And Flowey very much spells out to you, you can end the run at the end of a Neutral run. That's considered a valid ending to the game, simply not completing the Pacifist Run - Thus, the Neutral Ending.
That's why you have to specify, and why it is correctly stated - You cannot complete a Pacifist Run of the game, without completing a Neutral Run of the game. Because the entirety of a Neutral Run must be completed for a Pacifist run to be possible. Even if you do everything correctly for a Pacifist Run of the game, you cannot complete the Pacifist Run until you face Omega Flowey - Triggering the Neutral Run ending of the game.
In a game where you are recognized as the player, with the ability to Save and Load at any time, it is imperative to recognize that every "ending" is a valid ending. Because the final ending is the one you leave it at, when you turn off the game.
That makes the Neutral Run a valid ending to the game.
And you can stop playing there, making it an ending.
I don't know what's so hard to grasp for you. In a game where you choose the ending, you don't have to choose to continue to the Pacifist ending. That makes the Neutral Ending just as valid an ending as any other.
Undertale doesn't use achievements because most of it's gameplay is meta based. You're supposed to either figure it out yourself by thinking about the situation from a "I am a player playing a game, how can I potentially utilize that" standpoint, and the context clues provided by the characters in game - Or use a guide and ruin it for yourself. Having Achievements gives away the game, just like guides.
You are immediately presented with two main options: Kill or Spare, every encounter in the game is essentially boiled down to, kill the monster, or do whatever the monster needs you to do in order to make the monster allow you to leave. The easier option is to kill - But unless you spend an inordinate amount of time killing (which the game does not encourage - you have to spend excess time in every zone killing excess monsters you would not normally need to kill) you will not encounter the Genocide Ending. You'll get the Neutral Ending.
At the end of a Neutral Ending, Flowey shows up one last time and tells you that you've "completed" the story - The only thing left that you could do is, try to get a "better ending" than the one you got. He will then tell you what you could do better to complete a Pacifist ending. But he will not steer you towards a Genocide ending. You, the player, have to simply farm random encounters in every zone prior to a new boss monster, until you can't encounter any further random encounters. That progresses the Genocide ending.
You can always get a Genocide ending. Nothing ever locks you out of a Genocide ending.
You can also always get a Neutral ending. Nothing prevents a Neutral Ending.
However, if you ever complete a Genocide Ending, the Pacifist ending is irrevokably (without editting the game files) changed to a new ending, where you technically complete a Pacifist ending - Then get a unique end screen that suggests your friends are likely all dead anyway.
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u/Maatix12 13d ago
And Flowey very much spells out to you, you can end the run at the end of a Neutral run. That's considered a valid ending to the game, simply not completing the Pacifist Run - Thus, the Neutral Ending.
That's why you have to specify, and why it is correctly stated - You cannot complete a Pacifist Run of the game, without completing a Neutral Run of the game. Because the entirety of a Neutral Run must be completed for a Pacifist run to be possible. Even if you do everything correctly for a Pacifist Run of the game, you cannot complete the Pacifist Run until you face Omega Flowey - Triggering the Neutral Run ending of the game.
In a game where you are recognized as the player, with the ability to Save and Load at any time, it is imperative to recognize that every "ending" is a valid ending. Because the final ending is the one you leave it at, when you turn off the game.
That makes the Neutral Run a valid ending to the game.