#it feels like toby fox's touhou project

[adr1025]

fumadora shuriken -> raiton -> katon -> huton -> suiton -> hellfrog medium (??!)

[undertalemagenta]

Introduction to Undertale Magenta!

(This article of the Undertale Magenta blog was written by pastalight, the director and main composer for the project. They are the primary author on this blog, though others may make appearances.)

Undertale Magenta is a fan-game that aims to tell the story of the fallen child who bears the Perseverance SOUL. They will meet much of monsterkind along the way, and, depending on your actions, may majorly change the course of history.

Undertale Magenta began development in August of 2023, initially intended to be a musical project titled "Notes of Perseverance." (I thought the name was really clever at the time.)

As more story ideas came into my mind, though, I began to see more of a vision...and by the end of the year, after releasing some of my music, Unsweet had joined me to help turn it into a game. By now, our team has grown substantially, and development is going rather well.

The game is planned to have a demo, however it is not currently planned for a specific date.

You can check out the GameJolt page here.

What's new?

Being a prequel, it is fair to ask what we will be bringing to the table. To answer that, we do have quite a lot of unique content planned for the game.

While I'll avoid major spoilers for the game, I can show you some concept art we've drawn for a brand-new area that will be featured in the demo: Myco Island!

(Well, in truth, it's more of an archipelago, but oh well...)

Aside from new areas, the game will generally contain a unique cast of characters.

Some of these were characters with a minor role in Undertale, such as Gerson Boom, while others are completely unique.

In general, the game follows in Undertale's footsteps while remaining distinct enough. You will see familiar locations and some familiar faces, but overall much of the content is original.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: Is this game official?

A: No. We are not affiliated with Toby Fox, or anybody on Deltarune's team. Thankfully, Toby Fox is alright with fangames, so there won't be issues regarding us making Magenta.

Q: Is this connected to Undertale Yellow? Will it have any of its characters, or be in the same timeline?

A: No. The game may be comedically referenced, but treat it as a comedic nod. They are not canonically connected.

Q: Is Flowey in the story?

A: No. We have designed a new main villain, who I'm hoping will turn out very well. They are a character unique to Magenta.

Q: When does this take place?

A: A few decades before Undertale. Gerson is not retired, and a majority of Undertale's cast will not return. However, some of the family of current characters are around. This includes Deltarune characters, such as Alvin, Gerson's son.

Q: What gender is Mauvet?

A: Genderless. They're not intended to be the player's gender, rather are consistently devoid of it. This is because they're too focused on being a genius to have a gender.

(That was a joke. They're still genderless.)

Q: Is this game intended to be canon?

A: It is supposed to be a prequel to Undertale, however it is not trying to be total canon. Inevitably, the game can diverge in one way or another, and for all intents and purposes, this is an AU.

Q: When is the demo releasing?

A: No specific date yet, but we're optimistic that it'll be soon.

Q: Will there be a genocide route?

A: You are able to take many paths in this game, some of which are more immoral than the others.

Q: Is Muffet related to the story at all?

A: Yes! Undertale Magenta features multiple spider characters, two of which are her parents. She is not born yet, but her life is impacted by the events of the game.

Q: What are some of the inspirations for this game?

A: Aside from the obvious Toby Fox works, I would say that the Mario RPG games, the Legend of Zelda franchise, Sea of Stars, Celeste, OneShot, Touhou and Homestuck are very major inspirations that you will likely be able to feel in UTM.

Some have asked me if Undertale Yellow inspired its creation, and, to be frank, it didn't. While I absolutely respect its creators, the concept of a short Undertale-themed music album about the Perseverance child came about before I'd learned of Yellow's existence.

Q: Where can I listen to the music?

A: Public tracks are posted on the GameJolt page and our official YouTube channel.

Some Fun Stuff To Wrap It Up

Here is an official reference sheet for our protagonist, Mauvet. As you can see, their name is pronounced "maw-vay." A common mistake people have made is pronouncing it "mauve-ette" which I understand. Anyway, they're pretty cool.

Have some music.

[clockworksteel]

Today I saw a post about writing the name of your blog with the first letters of song titles and that sounded fun. The rules are to do it in a new post and you’re also supposed to tag people or something but I’m not doing that.

As additional personal rules I didn't use the same source twice and only used things if I could remember at least some of what they sounded like. I did look up lists of songs I thought I'd be familiar with though (eg, looking up the Bastion soundtrack to remind myself what titles were in there). Also I decided not to use any songs starting with A or The because I didn't feel like making a call on whether they could be skipped and they didn't start with K anyway.

Round brackets (parenthesis) in the artist half of the song list indicate names of video games. For over half of them I had to look up the actual people. Also, even if it's not from the game I put it there if there's a specific game with the song in it that I strongly associate with the song.

Square brackets indicate whatever I want them to indicate.

C - "Can You Really Call This A Hotel, I Didn't Receive A Mint On My Pillow Or Anything" - Toby Fox (Undertale) L - "Leave Me Alone" - I Don't Know How But They Found Me O - "Organ Donor" - DJ Shadow C - "Curses" - The Crane Wives K - "Konga Conga Kappa" - Danny Baranowsky (Crypt of the Necrodancer) W - "Wow Wow" - Neil Cicierega O - "Ode to a Superhero" - "Weird Al" Yankovic ["Piano Man" - Billy Joel] R - "Robot Overdrive" - Takeharu Ishimoto (Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory) [I haven't seen Big Hero 6] K - "Kirby: Right Back At Ya! Theme Song" - Norman J. Grossfeld and Ralph Schuckett (Donkey Konga) S - "Senbonzakura" - Kurousa-P feat Hatsune Miku (Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX) T - "Terminal March" - Darren Korb (Bastion) E - "E" - Drunkenmunky E - "Everybody to the Limit (Live)" - The Brothers Chaps and Y-O-U [Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits] L - "Locked Girl" - COOL&CREATE [Remix of "Locked Girl ~ The Secret Girl's Room" and "Love-colored Master Spark", by ZUN (Touhou Series)]

Finding two K songs was a struggle. Like, why is the famous Flowering Knight remix called "Night of Knights / Knight of Nights" instead of the other order? I could've really used that one. My "know what it sounds like" rule blocked the use of Kairi from Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, Knight to C Sharp from Crypt of the Necrodancer, Knight Man Stage from Megaman 6, and Killing in the Name Of from Guitar Hero 2 (yes, I know it's not "from Guitar Hero 2", but that’s why I’m familiar with it). I guess I used another Crypt of the Necrodancer song for the other K so forgetting Knight to C Sharp didn't make a difference.

Honorable mentions to "Twister" - Takeharu Ishimoto (The World Ends With You), "Setting Sail, Going Home" - Darren Korb (Bastion), and "Wellerman" - The Longest Johns. Also, earlier versions of this list included "Canon in D" - Pachabel and "Roundabout" - Yes, but I wanted to stick with somewhat shorter songs in case I felt like putting together a Youtube playlist so I could put it on and listen to the whole thing or something. I like it when individual songs don't steal the whole show. I'd consider skipping the Kirby theme song if I did put it together as well.

Somewhat amusingly, I notice that I don't know what anything sounds like in the list of the person I copied this from (notahorseindisguise). I've maybe heard New Invention once, but from that group I pretty much only listen to "Leave Me Alone" and "Do It All The Time" and I don't remember any other songs. I'd probably like others but I don't have much of a habit of actively seeking new music.

...in fact, looking over everyone else's answers in the post I linked, I think there are only 3 songs I recognize as something I've heard, total. "Dragula", "YMCA" (although not specifically as played by their pep band), and maybe "Everybody Talks" (literally the words "Everybody talks, everybody talks, everybody talks" come to mind sung a specific way, but I have no memory of what the rest is like). Also, why so many in one thread? Did I maybe misinterpret the rules when they said "Make a new post"?

[simhuman]

Undertale in Famitsu Magazine - Translation of Toby Fox’s Comments

Thanks to @lennyclover​ for the beautiful job editing job to match Famitsu’s page layout!

Toby Fox provided Famitsu Magazine with plenty of thoughts for Undertale’s 5th Anniversary cover feature. Famitsu translated his writing to Japanese, and I’ve brought his comments back to English. How much was lost in translation tennis? We may never know.

Full plain text version for screen readers under the cut.

In advance of the anniversary, we have messages for you from 8-4, who produced the Japanese localization, Fangamer, and the game's creator, Toby. 

From 8-4: It's been five years since Undertale's release, and three years since the Japanese version went on sale. It seems like just yesterday we started working together to prepare the Japanese edition. The existence of Undertale became a great opportunity for our company, and we want to keep loving it with all of you. At this time that COVID-19 is making people worldwide suffer and the risk of expanding spread is high, large events can't be held, but we're hoping for a future chance to safely celebrate with everyone.

From Fangamer: Congratulations for Undertale's fifth anniversary! Fangamer happened into making Undertale merchandise by way of Toby and one of Fangamer's members becoming friends over ten years ago on a MOTHER 2 [Earthbound] fan site. Thanks to that, we've been not just business partners, but people sharing the same ambition to make fun goods. May we continue to create new goods together!

From Toby: Five years have passed since Undertale came out. When I was making this game, I thought it would probably be forgotten after a month. After all, it was only the accumulation of my ideas, and the songs I sang in the shower, and my doodles in my class notebooks. And yet somehow, five years later, these dreams of one single dog still resonate in people's hearts... I'm grateful. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if people continue to say "Toby Fox's greatest work is Undertale," and I won't mind. Even so, I'm very fond of the new game I'm working on, and of the people who have played it so far, some must have liked it as much as I have. I'm looking forward to those people's responses.

P.S. Getting published in Famitsu doesn't feel real to me yet. I don't think it's imposter syndrome (where you can't believe in your own abilities), but... Isn't it a little strange to let me eat at the table with everyone, even though I'm a dog!?

Toby's Influential Games

There are so many games that influenced Undertale, it's impossible to name them all... To everyone waiting for Deltarune to be finished: While you're waiting, why not try playing some of the games that influenced me? 

MOTHER series:

"The games that influenced me most! I can't think of anything else to say... 1, 2, and 3 all have their own charms, but I recommend playing starting with 2 [Earthbound] because it's the least difficult. Okay? Don't forget, 'No crying until the end'!

Recommended play method: 2 --> 3 --> 1 order.

What was influential: The humor through the entire games, story, worldview.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Humor, weirdness, heart-wrenching things, music, a dog possessed by the spirit of the game developer." 

Touhou Project:

"If I hadn't run into Touhou Project games, my games wouldn't include a 'bullet hell' system. Sometimes fans have told me that Undertale's music all seems Touhou-like... But then, ZUN told me that he thought Undyne was cool!

Recommended play method: First play the latest game on Steam! (That or start with the 7th or 8th game, then play in whatever order you like.)

What was influential: Bullets, music.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Bullet hell/danmaku, Japanese-ness, girls, hats, the sound of the trumpets used in Undyne's music." 

Cave Story:

"A platformer with shooting game elements. It's a little Metroid-like, but with cuter character designs and top-tier music. But beyond that, its biggest charm is how, because it was all made by one person, the creator's individuality comes through strongly in everything. Playing it leaves that impression on you. The idea of giving my own game multiple endings came from Cave Story. And then... ahem... the character design just might... have influenced me...

Recommended play method: The free version is available online! ( https://studiopixel.jp/binaries/dou_1006.zip )

What was influential: The power of a sole developer, multiple endings, music, setting.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Jumping and shooting enemies and running around, fluffy white characters with long ears." 

moon:

"There's an RPG 'hero' going around committing terrible acts, and the main character gathers love and follows the hero to take care of things. It's a lovable, strange adventure game. You could say that this conceptual reversal resonates through all my games.

Recommended play method: It's out on Nintendo Switch! Download it!

What was influential: LOVE, world view.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Adventure games, noble RPGs, quirky clay animation, humming onions."

Yume Nikki:

"A mysterious game where the main character is a girl wandering through dreams. Made in RPG Maker 2003. It has an overwhelming atmosphere through it. It's free, so give it a play.

Recommended play method: Free download for PC.

What was influential: Mysterious atmosphere, randomly-occurring events.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Item finding elements, foreboding and nostalgic feelings, Secom's security systems."

Brandish series:

"Nihon Falcom's famous works! The story of the main character falling into an underground world and trying to return to the surface.... The other people trapped underground and losing hope.... And the first area is called the 'Ruins'! (lol)  When I was a kid, I recorded a tape of the game's music and played it back over and over. By the way, the shop system in Undertale is influenced by this game. And the appearance of the eyes of the king closely resemble the king's eyes in the intro to Brandish... I recommend it to people at every opportunity, but everyone loses their sense of direction and gives up... aaaaahhh! (* White rice erupts from Toby's mouth all over the computer screen!)

Recommended play method: Try playing EGG's Brandish Renewal ( https://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/cgi/ecatalog-detail.cgi?contcode=7&product_id=1376 ).

What was influential: Shopkeeper, 'Ruins' area, story, music.

People who like the following will enjoy it: Puzzles and action, dungeons, serious atmospheres, spinning in circles in a schoolyard until you feel sick."

There are still lots more! There are so many games that had an influence, it's impossible to name every one. I hope people will take motivation from the games I make, too. I'm cheering for all of you!

Gitaroo Man: "This game's music is loaded with heartstring-pulling power. My eternal goal is making music like this."

Illusion of Gaia: "The story sure leaves an impression! And somehow there's a snail pie in the English version. But I never want to go to the continent of Mu again." 

OFF: "A free RPG developed by a Belgian team. There's also a Japanese version! I was motivated by seeing another creator's indie RPG! (* Toby is humming jazz-style music.)"

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: "I don't think I would have made a meta game if I hadn't encountered [Hideo] Kojima's fourth wall-breaking style. I need scissors!"

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue: "Playing this was my first experience with liking game characters... I was 10. The English version had dirty jokes and pop culture references... I wonder what the Japanese version was like."

[inkbright]

The name ‘Asriel Dreemurr’ is..

1. An anagram of ‘serial murderer.’

2. A portmanteau between the names ‘Toriel’ and ‘Asgore.’

3. A reference to Azrael, the Angel of Death in Islam. 

Those are all commonly-known at this point, but today I was watching some Touhou and discovered that there is another reference and anagram that I think is less well-known. 

Meet Sariel. They’re the final boss from the first game of the Touhou Project: Touhou Reiiden ~ The Highly Responsive to Prayers. 

Sariel is an Angel of Death within both Judaism and the fantasy-world of Gensokyo. In some texts, Sariel is considered a fallen angel as well.

Sariel is also an anagram of Asriel. And, well, I’d say the Sariel’s character design is damn near the biggest inspiration behind Asriel’s “God of Hyperdeath” form. 

Although I don’t think it is ever shown what color Asriel’s outfit is (outside of tarot cards, which Toby Fox himself said are not canonical), going off how Asriel is wearing the symbol of the royal family (the Delta Rune) in a similar manner to Toriel, and how Toriel’s outfit is purple and white, I do not think it that far of a leap to say that Asriel’s color-scheme is the same as Sariel’s.

And little details match up between them as well. Asriel and Sariel both wear heart lockets. The way the bottom of Asriel’s robes billow outwards just above his bare feet is similar to the way Sariel’s robes do. Later, when Asriel ascends even further, changing into his final form, he gains large, looming wings. Similarly, Sariel also possesses wings, although theirs are more angelic and numerous. 

Of course, their personalities are completely different. Sariel is a silent enemy; their motives are wholly mysterious and unknown to the player. Sariel is distant, cold, and loses to Reimu in the basic, “beat-them-down” method. Meanwhile, Asriel is a lonely child who never had the opportunity to work through his trauma. And although Asriel as Flowey claimed to feel no emotion, his actions throughout Undertale disprove this claim. Asriel as Flowey lacked empathy, but not the ability to experience emotions like rage, fear, and boredom. Asriel with a soul, with multiple souls in fact, briefly regains the ability to empathize with others (although he could always show compassion to others if he so chose). Asriel, unlike Sariel, cannot be defeated in a physical-sense. Asriel only loses when he finally achieves an emotional connection with someone (that person being Frisk, and in a way, the other SOULs as well). 

So, anyways, now I have a crack theory that since Asriel’s “final boss” designs (both his Omega Flowey form and his God of Hyperdeath forms) seem to basically be him cherry-picking features from enemies he faced down in the past (ex. he mimics Sans’ signature pose as the God of Hyperdeath, he uses bombs and flamethrowers during his Omega Flowey battle presumably in an imitation of the humans who fought him on the surface, etc.), Asriel Dreemurr played Touhou at some point. And he liked it enough to incorporate elements of Sariel’s design into his God of Hyperdeath form.

And that’s it. That’s the theory. 

Now, I’m going to bed.

Sources: 

https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Sariel

https://undertale.fandom.com/wiki/Asriel_Dreemurr

https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/802147835244400640?lang=en

[claire-starsword]

Some observations about Deltarune (The Unused Classroom, Dark World, Ralsei, and the Dreemurr Siblings)

The layout of the room, from left to right, does reflect the journey in the Dark World, starting in a purple field with a plush shopkeeper, then crossing the checkers board, and finally reaching Card Castle to the east. Notably, Card Castle corresponds to the shelves on the right, which are the only dark thing in the room even when the lights are on, so that might be why there’s a fountain of darkness there? 

More importantly, there’s absolutely nothing here that corresponds to the starting area, or Ralsei and the town he was waiting for us. Do those places correspond to the closet instead? Or somewhere else, even? After all, there’s a transition effect when you enter the Field of Hopes and Dreams that doesn’t play anywhere else (you know, that Touhou-like effect where the song’s name shows up on the screen for a moment. It crashed my computer twice, so it really got my attention).

So I feel there are actually multiple dark worlds, all connected to some dark place/room. That’s why most of the game has that Alice in Wonderland feel that just, doesn’t match the starting point which is way creepier with those eye puzzles.

That would also explain why Ralsei calls himself a prince despite not having anything to do with the Card Kings, he’s from a completely different kingdom/world. Actually, Ralsei is much more about classic RPG vibes: his town is basically shops + inn + a castle, he talks of a huge prophecy and declares you a hero, and is the ultimate tutorial/exposition/support party member.

Also, a thing that has been bugging me about the prophecy: why is the fountain on Ralsei’s kingdom okay, but others are bad and must be closed? Is Ralsei’s world the original one? They speak of it as a matter of balance, so is there a light fountain too? Could other light fountains open? Could a light fountain be closed? Is someone going to threaten to destroy the lightners’ world this way?

I dunno about those questions and this is getting long, so let me get to the main point: if I’m right, and the first fountain does correspond to the closet, then, what the hell is that closet? We only see papers on it, and even before the fall, it’s already clear that there’s something wrong with it, given how long it is. Has anyone else ever been on that closet? Has Gaster made experiments in a damn school closet? 

Hot new theory: the game’s last boss is Gaster and you fight him in a terrifying battle in the middle of darkness that never ends... until Papyrus the Great School Janitor turns on a light switch, dispel the whole thing, and berates his father/brother/creator/who knows at this point for pranking kids with time and space. This is Papyrus’ first and only appearance in the whole plot. All is saved.

I’ve gotten away from my point again, if I ever had one.

Either way, it makes sense for the start of the game to be so utterly barren, if we think that the closet is empty, or almost empty. But it doesn’t explain Ralsei’s town. What could there be in a closet that resembles RPG settings and Asriel? Actually, Asriel is in college, right? And everyone talks about it like it is a fairly recent thing, so maybe he was still in high school the year before. In the same school. He could have left something in the closet that led to Ralsei’s creation. Heck, he could have left a goddamn RPG character sheet on that thing. We could losing our minds over Ralsei the Anagram when it is just another show of Asriel’s brilliant naming skills. We are cursed to spend every single game dealing with Asriel’s OCs, forever.

The question that raises is, did Asriel do it purpose, leave something/someone behind to keep Kris company? Some people have been commenting on Ralsei being sort of a doormat but, he does stand up against Susie at least once, and also calls out Lancer on some dumb things. The only person he sticks around no matter what is Kris. Even if you fight every monster, he will stay, and even if you ruin his manual, he’ll just say he can do a better one later. It sorta reminds me of how Asriel stuck with Chara’s plans even when he was uncomfortable, and then blamed himself for not going with it all the way. Ralsei could have been made to be the ultimate partner for Kris, especially how Kris doesn’t seem to have friends.

It might have not been intentional, though. Maybe Asriel just left something about himself by accident in the closet, and along with Kris’ feelings of missing their brother, that became Ralsei in the Dark World. After a whole game of ‘Asriel misses his sibling and projects them in someone else’, now we get the opposite. What a family. What a mood.

It would tie into the game’s theme of ‘don’t forget’ though. A toy or memory stored in a closet, forgotten. A classroom no one uses anymore. A scientist no one remembers or at least talks about. A world of people whose purpose is to serve lightners, and yet have been abandoned by them. It might be that the Dark World is just a bunch of things abandoned in the dark, along with the old hopes and dreams said things had on them. Like a collection of old make-believe games.

If it happens to be anything along these lines, I’ll absolutely love the game and own Toby Fox my whole soul (likely literally. We’ve been playing with souls too much in this, it’s not gonna end well for us).

(Fun fact: Several parts of this theory/ramblings was inspired by the fact that in 2015 I made a cheap Gaster toy with a sock and then proceeded to forget about him for all of last year I think, only picking him up from the closet because of the new game. Given the whole talk about closets now, I can’t help but find all this uh, interesting)

(If I ever trip into something in this house and don’t return, you know what happened)