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Deltarune

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Deltarune is a role-playing video game developed by Toby Fox. The player controls a human, Kris, in a town inhabited by monsters. Kris and a classmate named Susie fall into an unknown place called the "Dark World" where they meet Ralsei, who informs them that they are heroes destined to save the world. During their quest to seal its Dark Fountain, the group meets the inhabitants of the Dark World, some of which try to stop them. Primarily through the combat system, the player navigates through different kinds of bullet hell attacks by enemies, which can be resolved peacefully or through violence.

Deltarune
Three figures standing in front of a blue flame, with the words "Deltarune" and "Chapter 1" written in a stylized font above them
Promotional art for Chapter 1, depicting (left to right) the characters Susie, Kris, and Ralsei
Developer(s)Toby Fox[a][b]
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Toby Fox
Programmer(s)Toby Fox
Artist(s)Temmie Chang
Kanotynes
Writer(s)Toby Fox
Composer(s)Toby Fox[c]
EngineGameMaker Studio 2[d]
Platform(s)
Release
Chapter 1
  • Windows, macOS
  • October 31, 2018
  • Nintendo Switch, PS4
  • February 28, 2019
Chapter 2
  • Windows, macOS
  • September 17, 2021
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Development of Deltarune began in 2012. The battle system was overhauled from Fox's previous game Undertale, resembling the one used in Final Fantasy games. The first chapter of the game was released for free on October 31, 2018 for Microsoft Windows and macOS; the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 editions were released on February 28, 2019. The second chapter was eventually released on PC and Mac on September 17, 2021. Three more chapters are planned as a paid release, and a total of seven are shown in-game, but no release date has been announced yet. The soundtrack, characters and sense of humor were praised by critics, with mixed reactions towards its similarities to Undertale.

Gameplay

 
In contrast to Undertale, Deltarune includes a multiple party member system, a "TP" (Tension Points) bar, the abilities to defend and use magic, and a complete graphical overhaul.

Like Undertale, Deltarune is a role-playing game with a top-down perspective.[5] The player directly controls a human named Kris,[6] but may also select actions for other characters in the game.[7] Similarly to Undertale, Deltarune includes puzzles and bullet hell sections in which the player must move a heart around a boxed area while avoiding attacks.[8] Undertale's random encounter system has been removed; players can now see the enemies directly on the field, allowing for the possibility of avoiding them.[9]

Combat is turn-based. Players can choose from a set of actions each turn such as fight, act, spare, using an item, or defend, which reduces incoming damage.[10] Brushing against attacks without touching them increases the Tension Points (TP) gauge, which allow party members to use spells.[10] For example, Ralsei can pacify enemies by singing them to sleep.[9] When a party member's hit points (HP) reaches 0, they become downed and will not be able to fight anymore. The HP of downed party members will regenerate automatically until it reaches 1; any other healing source will also revive a downed party member.[10]

While the game often encourages the player to avoid fights and spare monsters, this is made difficult during some of the first chapter: Susie—who is not initially controlled by the player—would attack enemies rather than spare them, and thus the player must also warn enemies of Susie's attacks if they want to show mercy.[6][11]

Plot

Deltarune's narrative will consist of seven chapters, two of which have been released so far. Although its story features some characters and elements from Undertale, it does not take place "in the [same] world".[12] The player controls Kris, a human teenager who lives in a town inhabited by monsters. Along with the delinquent monster Susie, they discover a hidden link to mysterious "Dark Worlds", where most of the plot occurs.

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

Upon starting, the player constructs a humanoid "vessel", but it is discarded as "no one can choose who they are [here]". Instead, they take control of Kris, who wakes up and is dropped off at school by their adoptive monster mother Toriel. Their teacher, Alphys, sends Kris and Susie to get chalk. Upon entering the supply closet, both of them are pulled into a Dark World. They meet the dark prince Ralsei, who tells them that the three are heroes destined to close the Dark Fountain and restore balance to the world, which has been corrupted by King.

Wanting to return home, Susie refuses to help. Before she can leave, the three encounter King's son, Lancer, who tries to stop them with various ill-thought-out plans, and convinces Susie to join him. As Kris and Ralsei make their way to King's castle, they convince Susie and Lancer to fight alongside them, but Lancer refuses to confront his father, so he captures the others in King's dungeon.

Susie escapes and confronts Lancer, who wanted to keep Susie and King from hurting each other. She promises not to hurt King and frees Kris and Ralsei. They ascend the castle and after a lengthy battle, King falls over in exhaustion and Ralsei heals him in pity. Taking advantage, King incapacitates and threatens to kill the heroes. If the player won against all enemies without violence, Lancer turns King's subjects against him and imprisons him, taking his father's place as ruler of the Dark World. Otherwise, Susie subdues King using Ralsei's Pacify spell. Kris closes the Dark Fountain so that they can return to their own world, and says goodbye to Susie.

After Kris goes to bed, they limp to the center of the room and rip out their heart-shaped soul, throwing it into a cage. Turning to the screen, they draw a knife and smile, with one eye flashing red.

Chapter 2 – A Cyber's World

The next day, Kris and Susie return to school to find that the town has lost Internet service. To confirm that the Dark World is real, they return to the supply closet and reunite with Ralsei, but he convinces them to leave and do their school project. To do so, Kris and Susie head to the library to meet their classmates Noelle and Berdly.

Upon going to the library's computer lab, they enter a technology-themed Dark World, ruled by a computer called Queen. She kidnaps Noelle, who entered the Dark World earlier with Berdly, with the intention of turning her into the next "Knight", a being capable of creating Dark Fountains. Berdly joins Queen due to his attraction to both her and Noelle; Kris, Susie, and Ralsei proceed to fight him. After some time, Kris becomes separated from their friends, and finds not only Noelle hiding from Queen, but also Queen attempting to evade Berdly.

Shortly after Kris rejoins Susie and Ralsei, Queen imprisons them and traps Noelle in a tower. Lancer helps Kris and Susie escape but soon turns to stone as he is in the wrong Dark World. They find Berdly, who is guilted into changing sides, and the four devise a plan to rescue Noelle. It fails, and Queen fights Kris, Susie, and Ralsei. They are ultimately outsmarted, but Noelle stands up to Queen, making her surrender. Berdly attempts to create another Fountain, provoking Ralsei into warning him of the "Roaring" — the awakening of cataclysmic "Titans" that will occur if too many Fountains are created. Queen overhears this, causing her to abandon her plans. Noelle thanks Susie for rescuing her, wanting to form a relationship. Kris and Susie then close the new Fountain, while Queen and her followers relocate to Ralsei's realm.

Kris and Susie return to the light world, where they convince Noelle and Berdly that their adventure was a dream. Susie walks Kris back home and is invited inside by Toriel. In the bathroom, Kris tears out their SOUL again and climbs out a window. Once Kris returns and replaces their SOUL, Toriel discovers that her minivan's tires have been slashed and suggests that Susie spend the night. Everyone falls asleep in the living room, but during the night, Kris wakes up and rips out their SOUL once again. Kris then uses their knife to open a Fountain, and a new Dark World engulfs the living room.

Alternate route

An alternate route named "Weird" in the game's files,[13] or "Snowgrave" for the key item in it[14][15] occurs when, after finding Noelle, the player forces her to magically freeze all enemies they encounter. This allows Kris to be more aggressive during dialogue, making Noelle solve puzzles by herself. After performing a specific set of actions, and upon starting a second battle with Berdly, the player will harass Noelle to use an unknown spell that engulfs Berdly in ice. She then leaves Kris, shaken by her own actions. Instead of Queen capturing the group, her castle is taken over by the advertiser Spamton. Noelle is too exhausted to participate in Queen's plans, and Ralsei informs the latter of the Roaring preemptively. Kris then goes to seal the Fountain, but is stopped by the newly-upgraded Spamton NEO, who intends to keep it open; Noelle eventually arrives and freezes him. In the real world, Berdly is found unresponsive in the computer lab, and Noelle begins to question the nature of her "nightmare".

Development and release

The idea for Deltarune came to Toby Fox in a dream he had in 2011 while he was at college.[16] In the dream, he saw the ending to a video game and was determined to create it.[16] Fox was also inspired by a collection of playing card designs posted on Tumblr by artist Kanotynes, which were used in the final game. Development of the game started in 2012, although it was abandoned before Fox created the first room. Some music from the original project was recycled for Undertale, most notably the main battle theme (which became Papyrus' battle theme, "Bonetrousle"), and a song called "Joker Battle" (which was reused for the Toriel fight as "Heartache"). After the Kickstarter success of Undertale, Fox decided to make a game combining the two.[16] Various factors such as the graphics, overhauled combat system and Fox's mental state made Deltarune a more challenging game to produce compared to Undertale.[12]

Temmie Chang, who previously assisted Fox with character art in Undertale, served as the main artist for Deltarune. She helped design characters, sprites and animations.[17] Fox came up with Susie's design after playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He originally based her on Maya Fey and she would act "nice and cute". However, as her design progressed, she eventually turned into more of a "thug". Fox stated that he planned to give an unnamed character a fire spell which they would not be good at using, but decided against adding it in the first chapter.[16]

The first chapter of Deltarune was developed by Fox in GameMaker Studio 2;[4] he moved to a different game engine for the second chapter.[2] The game introduces a new battle system comparable to the one used in the Final Fantasy franchise, contrasting with the Undertale's combat system (which shared similarities with that of the Mother series). Some of the music in the game remixes portions of the Undertale soundtrack, but most pieces are new.[7] Unlike Undertale, Fox plans for Deltarune to have only one ending.[18]

After previously teasing something Undertale-related a day earlier, Fox released the first chapter of Deltarune for free on October 31, 2018, describing it as a game "intended for people who have completed Undertale".[12][19] Fox stated that it was the first part of a new project, considering it a "survey program" to determine how to take the project further.[20] As he envisioned a larger project than Undertale, he said that he needed to form a team to release the full game, which would be sold as a single package.[18] In November 2018, Deltarune merchandise was announced on in collaboration with Fangamer, including T-shirts, a poster, plushies, pin sets, keychains, and the soundtrack soundtrack on CD and vinyl.[21]

A Nintendo Direct released on February 13, 2019, announced that the first chapter of Deltarune would be released on Nintendo Switch on February 28.[22] On February 21, 2019, the official PlayStation Twitter account announced that a PlayStation 4 version of the first chapter would also be released on February 28.[23] The Switch and PlayStation 4 versions were developed and published by 8-4.[1]

Production of the second chapter began in May 2020, with Fox and Chang joined by two other game designers.[3] During a livestream celebrating the 6th anniversary of Undertale on September 15, 2021, Fox announced that the second chapter would release on PC and Mac via Steam and itch.io two days later on September 17, 2021 as another free release.[24][25] In his blog, Fox stated the second chapter was also released for free as "the world has been really tough for everybody recently".[2] Fox also revealed that the game's third, fourth, and fifth chapters would be released as a single paid title once completed; the game's menus imply an overall total of seven chapters.[26][2]

Reception

Chapter 1

The first chapter of Deltarune garnered many comparisons to Undertale. Jason Schreier of Kotaku and Dominic Tarason of Rock, Paper, Shotgun compared it favorably. Schreier praised the refinements of Undertale's elements, calling it "a refreshing return";[27] Tarason agreed, saying that Deltarune is "a higher-budget production".[28] Although Mitchell Parton of Nintendo World Report thought that Deltarune "doesn't significantly change up the formula", he did not have a problem with it.[29] Nintendo Life's Mitch Vogel was less positive, being disappointed that after how "fresh" Undertale was at its release, Deltarune ended up being "'just' more of the same".[8]

A significant amount of praise was aimed at the music, with Schreier claiming that "The soundtrack should be enough of a selling point."[27] Tarason found that the music had "a fresh new edge to it" whereas Parton described it as "emotional and solid" and expressed surprise at it being composed by one person.[28][29] Adam Luhrs of RPGFan praised Toby's "clever use of motifs", feeling that they were incorporated well in Deltarune's story.[30] Gamespot's Michael Higham pointed out similarities between Deltarune and Undertale's music, believing that they're "callbacks to remind you that these two worlds are somehow bound together".[9]

Video game music group Materia Collective released the official 40-track soundtrack, composed by Toby Fox, and featuring composer-songwriter Laura Shigihara on the best-selling single Don't Forget. Fangamer released a 1-LP vinyl record on July 11, 2019.[31]

Tarason liked the game's pixel art, calling it "more detailed and expressive" compared to Undertale, a sentiment which Parton agreed with.[28][29] Higham further elaborated that's Deltarune's ability to "communicate so much with so little" is one of its greatest strengths and that the "character expressions and body language provide vivid displays of personality".[9] The gameplay was also generally well received, with Parton calling it "unique" and Vogel describing the combat as "an organic and well-implemented expansion of the original".[29][8] Some criticism was given by Higham, referring to some sequences—such as the Card Castle—as "a bit barebones".[9]

Allegra Frank of Polygon mentioned that Deltarune's sense of humor is one of its "defining features".[32] Vogel concurred, calling the humor "witty" and the story "compelling".[8] Higham stated that "you'll be smiling ear-to-ear from the witty writing, snappy jokes, and absurdist humor".[9] Parton and Tarason focused more on the character designs, with Tarason praising the "fresh (and lovable) set of characters" and Parton asserting that their designs range from "undeniably adorable to nightmarishly disturbing".[29][28]

Vogel was critical of the way that the Dark World was implemented, opining that despite it looking slightly better than Undertale, it "hardly feels like a cohesive or living place". He also criticized the "sparsely decorated hallways with very little in the way of interesting design or presentation", ending his criticism by saying that "Deltarune is unfortunately not a very pretty game to look at."[8] Parton also listed the game's infrequent save points as a negative in his summary.[29]

Awards

Chapter 1's soundtrack was nominated for the Game Audio Network Guild / MAGFest People's Choice Award at the 2019 G.A.N.G. Awards.[33]

Notes

  1. ^ a b 8-4 ported and published the console versions.[1]
  2. ^ Following the release of Chapter 1, Fox employed a number of other developers and game designers to aid further creation, though he remains the game's lead developer.[2][3]
  3. ^ Lena Raine and Marcy Nabors assisted in composing music for Chapter 2.[2]
  4. ^ Chapter 1 was developed in GameMaker Studio 2;[4] for Chapter 2, Fox moved to a different engine.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b @everydayfoxlife (February 14, 2019). "aw yes! now that it's been announced I can finally share that I'm handling both the Switch and PS4 ports of Deltarune (*´∇｀*) (enlisted by 8-4, naturally)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "DELTARUNE Status Update - Sept 2021". September 17, 2021. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "DELTARUNE Status Update - September 2020". September 15, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kim, Matt (October 31, 2018). "Undertale Creator's New Game Also Has an Uninstalling Bug". USgamer. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018. But Fox says that they used Game Maker Studio 2's default uninstaller so the problem could lie somewhere else.
  5. ^ Vincent, Brittany (February 13, 2019). "Deltarune: Chapter 1 comes to Switch for free later this month". Shacknews. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Oxford, Nadia (October 31, 2018). "Delta Rune, Like Undertale, Urges You to Show Mercy to Your Foes—But it Doesn't Make it Easy". USGamer. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Hands-on: Undertale creator releases surprise sequel, Deltarune". Gamecrate. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e Vogel, Mitch (March 12, 2019). "DELTARUNE Chapter 1 Review". Nintendolife. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Higham, Michael (November 12, 2018). "Deltarune Is A Beautiful Extension Of A Deeper Undertale Universe". Gamespot. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Ronan, Tim (April 4, 2019). "DELTARUNE PREVIEW". Keengamer. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Treese, Tyler (November 3, 2018). "Deltarune Chapter 1 Is A Brilliant Deconstruction of Undertale's Themes". Gamerrevolution. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c Rose, Victoria (November 2, 2018). "'Undertale' Creator Says 'Deltarune' Isn't a Sequel, Has No Idea When it Will Be Done". Variety. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019.
  13. ^ Ferguson, Liam (September 20, 2021). "Deltarune Chapter 2 Hints At the Full Story Going Forward". GameRant. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Van Allen, Eric (September 20, 2021). "Deltarune Chapter 2 has an alternative 'Snowgrave' route, and it's dark". Destructoid. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Woodrick, Sam (September 20, 2021). "Deltarune Chapter 2: How to Start Secret Genocide Route (Snowgrave)". GameRant. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  16. ^ a b c d Soejima (February 14, 2019). "『DELTARUNE Chapter 1』が2/28に配信決定" (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  17. ^ ChewbieFR (April 3, 2019). "Temmie Chang, artiste sur Undertale, publie son RPG". Jeuxvideos (in French). Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  18. ^ a b Kent, Emma (November 2, 2018). "Undertale creator suggests it's going to be a while before we see more Deltarune". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  19. ^ "Cult RPG Undertale gets a surprise spinoff for Halloween". The Verge. October 31, 2018. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  20. ^ Frank, Allegra (October 31, 2018). "Undertale creator's new game is Deltarune, a mysterious surprise". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  21. ^ "DELTARUNE". Fangamer. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  22. ^ Kuchera, Ben (February 13, 2019). "Deltarune: Chapter 1 will be a free download on Nintendo Switch on Feb. 28 (correction)". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  23. ^ Wood, Austin (February 21, 2019). "Deltarune's first free chapter is also coming to PS4 next week". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  24. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (September 15, 2021). "Deltarune: Chapter 2 Arriving on PC and Mac This Week". IGN. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  25. ^ Plunkett, Luke (September 15, 2021). "Deltarune Chapter 2 Is Coming Out This Week". Kotaku. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  26. ^ Abent, Eric (September 20, 2021). "Deltarune creator outlines big plans for next three chapters". SlashGear. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  27. ^ a b Schreier, Jason (May 11, 2018). "If You've Played Undertale, You Must Play Deltarune". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018.
  28. ^ a b c d Tarason, Dominic (November 1, 2018). "Deltarune Chapter 1 is the free and surprising start of a new Undertale saga". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Parton, Mitchell (March 10, 2019). "Deltarune: Chapter 1 (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019.
  30. ^ Luhrs, Adam. "DELTARUNE Chapter 1 OST". RPGFan. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019.
  31. ^ "Fangamer are taking preorders for the Deltarune vinyl soundtrack". July 11, 2019.
  32. ^ Frank, Allegra (October 31, 2018). "Undertale fans should play Deltarune before they get spoiled". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019.
  33. ^ Fogel, Stefanie (March 21, 2019). "'God of War' Wins Six G.A.N.G. Awards, Including Audio of the Year". Variety. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
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