I remember recommending Undertale to you forever ago, not as a means of saying "look, somebody used ideas you wanted to use and it's better than yours, you should be doing this instead" or anything like that, I just suggested it because I had the impression that you'd legitimately enjoy the game.
I'm glad it seems that you did actually enjoy some parts of it quite a bit, even if it was soured by other parts of it and probably also a bit of your expectations going in.
I am glad that I had no expectations going into the game, I'd only heard the name a lot so I just assumed it must be some new popular online game that everybody's playing that'll die off in a month, as tends to be the case whenever I hear about a game a lot.
So for me it was a pleasant surprise to find that the new popular thing was so weird and also barely a game at all, and also that a lot of the game was honestly hideous at a point in time where it felt like that would turn most people off.
One thing I'd like to mention though is a trap that I think a lot of people fall into, where it seems like because a game is really popular and did well it must be an amazing game where other less popular and successful games must be worse.
The game actually has a very large hate-base just as much as a large fan-base, due to being "overrated" or that just because it's popular and people talked about it a lot and they don't like it that means it's actually definitely totally bad or whatever.
I loved Undertale myself, but I don't think it's amazing and I could agree with a lot of the issues you had.
However it had such a broad appeal that pretty much everybody would get something out of it, and also since the great majority of the game is just making emotional connections with it, it sticks with people and makes them want to talk about it and share it.
So I see a lot of people complain about the game being popular because "it's not that great" when it's not actually popular for that reason.
I think you've already made it clear that you understand that its success mostly comes from that appeal and not because of it being a perfectly executed game, though I bring it up just because at a few points it felt like you fell into the same trap of "I thought this game was supposed to be really good" or whatever.
It was also interesting to see that you had some very opposite-of-the-average opinions on things in the game, both in what you liked and didn't like.
For example Papyrus and Undyne are the most popular characters (other than Sans) and that most people hate Alphys.
Or that most people love the bullet-hell combat and how it makes turn-based combat not boring, and wish there was more of it and that the game was far more challenging.
Of course the combat comes down to personal preference. I really like turn-based combat and don't find it boring, but I will say that I appreciate Undertale and MARDEK's approach to livening things up over the ATB gauge that is so popular in turn-based RPGs.
I don't like it when action is pointlessly forced into your turn and forces you to think quickly instead of thoroughly as the ATB gauge does, if it's my turn I want to be able to wait.
The most boring part of turn-based RPGs is watching a movie after you choose your commands, I find it hard to play a lot of old turn-based RPGs outside of emulators because of not being able to hold down the "maximum mega turbo speed" button to skip through a 30 second long animation of Ultima or whatever that you'll probably be casting every turn.
Things like reaction commands in MARDEK or dodging bullets in the case of Undertale keeps every moment engaging. Even if reaction commands are as simple as "just press a button", that's all you really need to keep me looking at the screen instead of looking away at a YouTube video or something.
I will say though, probably the most satisfying and enjoyable moments of the game for me personally are something you haven't gotten to experience in your playthrough yet, and is a large part of why I look back on the game so fondly.
So I do hope that you go back to the game and see what else it has to offer, but I understand if you don't want to.
I'm glad it seems that you did actually enjoy some parts of it quite a bit, even if it was soured by other parts of it and probably also a bit of your expectations going in.
I am glad that I had no expectations going into the game, I'd only heard the name a lot so I just assumed it must be some new popular online game that everybody's playing that'll die off in a month, as tends to be the case whenever I hear about a game a lot.
So for me it was a pleasant surprise to find that the new popular thing was so weird and also barely a game at all, and also that a lot of the game was honestly hideous at a point in time where it felt like that would turn most people off.
One thing I'd like to mention though is a trap that I think a lot of people fall into, where it seems like because a game is really popular and did well it must be an amazing game where other less popular and successful games must be worse.
The game actually has a very large hate-base just as much as a large fan-base, due to being "overrated" or that just because it's popular and people talked about it a lot and they don't like it that means it's actually definitely totally bad or whatever.
I loved Undertale myself, but I don't think it's amazing and I could agree with a lot of the issues you had.
However it had such a broad appeal that pretty much everybody would get something out of it, and also since the great majority of the game is just making emotional connections with it, it sticks with people and makes them want to talk about it and share it.
So I see a lot of people complain about the game being popular because "it's not that great" when it's not actually popular for that reason.
I think you've already made it clear that you understand that its success mostly comes from that appeal and not because of it being a perfectly executed game, though I bring it up just because at a few points it felt like you fell into the same trap of "I thought this game was supposed to be really good" or whatever.
It was also interesting to see that you had some very opposite-of-the-average opinions on things in the game, both in what you liked and didn't like.
For example Papyrus and Undyne are the most popular characters (other than Sans) and that most people hate Alphys.
Or that most people love the bullet-hell combat and how it makes turn-based combat not boring, and wish there was more of it and that the game was far more challenging.
Of course the combat comes down to personal preference. I really like turn-based combat and don't find it boring, but I will say that I appreciate Undertale and MARDEK's approach to livening things up over the ATB gauge that is so popular in turn-based RPGs.
I don't like it when action is pointlessly forced into your turn and forces you to think quickly instead of thoroughly as the ATB gauge does, if it's my turn I want to be able to wait.
The most boring part of turn-based RPGs is watching a movie after you choose your commands, I find it hard to play a lot of old turn-based RPGs outside of emulators because of not being able to hold down the "maximum mega turbo speed" button to skip through a 30 second long animation of Ultima or whatever that you'll probably be casting every turn.
Things like reaction commands in MARDEK or dodging bullets in the case of Undertale keeps every moment engaging. Even if reaction commands are as simple as "just press a button", that's all you really need to keep me looking at the screen instead of looking away at a YouTube video or something.
I will say though, probably the most satisfying and enjoyable moments of the game for me personally are something you haven't gotten to experience in your playthrough yet, and is a large part of why I look back on the game so fondly.
So I do hope that you go back to the game and see what else it has to offer, but I understand if you don't want to.