Platform: PC

Developer: Toby Fox

Publisher: Toby Fox

Release Date: October 31st, 2018

Genre: Role-Playing 

Nerd Rating: 8 / 10

Reviewed by Rhutsczar

Now we are in for a treat today,  so join me as we walk down memory lane for a minute. Do you remember back in 2015 there was a little independent game that dropped on PC that would change storytelling and RPGs forever? Never have we been equally terrified and vengeful toward a bright yellow flower before. If you haven’t guessed from the title of this article yet, we are talking about Undertale.  Back at the end of October, independent game developer Toby Fox released a little game named Deltarune. Yes, we were just as surprised as everyone else.

Deltarune falls into a weird place when compared to its predecessor, as we are not exactly sure where it fits on the timeline. Deltarune seems innocent enough, just like a casual RPG in the shadow of Undertale. However, there is so much more to Deltarune than is shown on the surface; you just have to seek it out. Developer Toby Fox has not clarified if this game is an Undertale sequel or prequel, but the buzz in the community is guessing it could be an alternate timeline. More on that later.

The completely fake and unnecessary legend.

The story of Deltarune begins rather oddly. The player takes control of Kris, a problem teen and the only human in this town filled with animals and monsters. We begin Kris’s day as they are late for school and our mother, Toriel, decides to drive us. There, we meet the intolerable bully Susie, who is forced to pair up to work on a group project. On a trip to the supply closet, Kris and Susie fall through a void and end up in an area known as the Darkner World. The characters meet a Darkner prince named Ralsei, who begins the adventure of Lightners (Kris and Susie) saving the Darkner World. This is the legend of Deltarune.

The main cast of Deltarune are definitely interesting and well-written characters. We have the “protagonist” Kris, an essentially mute problematic character that becomes the de-facto leader. The “hero” of the story is Susie, a bully who learns that not everything has to be solved through violence and death. The Darkner prince Ralsei essentially acts as the priest and moral compass driving the narrative forward. Lastly we have Lancer, a Darkner who befriends Susie and assists the heroes in their effort to complete the legend. While we have the main cast rather laid out, Fox still leaves us with many questions. Why is Ralsei just an anagram for Asriel? Who is the main character of this story? What about that shock ending?

The two sides of Kris…at least on the surface.

If I could point out a skill that Toby Fox has, it would be to make a properly thematic soundtrack. While there were many original tracks in Undertale, Fox has created remixes of many Undertale tracks to further connect the two games. Other tracks are sampled from Earthbound, which has always had an influence on this series. There are further similarities as well, such as Deltarune‘s battle music being closely similar to Breath of Fire III. Even though we aren’t treated to as many as original tracks this time around, the score fits Deltarune‘s world almost perfectly.

The casual gameplay of Deltarune actually takes quite a different direction from its predecessor. While Undertale was clearly influenced by the Mother series with its battle display, Deltarune decided to incorporate more elements from original Final Fantasy titles instead. The characters move around each area of the Darkner world by following their leader and actually encounter enemies instead of random encounters in the darkness. The basic battle system serves as a homage to 3v3 battles of classic RPGs that we fell in love with. Also, in the true Undertale fashion you don’t have to kill all of the enemies you encounter. Why don’t you try ACTING?

ACTING is the best way to win over your enemies!

For those who have played Undertale, you know that there were many different ways to play through the entire game, as the outcome was highly dependent on your actions. Well you don’t have to worry about that in Deltarune. Sure, it gives you the choice if you want to FIGHT your enemies or ACT and befriend your enemies. Instead of the entire game-changing because you decided to fight one person. the only major difference is it changes how the Darkener population perceives you. Do they come to your aid when you need it because they thought you were nice? Depends. It would go against the main theme of Deltarune if it changed in any other drastic way.

Since the concept of choice and the unlimited range of its power were a key mantra of Undertale, Deltarune flips that narrative right on its head. Throughout the adventure, there are many moments where Deltarune makes its core mantra known…your choices don’t matter. Whether it is in casual conversation with Susie, or being accosted by Lancer, it makes it very well clear that you are not playing Undertale this time around. This is only hammered into your brain with the shock ending that just makes me want to pressure Toby Fox into releasing chapter 2.

Well hey, I’ll call Sans daddy.

You know how I mentioned that we’re not exactly sure where Deltarune falls on the timeline? Well the running theory is that the core adventure we play, “The Legend of Deltarune,” is not real and the events of the game exist in an alternate timeline. This theory is supported by a substantial amount of evidence, like when Kris and Susie awaken in the supply closet after their adventure is through and all of the toys that the Darkners were based on are strung about the room. This is even further supported as many of the characters from Undertale exist in Deltarune, such as Toriel being Kris’s adoptive mother, Undyne being a police officer with both of her eyes, and Asriel being still alive and off at college. If you need more evidence, then look no further than to everyone’s lovable skeleton Sans. Sans makes an appearance in the flesh (well lack thereof) where you can greet him by saying “Nice to see you again.” Sans will agree but say “Yeah kid, especially since we have never met.” The stupid grin on his face tells us everything we need to know.

If we have learned anything from both Deltarune and Undertale, it’s that Toby Fox loves his damn imagery. There are three major instances of imagery in Deltarune that need to be addressed. First off, the fact the Kris is essentially a mute to the player. They speak to other characters as conversations flow together seamlessly, but we hardly see a text box for Kris on-screen. This may indicate that Kris suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, due to his parent’s divorce and his only friend leaving. This flows into the playing cards/childhood games motif that prominently exists in Deltarune. All of the enemies and key pieces in the game’s main story all remind Kris of a simpler time where he could escape with his brother Asriel/Ralsei among their childhood toys and forget about the world. Finally, the ending scene is definitely one for the books. Kris decides to finally break free from the player’s control in quite the brutal fashion. They don’t want to be who you want them to be, and it is time they showed it.

I WANT TO BREAK FREE!

As you can see, this review is only for Deltarune Chapter 1. Toby Fox on Twitter as clarified that what we have now is actually just a demo of what Deltarune will hopefully be. No, it isn’t Chapter 1 of an episodic series much like the Telltale Games style of stories. We may never receive Chapter 2, as Fox has stated that Chapter 1 took him many years to make himself. While he has no experience successfully directing a team of developers, he plans to possibly form one to make Deltarune in its entirety possible.

Woah, well there you have it…the definitely not a sequel to Undertale, Deltarune. Whether you were a fan of the franchise before or you are just hopping in now, you definitely have hitched your horse to the right carriage. While chapter 1 of Deltarune was a bit short, entertaining characters and solid RPG elements will keep your attention and leave you wanting more. If you’re just starting out in the franchise, make sure you go back and play Undertale to enhance your Deltarune experience. In the words of Toby Fox:

“Thanks for playing my game. I hope you liked it.  For the past 3 years I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep because I’ve been thinking about the scenes that happen in the game. Even though so many details are still hazy, I really want to show you the things I’ve been thinking about. That’s really my only reason for making this game. If I don’t show you what I’m thinking, I’ll lose my mind.

(It was actually a totally selfish motivation…)

By the way, I was really worried at first about making this. The expectations for my next work would be really high, so high that I knew that no matter what I did, I felt like people would be underwhelmed. If you played “UNDERTALE,” I don’t think I can make anything that makes you feel “that way” again. However, it’s possible I can make something else. It’s just something simple but maybe you’ll like it.

See you in ?? years… OK?

Don’t forget.”

If you would like to play Deltarune Chapter 1 you can download it for free at Deltarune.com.