Undertale came out on September 15th on PC via Steam. On the surface it’s an indie RPG with influence from a ton of retro classics such as Earthbound, but underneath the veneer there are themes of morality, choice, and pre-destination. So it comes as a little bit of a surprise that it would show up on a Christian TV show as a “demonic” game.
The show in question is The 700 Club hosted by Pat Robertson. During a session of the show, Robertson addressed a question from a viewer about a mother about images she saw on her daughter’s phone.
“Recently, I was looking through my daughter’s phone, and I found many pictures of a cartoon skeleton with one glowing blue eye and wearing a hoodie. When I asked my daughter why she had such demonic images on her phone, she told me there was nothing wrong with it because it was from a video game. How do I help my daughter not be attracted to such demonic things?”
The segment never mentions Undertale by name, but the “cartoon skeleton with one glowing blue eye and wearing a hoodie” is undoubtedly an unabashedly lazy and comedic skeleton from the game known as Sans. Robertson goes on to say that the parent should probably urge her daughter to play something more wholesome. “There’s got to be some video game that isn’t so evil, but those things are filled with violence and brutality. It’s unreal,” says Robertson.
While Robertson may have a point and there is certainly the option for violence in Undertale, the statements are more than a little ironic considering Undertale offers choices that promote mercy, goodness, and friendship and implements consequences for actions both good and bad..
