The game that has been cited as one of the major inspirations for Undertale is finally here, and the question that many people are asking is how the two are connected? Moon has finally received an English localization after 23 years of waiting, as it was originally released for the PlayStation in Japan, but never saw an international release until it was ported to the Nintendo Switch a few days ago.

Why Moon Is On The Nintendo Switch

Moon has been described as an "antiRPG" that is set in a world where you fix a land that has been destroyed by a JRPG hero. That alone would have made it a hard sell in '97, as the JRPG genre was just finding mainstream attention in the west, so it's no surprise that Moon was never localized in its day. The story would have ended there if Undertale creator Toby Fox hadn't mentioned how much of an inspiration it was for his most famous game on Twitter. It wouldn't be surprising to learn that this single comment was responsible for Moon being remastered and localized in the first place.

Related: Moon: How To Unlock Fast Travel

Moon is here and we've had a chance to play the game, and there are certainly elements that can be seen in Undertale, but these have more to do with the theme than gameplay. Both games deconstruct the violent nature of RPGs and how killing things for experience points is wrong. In Moon's case, it's due to a vicious "hero" that ruins lives, yet acts in the same manner as a video game character. In Undertale, it's the protagonist of the Genocide route, who massacres monsters wherever he finds them. The main difference is that the protagonist of Moon never fights, while combat is an option in Undertale.

Moon Shop Cover

Moon goes out of its way to make every character memorable, which includes the slain animals that the player finds strewn around the world. The developers of Moon went out of their way to make every person and location feel unique, which helps to make the player invested in the game world. The same is also true of Undertale, as Fox went out of his way to fill the game world with unique characters, including the enemies, in order to make the decision to kill a monster have more meaning.

Love Is All You Need

The two games also have an obsession with Love, but in different ways. In Moon, the player has to spread Love by helping people and saving the spirits of dead animals. In Undertale, Love is an acronym for Level of Violence. Both games use Love as a player stat that can be increased over time.

It's clear that Moon was a big inspiration for Undertale on a number of levels and people who love the story of Frisk should definitely check it out. The gameplay of both is very different, with Moon being more of a puzzle game set in a world that uses a Majora's Mask-style schedule, so people shouldn't expect them to be similar in that respect. Moon is it's own thing and manages to be a bizarre oddity in its own unique way, and it's clear that Fox took inspiration from the best aspects of the game.

Both games also have jokes about rocks that move on their own, as that's clearly a comedy goldmine.

Next: Moon Is Coming To Nintendo Switch On August 27

Moon is available now for Nintendo Switch.