the more i think abt it, the more i dislike the meta elements of undertale

Like, boiled down to its essentials, the genocide route is just 1 long punishment for not adhering to the author's vision. It's ultimately reassuring to the authority that authors have over their work

It's not about morality, the game makes that very clear. It smartly ceases to be a moral condemnation of the player about a third of the way through. It's about toby fox being uncomfortable with how games inherently have way more room for user error than any other medium

The one stroke of genius was the souped up undyne fight, because it almost reads as self flagellation. Like it reveals that u didn't beat the true pacifist route through the power of friendship, "determination" was always just the player's will to get to an ending.

That's the one moment that actually felt genuinely self reflective instead of just,, boring lampshading

I want to make a meta game like this that actually presents the idea from multiple angles, ask the question "who decides when a game is over" and let u decide