such, it’s not nostalgic to me beyond being a puzzle game like Undertale and a lot of RPGmaker games were. But yeah, both Undertale and Crow Country bring something new to the table to this nostalgic rehashing.

Undertale mostly with its meta storytelling/themes, though the combat system was unique. And Crow Country in its faux pre-rendered background, mimicking old survival horror games, that acts as an immersive-sim-like interact-able background that would’ve been impossible for its era. The ability to interact with objects you assume are just part of the background is a hugely pleasant surprise in a game like this, rewarding exploration—a key game mechanic. A positive feedback loop.

And like, the nostalgia is HUGE. A lot of the moments reviewers keep referencing are the bits where characters make cute jokes about how it’s weird you need to go through like 5 puzzles just to get a key, referencing in-universe how weird their world is. That’s the type of joke you only get once a genre has established tropes and cliches, aka when a genre has been around long enough to feel nostalgic. Undertale also made similar meta jokes that show a love for the genre it’s in, as does Disco Elysium, and it creates a sense of kinship between the player and the characters and the developers (because it’s an in-joke and a badge of honor).

Finally, the moments to breathe. The game encourages and rewards exploration, and it has story beats and moments that reward slowing down before a big moment and to just feeling what the characters are feeling AND appreciate the experience of this genre of game itself.

With Undertale, it’s the whole “filled with determination” save mechanics and the “you’re still you” mirror scenes.

With Crow Country, it’s Mara’s scene where she appreciates her key items (like a lot of survival horror fans do near the end of play throughs). Mara has her own quiet save room areas, too.

Along with the almost tonally abrupt Undertale lore dump of the echo flower room. A dump would be boring in a different game, but the echo flowers, thanks to its visceral atmosphere, instead feel like the intimacy of a child finding out their family secrets. To achieve this, rather than characters telling you, it’s just flowers echoing you secrets from the past—leaving you the player alone enough to really take in the info (as if you were Frisk) and letting you process it as you will, without any push from other characters. Not frisk (who doesn’t speak), not any other character else, just the player. Alone with these secrets.

Similarly, that scene where Mara is climbing down into the heart of darkness on that ladder. Just an endless view of her going down and getting smaller and darker, like Omori going down the stairs. Oh boy, it’s that same feeling of letting you really process what you’re getting into, of slowing down to feel the visceral emotions and enjoy the experience thanks to its intense atmosphere. But it contains that same heart pumping, introspective feeling of appreciation and excitement that Undertale has with its save points, with none of the dramatic fear that Aomori’s stair scene evokes, because it’s a slow moment to breathe.

(this gif and its texts via ElucidatedByFire's WONDERFUL video on Crow Country. Truly underrated and highly recommend!!!)

Cross-Demographic Appeal

I think under this lens, it makes a lot of sense why Crow Country is on such an "easy" mode despite ostensibly being a survival horror game. I feel like in a lot of ways, it has cross-demographic appeal, specifically connected to Undertale’s more RPG puzzle/newbie/young demographic. Undertale even has that horror level with the creepy amalgamations.

So while Crow Country’s survival horror audience is baffled at its choice to make "easy" mode the default, since the whole point of the genre is stuff like resource management and the adrenaline of trying to survive, an RPG audience is not quite as used to that level of anxiety while playing lol.

It would be forgiving to these undoubtedly beginner players who come for that RPG crossover appeal, who don’t know what to expect and therefore wouldn’t know to go on “easy” mode (if murder mode was set as “normal”). Though maybe this is a bit too coddling XD

[paintedcrows]

Nooo little Stanley watch out! Your striped shirt, bandage, and sad backstory are too Fallen Human Coded!! The Undertale narrative is going to get you!!!

[akanemnon]

Kick that cupid to the curb!

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[qiinamii]

darkner Xiao, lightner lumine 👹✨

[indigo-flowers09]

Hey tumblr what do y’all think of (overtale? surfacetale?) yellow?

uty spoilers 🫶

Pls reblog & give feedback or like. drawing requests w them maybe… that would be so cool……

[triglycercule]

murder time trio should get to all experiment with dead bodies. why? because they can and it would be cool (okay but seriously i'll provide an explanation). all these freaks are scientists. i think it would be cool and funky if they all got to experiment! except morbidly and bloodily because none of them are right in the head now

killer like has his whole thing with wanting SOULs for some unspecified reason??? i'm just gonna steal the common interpretation that it's so he can find a way to fix his own soul through coding. but like,,,, what does he do with the desd bodies??? all the fellas he stole those souls from??? well this is where dust and horror come in

it's One Panel and i'm ABSOLUTELY reaching here but there's a (single) panel in horrortale where horror's pulling apart some sort of human limb like an arm with a device. why? what for? i dont fucking know at all man like papyrus said why is he always doing something weird in his room. anyways i'm just gonna guess its probably for rationing in horrortale (but it could also be that horror just felt like ripping apart an arm. for scientific purposes. or because he did this after ripping off aliza's arm so maybe he's doing some sort of recollection reflection or something i dunno im not a professional on this man). killer could totally send all the already dead HUMAN bodies horror's way for horrortale's food situation. maybe horror likes to dissect the humans yk maybe he's not just the type of bash (a head open) and dash. monsters dust so you cant see their guts but humans dont so horror gets prime time first hand experience on the human body! and then after he's done poking around in the brain he can give the meat and organs to papyrus for him to do his specific spaghetti confectionery

but but but what about the monsters that killer takes the souls from! surely he doesn't just take from only humans (dude idk if he actually does take from only human or monster. probably not right? he needs to study BOTH types of code so he can be most informed) so he must also take monster souls. and fortunately for dust (i do NOT think he'd quite like handling gore) monsters don't leave behind bodies or blood or allat they leave behind dust. hah. dust experiment with dust. i think its already a headcanon out there that dust likes to study dust. i cant exactly recall WHY exactly but maybe it's for sentimental reasons or just something to do to pass time between resets. so killer can just pass on whatever dust he gets to him and he can put it under his little microscope and be a little nerd what a GEEK. give this guy glasses and remove all his teeth but one i guarantee you he'll look like 🤓

and once again i hear you cry out but but triglycercule! why would killer even give the dead bodies and stuff to horror and dust in the first place??? erm number one because i said so silly. jk. and number two (if we're going in a nightmare's gang context here) it could be as a way for killer to gain horror and dust's trust. a way for them not to tattle on him for stealing souls for some unknown reason. maybe there's somehow important coding information left behind in the bodies/dust (because that's literally what utmv is made of) and killer wants dust and horror to do that work for him for some reason. maybe just a way for him to get rid of evidence maybe if theyre buddy pals and close enough just as a gift. i dunno man there's a bunch of reasons as to why he could possibly do this. i just really liked the thought of the trio all wearing fancy lab coats and goggles and i was like damn how can i make this a real possibility

[carlyraejepsans]

How do we know Sans becomes a contracted assassin working for mettaton?? I mean, he doesn't say anything like that, does he? and papyrus becomes also mettaton's agent when he is alive, but it doesn't seen to align with his moral beliefs to work to someone like that, even if he is a super fan of mettaton

Did I miss or misinterpret something?

papyrus is more... well not morally grey, but willing to close an eye on people doing bad shit than fandom gives him credit for. he seems pretty happy and friendly with us if our actions cause him to obtain what he wants, even as he openly acknowledges how awful we are.

he's also the one who raises the point about "people disappearing" so, regardless of his stance, he doesn't seem to be the one doing the... "cleaning up". i know people are basing their characterization off of his behavior in the genocide run, and his actions are certainly honorable in that context. but as always, i wish people didn't forget neutral runs exist ://

anyway, i could both see sans getting rid of people for mettaton, or organizating the hits but not partaking in them, or just... being too lazy to do anything lmaooo. either way, he doesn't care that they're happening, as long as his (and papyrus') asses are dry and cozy on top of the game.

[puppyeared]

if you're walking at 5mph, but your feet are on sideways, and the sky turns green at 2:53, and Keanu Reeves has been sent to Neptune, what's your favorite video game

i cant walk 5mph in the first place, im only 5'4 and i have to walk like marvin the fucking martian everywhere i go

if my feet were on sideways i would still manage to get my shoes on wrong because i cant tell my left from my right

if the sky turns green that means every single car on the road is allowed to go at the same time

keanu reeves cant be sent to neptune with an expired passport

my favorite videogame MIGHT be professor layton and the diabolical box just because ive never been able to get over the ending, but mario galaxy and deltarune also come to mind

[astranauticus]

oh lol i forgot to post this robit sketches! because i have one (1) bit and im sure as hell gonna commit to it apparently

[random-autie-fangirl]

*slave to the whims of these tiny numbers."

*that are questioning their desire to fight you will give up."

***technically not from the handbook but I included a note from your friend, and it is an interesting line from the demo

Screenshots of said lines/moments under the cut

[hyposwapgreen]

Hyposwap Green: Swapping the Kids

Welcome to Hyposwap Green! A slowly ongoing project of both the mildly artistic and majorly imaginative varieties. It’s an original (somewhat) take on Underswap, inspired both by p0pc0rnprince’s “canonswap” that started it all, various fandom interpretations, and my own thoughts on the matter.

I think it is only apt to start with Undertale’s big trio: the Kids!

In Canonswap, Asriel is swapped with Monster Kid while Chara is swapped with Frisk. While I think the Chara-Frisk swap makes sense, I don’t particularly care for Monster Kid, and think it would be much more interesting for the Kids to be swapped with each other instead. So!

CHARA

The most recently fallen human in the Underground, Chara takes Frisk's place as the playable protagonist.

They have an unfortunate home life which led them to run away from their family. Armed with whatever supplies they could save money for and scrounge up from the house and various dumpsters, as well as a single woodcarving knife, Chara left for Mt. Ebott with the hope that they'd be lost forever: not dead, but undiscoverable, leading an idyllic and isolated life in the forest for the rest of their days. That did not happen. Chara tripped and fell into a hole instead, landing in the Underground as the first human since Frisk's death.

Yeah! The first! In Hyposwap Green, Chara is the second fallen human and the first human SOUL. I think it fits with the general "swap" fuckery that goes on in Underswap AUs, plus it puts a different spin on the situation that Chara will find themself in.

Chara's somewhat brutal upbringing made them especially prone to violence as a means of self-protection. They want to learn what being happy feels like and live in peace, and if the monsters want to kill them that badly, well, they're not going to make it easy for them! As Chara is the second human, the death of Frisk and Asriel is still fresh in the monsters' eyes and SOULs, so they tend to be more vicious towards Chara than they are to Frisk in Undertale. As a character, Chara would retaliate in kind, attacking with the INTENT to win (kill) and get out, finally able to live a happy life (they hope). Chara is DETERMINED as hell to get their happy ending. While naturally leaning towards a somewhat violent Neutral and possibly leaning to Genocide, Chara can be persuaded towards Pacifism by....

ASRIEL

Asriel is the angel on Chara's shoulder--a fitting swap for Chara themself! HSG Frisk and Asriel died much in the same way that UT Chara and Asriel did, but instead of becoming a flower, Asriel became the ghost haunting the narrative. Except instead of being a Demon of the Genocide timeline, Asriel is the Angel of the True Pacifist Route, giving Chara various pointers in dialogue boxes and whispering in their ear to not fight, please.

Asriel realizes that because Chara is the second human and there is not an abundance of people falling into the Underground, Chara will most likely have to kill Asgore or Toriel to be able to cross the barrier and leave. He hopes in part that by teaching Chara that monsters are good, just hurt and wounded and struggling to hold onto hope, they will find a home Underground, with their friends (and newfound family).

FRISK

Frisk takes UT Asriel's role as Flowey the Flower, but Chara's role as the first fallen human and Asgore and Toriel's adoptive child. In HSG, Frisk was very fascinated by the Underground when they had fallen in, especially the more magical aspects. Their favorite region by far was Waterfall, where they and Asriel would often go to sing to the echo flowers to the tune of the rushing water, weaving eerie yet soothing lullabies that filled Waterfall's caverns with gentle noise. Asgore ended up making a little echo flower garden in the New Home Castle where the royal family lived, which Frisk was very attentive to. They and Asriel would put on performances and "talent shows" for their parents, using the echo flowers as a choir.

I imagine that instead of the "Chara's Creepy Smile" tape in the True Lab, the player would find a cassette of a creepy lullaby Frisk would have the echo flowers sing for Asriel--perhaps about their plans on how to free the monsters and destroy the barrier.

The flower on Frisk's head and what I wrote so far makes the next part of their design very obvious; instead of being a golden Flowey the Flower, Frisk the Flower is instead an echo flower! Inspired by the fandom sometimes interpreting Frisk as mute or autistic nonverbal/semi-verbal (or both!), Frisk the Flowey would only be able of communicating through echolalia, a speech quirk that can be found in some autistics! They can only repeat what had once been spoken around them, withn the same inflection, tone of voice, and same voice wholesale! In the game, this would look like switching fonts (when using the skelebros' speech) as well as discordant and constantly-changing "voice dings".

DESIGN NOTES

I don't have much to say besides the fact that the colors are of the human kids are inspired/based on the inverted colors of their clothing. I prefer darker, more desaturated tones, so Chara's inverted colors and Asriel's natural colors got strongly muted to fit with the vibe I was going for. Asriel's inverted coloring is included mostly just to fill that space...

Frisk went through more changes. I based their skintone off of the inverted blue of their romper (that's what they're wearing in my drawing, anyhow!) but a little desaturated, but the rest of their clothing is colored mostly just to match Asriel. I want for most if not all of the monsters to have some green element in their clothing (it's Hyposwap Green after all), but I also found it cute how UT Chara and Asriel wore matching shirts. Chara likely borrowed Asriel's clothing. I wanted to make Frisk match Asriel, since they were now the adoptive sibling stealing their brother's clothes. I made their clothes a bit dark though, so to help the siblings match, Asriel's shorts are the same dark green as most of Frisk's romper.

[blackk-c0ffee]

been playing deltarune for 4 hours straight Jesus christ I'm gonna die

[zincbot]

the axis fight is fucked up

[thaeon]

obviously late to the party on this like 9 years later and not saying anything that hasn't already been said but its sooo interesting going back and watching blind playthroughs of undertale bc its so funny how many of the people drawn to the game immediately fall into the very first pitfall set by it by being so unimaginative that they cannot imagine a game system existing that does not require grinding up levels even as they say to themselves they don't want to kill the characters AND the npcs reference the game mechanics TO them

[cumpowdertim]

worst person for the toy soldier to meet, any fandom GO!!

(and by worst i mean the funniest)

Ohhhh that's hard. Uhhhh............fuck!!!!

Personally I think any fnaf character? Buuuut. Sundrop and toy soldier. Imagine? IR EVEN MY LITTLE PONY???? IMAGINE THE TOY SOLDIER IN MY LITTLE PONY HOLY SHIT💀💀💀💀

I can't really think of any that would be very funny tbh. Just those. Mayybe Mettaton from Undertale? An interaction between them would be. Yeah.

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

Just played Pony Island 1 and it was fine. It's very well designed and gets straight to the point of its narrative. I can see why the meta plot grabbed the audience back in a pre-Undertale, pre-Doki Doki Literature Club, creepypasta-enjoying time. I'm sure if there was an ARG or bonus lore surrounding it, that crowd would've enjoyed it. I appreciate there not being any sarcastic meta-commentary aside from on a couple of the puzzles.

It gives me a bit more insight on why Daniel Mullins makes games (at least his steam ones) the way he does. I still don't think that sort of template fits well onto Inscryption, which already had a solid character-driven story in the Scrybes in act 2. I'd like to see him use meta elements for more than just ARGs and plots that all end in 'the devil made this game, actually.'

But who knows. I still haven't finished the Hex. He did also mention on Twitter he consulted an academic in Mongolian history as part of research for Panda Circus. If nothing else, it'll be really interesting to see where his work goes. You can do so much with meta elements in video games, moreso than any other medium, and it's nice to have a creator who uses them to do more than just make you go 'omg so random' all the time.