10 Video Games That DELETED YOUR SAVE

4. Undertale (2015)

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Toby Fox

There are many reasons why 2015’s Undertale is arguably the superlative indie title of its generation (if not all time). Chief among them is its wry humor and uniquely subversive gameplay tactics.

Thus, its implementation of two kinds of permadeath – one fake and one real – is totally par for the course.

First, there’s Flowey’s false assertion that your save file is “gone forever” once Asgore is defeated and Flowey sets his sights on obtaining the player’s soul (which is also the seventh human soul he needs). Specifically, he states: “Oh, and forget about escaping to your old SAVE FILE. It’s gone FOREVER. . . . I’ll SAVE over your own death.“

Gratefully, he restores your progress if you beat him.

In contrast, completing a Genocide run (wherein you kill everything you can) results in a blank screen and the inability to do anything. Roughly a dozen minutes later, Chara appears and asks for your soul in exchange for “bring[ing] this world back.”

If you give it to them, the game resets, requiring you to begin a new save file. From there, the Pacifist and Genocide paths are significantly transformed.

 
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Hey there! Outside of WhatCulture, I'm a former editor at PopMatters and a contributor to Kerrang!, Consequence, PROG, Metal Injection, Loudwire, and more. I've written books about Jethro Tull, Opeth, and Dream Theater and I run a creative arts journal called The Bookends Review. Oh, and I live in Philadelphia and teach academic/creative writing courses at a few colleges/universities.