Surprise! A second review so soon after the last one, I enjoy treating all my readers.
So, even though not all the chapters have been released, the fact that the game has been given an ‘official’ release that you can pay money for I think qualifies it for being considered a full title that I can review. There are of course other chapters to go, and all being released for free which is nice, and I may come back to do a re-review once all the chapters have been released years down the line, but for now, I can finally give my full thoughts on the phenomenon that is Deltarune.
Story then, as with Undertale in the past, this is an RPG about a world of monsters and (very limited) humans, but instead of taking the perspective of a fish out of water going into the monster world and deciding the fate of all those living in it, you play as Kris, a lone human already living in an above-ground monster world that is seemingly a completely normal society, Kris even goes to school with and acts just like a normal teenager. However, after the resident school bully, Susie, accidentally brings Kris to an area of the school they should not be in, they enter into what is known as the ‘Dark World’, a mysterious other reality that hosts a variety of different themes, characters and general rules. After meeting with your third party member, the shy and magic-focused Ralsei, the three of you go on a journey to live your teenage lives in the ‘Light World’ while trying to find out the mysteries of the ‘Dark World’ and the mysterious knight that is causing chaos for both realities. I can’t really go into more details with the plot for fear of spoilers, but all I will say is that it’s a story that has kept me gripped ever since it first showed up in 2018, and I still await the next chapter every time the latest one ends. In terms of how I’d rank the chapters in terms of story, I would say I liked 2 best, then 1, then 3 and finally 4. I guess we will see down the line how this changes as more chapters come out.
Presentation-wise this is a game that of course takes after Undertale, and so the visuals will look simplistic and retro-inspired, but that doesn’t stop from it looking like an absolutely gorgeous game at times. The new battle screen animations and the fact that almost all the sprites, in and out of battle, are fully coloured and animated now compared to the static nature of Undertale means the world feels a lot more fleshed out and alive. The sound design too is great, with so many unique and fun sounds and effects that they are used even nowadays in popular culture as memes and additions to videos. No voice acting, obviously, but I appreciate the fact that even the text they speak has unique sound effects per person to make it clear who is talking, things like that give extra depth and enjoyment to flesh out the world and its characters. The music, I mean where do I begin? The soundtrack to this game, just like Undertale, is an absolute masterpiece and main developer Toby Fox has once again hit it out of the park with some of the most memorable and enjoyable music tracks in the gaming industry. A nice mix of relaxing tunes, silly soundscapes and brilliant battle songs makes for a very memorable and enjoyable soundtrack that I encourage anyone to simply listen to in order to enjoy.
Gameplay is still fairly similar to that of Undertale, being a mix of RPG and bullet hell giving you the ability to spare and be a pacifist character as long as you play a small minigame to dodge enemy attacks. However, there’s less of a pacifist emphasis with this game as you now have a full party of 3, allowing you to make 3 different actions and change the dynamic of battle as it goes on. You could focus on attacks, making enemies run away from you, you could keep the battle going on long enough to tire them out and put them to sleep with magic, or of course you could just figure out which action you could do would make the enemies like you enough to simply spare. The variety of choices for how to approach combat is excellent, and depending on how you approach things it can change the dynamic of the story too making you feel as though your actions really are creating consequences. Alongside this, there’s other additions such as recruiting enemies for your Dark World town, different gameplay styles within the combat minigames such as game shows or mazes, and even entirely different story progression paths locked behind complex and often quite disturbing methods that can alter entire save files. Truly, there is a lot to do here, and this really feels like the natural upgrade to the interesting and unique gameplay style that Undertale first introduced, making this feel like a more complete and experimental collection of ideas. The fact that there’s almost no grinding or standard RPG levelling mechanics in the game too really helps the flow of the story and reduces frustrations. Overall, Deltarune continues to innovate and surprise will all the new mechanics it introduces to build off the core gameplay loop, and I’m all here for it.
Now no game is perfect, and neither is Deltarune. Firstly, if you aren’t a fan of RPG or bullet hell mechanics then this game will just not click for you. This isn’t like an entirely narrative focused game where there are different difficulty options and abilities to allow you to experience this more as an interactive movie rather than a game, the gameplay is absolutely required for this and as such if you just don’t click with the combat then this won’t be for you. Tying into that however is also the fact this can be a very difficult game, especially because it’s a game that thrives upon testing your reaction times and for maybe older gamers or people with difficulty in making button inputs this can be a really un-fun time, especially the secret bosses. Finally, as more of a meditation upon the recently released chapters 3 and 4, the story feels almost a bit too… fanservicey. Plenty of references to older characters, memes and story beats that feel almost contrived just to please the rapid Undertale and Deltarune fan base, which is fine in small doses, but when the main plot feels as though it is constantly making these references or trying to veer the story in a way that appeals to just this demographic, it can be a bit jarring and take away from the magic that made the first two chapters so special. It’s why I think I still prefer the original two chapters over the new ones, but I may be proven wrong in the later sections. Either way, it’s a trend this game is going that I hope is just temporary, otherwise Toby Fox may miss the mark on the landing of this multi-year project that would leave a lot of fans devastated, me included.
So in conclusion, what more can I say about Deltarune. It’s a game that has been iterated upon for so many years and will continue to be down the line, and I’m here for all of it. If you are an RPG fan, and you haven’t tried Deltarune, you are doing yourself a disservice. And hey, the fact it’s also this cheap is just icing on the cake. Play Deltarune, enjoy an indie experience that is unlike any other, become a [BIG SHOT] and tell us some of your story theories below. Let’s hope this continues to be a standout gaming experience in the years to come.