How Undertale Made Stealing Feel Original

Why does Undertale feel like a once-in-a-generation masterpiece, while dozens of indie RPGs trying to capture the same magic get written off as lazy copies? Toby Fox has never hidden that Undertale is a massive patchwork of other media he likes, from EarthBound and Shin Megami Tensei to Touhou, Brandish, and obscure webcomics. Maybe your hypothetical answer would stop there… “He took from a lot of different games! Just take from a lot of different stuff!” However, borrowing from your inspirations isn't a simple numbers game (as big-budget flops like Concord have proven). Maybe you’d say Toby Fox and Temmie Chang were just passionate about what they made. That’s definitely true, but passion hasn’t saved dozens of indie games made by talented people from being called “nostalgia bait” or “retro slop”. The real difference comes down to a principle laid out a century ago by a poet of all people… Watch to learn more OooOoooOoooooOOOoooo. In this video essay, I break down why nostalgia-bait like Mighty No. 9 falls flat, how games like Shovel Knight bridge the gap between aesthetic imitation and mechanical reinvention, how Undertale Yellow and Deltarune handle the dilemma of audience expectation, and how Toby Fox transformed borrowed ideas into a game that felt genuinely revolutionary! If you’re reading this far, let me know what's your favorite creative element in a game that was blatantly "stolen" from somewhere unexpected :D Video Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hojv0m3TqA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwHtuL2K6PE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sXh2z6yXIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pnt92a4fc4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHaJot2XGU0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLfpm1nS0DA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_moW7eZSesw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoVuzyngKps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI54_yxpwkY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPWlDqkQIeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXQqhRETBeE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKsy6hbzFA8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwph3CqaBYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB_2FF2G1o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqQJhjf_3o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rV3-HXhky8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqnKB22pOC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VJbcpYB-yM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7vqCmt6wY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=innmNewjkuk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhhjcB2ZjIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21-_7L6dcVw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j824ThyMBjE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyyC_OU-Bvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU6-QDkNuiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUNRV9u8HRY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP__YrZLihc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAwT5CCGOoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgnD4WRzgjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-uuawy9Ok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q1an5yjbEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb_MXSCYsCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Li1ohh96Gk https://youtu.be/iIowwZThIXM https://youtu.be/gmh4Qs20DZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH0VOpaUfmc https://youtu.be/9HjcVhf54YI https://youtu.be/yDzgiGdekas https://youtu.be/AdY8c0XQCcM https://youtu.be/P3rE7su1Fxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vru1B9snXoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4OTPFtLrA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPHgcx0408 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MeAI82MaNs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQE83I-G8rY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lY24QOlYok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBk0rixcWGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trw_C_SS5K8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Der2Rj-2Brw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkLcHxh5BGg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tec_IRU3Wh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-7XYLxRFK0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CFaYNfbWSZY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc8fsve6u8M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnLCl4k6YZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AREOJ32e3fY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9giCebGY8-s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3HpVIFu5E Putting in Website Sources makes the description too long to post, so I will try to create a pinned comment with them! #Undertale #TobyFox #VideoEssay #IndieGames #GamingAnalysis I'm trying out new scripts for both highlights and web captures for high quality web captures. If anyone knows how to avoid highlights doing weird stuff with punctuation or with scripts almost capturing ads and those ad spaces moving everything weird, then PLEASE LET ME KNOW! My stuff is acting up on me!!! This video is the longest any of my videos have taken so far (Around 40 hours), so please let me know if you enjoyed!!!