Long post incoming, and I imagine it gets confusing.
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2 Computers.
I played this game on two computers. Two separate files. Originally, it wasn't intentional- my Desktop computer, which I started it on, was connected to the TV in the main area, so my time was limited. The Steam Cloud does support the game, but not for saves, unfortunately. This meant that to play the game on my other computer, I had to start a new game, and while I originally planned to just move the save over manually, I instead thought that I would do a side-by-side playthrough with my desktop.
My Desktop was me- or rather, the character made decisions as I would make them. His name is Daniel.
My Laptop was his shadow- or rather, his imp of the perverse, the imaginary construct of Daniel if he were an apathetic killing machine. As this was my Genocide Run, his name was Jack. I'm sure people who've played that game will get why.
The fact that together they are Jack Daniel is completely coincidental. But I love it.
I use "was" because Jack doesn't exist anymore. This was mostly a flub on my end, but also partially a conscious decision. Because I played on my Laptop most of the time, my Genocide Run almost immediately eclipsed Daniel's, and so most of the characters I just killed. This is an experience few people will have, but I need to say that it was one of the most powerful I've felt. Why? Well, to put it completely simply and bluntly, this game is absolutely fantastic at making you interested in and sympathetic for characters you don't even know right off the bat. It could be because of animations or what they say- it goes about it in a lot of different ways. If you think that you'd probably have less trouble killing a character or feel less better about doing it because you are intent on killing them from the start and you really don't know what you would have if you were doing a second run, I can guarantee you that it's not.
This game is brutal.
"Brutal", here, is synonymous with beautiful, because it's its beauty that makes it brutal. From the animations to the slight changes in music to the mere descriptions of how someone acts, the game is very good at controlling the atmosphere and letting character shine through every little thing. This game is so lovingly crafted that I actually had to take a second and just marvel at the attention to detail. It really is something. And that's why this game absolutely knows how to stick you through the heart.
One may think that the accusations of being a murderer or something like that with a specific tone would be what got me, but it wasn't. In VLR, I would generally betray before I allied because, similar to this, that game really knew how to stick you in the heart for something that was totally in your hands so, also similar to this, I would ally second so that I wouldn't have to deal with that lingering feeling (assuming I wanted to ally with them to begin with, of course). I played a character not all too different from this in Soul Nomad's Demon Path. Drakengard 3's in my future and that game's about apathetically killing your sisters. Lots of apathy.
But no, what got me was that the game's beauty shined in the most unexpected of moments. Or if not in the most unexpected of moments, the most unexpected of ways. It was jarring pretty much every time. In my mind, I was fine, but there were times when I made a choice and what my mind said and what my...probably the only time I'll ever say this, but what my heart said, were completely different. My mind said "Keep Going" while my body was still trying to take in what the beauty imposed on it.
I can actually say where I felt this the first time. Well...actually, I can't. Spoilers and all that. But this fight, from even before it started to the very end, shook my very being. I didn't know this character. At all. Not one bit. And regardless of the reason, I chose to kill them (though I suppose in Jack's case it was less of a choice and more of a trivial thought process). Beautiful, all of it. And at one point, in a way that was the result of truly thoughtful design, the beauty peaked. I didn't know the character before the fight, but once it ended I not only felt as if I knew them, but I also felt sympathy for them as well as curiosity that just made me want to know more and more about them.
This is why I use the word "beauty", because the word "brutal" can invoke a certain image or tone. The beauty in Undertale, however, is less describable and less vivid. It's not one that just includes specific things, but I suppose it could be considered a love of the medium and the understanding of said medium, what they want the game to be, and how gamers- nay, people think and work, and putting all of that into genuine design to fit whatever person it needs to at a given time. That's Undertale's beauty.
If this all sounds a bit strange...I got the game Friday, Jack's the next day, beat Daniel's today. Needless to say, I've spent so much time with Undertale over these past days that I'm emotionally drained and my mind is swirling, and this type of borderline nonsensical drivel is what happens when something hits me this way. Which is rare, so you don't really need to expect it again. Jack's gone because...I turned off the Cloud saving which is supposed to transfer...well, I would say it's a spoiler but even I don't know what it is. But I do know that it wasn't sent over to Daniel. I'm not even really sure if Jack got it. But while I considered keeping Jack, I realized there just wasn't any reason to. Jack was basically just my answer to not wanting to go on Youtube and watch someone else kill everyone because I wanted to both play the game and also feel something- but in the context of my experience, he was just an imp of the perverse, that little thing in the back of our heads that tells us to do bad things. And that's basically it, I wanted Daniel's actions to affect Daniel, and not some thoughts he was having.
I mentioned this in the DCC (or lampshaded it, rather), but basically it was similar to the idea that picking a particular route doesn't necessarily make something more interactive or choice-based, because the only "choice" you made was to follow a specific line. The decisions in said line, however, would be decided for you. For me, that was Jack. He didn't actually make any decisions and neither did I. I was basically along for the ride. This could be seen as justifying and that's fine, but I'd say that that specific route was definitely more impactful having played than having watched, and moreso having played (basically) first than having played/watched it after the fact (though for the latter, I'd replace "impactful" with "interesting").
'Course, this isn't to say that Daniel was an angel. He wasn't a pacifist, but he became one, though his fighting straight off wasn't really intentional. Not that the intention particularly mattered, but I'd say my run with him, moreso after the whole Jack Dream ended, was also interesting because I still made choices that I'd wished I could take back, but continued on. So in a sense, it made for a nice little experiment that the game juxtaposed quite well: the difference between not thinking for yourself or making any choices and doing just that. It was super convenient getting rid of Jack, though, since now I can play with one file on both computers thanks to some digging.
*COUGH*
Jesus, that was a long post. It was basically stream of consciousness, but I had- and have- sooooo much to say about this game. A lot. Too much. And the worst part is that none of it's spoilers. But that's all, really. I needed to write this because keeping all of this bottled up is just bad and keeps me muddled. So now, I'm stepping away from the game for a while to do what will be my final run this year, a full-on Pacifist run. If all of this sounded little too real, specifically the parts regarding Jack, the name was just shorthand for Genocide Route so I chose it, and though I put it in words that were more narrative-esque, the whole Jack-Daniel relationship could really just be simplified to "Betray now, choices later". I love this game, though. Di- nope, no more rambling.
God, I hope no one reads all of this. For the sake of both your eyes and your time, I recommend that maybe you skim it or something.