(AKA far too many words for about two hours of gameplay)
First off I’m sure some of this was in the demo, but like I said I only played twenty minutes of that... No disrespect to Toby, but I didn’t see any reason to get invested in it then with no idea when the final game would be finished (Or if it was ever going to be finished). It just seemed like a normal retro RPG with an interesting way of handling damage, but now that I know that complete-pacifism is not only possible but recommended a whole world of strategy has opened up to me.
So... Toriel. It’s amazing how quick I was straightened out about thinking this would be a “boring” experience with all emotional moments ruined by spoilers. I felt strongly about which dialogue options I chose, how could I ask how to get “home” when she’s been nice enough to provide me (The character I’m controlling, who is not me, I already know how that distinction is important... Somehow) a permanent place in her home right here? I... Errr, this character would probably be dead without her. I didn’t feel resentment towards her for trying to keep me (Who is not me) safe and if the game could continue without leaving I would. In a game lauded for offering “choice” I did feel a bit railroaded into the confrontation with Toriel, but that’s not a dealbreaker.
I’ll admit the effect of seeing the name “ASGORE” in red text is lessened when I can’t help mentally pronouncing it “ass-gore” and also... Well spoiler stuff.
I definitely struggled with Toriel at first not knowing how to move on without killing her because there didn’t seem to be an obvious solution presented in-game. I killed her twice before letting her death speech play out (Because I reset too quickly) which let me experience the much-discussed meta firsthand. I was actually trying to go into her attacks (It seemed faster than resetting) when I discovered that they wouldn’t hit me when my HP was low and realized that I’d tried basically everything. All that was left to do was try “Talk” until it ran out of messages and then “Spare” until her expression changed. I didn’t expect seeing her die at my hands and still seeming to only care about my survival to be merely the second most emotional moment of the fight, but... She was the one who taught me mercy in the first place, I was basically in tears at that moment.
So she let me go and I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment when a player could have just as easily let her die and moved on. Then Flowey shows up again, but he just berates me for resetting which was equally as unsettling as it was a relief that there wouldn’t be another fight.
There’s some definite mood whiplash from those two encounters to the “scary” woods to the skeleton brothers and their hi-jinks. Snowdin is certainly a turning point towards levity which was jarring at first until I started to acclimate. I honestly thought Tumblr was playing up their pun and puzzle-obsessed nature and that Sans and Papyrus would be a Team Rocket-type group of bumbling interlopers who aren’t threatening but still try their hardest to be taken seriously... But nope, they’re goof-offs right from the starts and even the “human hunter” Papyrus softens to you nigh immediately. I definitely get why people like him so much, but I’m still struggling to feel anything after Toriel ripped my heart out.
I hope that “fried snow” was just a joke and not something I need because, whoops.
Then lots of puzzles and dogs later... Snowdin Town! Definitely a huge change from the empty chambers and freezing wilds I’ve become accustomed to. There’s a lot more monsters to talk to and stuff to do, it’s a little overwhelming.
I kind of want to set this post off to the side and play some more of the game... Then probably erase everything I wrote when I’ve completed the game and know how foolish half my musings here actually were, but that’s not how a real liveblog works. So here goes nothing.
