The kind of fun I most associate with the game Undertale is narrative fun. While the game on its surface has similar mechanics to a generic RPG (with a bullet hell twist), I found the most engaging part of the game to be the numerous interactions the player can have with the large roster of primary and secondary characters. There are a huge number of dialog options for different characters in different settings, and even minor characters like shopkeepers have interesting or amusing enough dialog to make the exhaustion of their options feel like a natural part of the game rather than a conscious effort to 100% it.
Mechanically, this sort of thing is quite simple: characters can be interacted with in the overworld (or within menus, like for shopkeepers in shop menus) to display lines of dialog that the player can advance through and, in many cases, choose conversation topics. Selecting a certain topic and advancing through its lines may reveal additional topics, and often going through the lines of dialog for a certain topic with a character, or performing some action, will reveal new dialog options with another character. At the core of this are the lines of dialogue themselves and presumably tons of variables and if statements that reveal the new options when certain conditions are met. The execution is superb and leads to a fun, natural-feeling dynamic of getting to know the many characters in the underground and poke into their respective backstories, revealing more about them and the world’s more tragic underbelly.
This, at least for me, led to tons of narrative fun. I generally prefer books over video games when it comes to consuming media, but it hooked me in!
