Undertale Getting Started Guide – Key Information

Undertale is a turn-based role-playing game (RPG) released in 2015, and if you’re like me, you missed it when it came out. You might have heard about it, how great it is, how different it is, and how fun it is to play. Having played it for this guide, I can say it’s a spectacular experience.

Everything in this Indie Game feels creepy in a fun way. It’s like Halloween every day in Undertale, almost like the concept of wearing a costume became normal. I was getting a little lost in it. It’s a fun game to experience for the first time, and the game isn’t all that hard to get into.

This feels like an easy game that focuses more on the story and experience. The combat is fun as well. You get to find out different ways to avoid fighting, try to figure out the simple puzzles, and get to know all of these strange characters.

The more you explore this game, the more the origins of the underground are explained. The Underground’s story sounds a bit sad. It was created because of a war between monsters and humans.

While the characters appear monstrous, that is just how they look. Very few of them want to hurt you. They’re only acting the way they are because they’re scared, for the most part.

The backstory is expanded on by signs you find during the game. There was a war between the monsters and the humans, the monsters lost, and they were sealed away in the underground. To escape the underground, the monsters need a human soul. This will let them pass a magic barrier. This barrier is also where you have to go to escape.

It’s a delightful game! I wasn’t expecting it to be so charming. Anyway, enough talk, let’s get into the game!

Before you begin

You don’t need to know too much before you start. This is an RPG, and all of the tools you need will be explained to you. You need to pay attention to what is being said to you.

Here are some things that I would have liked to know before I played:

• Fighting isn’t always the right thing to do.
• Don’t be afraid to run from a fight.
• Talk to the monsters; it adds a lot to the game and will make your ending better.
• Pay attention to what the monsters say. They tell you how to beat them.
• Don’t worry about losing a battle. There are plenty of save points.

These are just some of the things to keep in mind. This isn’t a challenging game.

The First Hour/day/week in-game

The first hour of the game is pretty straightforward. It introduces the mechanics, what you’re supposed to do, how the puzzles work, and why Undertale is a little different from other RPGs.

You find yourself in the Ruins and are confronted by a flower. This flower lies to you and ends up beating you in a fight. What this does do is explain the combat system a bit. When the enemy attacks, you can move your heart around to avoid the attack. It’s cool!

You meet a character named Toriel. She is a very kind character and walks you through many of the puzzles, acting like the game’s tutorial. Unfortunately, you’re forced to fight her. It’s a strange moment in the game.

After beating Toriel and exiting the Ruins, you meet Sans the Skeleton. He tells you that his brother Papyrus is a fanatical human hunter. I guess the people in the Underground are hunting humans. Toriel tried to warn you about all of this, but you want to keep playing the game! I suppose you could have just stayed at her house, but that wouldn’t be any fun!

Papyrus explains how he wants to capture a human to get respect and join the royal guard. The relationship between the two brothers is pretty interesting. Sans is a comedian or tells a lot of skeleton puns, while Papyrus is more serious.

Sans is probably my favorite character, and he sticks around a while. He acts as a guide and cheerleader for you as you make your way through the underground.

This interaction wraps up the first hour of the game. You might get to this point a bit faster than I did. Here are a few of my takeaways from it:

• The game has some humor to it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.
• The puzzles slowly ramp up in their complexity.
• Fighting isn’t your only option. Try talking with the enemies; you might be able to avoid fighting all together.
• When you fight, there is a bar like something from a sports game. Try to land the slider in the middle to make a stronger attack.
• When the Enemy attacks, you can literally avoid them by moving your heart around.
• You might have to weaken an enemy before taking nonviolent action.
• There is a sad feeling in this first hour. It’s a fun game, but I’m guessing it will get more emotional.

It seems like the monsters just want to be friends. It goes against what I thought I was supposed to be doing. The game doesn’t want you to fight from what I was experiencing.

From here, the game follows a similar path. You meet some wildly interesting characters, some humor which is a little hit or miss for me, solve some puzzles, and it’s an enjoyable story. Undertale feels different from what I’ve played before. It’s an excellent game!

Core Mechanics Undertale Getting Started Guide

Like many RPGs and other video games, you control the main character. You move them around, fight in random encounters, talk with monsters, and deal with your inventory.

Except for the boss fights, you don’t see the enemies coming. I wish you could see the enemies, but it works well for the game’s atmosphere.

When you get to the battle screen, you have several options:

• Fight
• Action
• Item
• Mercy

Fight, Item, and Mercy don’t change from battle to battle. The Fight option brings up the attack, the Item lets you use the items in your inventory, and Mercy enables you to either run from the battle or spare the monster you are fighting.

The Action option changes depending on the battle, and they have some humorous text to go along with them.

You need to pay attention to what the enemies say and do. The text in between turns can help you better navigate the fights. For example, when you fight a dog, it might tell you it wants to be played with or wants attention.

During an enemy encounter, the screen where you can avoid the attack can be jarring. Even though it’s explained, I was still a little confused by what I needed to do.

Each of these is different. You have to move your heart around in a little box and avoid whatever hazard is in the box. This depends on the monster you’re fighting, the action you take, or what the Bosses special attack might be.

Once you figure out what you’re supposed to do, it can still be hard to avoid the attacks. There were times when I couldn’t figure out how the game expected me to avoid the attack. It could be a little frustrating, but I’m sure there are ways to avoid everything.

If you choose to beat the enemies through Action instead of Fight, you won’t gain experience. This isn’t a huge problem, but it does bring up something you should know. The enemy’s name will turn yellow when you have completed enough actions, like petting a dog enough times. This will let you spare them and end the battle.

Tips We Wish We Knew

There are several things I wish I had known before playing this. Even though I had heard of the game before, I didn’t get into how it worked. Here are a few other things I wish I had looked up or asked someone about before starting.

Here is a quick list of the things I wish I had looked up before starting:

• The combat system.
• Which characters I could spare.
• The different side quests.
• How to get certain endings.
• The different puzzles in the games.

I wish I knew that in order to get the best ending, I needed to win every battle through nonviolent means. So, do your best to avoid killing any monsters and stay alive! It’s a fascinating idea, and I like it a lot.

This kind of goes into another thing I wish I knew. No matter what, you can beat every fight through nonviolent means. I would screw this up the first time on the boss fights. It can be tricky to figure out how to do it, but you can always spare the enemies.

Let me walk you through a battle to explain better what I’m talking about. In this case, I’m fighting a buff seahorse. I know that sounds weird; trust me, the monsters get much weirder!

• Turn one my actions are Check, Flex, and Shoo. I choose Flex. And the Seahorse Flexes back.
• Before my turn, the Seahorse says it’s enjoying itself
• Turn two, I choose Flex again; I’ve started a flexing contest. The Seahorse flexes so hard it flies away, and I’ve won. I’m confused, but I won the battle.

There are other examples of battles like this. I just wanted to keep things simple. You get gold after winning a fight if you win by fighting or actions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

This depends on what type of ending you’re going for. If you just want to beat the game, I don’t think there are any mistakes to make. Here are some things to remember if you want a specific ending.

For the best ending:

• Don’t kill any of the enemies.
• Find a way to befriend Papyrus, Undyne, and Alpyus.

If you’re going for the bad or Genocide ending, just fight every enemy. This will make your character stronger, but it also worsens the ending.

Long-term goals to consider

Undertale has a lot more in it besides the main story. Once you beat it the first time, you might want to go back and explore it a bit more. There is probably something you missed. I know I missed something on my first playthrough.

There are also a lot of endings in the game, and there are several options in dialogue and actions you can take. You can try speedrunning the game, getting the best ending, getting the worst ending, or you can try to get all of the possible endings.

With a playtime of between 6 and 20 hours, there are many things you can do. If you want to complete all of the quests, just play through as fast as possible or get a specific ending. You have a lot of options.

FAQ

Conclusion

There are parts of the game that are adorable! It makes the option not to fight the enemies that much better. I didn’t want to fight any of them. I didn’t want to kill most of them. There were some that I didn’t mind, but most of the monsters I wanted to keep alive.

Once you get into Undertale, it’s easy to see why so many people like it. It’s a very charming game, and the focus on talking to monsters instead of fighting them was a great choice.

The story is an emotional one. The game made me think about things, and it was a nice change of pace from the other games I play. If you’re playing Undertale for the first time, I hope this helps you get started!

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paul werkema

Paul is someone who appreciates a good story above all else in video games, and believes that Indie Games provide the best narratives due to the passion of the developers behind these projects. A fact that means he has played hundreds of indie classics. When Paul isn’t playing games, he is hiking, reading, filming stock footage, or pretending he can draw. Paul also reviews books on his YouTube channel.

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