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Save the Underground with these 6 tips for Undertale on Switch
Now that cult hit Undertale is finally making its way to Switch, here are a few tips to help you save the Underground – or perhaps conquer it for yourself.
Whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Sans aficionado or a late-comer to its pun-laden world of kooky monsters and dogs in chain mail, there’s a lot to love about Toby Fox’s offbeat adventure, Undertale. It might not be the most expansive game on Switch, but there’s plenty to find if you turn over every stone. But before you find yourself mucking around in the wintry streets of Snowdin, you might need a little help. Here are a few tips to make the most out of your first dive into one of the most influential games of the last five years.
1. Before you start, don’t spoil yourself
Close your legion of Tumblr tabs, mute your group chat, and resist the urge to Google anything. Many cult games rely on the raw power of surprise in order to hook you in, but none turn entirely on it quite as much as Undertale. The first hour of the game can drag a bit – a line of seemingly-endless corridors as linear as a set of train-tracks, marked by excessive tutorials and thin plotting – but once you finally get out of the cozy cottage and into the open air, the story and setting start to really shine. Undertale is at its best when it pulls the rug out from under you, shredding your existing understanding of its style and genre. Don’t rob yourself of that; wait until you’re done with it to flood your brain with the intoxicating fan theories.
2. Explore, explore, explore
Like many of the classic 16-bit RPGs that it parodies – especially Earthbound – Undertale is an unabashedly-linear experience, with clear waypoints to guide you to the next scripted setpiece or boss encounter. If you want to get the most out of the game, however, you should take time to dive into every nook and cranny so you can wring out every bit of humour from the game. Thanks to the Switch’s mobility, it’s easier than ever to enjoy the game on the go, free of distractions. Take the time to talk to every vendor at least twice, scour every last bit of turf for hidden paths, and don’t be afraid to revisit areas you’ve already trudged through after key in-game events in order to see some of the game’s more amusing escapades. There’s a lot hidden in this game – you just need to know where to look.
3. You can spare everyone, you just have to really try
The game goes to great lengths in its early hours to convince you that violence is inevitable – including multiple boss fights where the Spare function doesn’t seem to do anything – but if you persist enough, you’ll eventually figure it out. As veterans of Bioshock might suspect, killing even one of the game’s many charming monsters has serious consequences, so if you’re trying to get the best ending, be prepared to puzzle out a non-violent solution for every encounter in the game. For most of the chaff you’ll encounter just walking around, just use logic to try to figure out what the monster wants – otherwise, exhausting all your text options also tends to work in a pinch. Some of the bosses require some really out-of-the-box thinking, so keep an eye out for mechanics unique to each fight, and don’t be afraid to run away when necessary.
4. If you’re trying to spare Mettaton, it’s all about the points
Of the handful of bosses in the game, this narcissistic robot is probably the most annoying to figure out. For one thing, changing into a different armour will give you a huge boost of points, so save that toward the end of the battle to put yourself over the threshold. If you’re really struggling, let him hit you a few times – it’ll make the “pose” action much more effective. If you want to take some of your frustration out, feel free to whack him a few times after the “heel turn” action – it won’t hurt him much, and it pays dividends. Just avoid his attacks, take some hits, and keep posing, and you’ll eventually break through the top.
5. No matter your preferences, you really, really shouldn’t start with a No Mercy run
Maybe you’re the kind of gamer who likes to stomp around as an evil pseudo-demon in the Fable games, laying waste to the countryside. That’s totally fine, but Undertale just isn’t that kind of experience. While every fan who can stand the bile should definitely take the plunge and try for an all-kill run at some point, here’s the thing: it’s really not fun, purposefully so. In fact, this approach is so profoundly unpleasant -– requiring you to trawl for random encounter after random encounter to boost your kill count – that the game assumes that you already have an understanding of the characters and world, which drains Undertale of most of its appeal. If you like the game, you should save this approach to your second or third playthrough; it’ll actually make the utter monotony worth it. Also, if you’re playing on Switch, if you don’t like crying in public, you might want to save this for a long at-home session.
6. If you’ve done it right, there’s a lot of game left after the first ending
In order to progress in the game – assuming you’ve met certain requirements that you should be able to discern for yourself – you need to put your Persona cap on and grow closer with your friends in the underground, specifically Undyne and Papyrus. These are two of the more-amusing sequences in the game, so go find their houses and enjoy.
Don’t let the chunky pixels or simple gameplay fool you – Undertale is a surprisingly deep game, if you give it the chance to get its emotional hooks into your gullet. Once you give it a chance, however, you might find yourself taking it onto your commute, or losing sleep to its subtle charms. It’s a game that just keeps on giving, so be sure to sit back and enjoy when it comes out on Switch on September 18.
