Almost ten years ago, Toby Fox shocked the world with an RPG known as Undertale. It featured mechanics inspired by OFF, aesthetics similar to Earthbound, and a story unlike anything ever seen before or since. It became a viral sensation, partly due to its memeable quality, but mostly due to how the game experiments with ideas of player choice and morality as Undertale forces its players to choose to either rise above the cycle of “kill or be killed” or to give in to their darker instincts.
Since its release, Undertale has only grown in popularity. It has sold millions of copies and made crossover appearances in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, alongside the franchises that inspired the indie hit in the first place. Yet no one ever expected there to be a sequel in any way, shape, or form. That is, until Halloween 2018, when Toby Fox suddenly released Deltarune.
Despite what many may think, Deltarune is not a conventional sequel or prequel to Undertale. Rather, it’s an alternate universe that features some of the same characters and concepts from its predecessor, combined with dozens of brand-new characters. In fact, Fox has said that Deltarune‘s development actually preceded Undertale‘s. Since the release of chapter 1 in 2018, three more chapters have been released, with three more to be released later. While it’s impossible to properly review and score Deltarune when the full game hasn’t even launched yet, I can safely say that from chapters 1-4 alone, this game is a masterpiece in the making.
Chapter 1-2: “Something Very, Very Interesting”
In playing the new combined collection of Deltarune Chapter 1-4, I figured I’d go back and play Chapters 1 and 2, which I hadn’t experienced since both initially released in 2018 and 2021, respectively. You’d think that they wouldn’t hold up that well, considering the fact that Chapter 1 was first released seven years ago. However, I was extremely surprised to find that both chapters are still extremely fun and do a great job of setting the tone for what is to come.
Deltarune slowly eases you into its setting by building off the familiarity of Undertale. In the opening moments, you’ll meet a lot of characters that are pulled straight from the game’s predecessor. The protagonist’s mother and father are Toriel and Asgore, the town’s police chief is Undyne, and your teacher is Alphys, all of whom return from Undertale alongside others (including a certain lazy skeleton).
Where Deltarune quickly throws you for a loop is through its protagonists. Instead of playing as a young human kid named Frisk, you play as a teenager by the name of Kris. Despite being silent, Kris isn’t exactly a player-insert, as they clearly have their own background and history with the town and its inhabitants that isn’t currently known to us. Yet in class, they’re alone and are forced to pair with Susie on a group project, the class delinquent.
What starts as a simple visit to the supply closet quickly devolves into a journey to another world aptly called “The Dark World.” This is where the brunt of the story takes place as Kris and Susie encounter a Prince named Ralsei and embark on a quest to stop an incoming wave of darkness that threatens to consume the world. Along the way, Susie learns how to help instead of hurt, and Ralsei allows himself to build connections that will last. On the surface, it’s a charming narrative that feels like a clichéd hero’s journey. That said, Deltarune is anything but clichéd.
Deltarune is characterized by its mystery, which the first two chapters do a great job of introducing. For instance, Kris, like Frisk, has a red soul that makes its presence known in combat. However, at the end of each chapter, Kris yanks the soul out of their chest, tossing it into a cage. Judging by how Kris can act autonomously of the soul and the player is only able to control them through said soul, it’s safe to assume that we, the player, are that soul. We are the parasite infecting Kris’ life, forcing them to do what we tell them to do. Why? How? Who knows? Those mysteries are part of what makes Deltarune so engaging.
Each chapter builds on these mysteries with new developments, twists, and turns. Chapter 1 starts small, introducing the main quest of sealing up dark fountains that have sprouted up across both the real world and the Dark World. Chapter 2 then explains why this mission is so important: if the dark fountains are unleashed, the world will be thrown into an eternal night called The Roaring.
Plus, chapter 2 also introduces and elaborates on the characters introduced in the first chapter. Noelle Holiday, Kris’s childhood friend, becomes a party member for the second chapter only. You get to learn a little bit of her backstory and see how she interacts with Kris. One of my personal favorite characters introduced is Spamton, a spam email/advertisement brought to life in hilarious fashion.
Speaking of Spamton, he’s one of many characters you’ll fight through the game’s new and improved battle system. Similarly to Undertale, you have the option to choose between attacking an enemy or trying to spare them by performing specific tasks that include flirting with your opponent or being extremely rude to them. Once you take your turn, you are forced to dodge your opponent’s projectiles in a Touhou-esque bullet hell.
Where Deltarune once again differs from Undertale is that you aren’t just playing as one single character: you control a party of three. As such, you’re now forced to manage the health of multiple characters and figure out the best strategy for each situation. The creativity in the first few chapters is great, and there are some really fun battles that really test your reaction speed. If you want an extra challenge, try finding the secret bosses that provide powerful equipment and further expand the story of Deltarune.
I want to give a special shout-out to the soundtrack, entirely composed by Toby Fox. There are some absolutely incredible tracks in Chapter 1 and especially in Chapter 2. In particular, the songs Big Shot, Pandora Palace, Attack of the Killer Queen, Another Him, The World Revolving, and Don’t Forget are all absolutely incredible. Don’t be surprised if a lot of these tracks end up on your playlist.
Chapters 1 and 2 of Deltarune are a great time. If this were all that Toby Fox had released and all we had were these two chapters, it would still be worth the $25. The fact that both chapters are free is just a bonus. This raises the question: how do Chapters 3 and 4 hold up, especially since these chapters mark the end of the free model? For me, Chapters 3 and 4 are the ultimate proof that Deltarune is going to be something truly special.
Chapter 3-4: A Thrilling Evolution
If Deltarune Chapters 1 and 2 serve as introductions to the game’s style, characters, and world, then Chapters 3 and 4 truly push that formula to its limits. Everything that Toby Fox has pulled off in these chapters doesn’t just do a great job of evolving his previous work, but it has somehow managed to do things I’ve never seen in an RPG before. On its own, these two chapters are worth the price of admission alone.
Starting with Chapter 3, each Chapter so far has focused on a specific theme. With Chapter 1, it was a deck of cards, and with Chapter 2, it was the internet. Here, the theme is television. Everything you encounter is built around the world of TV as you meet a sentient CRT TV named Tenna and play through its onslaught of quiz questions, physical challenges, and other odd tasks in a game show-esque format.
Tenna may be one of the most charming characters created for Deltarune to date. His vocal patterns and the way he emphasizes certain words with a visual flair are incredible, and I love that Fox somehow managed to fit in a 3D model into this pixelated game. The voice acting intro introducing Tenna had me grinning from ear to ear, and I couldn’t get enough of his character throughout the runtime.
Chapter 3 experiments with different styles inspired by so many bizarre inspirations. The game show style is used as a platform to lead into various mini-games. These include rhythm games, quizzes, The Legend of Zelda-based challenges, and a few other bonus ones that I won’t spoil. In any other game, these would feel forced and unnecessary, but here, it feels surprisingly natural as they’re woven into both the story and combat.
The battles and soundtrack also continue to evolve, with different types of enemies and new musical styles being abundant. I loved the new battle themes and Tenna’s theme in particular. The battles have also increased in challenge as a reward to players who have been keeping up and engaging with the game’s systems. Additionally, the story has managed to progress in ways I never could’ve imagined.
The end of Chapter 3 takes a surprisingly dark turn as the stakes go from 0-100 very quickly. The heroes are forced to contend with a very grim reminder of why the Dark Fountains could potentially have disastrous consequences on the world and all the people they love. Going right into Chapter 4 instead of having to wait another three years felt even more rewarding, and at this point, I wasn’t even surprised by how Chapter 4 continued to evolve the game’s formula even more.
Deltarune Chapter 4 continues to build on that dark tone in every aspect of the game’s design. Instead of navigating through a whimsical world inspired by the internet or TV, you’re instead led through a dark church where the protagonists have to come face to face with their very own mortality. Surprisingly, though, Deltarune still manages to maintain the charm that has defined Fox’s previous work.
I haven’t talked about it too much, but Deltarune is absolutely hilarious. There are some great moments where you’re walking around the town with Susie in tow, and you really get to see these characters act like a bunch of kids. I couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming nostalgia as these characters goofed around, fiddling with the juice bowl in the church and just causing all sorts of mischief.
This charm extends to the combat, as each encounter continues to go in more and more creative directions. One of my favorites is a mini-boss with a character known as Jackenstein. Here, you need to navigate through a Pac-Man-esque maze as a giant jack-o-lantern chases after you as he screams, “YOUR TAKING TOO LONG.” The fight starts off as being very stressful, but it balances out as each maze will have Jackenstein say a new version of his line. At one point, instead of saying “YOUR TAKING TOO LONG,” he’ll simply say “YOUR LONG” as your soul is elongated to make navigating through the maze even more difficult.
Every once in a while, though, Deltarune will remind you of the crushing weight of the dread of what comes next. Like Undertale, Deltarune gives you the choice of killing everyone and anyone that crosses your path, instead of choosing to spare them. In Undertale, it was called the “Genocide Route.” Here, the consequences of the so-called “Weird Route” are far more subtle, and somehow way more haunting.
There’s a particularly harrowing scene in Chapter 4 where you’re given the option to either fully commit to this route or to back out. If you commit, Deltarune forces you to grapple with the weight of your actions in a truly visceral way, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a game before. It’s enough to make you never want to go down this route at all if you have even an ounce of care for these characters. Toby Fox has always done a great job of manipulating your empathy in such compelling ways, and Deltarune might be his greatest work yet on that front.
Deltarune Chapter 4 marks the halfway point of this story, and you get that sense of weight from its ending. Part of that is due to the final track that plays, titled Neverending Night. The other part is due to those ominous words: “To be continued in Chapter 5.” When those words display, you feel the gravity of everything that represents, not just in terms of what it means for the story, but what it means for the genre. That is because, as it is now, I can guarantee that if Deltarune sticks the landing with the next three chapters, it will be a game that will be remembered forever.
“Don’t Forget, I’m With You in the Dark”
I have very vivid memories of how Undertale sunk its hooks into me ten years ago. After eighteen hours playing through both its Neutral and Pacifist routes, I became enamored with the game’s story, characters, and design choices. Even now, I find myself looking at those times with continued fondness. Unlike other games that have lost their luster after going viral, it’s hard to deny that Undertale is still a classic. Yet, I can confidently say that Deltarune is poised to surpass its predecessor in every possible way.
In playing the first four chapters of Deltarune on the Nintendo Switch 2, I am blown away by how Toby Fox has managed to create an experience that is nearly perfect in every way. The gameplay is addictive, fun, yet appropriately challenging and difficult to master. The visuals are beautiful, with each world and setting coming to life spectacularly. Plus, the music is absolutely breathtaking, and I was enamored by each track that played throughout all four chapters.
More than that, Deltarune has created a story and characters that are unmatched in quality. I am yearning to find out the answers to all of my unanswered questions, and I’ve already begun speculating with my friends on what each plot point and hidden detail could represent. Further, the characters have sunk their claws into my brain, and I can’t stop thinking about the arcs of people like Noelle, Susie, Ralsei, Tenna, Spamton, and even Kris, who manages to convey so much without uttering a single line of dialogue.
Deltarune isn’t just Toby Fox’s best work to date, but it is looking to be one of the best games of the 21st century so far. I can’t rate it just yet, since for all I know, Fox could completely drop the ball with chapters 5-7. That said, with how chapter 4 concludes, I can’t wait to see what he’s got planned next and to see how he continues to deliver on a game that is already a masterpiece.
