Boss Battles in Undertale - More Than Just an Obstacle

I’ve spent the past few weeks reading everything I can about Undertale; its secrets and lore, various analyses and interpretations of its story and mechanics, and of course, reviews. And one thing I’ve noticed mentioned frequently in the reviews or fan gushes of the game, is that a lot of them have trouble pointing out the one thing that makes Undertale great. They can’t summarize and simplify the magic of Undertale into one core concept, and I find this very interesting. It got me thinking, if I had to pick one thing, one core thing about Undertale that makes it so special and unique…what would that be?

I thought about this a lot, and I have to admit, the more I think about it, the more I understand the struggles of others, because well…I can’t think of an answer! There’s really no one simple thing Undertale does to make it special, it’s well…everything it does! It’s the way it constantly surprises you with great fun dialogue, an emphasis on exploring the mechanics and characters through choice, a unique battle system, the music, a fresh air of simplicity, there’s a lot that Undertale does to make it special.

But then I thought, if I can’t say “what” makes Undertale special, maybe I can say “when” Undertale feels special; the moments in which Undertale really shines, and explore why that is. And after mulling on this question, I think I can come up with a sufficient answer. The moments in which Undertale really shines, I would say, is during the boss battles.

As I look back on my Undertale experience, I notice that the moments I have the most to say about, the moments that I can recall the clearest, are the boss battles. Because the boss battles I think, more than anything, are where all the great parts of Undertale came together.

In many video games a boss and its battle are rather simple. They are a difficult obstacle meant to challenge the player in the mechanics they’ve learned and experienced, and often that’s all they are. Maybe they’ll have some neat personality or character that makes the battle feel a little special, but often it doesn’t amount too much, it is a challenge at the end of an area meant to be intense for the player.

With Undertale however, bosses take on an entirely new meaning. They aren’t just a challenge at the end of an area for mechanical purposes, they’re so much more. In Undertale, the bosses are characters, characters that you meet and interact with multiple times before the battle. You gain an understanding of them and who they are through each area, such that there’s a great emotional weight to each battle. You also get to interact with NPCs and puzzles that can tell you a lot about the character, such that by the time you get to them, the confrontation feels like an interaction, rather than a battle.

Each area is also cleverly designed to reflect the boss battle, not just in its mechanics, but in its feelings and emotions. The first area is meant to be simple and warm, more of a learning experience from someone who just wants a friend to live with. The second is more fun and lighthearted with silly enemies, puzzles with hilarious solutions, and fun scenarios that all come from someone who just wants you to have a good time and think they are cool. The third is more dark, scary, and intense in telling you the dark secrets of the monster history, all seeming to be from someone who wants you to know how serious this is, and wants to scare you so they can take your soul and save their friends. The fourth is a more fun and intense experience, showing the many great sides to monsters, and comes from someone who just doesn’t like herself and wants you to like her and her friends, so she’ll do everything she can to make herself and the world seem like a great one to stay in, full of close battles, intense moments, and great laughs, just like a good movie. And for the final area, monsters are simply friendly and show you how much they love their king, and you see firsthand how great of a guy he is, and how horrible it will be to fight him.

In Undertale each area reflects its boss in so so many ways, such that the final confrontations always feel very powerful and important. Each boss feels connected to the entire area, and every unique experience you had in it, and it’s wonderful.

The bosses are great in showing how Undertale is about more than just a mechanical challenge, but an emotional one as well, and it makes the battles feel very poignant. And another part of what drives home this idea that boss encounters are an experience rather than a challenge, is the constant presence of dialogue. The bosses aren’t just things in your way, they have personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and they’ll talk to you every turn, such that you really get an understanding of who they are through each battle, and feel the weight each battle carries with it.

And what’s even cooler than this is that the dialogue each boss says will change depending on your actions. Whether you attack, spare, or act, it feels like your choices actually matter, and like there’s great importance in how you choose to go about each battle. It makes every boss feel like a crossroad of sorts, in which the choices you make here will determine a lot in the future of the game, and it adds a wonderful feeling to each battle to make them feel that much more special.

And while the dialogue itself is important, the mechanics themselves are also wonderful in what they say about the character and battle. Each boss has its own distinct way of being played and winning, and they work in ways that say a lot about the boss, almost helping you to understand them through their mechanics. Let’s go through them 1 by 1:

In the Toriel battle for example, she tries to be strong and not let you pass, but if your health ever reaches a certain point, she can’t bring herself to finish you. She can’t bring herself to kill a human when killing humans was the very reason she abandoned her people, and it allows you to really feel for her and also not want to kill her. You’ve come to love her company so much that you see why sparing would be the better option to go here, and it gives a special feeling to the battle.

Similarly, for the Papyrus battle, he prefers taking his time changing you colors, unlike every other boss that changes your color immediately, because he wants to surprise you and have fun with it. For his battle he doesn’t really want to hurt you, he just wants to show off and make himself look cool as he does his job to become a member of the royal guard. This is why he doesn’t actually kill you, and why his dialogue is so full of fun antics and him going off on how cool he is and will be. You can’t help but agree at times and love the things he does, and it makes the battle very fun, such that by the end you’ll be cheering him on.

Notice that instead of saying blocks the way Undyne is just attacking

For Undyne, her battle is fierce and direct. She charges at you with full force, and the only way to handle her force is to meet it head on with your own determination. It’s a great clash of titans, and it feels very epic and grand in how quick the dodging mechanics work and how much it will keep you on your toes.

Again, Mettaton isn't attacking or in your way, but making a premiere

Mettaton’s goes in its own unique way in which, while fighting is nice, the real goal of Mettan is to put on a good show and get great ratings for all his beloved fans. And as you learn of how much so many NPCs adore him, it’s hard to not want to help, posing and dancing in your own way to give everyone a great show with this great battle. It’s exciting and exhilarating, but also quite fun at times, and feels rewarding at the end when you hear the calls and learn that in fact, everyone seemed to enjoy the show you put on.

And finally, there is Asgore’s battle. Asgore’s battle is possibly the most powerful in what its mechanics say about him. During the Asgore battle, you cannot use mercy at all, and while it’s easy to freak out and focus on what this means to you, you can miss how much this says about Asgore’s character. One interpretation is that, Asgore knows that if the mercy button were available, he’d do it, and it feels like he destroys it not to stop you from showing mercy, but to stop himself. Another interpretation is that he destroys the mercy button simply because, he feels he doesn’t deserve mercy, and is extremely ashamed of what he’s done for the good of all monsters in his eyes. The fact that he never looks at you says it all, but more than that, is the dialogue, or rather, the lacking of any dialogue, something that no other fight has. He’s clearly ashamed of what he’s doing, and just wants to get this over with as fast as possible. This is why he never talks to you, or even looks at you, he can’t bear to do it. It makes the battle incredibly tragic for both you and Asgore, and does a fantastic job of showing the tragedy of his character, and that under this happy exterior he shows to all, is a sad broken man in need of healing.

The way the game is able to telegraph these characters through its battle mechanics is fantastic, and it makes them all feel real and unique in their own special way. Toriel is loving despite her strong morals to do what is right, Papyrus is fun and cool, Undyne is passionate and awesome, Mettaton is entertaining and exciting, and Asgore is tragic in how similar he is to Toriel, loving, yet having strong morals that he refuses to compromise on. The game does an incredible job at making each boss feel unique and memorable for its own separate way, and it’s why the boss battles of Undertale are so unforgettable.

This isn’t even mentioning the music, which does wonders to accelerate the emotions associated with each battle. Each boss has a wonderful unique track with it to heighten the feelings of each battle, and it’s the wonderful icing on the cake to make the boss battles of Undertale so so memorable.

This isn’t even getting to the Flowey and Asriel battles, and how those define their characters, but I’ll leave that to your own digging and understanding of what they say about them.

In conclusion, I feel that the boss battles are very much the height of Undertale and are where the game really shines, and is I had to tell someone why Undertale is special, I would say it’s the boss battles. Undertale understands that each battle is meant to be a huge climax for each area, and not just in a mechanical sense. True they’re a challenge, but they’re also emotional challenges, they make us feel, and they make us understand. They say a lot about each character, and help you to emphasize and love them each for who they are. The writing that makes Undertale so special is hugely important to this, the choice you have and how much weight each one has is also very apparent in these battles, and the music and mechanics and how they blend with each character and encourage this great feeling of understanding as you clash with them, all of these elements that make Undertale great, come together in the most spectacular way during the boss battles. All of my favorite parts of Undertale, the writing, freedom of choice, music, and unique mechanics and what they say about the characters and world, shine brightly for the boss battles, and in such a way that they feel so much more powerful than bosses in well, any game I’ve ever played. They are where all the magic of Undertale come together, and so I would say, if I had to give one simple reason why Undertale is so special, I would say it’s the boss battles, and how they all are designed incredibly well to feel very final, and very meaningful.

….all right fine, I’ll touch on the Asriel battle, but only because the Asriel battle is so so special. It’s the ultimate climax in how you’ve felt throughout the entire game. Throughout the whole game you’ve felt the determination to finish it and overcome every challenge, and you couldn’t feel that more than here. Throughout the game you’ve grown to love and appreciate each character, and have fun in their own special way. And in the Asriel battle, those feelings are magnified as you revisit them all and remember why you love this game so much.

And then in the perfect finale, the whole game of Undertale was about saving others. Not just the bosses, but the monsters, the mini bosses, helping them with their problems, the whole game was about saving and helping others, through determination and love. Saving Asriel is really the perfect ultimate culmination of your entire adventure, and it is the perfect way to do a final battle. It is my favorite moment of the Undertale experience, and I do fell the boss battles are where Undertale shines brightest.