Undertale is a great game for many reasons, but one of the things I appreciated most about it is it's treatment of the character Undyne. Undyne is a fish monster knight with spears who pursues the main character for quite a while, trying to kill you. Undyne is undoubtedly the hardest fight that takes place in the first part of the game, and until I looked up instructions and realised I was supposed to keep running away, I died many times during it. Undyne is also a woman, a fact that is not at first noticeable to the player. We only realize this after she takes her helmet off. In this way, Undertale has created something rare, a strong female character who is not simply a show piece. Many games will have strong female characters but then spend the whole game going "Look, we made a strong woman, isn't it great?" which really breaks the immersion for me. By making Undyne a badass woman, and not rubbing our faces in it they give the idea that it is perfectly normal for a woman to be badass, not an oddity. It's the more perfect version of what Metroid was before the unspeakable Other M.
Hi Aubrey-
ReplyDeleteOverall, I agree with your analysis, however, you could add on to the fact that this game can be played in a completely passive manor as opposed to a traditional game one would have to undoubtedly kill any adversaries making this a game where one does not have to take down such a strong female character.