The FIGHT Interface

[Kimochiru]

Undertale was well-received for it's heartbreaking storylines, lovable characters, and just... the determination. In comparison to those, one aspect of the game doesn't get as much attention, quite unsurprisingly. It's the battle interface. This thread is dedicated to discussions, thoughts, and theories about the overlooked yet mportant feature of the game.

Surface Look

Honestly, the battle format isn't that impressive at a first glance. The "MERCY" button might be different from the RPG norm, but that's about it.
When walking in the overworld, you may be confronted by a monster. When that happens, the player will enter a fight, which brings up a new interface.
There are four different buttons you can use in a battle: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY

FIGHT opens up a hit-and-click menu to attack a monster. A bar with different markings will appear along with a white line that scrolls from left to right. If the player presses the select button (default, Z), depending on how close the line is to the middle, they'll deal a certain amount of damage.
ACT brings up various actions you can perform on the monster. Depending on what you act, the monster will react differently.
ITEM allows you to select with item from your inventory to use.
MERCY allows for the play to choose either to spare or flee from a monster. A monster may be spared when certain condition are met, and opting to flee will result in leaving fight.

About FIGHT

Undertale may be well known for it's MERCY, but there is something about the FIGHT button that needs to be discussed.
In a typical RPG, the scrolling-bar type fight determines how hard you'll hit an enemy. Getting the bar in middle deals the most damage, and not pressing anything will result in a "MISS." The same applies to Undertale, but there's something more interesting about this hit-miss.

In the library of Snowdin Town, there are books the player may choose to read. One of these books inform the reader of the nature of monsters, humans, and SOULS, specifically about how a monster's defense will drop when they are unwilling to fight (i.e; SPAREable). Furthermore, it discusses the effects of when someone who actually intends to harm a monster with a lowered defense. However, the book decides to "end it at there."

In a typical RPG, since pressing the middle results in high damage, one may conclude that it means the player has hit the enemy with "maximum accuracy." Therefore, the more further away one hits from the middle, the "less accurate" the attacks become; not pressing the button at all means the player's attack "missed."
Given the context of the library book, in Undertale, however, hitting the middle might be related to "the intent" of harming a monster. This is especially notable since when in specific boss fights, the boss monster's defense will drop after staying in battle for a while.
The most prominent example is the fight with Toriel. Most people who play on a first/blind run accidentally kill Toriel, dealing damage as high as over a thousand. I have tested this, and I managed to bring Toriels health to a small sliver by making my attacks just barely slide off the screen, yet is able to deal 1000 damage when her HP is around half if I attack in the middle.

Even with lowered defenses, you deal a lot less damage to monsters when you attack further away from the middle. Applying what the Snowdin library book said, it seems that the sliding bar isn't a measure of how accurate your attack is, but how much you intend to hurt someone.

In conclusion/TL;DR- If you choose to FIGHT a monster, you ultimately determine how much you intend to hurt the monster depending on the timing.

Other Theories

.....

[Tighty-Whitey]

Too many words.

[fauxfennec]

Originally posted by Kimochiru:

In conclusion/TL;DR- If you choose to FIGHT a monster, you're determining how much you intend to hurt the monster.

well yeah duh

[ManlyMan]

Originally posted by Kimochiru:

In conclusion/TL;DR- If you choose to FIGHT a monster, you're determining how much you intend to hurt the monster.

Other Theories

.....

So what I have determined from this is that when I fight people I intend to hurt them. Golly gee thanks for the info.

[filler text]

Very word, much weirdness.

[R-110]

So if I punch someone in the middle of their face I'll know I really wanted to hurt them.
Got it, cheers!

[Moka Evans]

I don't know I think he has a point, if measures "Intent" not "damage amount", then fighting has more signifience to me.

[Kimochiru]

In the case of when people take my words too literally, I was explaining how even the FIGHT option challanges the typical RPG-style battle. In most RPGs the scroll-and-hit battle style seems to be about how "accurate" your attacks are, but with Undertale, it's actually measuring the player/character's intent of hurting a monster.

Originally posted by Moka Evans:

I don't know I think he has a point, if measures "Intent" not "damage amount", then fighting has more signifience to me.

Yes, this is what I was getting at, thank you! c:
Toby Fox wanted to challenge the obsession with 'increasing numbers,' so he implemented the change of 'high damage amount' to 'intent to kill.'

[Cowmunist Leader Moo Zedong]

I'll only contest you on the fact that an RPG doesn't have the same fighting type mechanic as this game. The accuracy scroller is more a staple of rhythm games.

[Kimochiru]

Originally posted by Milordog1:

I'll only contest you on the fact that an RPG doesn't have the same fighting type mechanic as this game. The accuracy scroller is more a staple of rhythm games.

Oh, yeah. That's true, though there are still some RPGs I have seen with the scroller-based fight. It's not commonly found on the more popular JRPGs, though.

And, regardless, the point still stands! ^^

[Cowmunist Leader Moo Zedong]

Originally posted by Kimochiru:

Oh, yeah. That's true, though there are still some RPGs I have seen with the scroller-based fight. It's not commonly found on the more popular JRPGs, though.

Was Shadow Hearts one of them? Because I'd love to know of others. It's a fun little mix up of things methinks.

[Absolution]

The OP's description of the FIGHT mechanic is exactly what I took away from it.

I even go so far as to do the entire game with the glove, purely because I can further control the damage by only punching one time instead of the whole barrage.

Many monsters won't surrender even at the brink of death, and some even become un-sparable if you mix various ACTions with them. (Try being mean to Napstablook after the hat comes out. Hope you can dodge.)

Asgore is interesting as his attacks get more intense the longer the fight drags on- but after taking several hits there's a point he slips up and you end up doing a great deal of damage.
The will to hurt someone, the intent, that likely ties into the magical nature of monsters (only about 20% physical matter, was it?)

I don't critisize Toby for much but there are definately things I would have preferred he delved deeper into.

[bonk]

my question is how do i get more "bars" when you are doing the fight thing. i.e the torn notebook gives you 2 bars, but i've seen people with 4 bars and above.

[A Fat, Angry Serval]

Originally posted by silen16:

my question is how do i get more "bars" when you are doing the fight thing. i.e the torn notebook gives you 2 bars, but i've seen people with 4 bars and above.

Intent for each individual hit.

[Absolution]

Originally posted by silen16:

my question is how do i get more "bars" when you are doing the fight thing. i.e the torn notebook gives you 2 bars, but i've seen people with 4 bars and above.

It's different per weapon. The stick/worn dagger always have just one, for example.
I believe the empty gun and frypan have more.

[dat_potatoe]

The book in the library is a reference to the XP system and the genocide route, where your intent to harm the monster is so high you kill most of the main characters with just one strike. Similarly, you can betray-kill most monsters in one strike because they no longer have any desire to fight you, and how much damage you deal is determined by just how much each person wants to hurt the other.