The Inverse of Undertale: Deltarune Chapter 1 + 2 (PC/PS4/Switch, 2018-2021)

 NOTE: This review contains spoilers for a heavily story-driven game. If you have not completed this game and are interested, I strongly advise you to play through it first before reading this review. 

*last time on Expi Feliton’s Corner*

“It’s 2023 now, and there’s a lot of project ideas I want to tackle this year - largely pertaining to my webcomic and art, but there are a few blog ideas I have in mind. I recently did a Twitter poll on games that I was thinking of reviewing - and which one my followers were most interested in me doing out of them - and the most voted one, the one I’m most likely going to write about next…

Well, I won’t spoil it, but don’t forget, I’m with you in the dark.”

Ever since I created this blog in 2020, I’ve made it no secret that Undertale is my favorite game of all time. In fact, considering I wrote a lengthy review literally titled “why Undertale is my favorite game of all time” and then a subsequent analysis of why Alphys is my favorite character in the game, it’s… pretty much the opposite of a secret, really.

To recap, Undertale was definitely one of those games that came at the perfect time of my life for a game of that sort to impact me. I was 14 years old, in my freshman year of high school, and basically at the point where I was taking my first steps to adulthood. Despite the game seeming to just come out of nowhere, it ended up not only leaving an influence on my art and writing style, but also with a different perspective on the impact of stories in video games, and just an impact on my worldview as a whole. And to this day, I still remain impressed with how it intertwines gameplay with story, how that story changes based on the players’ actions and even just the story, characters and unique approach to the RPG genre (including the bullet hell combat system) each on their own.

That does leave the question however. If Undertale was so great, why isn’t there an Undertale 2?

Well, okay, I obviously didn’t just think of it like that, but with a game that left that much on an impact on me, as well as several others that I’ve run into over the years, there was kind of the question on whether or not Undertale would ever receive a sequel or if it even needed one.

Thing is, I actually kind of had two perspectives on that question.

On one hand, the world building, lore and characters of Undertale, while they were well developed enough on their own, still felt like they had a lot of potential and room to expand upon, so it would be nice to see more content that continued to flesh out the world that Undertale already established.

But that question about whether Undertale “needed” a sequel is kind of important too. On it’s own, Undertale still obviously left a very good impression and (at least in the Pacifist Route) did end on a positive note. Plus, I mean, the game left me with enough replay value through both it’s different endings and secrets to the point where despite being about a 4-6 hour game I’ve managed to log 80 hours in the Steam version alone, without factoring in me purchasing the Switch version not long after getting said system and playing through the game on Xbox Game Pass and “legally acquiring” it on the PS Vita. 

Plus, worst case scenario… what if Undertale ended up going the same route as games like Call of Duty and Five Nights at Freddy’s by pumping out multiple sequels in a short time period that the game ends up losing the magic it had in the first place? Yeah, in the case of Undertale specifically that is pretty unlikely, considering Toby Fox did seem like a person who did try and flesh out his creation as much as possible (especially looking back now), but considering, again, we had the whole FNAF craze over the previous year span prior to Undertale’s release, I could definitely see that being a concern in retrospect.

That’s where I finally get to the actual subject of this review - the first two chapters of Deltarune.

October 30, 2018. The general hype for Undertale, and the subsequent hype backlash, had definitely died down which is expected for a game of that sort, but it still retained a large, dedicated following. Obviously it was still among my favorite games of all time (probably would’ve outright called it my favorite back then if I wasn’t scared of cringe culture mfs putting me down for saying so), so when the Undertale Twitter account seemed to be teasing something coming the following day, it definitely turned many heads, mine included.

The following day, Halloween of 2018 comes. I was in my senior year of high school at this point, taking concurrent enrollment classes with the nearby community college. And while I sat in the lobby during my 2+ hour wait between classes, I went back and checked the Undertale Twitter account again. They seemed to be linking a download for some “survey” program or something, so of course I checked it out. Luckily the “program” ran just fine under WINE since I was using a second-hand laptop that I installed Ubuntu on, and that’s when I found out about Deltarune.

Chapter 1

After a brief introduction disguised as a ‘survey’ program, you take control of a human character named Kris, in the setting of ‘Hometown’. Something you may notice right away is that many Undertale characters do carry over to this game. Toriel reappears pretty much right away serving as a “mother” figure to Kris, with Asgore also appearing in the flower shop if you choose to explore the town at the end of the game. The best character of Undertale, Alphys, also reappears, although now taking a role as Kris’ teacher. Various other Undertale characters appear throughout ‘Hometown’ and even show up in Kris’ class as NPCs, carrying over many of the same personality traits as they did in the first game.

This does give the impression that this is an Undertale sequel, however if you choose to explore the town and the NPCs - or hell, even if you just progress the story normally - you’ll notice various things don’t exactly line up. A lot of it is relatively minor things, but it’s enough to give the impression that Deltarune’s relation to Undertale is a bit questionable. To sort of run down some differences:

-Asriel (who serves as Kris’ older brother in this game) still appears to be alive, albeit doesn’t show up due to being at university.

-Alphys and Undyne (who’s a cop now) don’t seem to know each other at all, despite ending up together at the end of Undertale.

-Bratty and Catty aren’t friends - if anything, implied to be enemies.

-Alphys (through an implied “review” at the library) seems to have a distaste for Mew Mew 1 and thinks Mew Mew 2 is superior, which is definitely the biggest difference I noticed considering that Mew Mew 2 isn’t kissy or cutie, it’s trash.

Those were the major ones I noticed. Again, these are minor things, and some other minor plot elements from Undertale do carry over (Toriel and Asgore are still divorced, oops), but ultimately it’s enough to really give the impression that while Deltarune does have *some* relation towards Undertale, it is a separate timeline/universe and not exactly a “sequel”. This is going to be important later, as it does sort of tie into the major theme of this game.

Regardless, while Toriel and Alphys do have some importance to the plot, none of the Undertale characters serve as the ‘main’ characters of Deltarune: Chapter 1. 

The main premise of the plot is that a Dark Fountain has opened up that gives increasing power to the “Dark World” threatening the balance of “Light” and “Dark” (the “Light” world, of course, being Kris and Susie’s) which could have disastrous consequences for the universe. The Dark Fountain needs to be closed, which legend says requires a human, monster and prince of the Dark World - these roles being filled in by the three main characters - Kris, Susie and Ralsei respectively.

Tone and narrative is definitely among the things that carry over from Undertale, still retaining a lot of that “quirky” and “meta” atmosphere with a decent amount of fourth wall breaking, while underneath carrying some darker undertones with strong character development, worldbuilding, and lore.

To get this out of the way - the main characters are definitely really strong. Kris, like Frisk, is a bit of a blank slate used to represent the “player”, albeit has a mysterious aura around him that you end up especially seeing in this game’s ending. But the dynamic between Susie and Ralsei in particular is really interesting. Susie is introduced as generally being very “cold” and ruthless, even threatening to bite off Kris’ face before they even reach the Dark World, whereas Ralsei is a lot more calm and caring. Susie’s first instinct when facing enemies is to attack, whereas Ralsei takes the approach of ACTing and sparing enemies (a mechanic that, again, carries over from Undertale). If you haven’t noticed, the characters sort of represent Undertale’s morality system - Ralsei representing the “Pacifist” playthrough, Susie representing the “Genocide” playthrough, and Kris, being the more blank slate, representing the “Neutral” playthrough.

There’s also Lancer, the sort of anti-hero of the game, who initially appears as an antagonist trying to stop you from reaching the King guarding the Dark Fountain, but over time joins your side, even trying to talk his dad out of his quest for power. He’s a fun little guy - bit of a shit that I can’t help but enjoy - although I don’t have too much to say about him - I mostly figured I’d mention him since he is one of the major characters in the story and does have a pretty big role.

Of course, as I do in all of my reviews I’m making a more brief overview of the story here since, I mean, I don’t want to just retell the story of Deltarune (especially considering you probably already know what happens), however I figured I would give a bit more of analysis.

These characters definitely all feel fleshed-out and receive decent character development throughout the game. But before I talk about that, let’s take a second to go over Deltarune’s overall “theme”. 

In Undertale, the overall concept that worked it’s way into both the story and gameplay was “morality.” The game had three different major endings - Pacifist, where you ACTed and spared every enemy, Genocide, where you killed every enemy, and the “Neutral” endings which corresponded to which bosses and enemies you killed and spared without going fully in either direction (with one of them being a part of the Pacifist route when you defeated Asgore before going back to Undyne’s house).

I mentioned that the main characters of Deltarune sort of ‘symbolise’ this system, but this doesn’t exactly play the same role here as it did in Undertale. While the mechanics of ACTing and sparing versus fighting do carry over from Undertale, it… doesn’t have quite the same effect on the plot as it did in Undertale. The ending does play out slightly differently depending on what you do, but regardless, it does end up with the same conclusion.

As I played this game’s first two chapters once again for this review, I kept this in mind, and I came to one conclusion about this game’s themes. Deltarune isn’t the sequel to Undertale. More than anything, I think of it as the *inverse* of Undertale. Whereas Undertale offers the concept of how the choices you make can have different results, Deltarune completely subverts this, offering the concept that even if you do have different options available, it’s possible that they may not make a difference in the end.

This especially can be seen through the “arcs” of Ralsei and Susie - both representing the extremes of trying to be friendly towards your enemies, or trying to fight and harm them. Yet, they both sort of… meet in the middle, so to speak, to the conclusion that even if your actions don’t make a difference in the end, fighting or harming your perceived enemies shouldn’t always be your first instinct. Susie becomes a bit more mellow - sure, she’s still rough, but we see more of her softer side come out as she understands her role as a “hero” and being around friends who enjoy her. Ralsei, after accidentally helping the King *almost* kill them, starts to understand his attempts at pacification can only really go so far in the end. They both end up earning another perspective to their worldview as this game’s events unfold and new situations arise. It overall makes for an interesting juxtaposition of Undertale’s concepts surrounding morality and how that game was basically designed completely around those themes.

The game’s main characters are definitely all very strong, but I would definitely say Ralsei is my favorite out of them in Chapter 1. I mean, come on, he’s an adorable, soft and wholesome boye who I just want to hug, and thankfully, the game lets you do so (as does Chapter 2). I don't really have too much to say other than it mostly just comes down to me enjoying his personality and character the most of the main characters in Deltarune Chapter 1, and his overall good nature even with the more ruthless individuals around him, which makes for some memorable moments throughout the first chapter.

However, I wouldn't say he's my favorite character of Deltarune period as… well, I still need to get to Chapter 2 in this review first.

Gameplay-wise, I can basically describe Deltarune as a whole as being more or less “Undertale on steroids”. The core of the RPG-esque gameplay remains the same, combined with the mini-bullet hell battle system and system of ACTing and sparing, but certain aspects fall a bit more in line with what you’d expect from more traditional RPGs. There’s now the implementation of a party system with each of the main characters - Kris, Susie, and Ralsei - having their own attributes and abilities, and certain characters will drop and enter your party at various points in the story (particularly just Susie in the case of Chapter 1). 

The other characters also have a ‘MAGIC’ option instead of ‘ACT’, which gives them a variety of spells based off of the character. Susie’s spells are more ‘offensive’ and deal greater damage than her main Attack especially with the timing, and Ralsei’s are more defensive, allowing him to “Pacify” tired enemies and heal team members. 

To use these spells, though, you need to rack up “Tension Points”, which you get by using the ‘DEFEND’ option on your turn (reducing the amount of damage taken by each respective character you use it with), or by getting close to enemy bullets during their turn (preferably without taking damage). This adds a lot of depth to Undertale’s core gameplay - further giving options to choose from when battling enemies, emphasizing a bit of strategy and puzzle-solving, and adding a layer of skill to the Bullet Hell System with a bit more risk/reward. With some enemies, if you know how to ACT appropriately, you can often manage to ‘spare’ or ‘pacify’ an enemy before they even get one turn. 

Also, minor thing, but random encounters are no longer a thing, since enemies will appear on the overworld and chase you instead of just appearing randomly like they did in Undertale.

It’s worth bringing up that when it came to Undertale specifically, I would occasionally run into some people who really liked the story, characters, lore, and presentation, but felt the gameplay was a little underwhelming. Personally, I always enjoyed Undertale’s gameplay for what it was, but I do understand that it isn’t for everyone. But I bring this up since, if you’re one of those people, then you may definitely be interested in giving Deltarune a shot. There’s a lot more gameplay variety here than in Undertale that manages to feel like a natural evolution of the “base” it set up. The puzzle-boss element is still very much here, as is the bullet hell, but it’s further built upon especially when put in addition to the more traditional RPG game mechanics and nuances.

That being said, and to get somewhat critical here, I couldn’t help but feel like in terms of replayability, Deltarune: Chapter 1 is a bit… lacking in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong here, the game does have its share of secrets, and like Undertale I did manage to come across some new things that I didn’t notice in my first playthroughs, but I feel like when compared to Undertale and especially after playing Chapter 2, Chapter 1 does feel a bit simple in my eyes going back to it, and as a result, I didn’t really feel like it offered quite as much to differentiate between different playthroughs.

I guess part of it is just due to the lack of multiple endings, which yeah, does make sense from a theming point of view with the concept of “not having choices”, but again, on a practical standpoint it does mean that there’s not as much incentive to play the game in different ways with the choices of “killing” or “sparing” enemies. The ending does play out somewhat differently, sure, but ultimately the end conclusion is the same, sort of in the same vein as the different “neutral” endings in Undertale.

I will clarify and say that this is more of a nitpick than anything, but although I hold Undertale and Deltarune in pretty close proximity, I still would have to give the edge to Undertale at least in the case of Chapter 1. I just feel a slightly greater urge to replay Undertale while exploring and looking for any secrets.

I guess part of it too is that I still feel like Undertale did a better job “integrating” the story with the gameplay in my opinion. This is sort of the main point I went over in my review of why Undertale is my favorite game of all time, since it really felt like a game where your choices really mattered with how the game was structured, and how events of the story played out depending on what you did. Again, Deltarune: Chapter 1 does still do this somewhat, but not to the same extent. The game isn’t structured around the concept of morality and how that plays out both from a gameplay and story perspective, and I don’t get quite the same kick out of interacting/befriending the characters, and seeing my actions unfold and influence the story, here that I did in Undertale. It is hard for me to explain, but I guess it all goes to say that, while Deltarune: Chapter 1 definitely has stronger gameplay, I do prefer how Undertale was structured around it’s concepts, and how the story connected with the gameplay, a bit more.

However, in all fairness… This is just the first chapter of Deltarune compared to all of Undertale, and on that note, Deltarune: Chapter 1 makes a really good first impression through it’s story and characters as well as how the gameplay builds off of what Undertale started. Again, even with my nitpicks, I still hold Undertale and Deltarune in decently close proximity, and I’ll even admit that my opinion also may be influenced from the personal bias of Undertale coming at a perfect moment in my life and impacting me unlike any other game.

On that note, I’ll go ahead and also say the presentation is really good here too. Toby Fox, especially since Undertale, has been known for making banger video game soundtracks (even composing for Pokemon Sword/Shield and Violet/Scarlet, potentially the most famous video game franchise of all time), and to say Deltarune is no exception is an understatement. It feels very close to Undertale’s style of music, yet somewhat different at the same time, and I still really enjoy listening to it on it’s own. My favorite track would easily be Field of Hopes and Dreams, with Lancer’s theme and Rude Buster not being too far off.

The art style and visuals also feel more ‘defined’ than Undertale. Like the gameplay, although I actually enjoyed Undertale’s art style for what it is, I do remember it being a criticism against the game, and Deltarune definitely evolves it - the ‘pixel’ style just overall looks nicer with the characters and settings having a bit more ‘detail’ in their designs while still keeping true to the basics of Undertale. The funny thing is, I actually ended up playing Deltarune with a Sega Saturn USB controller from Retro-bit (please give me money retro-bit i just gave you free advertising), and while not necessarily a ‘Saturn’ feeling game, it does really feel like at least a SNES RPG with it’s presentation overall. Kind of makes me wonder what a SNES or Saturn port of the game would’ve been like.

In conclusion, Deltarune: Chapter 1 definitely left a very good impression after I first played it, and despite my nitpicks regarding replay value, it still does so when replaying it now. The story and characters are still really good, the gameplay feels like a natural evolution of where Undertale left off, and the game has a nice visual style and soundtrack to top everything off. I was definitely looking forward to what Toby Fox had in store for the rest of ‘Deltarune’.

Chapter 2

The wait for Chapter 2 was a little longer than I was initially expecting. Supposedly, Toby Fox had sustained an injury during development, which did set back development and encouraged him to expand the team.

Regardless, Deltarune: Chapter 2 was announced in an Undertale 6th anniversary livestream on September 15, 2021, and subsequently released on Steam and itch.io for PC and Mac two days later, before reaching the Switch and PS4 on the 23rd. Although it was initially planned to be paid (and I’m assuming released alongside the rest of Deltarune), Toby Fox decided to release the second chapter for free because, in his own words, “the world has been really tough for everybody recently,” referencing the COVID-19 pandemic.

But was the almost three year wait worth it?

…hell yeah of course it was lol

I’m gonna preface this by just saying that while Deltarune: Chapter 1 does make a really good first impression, Chapter 2 is really where “Deltarune” as a whole comes into its own. While most of the core gameplay from Chapter 1 is of course present here, there are additions made to evolve it even further, and the worldbuilding, lore and story continues to grow in a way that more fully fleshes out Deltarune’s identity, separating it from just being an Undertale follow-up or whatever.

For a brief synopsis, the story starts the following day of the events of Chapter 1. After school ends, Kris and Susie check up on the Dark World before returning to their own to work on their school project at the library (after agreeing to do so with Noelle), only to find the existence of another Dark World ruled by Serial Number Q5U4EX7YY2E9N, or, well, Queen for short, who also appears to have captured Noelle and formed a reluctant alliance with Berdly. So, of course, Kris, Ralsei and Susie are left to close this world’s dark fountain. Along the way, Ralsei and Susie split off from Kris, who runs into Noelle, having escaped Queen, who in turn is trying to escape Berdly. Per the normal route, they all reunite, and Queen captures them to keep in her mansion.

Once again, the major characters here are really strong. Kris, Ralsei and Susie of course return from the first chapter, carrying over the development they received. It’s worth mentioning that you’ll probably notice right away that while Ralsei has a hat in the first chapter, he takes it off at the end to reveal what he truly looks like (and, well, he’s adorable), and in the second chapter, he still keeps his hat off. 

But a more minor detail I noticed when playing this time around was that Susie’s eyes are no longer covered by her hair, and fully visible in both the overworld and text boxes. It’s very minor symbolism of how she’s become more mellowed out and ‘opened’ herself up to friends after the events of the first chapter. It’s a minor detail, but one I really like.

And of course, both characters are still very fun and entertaining to watch and how they interact with each other as well as the other major characters at play here. One moment I liked between Ralsei and Susie in particular was when Ralsei offers to teach Susie his “healing” ability, which she does… albeit with her ability being extremely weak and requiring max TP. Also the moment where Susie decides to learn about ACTing herself and forces Ralsei to do the same.

Going on from there, one thing this game does to flesh out the world of Deltarune further is with the characters of Noelle and Berdly. Both of which were introduced in the first chapter, but were largely just background characters in the context of the story. Here, both of them play a much bigger role in the story and how the events play out.

And while I said Ralsei was my favorite character in Deltarune: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 elevates Noelle to my favorite Deltarune character period. I mean, at the core, all I can really say is that her personality is definitely the most relatable to me - being more shy and introverted, less willing to really talk about my feelings, in addition to often being seen as the ‘smart’ kid by my friend group and family, but personally being more ‘modest’ with that title, for lack of a better word. I probably still wouldn’t say I’d put her over Dr. Alphys’ character in Undertale, but she isn’t too far off in my character rankings in the Undertale Cinematic Universe.

Plus, her character arc is very strong, with her learning to ‘open’ herself up regarding her feelings and emotions, and being less fearful, in addition to how this chapter explores her relationship with Susie. When it comes to in-game couples I definitely feel like these two work really well together and have an interesting dynamic as they’re sort of two different sides of the same coin. 

Both of them have had trouble opening themselves up around their peers, yet their personalities are shaped in different ways. Susie is a lot more rough and brash towards others, often painting herself as being tough to avoid interacting with others, where Noelle is a bit more of a doormat, being roped into toxic “friendships'' as seen with Berdly and having trouble speaking up about it (something that I also relate to when it comes to certain friend groups I’ve had in the online space).

In that sense, while Noelle and Susie are different at the surface level, they do actually end up with the same ‘goal’ in their character arc when it comes to opening themselves up more to others, and it makes for an interesting dynamic. In this we also get to see more of Susie’s softer side… and also Noelle’s rougher side as she tries to beat up Berdly after the Ferris Wheel scene. Amazing.

Speaking of Berdly, he’s kind of a simp, and he serves as sort of an anti-hero in this game who also has a bit of a character arc of his own. Berdly goes straight along with Queen’s plan, which ends up being to Queen’s dismay and reluctance, but like the others gets captured himself, and his massive ego gets shattered by the fact that he’s actually bad at solving puzzles. 

Basically, he’s pretty much the smartass kid of the bunch, in contrast with Noelle’s more modest personality regarding her smarts. But although I’m talking like I absolutely hate this character, I do still find him to be entertaining and does have a lot of good moments to him. His character arc is still a good one, seeing someone who acts very high and mighty understand that he’s not necessarily better than everyone else, which I think is the best way to describe his character in Deltarune: Chapter 2. He is still kind of a simp tho.

Queen also makes for a really entertaining villain. She definitely adheres to the quirkiness and tone of both Undertale and Deltarune, and her goals don’t stem from pure malice, rather just ignorance and incompetence. She just seems like someone who wants the best world for her and others, even seeming to actually care about Noelle, and this makes for a unique, interesting insight for a villain - someone who just doesn’t know the consequences of her actions and doesn’t at all intend on hurting others. And this is seen as soon as Ralsei tells the story about “The Roaring”, when she backs off her entire plan when she learns the consequences of letting more Dark Fountains open and grow. 

It actually does manage to fall in line with Undertale’s concept of morality, giving the idea that not every ‘villain’ really intends to bring suffering to others, sometimes just wanting what they perceive as the ‘best’ world for everyone.

And on that note…

When I started talking about the story, I mentioned “per the normal route”. Does this mean that, unlike Chapter 1, Chapter 2 actually offers different endings?

Well… kind of.

Ultimately the ending itself plays out the same, but Chapter 2 has an alternate route that completely changes up the events of the story in the middle - this being the ‘Snowgrave’ route. It is a bit more cryptic than Undertale’s alternate routes/endings, as it does require you to play the game normally (killing or ACTing not mattering) up to when you meet Noelle after Kris is split off from Ralsei and Susie, then requiring you to backtrack to a certain point to use Noelle’s IceShock spell to freeze every enemy from that point, plus talking to certain NPCs and making certain decisions as per a guide I found.

Now, I haven’t played the Snowgrave Route yet, but for the sake of this review and looking at as much of the main content as possible, let’s take a look and…

*a few hours later*

Okay, that was actually kinda disturbing.

The way that ‘Snowgrave’ is handled sort of extends upon Undertale’s morality system. Whereas Undertale focused on the choices the player was making through Frisk as a sort of medium, this game implements that in the context of Deltarune’s party system, where not only you’re making choices as Kris, but you’re also pushing those choices and actions onto Noelle, and how she responds to that. Especially since Noelle is my favorite character, I… actually kind of felt put off by what I was doing, basically using her as a tool to further progress up to where we’re supposed to fight Berdly. At that point, if you pull off the Snowgrave route correctly, has Noelle, well, implied to have killed Berdly as a result of you pushing those actions onto her.

Truth is, I was kind of shaken up after that moment, in a way that I can’t even describe, especially as Noelle kind of just disappears in the story up until the Spamton NEO boss (which is who you fight as the final boss in this route), with the only hint of her appearance up until then being when Susie goes into her room, then comes out a few minutes later acting a little bit… off.

And Berdly… well, he disappears from the story as well, and even when you “wake up” at the library, is still sitting with his head down and seems to be unresponsive.

The story plays out differently from there. You’re taken straight to Queen’s mansion after the Berdly boss, which has been taken over by Spamton after he gains power through you buying him the “Thorn Ring”, pulling out his own evil plans separate from Queen. And unlike Queen, he’s actually evil, and is trying to put a stop to your evil plans so they don’t interfere with his evil plans. 

On that note, the Spamton NEO boss is actually pretty damn hard. Maybe not on the same level as Sans, but I would probably put it in the same ballpark of ‘Undyne the Undying’.

Alright, well, with that out of the way, this chapter continues to build out the world and lore of Deltarune through the introduction of the second Dark World that we come across in the game’s story. This being the ‘Cyber World’ which takes a lot of influence from the late 90’s to 2000’s web, and as someone who was a child in the 2000’s to early 2010’s often using the internet, I can definitely say it succeeded in making me feel nostalgic for that time period. I mean, the overall aesthetic, enemies referencing that era (i.e. the pop-up ads and the Spamton mini-boss), the somewhat MIDI-sounding music in places, hazards that adhere to computer peripherals and whatnot, the color schemes and environmental design… all feels like Sound Blaster to the past. All it’s missing is a bit of 009 Sound System and Unregistered Hypercam 2.

You also get a better idea of some of the lore here with the concept of “The Roaring” and why the Dark Fountains are dangerous to the universe in general through how they imbalance the power of Light and Dark, and how inhabitants of one Dark World aren’t able to exist in another without turning to stone (although, interestingly, Ralsei is able to travel through these Dark Worlds despite being a Darkner, which I imagine is something that’ll be explored in a later chapter).

Gameplay-wise, it’s basically the same as Chapter 1, which I more or less expected, although there are some additions and changes. I already went over the addition of the weird Snowgrave Route, but as well Susie and Ralsei also get the ability to ACT through their “Magic” menu at some point in the game, although it isn’t quite as extensive as Kris’ ability, and as implied through Noelle, your party members can change at various points in the game - something I imagine will be further built upon in the upcoming chapters. 

Relatively minor stuff, but of course there are new enemies and boss fights to go along with the whole “Cyber” theme of said world. The final boss, at least in the normal route, is a 3-round “Punch Out”-esque fight between Kris, Ralsei and Susie versus Queen’s giant GIGA mech. You technically face this twice in the story, although the first time is more of a tutorial for what comes at the end in the context of an arcade machine that Queen tries to use to lower your self-esteem to get you to submit to her. Amazing.

And once again, the soundtrack is an all around banger - still keeping to the same style of Chapter 1 (and with various tracks still carrying over), but with some new tracks that further fall into the “Cyber” world theme and general events of the game. My favorite tracks for this chapter would be “Welcome to the City”, “A CYBER’S WORLD?” and “Attack of the Killer Queen”, but most of the soundtrack is a bop regardless of which ones I decide are my favorites.

Overall, like I said - while Deltarune: Chapter 1 does make a really good first impression, Chapter 2 is really where Deltarune comes to grips with more of its own identity. There’s just a much bigger scope here that manages to further expand the foundation set up by both Undertale and Deltarune: Chapter 1, in terms of lore, worldbuilding, story and even gameplay with increased replay value.

Conclusion

I mean, what else can I say here other than Deltarune is really fucking good?

Once again, I definitely feel like Toby Fox has captured lightning in a bottle here, creating a game that both seems to follow-up the foundation set by Undertale… while completely subverting it at the same time. The characters are still great, the lore, story, worldbuilding are all really good, and the gameplay is overall really solid, building upon what Undertale offered.

That leaves the question, however - would I say Undertale is still my favorite game of all time, or has Deltarune taken that crown?

It’s… complicated.

Especially as of Chapter 2, I definitely feel like Deltarune has done a really good job of building upon Undertale’s overall “style” of a game and does some aspects - especially in terms of gameplay - even better.

At the same time, however, I still feel like what I said about Undertale compared to Deltarune: Chapter 1 does still sort of apply. When it comes to how story was connected to gameplay, alongside my slight preference for some of Undertale’s characters, and arguably the replay value… I’d still say Undertale just slightly edges out Deltarune on those fronts. Plus, I am admittedly a little biased here given the impact Undertale had on me.

However, like I said, that’s more of a slight edge in Undertale's favor, as in reality, I do hold both games in pretty close proximity. I mentioned in my Backloggd review of Chapter 1 that the only thing keeping me from putting Deltarune in my Top 5 on said website is simply that 2-3 out of 5 of the places would basically be monopolized by the Undertale Cinematic Universe and I do just prefer to keep things balanced on that note. Ultimately it just comes down to the greater kick I get from certain characters in Undertale (90% Alphys) and just replaying the more “fully” different endings and routes. 

But an analogy I’d like to make here is that Deltarune to Undertale is like Super Mario World is to Super Mario Bros 3. What I mean by that is, Undertale and SMB3 respectively were a lot “innovative” and groundbreaking compared to their successors when it came to defining a more unique approach to gameplay structure. But while Super Mario World and Deltarune may not be quite as groundbreaking, they do go out of their way to build off of the structure set in place by their predecessors in a way that expands the overall scope and scale to create a much “bigger” feeling experience. 

From there, which one you prefer is really going to come down to personal preference. Do you prefer the more “simple” nature of Undertale that offers a bit more immediate replay value, or do you prefer the scale of Deltarune in terms of core gameplay? Do you prefer the characters and story of one, or the other?

Regardless, if you haven’t played these games… well, for one thing I’m kinda surprised you sat through this entire review, but it goes without saying that I can’t recommend these games enough. And, of course, I am really excited to see what Toby Fox has in store for the future of Deltarune.