"One of the great misconceptions of our time is that size matters, that bigger must always be better. It's a pesky bit of untruth that sticks around our media no matter how many times we have failed blockbuster movies and awful AAA games. Impact is far more important. The butterfly effect is more real than you think, and sometimes all it takes is something small to release a much bigger trend."
"From the start, Undertale won critics over. Reviews praised its subversive combat system, witty writing, and deeply emotional storytelling. The game's tagline is "A traditional RPG where no one has to get hurt." This wasn't just some clever marketing copy for a Kickstarter page. Traditional RPGs often hinge on grinding, combat, and moral choices with binary outcomes. Undertale twisted that formula, offering players a chance to talk, joke, flirt, or even spare their enemies."
Size does not determine significance; small works can produce outsized cultural impact. Undertale was released on Sept. 15, 2015 by a single developer and reshaped expectations for indie games. The title subverted traditional RPG mechanics with a combat system that allowed talking, joking, flirting, and sparing enemies, encapsulated by the tagline "A traditional RPG where no one has to get hurt." Built with roughly $50,000 from Kickstarter, Undertale sold over a million copies within a year and reached consoles by 2018. Viral playthroughs, fan remixes like "Megalovania," memes, and fanart amplified its influence and helped define a new era of indie gaming.
Read at Inverse
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