2015 can be considered as one of the best years of gaming, as it saw the release of masterpieces such as Bloodborne, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Super Mario Maker, and many more. While there were numerous amazing games for the time, there was one that stood out due to its clever take on the RPG genre: Undertale.
Created by Toby Fox, it took the scene by storm, being highly praised for its unique battle system, entertaining and deep writing, beautiful musical pieces, and pleasing 2D art style. While Undertale certainly had the qualities that warranted categorizing it as one of the great games of that year, it did something in particular that made it unique even compared to its competition: proving that players are not naturally pacifists.
What's incredible is that the game tries to do it right from the start, when it introduces players to Flowey, a seemingly harmless flower-like entity. Given that it's the first character with happy-go-lucky music accompanying it, people would naturally lower their guard, thinking that it's something to trust.
Upon teaching the battle system, Flowey tricks players into taking damage, removing its friendly mask, and unveiling the sinister creature behind it. It's from that point that those who experience that introduction will likely have become wary of the in-game world's inhabitants, seeing everything as a potential threat.
After that, there are encounters with random enemies, and while the game tells you to try and resolve fights peacefully through the seemingly mother-like figure Toriel, there is always the option to take them down with force. Naturally, people will try to take action to eliminate what they perceive as an enemy, given their experiences at the beginning.
Also, since it's an action role-playing game, it's normal for them to expect that taking down threats is the only way to get stronger, since they're usually a source of experience points for leveling up. With that logic, players will want to search for foes to fight so that they can get the power needed to beat the game. But as soon as they kill even one creature in the game, they're immediately locked into the neutral ending,
This is how Undertale proves that nobody is really truly a pacifist. The game does everything from playing with people's emotions to providing them with the tools to exterminate whatever gets in their way, which is essentially an open invitation for them to take the more violent route.
While it tries to lovingly and caringly suggest that the best path is through choosing the more peaceful battle options, which was the purpose of the previously mentioned Toriel, most people would likely still take the option that allows them to fight. It doesn't help that the art for certain creatures makes them look like they're something to take down, with some even having dialogue that leads you to believe that you have to beat them to progress.
Players would have to go against their instincts to fight potential threats, which is hard, since they're used to dealing with them in that way. Undertale tries to make it a point that people will always confront danger by removing it rather than finding alternative solutions, and it does so well, given that almost nobody gets the pacifist ending on a first playthrough.
For this reason alone, I consider Undertale as one of the best indie games to exist. It manages to show people that nobody is truly pacifistic by nature, and that they'd have to fight their usual instincts if they wish to be.
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