Hello, I just want to say I really love this game!
Er---SPOILERS I guess ----
First of all, I've played the original Undertale (I'll call it UT now) years ago, it's been 5 years since the game was released...time flies. Honestly I can't even remember much about UT anymore - well I know the story but the finer details escaped me, and playing Dating Start certainly jogged my memory a bit. I totally love how consistent the characters are written - it really feels like I'm playing the original UT again. The jokes, the way each of them speaks definitely gives off that same vibe of UT without making any of them seem OOC. I know some details and lines are certainly taken from UT, but LOL... like I said I have bad memory so it's hard to differentiate what you actually wrote and what was taken from UT.
Toriel was so cuddly and warm as usual, I love that little motherly talk session with her! The hints and sparks flying between Undyne and Alphys are so cute as well! I also love how you give players the choice of smooching Sans at every possible moment xDDDD And of course, the choice NOT to smooch him for anyone who doesn't want to. That's really sweet (but you probably know what I chose xDD).
That said, I replayed the happy/True love route again and again to pick all the possible choices. The little variations and reactions from different choices were so much fun and finely written. I especially like how "Jumping off" the bridge became an option in later playthroughs LOL. I'd imagine any monster who sees that must be like "Yooo that hooman is crazy" xD I love that if the player picks that choice, Sans realizes how weird it is.
I also like how you utilized repeated phrases like "filled with determination" "warm your heart with love", and especially Sans' saying "cause someone really cares about you". I'm not quite sure if it alludes to himself or Toriel or anyone else in the original UT, but the way you turned it to explicitly refer to himself in the happy end "cause I really care about you" was so sweet xD
While I didn't want to cheat, the "secret" route was too enticing so I ended up doing it anyway. And I totally LOVE it (capitalized for emphasis btw, it's not an acronym or anything). All the different choices of making spaghetti and picking out Papyrus' outfit was really fun. I found myself laughing a lot LOL. While I certainly did not play this game with the intention of wooing the taller skeleton, I still find him endearing. Though, it really tugged at my heart when Sans shook the player's hand at the end of Papyrus' route and gave a sad smile. Flowey calling me "cheating with his brother" also didn't help orz... I felt bad :(
...But not as bad compared to when I play the True LOVE route. Tbh, years ago when playing UT, I completely left out the genocide route, mostly because it was unnecessary to kill everyone (like whyyyy) + Sans' fight could really kick some ass + wiping save files is a pain. I did watch Youtube playthroughs though. This time I decided to try it myself. Welp, lots of regret.
So, first of all, I'm glad I didn't actually have to fight anyone and the killing scenes just kind of automatically played out. I was prepared to be frustrated and spend hours dying replaying. I do recognize it's kind of messed up to have them all die without much of a fight like that, it makes them seem so vulnerable ;-; Especially Toriel and Papyrus really trusted the player a lot. Sans' expression when he saw that Papyrus was killed really broke my heart. It's also pretty screwed up when I kissed Sans before killing only Undyne and Alphys.
The Sans fight even when played in "visual novel mode" was still challenging. I don't know if it was a 100% replica of his fight in the original UT, I only recognized some moves haha. But either way, I had to get a notebook and jotted down the options' order to win LOL. I have to say, the animation was really well done. RenPy is known for visual novels - which are normally quite static, so all the animated moves in Sans' fight was definitely a breath of fresh air (and definitely a skele-TON of efforts was put in).
The way you reused some famous lines Sans said during the fight, while also adding some tailor-made lines about soulmates was great too.
The order I played - until the time of this review - was True love (many times) => Secret route (twice) => True love (again because why not) => True LOVE (once) => True love (twice because...I wanted to confirm Sans actually gets killed...gosh) => Secret route (twice) => True LOVE (again because I wanted to see if anything's changed).
With that said, on the 1st True LOVE run, Sans mentioned how once upon a time we used to be soulmates - quite a lot of times, and it made me feel really bad orz. I kept thinking in my head "i don't want this either why am i doing this" T_T When he dragged himself away at the end (to die off screen), the last thing he said was calling the player's name, then asking "why...?". I admit, it was like I got punched in the guts T_T
Sans rarely refers to the player by name, if I remember correctly, he only did so at the end of the True love (happy) route, True LOVE and well, True love (the fcked up version when Chara possessed the player's SOUL). Because these moments are so rare, whenever he does so, it really hits hard.
Gosh, when the player/Chara stabbed him, he only called the player's name like "[insertname]......?" with that look of betrayal akldkjfgls argh T_T I feel like that left a scar in my heart now. And that was AFTER he knew the player killed him in another timeline and decided to forgive. It's like, he really loves the player so he's willing to look past their sins, but he was stabbed again right after that...
I gotta say, I'm surprised Chara did not kill the rest of the monsters. I kind of expected that to happen. I replayed Papyrus' route to see if he'd get killed, but surprisingly he lived? It's so unfair Sans is the only one who got killed by Chara adjfkls wait what am i even saying i shouldn't wish for others' deaths.
Also, when playing the Papyrus' route again after acquiring the True LOVE ending, it seems Sans didn't shake the player's hand anymore when Papyrus told him we were on a date? Is it because the player/Chara betrayed/killed him before in the True love ending so he didn't bother anymore orz...
Anyway, on the 2nd run of True LOVE, I realized there was a lack of some lines mentioning the player and Sans' past connection as soulmates. He also did not call the player's name when he died either. I'm not sure if that was because I was on my 2nd True LOVE run, or because I did Papyrus' route right before that so technically we weren't recognized as soulmates in the past. It was an interesting change nonetheless.
I was impressed with how you created the Chara scene also: a dark void, had to wait a little bit before the dialogue to give up my SOUL appears. The Flowey scene when it absorbed both mine and Sans' SOULs was also great. I kept Alt+F4 the game to interrupt its dialogue LOL. Basically, the little variations (4th wall breaking) here and there depending on the number of playthroughs and the player's actions really preserved that original UT vibe. I think at some point Flowey mentioned I used the SKIP function 84 times, was it a random number or actually counted LOL?
Onto happier things, I really love the epilogue of napping under the "stars" with Sans. The only problem (pls don't hate me I know you worked hard): it's too short ;-; I would've loved to see more of what life with Sans is like, since he's pretty well-known in the Underground and all, how would people-- I mean, other monsters react if the player keeps sticking around him. I wanted to exercise in his room too (on the treadmill of course...), and go to his workshop and all xDD Basically, the game was so good and I want moar ;-;
I think that's enough of my rambling...on the writing - sorry if my review's a mess ;-; Moving on to...
The graphics: I think you mentioned somewhere on Twitter that you were more of a coder than an artist, but the art is honestly really nice. I love all the CGs, items and character sprites (I'm not sure if you did the backgrounds yourself orz, they look like they were taken straight from the original game, but if you did, wow). I especially love the sprites. They really radiate each character's personality, the proportions, expressions and all are really close to the original pixel ones in UT. Flowey's expressions were so well done, that little twist of pain on its face when its petals were plucked in the True LOVE ending, definitely a nice touch. Papyrus and Undyne's expressions when they knew the player likes Sans were priceless LOL. Sans' expressions were great too, his nonexistent face muscles didn't move much, but slight changes could really change the emotion he depicted. The light effects and little animations such as flying cape, twinkling/blinking eyes were nice additions too. Did I mention the annoying(ly cute) dog wagging its tail?! That was adorable! Really, many games don't have those details. They really bring the characters to life!
The system: I love that you coded in a system to prevent the player from taking existing characters' names (like Chara, Frisk, Sans etc). I mean, it's not ground-breaking because that's how it is in the original game, but to replicate such features still takes a certain amount of effort. It really shows how you are attentive to details like that. Same goes for the variations on different playthroughs, special scenes with Chara and Flowey that I've mentioned before. The aptly named save files were interesting (and kind of funny too LOL). The hidden section in the Album was...well I can't say nice because it hurts to look... but you certainly did a good job! My curiosity for the last (4th) CG in Sans' section of the Album really killed the cat (and literally everyone else)...
The UI: There's not much to say, except that it's punderful. The design and fonts reflected UT's style perfectly! Being able to drag the textbox and have options changing places during Sans' fight was a great idea too. Varying text speeds for certain lines also had a good effect on controlling the game's flow!
The music and sound: I feel like it's not punny to keep saying things are punderful, but allow me to say it again: punderful. The tracks accompany the scenes so well, I especially ADORE the slower, sadder ones that play when the player interacts with Sans. It seems you had a hand in the making of certain music tracks as well, that's pretty awesome considering you already coded AND drew art for the game!
Overall, I have nothing but love for this game, and I can feel your love in the project too! Thank you for making it! If there ends up being an expansion or sequel (?) of some sort, I'd definitely support you!
A little side note, Doki Doki Literature Club SPOILERS to please stop reading if you're uncomfortable--
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I was kind of expecting the epilogue with Sans to have more dialogue, like, he's always there when the player opens the game (unless the game is RESET somehow), and he'll say different things each time - in a punny and romantic way...not creepy and yandere-ish LOL (if that happens i wouldn't mind cuz i'm a simp but would such characteristics fit him omg). Basically, kind of like that Monika scene near the end of DDLC. I know I have too much expectations for the epilogue but I just don't want it to end orz ;-;
Other than that, I just want to say again I'm impressed with your coding skills in RenPy. It really feels like you can create a mind-blowing original project with concepts similar to Undertale or DDLC, not a clone or fangame, but like a truly original game with...that files/system manipulation and 4th-wall breaking thing.
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Again, I'm sorry if my review is messy and my English (as a second language) gives you a bone to pick with me...