Your choices do not matter in Deltarune
This review contains spoilers! You’re filled with determination to not continue without playing the game first!
On Halloween, the Undertale fandom shook as Toby Fox released Deltarune, one free-to-play chapter of what will become a complete new game. Ever since the 2015 release of Undertale, many fans awaited for any sort of continuation or update to their beloved game. Over the years, ports of Undertale adding on achievements and new bosses were not filling the ache for something fresh. Yet, even with this brand new release, fans should not get too excited. Deltarune doesn’t take place in the same universe as Undertale, but it still is an important play for any fan of Undertale.
Deltarune starts with a character creation screen. I loved it, as all the haircut options looked like my haircut. After making my sprite, I picked out the name Duck and was pleasantly met with disappointment. The game took away my ability of customization by making my character bland ol’ Kris. One of the main themes of the game slaps you in the face as none of your choices matter.
After the character selection screen, Deltarune starts off with Kris waking up and going to school. You, playing the main protagonist Kris, enter class when Susie appears. Susie is the first antagonist for Kris, as she threatens to eat his face off after consuming chalk. When getting another piece of chalk for their teacher, Alphys, they both go to a supply closet. To the dismay of both characters, they both end up falling down a deep hole Alice in Wonderland style. Kris reunites with Susie to start the journey back home. On their journey, the two meet Lancer, Ralsei, and many more iconic characters. The rest of this chapter is dedicated to fulfilling a prophecy told by Ralsei, and it leads to a cliffhanger that leaves the player wanting more. Especially with the twist that Chara may be in possession of Kris.
After playing through this first chapter, it is easy to get hyped up for more chapters to come. Well, if they come, as Toby Fox has not even started the future chapter releases. Either way, the cliffhanger has left many questions for the future of Kris and the world of Deltarune.
Even with the expansion of Undertale story, it is not the only selling point of the game. The fighting system, graphics, characters, and messages are all reasons this game deserves a playthrough.
The combat system upgrades from the mere select menu present in Undertale. Now with the ability to have party members that fight along with you, more options are present. This can either be a plus or negative as it takes more thought to get to the point in combat where you can spare a monster. But that is not important as none of the choices in the game matter, and you won’t be able to kill a single monster. A monster will run away before all their health depletes, so there is no point to trying to take a genocide route.
The graphics haven’t improved much since Undertale. I find it rather unfair to state the game breaks any grounds compared to the predecessor, though I still found myself enjoying the new world and means of exploration. With the story not taking place completely underground, there is a lot more color to see at every turn. The beginning of this game takes on a wholesome vibe due to the vibrant city and selection of characters. This is until Kris and Susie fall to the world of Deltarune, and the motif of black backgrounds representing the underworlds is present again. Either way, the game looks gorgeous.
The brand new characters in this game fit perfectly with those established in Undertale. Out of the whole cast of new characters, my favorite has to be Susie. The fact that she’s introduced by eating chalk needed for class was hilarious. Where most characters seem to have a mix of personalities from Undertale, Susie is a wild card. You never know if she is going to run off and betray you for five minutes, or be your bro. This game benefits from being able to have new characters that adds to the universe and not feel as if they are trying to recreate what worked from the last game.
But then there is Lancer. Lancer is the character whose textboxes I skip the most. Though, to write this review I had to actually read them. Oh how much pain that was. His character is important, I give him that, but I am not a fan of characters that are the threat, but are not aware of how non threatening they are. The only reason this didn’t take away completely from the game is that Lancer wasn’t the overarching boss in this chapter. If he ended up staying the main threat, it would have taken a toll on how much I enjoyed the game.
If there is one thing that this game did right, it was the message. After the character select where I’m told no choice of mine matters, I did not know what to think. I found myself doing my best to spare characters, and to not inflict any damage. Then I watch as Susie beats up Lancer to the point where he runs away. Ralsei encourages the player to not inflict harm, but it did not matter. No matter how hard you try, there is not a different ending if you play as a Pacifist. There is only one end to this chapter. Every player gets the same ending. This is very different to Undertale. Every player starts off on the same path, but can end with different endings based off how many characters you end up killing. I may not know where this message is going, but it makes the experience less repetitive. Those who played Undertale do not need to learn that being a pacifist is great all over again.
One of the last things I want to discuss is the music. It was the main thing that took me out of the experience. Even if the reason is rather hilarious, I couldn’t get invested in the world of Deltarune due to the music. When I hear the Super Smash Bros Ultimate theme playing throughout my experience, I am taken back no matter what. Of course the track is amazing, but it felt lazy for Toby Fox to sample and play other people’s tracks. At times, the music will mix Nintendo Switch and Playstation sound effects in it. This could be a reference to the platforms Undertale is on, and a nod to all the internet memes of Sans joining the Super Smash Bros roster, but it did Deltarune a disservice.
Deltarune is a great experience for anyone who loves Undertale. Even if it lacks a certain attractive robot and spaghetti loving skeleton, the game is a must play. Just remember, nothing matters.
Kennedy Homan is a person of many different problems. She likes ducks too much, she throws stuffed animals at people in school, and she has no social life...
Choices_Matter • Aug 31, 2020 at 5:43 pm
I like this review, although I can disagree on some levels. I find Lancer’s character to be sweet and surprising, even to the fact he still trusted Susie after she bashed his face in. I think the graphics are a good step-up, the characters having more emotion and feel than UNDERTALE, I, for some reason, enjoy the blur frames in the sprites. Now the music, I liked the music, each track giving me a certain feel. Rude Buster gives me a sense of tense fighting as if you were in a dojo of sorts, while tracks such as Scarlet Forest and Field Of Hopes And Dreams gave me a feeling of exploring an unknown world like I was amazed at every turn. Also, shall I mention that if you Spare every enemy, you know, warning every enemy about Susie (Including C. Round), you get an ending in the Dark World where the king is overthrown by his subjects and his son takes his place, and you can even go back and say bye before you go back up to the Light! I respect your opinions, and I whole-heartedly agree, I just hope you can understand mine as well.
Matthew • Nov 20, 2018 at 9:52 am
Id kill to play this game, a part of me wants me to cosplay every character from the game because in my opinion, they are all so amazing and colorful. is it on steam?
Epic Undertale Gamer • Nov 13, 2018 at 1:35 pm
Does this game have SANS in it?
Ben C • Nov 13, 2018 at 8:28 am
Nice review! I agree with your opinions on the game for the most part, but I personally couldn’t disagree more about the music. I think the game had a fantastic soundtrack, and some songs, specifically Legend and Lancer’s Theme are some of the most memorable I’ve heard from any game in a while. I hope the rest of the game’s chapters keep up the same level of quality this fantastic first segment created.