The Start of Perfection (Deltarune Chapter 1 Review)

 

Deltarune

The Start of Perfection

If you watched my Let's Play of Undertale or read my review here on the blog (shameless plugs: https://bradicalradical.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-perfect-game-undertale-review.html ) then you will know just how much I love Toby Fox's first game. The characters, the story, the game play – everything culminated into one of the best experiences that I have ever had. I completely fell in love with all the lore and theories and hidden secrets relating to the game. I was so hungry for more from this world but all there was to tie me over was a few Game Theory videos.

Flash forward to October 30^th, 2018. I was working at a home improvement store and was scrolling through twitter while on break. It was then that I saw something odd going on with the official Undertale twitter page. In all caps were the words “WELCOME” and I instantly texted my lady friend, telling her that she needed to keep an eye on the account. This was the beginning of one of the most hyped build ups to a project I've ever seen. The trending tab was a blazed with all things Undertale related. I must've refreshed the page a hundred times as new information kept being cryptically released. We were eventually told to wait 24 hours and come back to the page for the rest of the story. When it was all said and done there was a link to deltarune.com and we were introduced to an official sequel to Undertale.

We downloaded a file called Survey Program and were introduced to an introduction like no other. We are first introduced to a disembodied voice welcoming us, commenting on some sort of connection, and beckoning us to create a vessel to traverse this plain. As a seasoned RPG veteran, character creation screens were nothing I've not seen before. How Deltrarune deviates, as is Toby Fox's MO, is that after creating the body – we breath life into the vessel. We are given a few personality questions, such as favorite color, favorite food... favorite blood type, and finally how we feel about our vessel. We are ensured that the vessel will not hear our answer – which spawns just an abundant amount of theories – and if we accept the possibility of pain or seizure.

Once we finish answering we are then told our choices don't matter and our vessel is discarded. We're told no one can choose who they are in this world before the screen fades to white. The amount of existential questions and hidden lore this intro gives us is enough to fuel a game theory channel for years. Who was speaking to us? What became of our vessel? Do our choices truly not matter?

Before we can get any answers the white fade dissolves and we are greeted to a cozy looking bedroom. Toriel is there and she waking up a person named Kris. The first thing that should be obvious is that Deltarune follows the same art style as it's older brother. Beautiful pixel art and creative character designs are everywhere in this game. Toriel warns us that we'll be late for school and to hurry up and get ready.

We are then introduced to the player character, a human named Kris. Judging by their character designs, I assumed Kris to be rather depressed. They wear an unfortunately familiar green and yellow striped shirt and brown pants. They have long brown hair and some sort of shadow around where their eyes are. We learn that Kris is an adopted human living in a society of monsters. Toriel is our adoptive mother and Asriel is our adoptive older brother. It appears that Kris used to share their room with Asriel, who we learn no longer lives at home, but is instead away at college. Asgore also appears to be absent, showing that our adoptive father and mother are still destined to be divorced.

From the opening dialogue, and later once we arrive at school, it is apparent Kris is currently in grade school – most likely middle school judging by people's height and attitudes. While exploring the house, it is apparent that this game also has some of the funniest text gags and dialogue I've ever read. There is a scene where you can flush the toilet a multitude of times. To get the full experience, I would highly suggest examining EVERYTHING in the game. The flavor text and descriptions are half of the fun of this game series.

One of the creepier things to note of our surroundings is that there is currently no overworld music during this opening sequence. It is only when we leave the home that we are treated to some of the incredible music that I endlessly praised Undertale for. Toriel drives us through a modern day city to the school. On this trip, we see familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting.

It is here that I would like to mention that Undertale and Deltarune are considered to not be direct sequels. It is better to think of Deltarune as an alternate reality – as we see characters like Undyne, who is now a police officer instead of a member of the royal guard. There are several constants and variables in this world. Once we reach the school and make our way to our class, we see Alphys is our teacher. Temmie and Snowdrake are some of our classmates. Alphys announces there is a group project to be done and for people to establish their partners. We talk with our classmates and learned that Kris is generally liked by everyone and that everyone already has a partner.

We are then introduced to the most important NPC – Susie. She kicks the door in and Alphys assigns us to be Susie's partner. Susie is a bully character. She is strong and fearsome. Everyone, including Alphys, is intimidated by Susie. Nervously, Alpys attempts to start class but sees that she doesn't have any chalk. She nominates Susie to go get more from the supply closet, seeing as she was the last to get to class. Since we're her partner and she is unreliable, we're forced to go make sure she is actually getting more chalk. Everyone in class gives us their condolences, accepting that we're going to die.

Kris ventures after Susie to find her chomping down on a piece of chalk. It's obvious from here that Susie has been the one taking all the chalk and has apparently been eating it. She threatens to literally eat our face off if we tell anyone. We are then treated to Susie's theme which is one of the most bad ass sounding guitar riffs I've ever heard. Susie asks us if we are going to rat on her but takes our ability to answer away before we can make a choice. She then tells us how our choices don't matter, reinforcing what the disembodied voice originally told us. Susie also decides it's not worth disfiguring us, mostly out of concern for Toriel's well being. I do find it interesting that Susie seems strangely concerned for Toriel. She refuses to harm us and refuses to let us leave the school grounds – all for Toriel's sake.

We head over to the supply closet with Susie. Upon entering the room, we find it pitch black and that it appears much larger than a normal closet. Both of the characters express uneasiness about being inside and Susie even comments on it being broken. The two students agree that they did their best and to head back to class. Before we can leave, the floor gives way and we fall deep into a black abyss. When we awaken, Kris is now wearing different clothes. They are now dressed as some sort of renegade knight. Our inventory system is also different. Previously we had the same inventory as we did in Undertale. Now there are a few slight variations in our options. We find ourselves in some sort wasteland. There appears to be no signs of life, excluding a black shadow that keeps dodging us. The shadow runs away anytime we get close until we eventually discover it to be Susie. Her clothes are now also different. She, too, appears to be dressed as some sort of renegade warrior. We agree to move on together before we notice some sort of shadowy figure standing on a vantage point above us. The being begins to throw attacks at us in the form of spades.

This is our first introduction to a new mechanic for the series – overworld bullet hells. We must dodge several attacks while our soul is exposed, very similar to how Undyne's spear attacks were. This is the first time that we can actually take damage while outside of battle. There are a few instances later on in the game where we face similar hazards.

As we continue to flee for our lives, we are eventually find an abandoned town. We search the town and get appropriately spooped by the lack of citizens. At the end of the town, we spot an imposing castle and move towards it. Once there we are beckoned over by a hooded being, who we learn to be a Prince named Ralsei. It is then we learn the truth about the world we find ourselves in.

The Legend of Delta Rune – Beings of Light and Dark lived together in a peaceful world filled with harmony. It is said that if this balance was ever shifted, the world would fall into a terrible calamity. A calamity that would eventually end the world. To prevent this constant destruction, a human, a monster, and a Prince from the Dark would appear to seal fountains of darkness and banish the Angel's Heaven – restoring the world's balance.

Ralsei then calls to our heroes once more and asks us to answer our call to action. Susie, being the ever rebellious monster, refuses to take up the quest. Ralsei attempts to argue with her but is eventually blown of screen by the motorcycle riding youngster – Lancer. He then initiates combat with us and Susie gladly decides to fight.

Here we are introduced to our first taste of combat in Delta Rune. For this first fight, our party only consists of Kris and Susie. We are treated to a standard turn base RPG screen where we are able to select various actions for Kris. These actions match Undertale's pretty closely. We are able to attack Lancer, examine him or perform a nonviolent action, access our items, spare the enemy for a nonviolent win, or defend ourselves from incoming attacks.

We are unable to choose Susie's actions, and she decides to take a direct approach of endlessly attacking. On the enemy's turn, we enter a bullet hell similar to Undertale's. We control a heart, representative of our soul, and dodge enemy bullets. A major difference is the existence of magic and a magic meter. We are able to fill up a gauge for magic attacks (that Kris is unable to perform) by getting near misses with the enemy's attacks.

We fight with Lancer for awhile before his bike begins to run out of fuel. He cuts the battle short but warns us that he will return to finish us of. He rides off and Ralsei returns to us and has his speech cut off by Susie. Susie decides to leave the party and search for a way out on her own – not wanting to be apart of this quest. Ralsei joins us and urges us to go find Susie, as she is integral to saving the world.

From here, the main premise for Delta Rune is set. We travel across the land, searching far and wide for Susie. We'll experience similar battles to the one we had with Lancer and solve various overworld puzzles. As is my opinion with Undertale, Delta Rune is best experienced completely blind and without prior knowledge. The cast of characters and flavor texts are what makes this game such a wonderful experience. There is just so much charm and care in every bit of written dialogue or examination. So, since I refuse rob any of you reading a first time experience, allow me to go through a breakdown of what I believe to be the main four categories of any video game.

Recently, I have created my own rating system. It is a standard 10 star rating with my own... Radical spin. (I hate it).

10 --Big Boi Lovings. Any issues are minor enough that they do not affect the score.

9- P. Awesome. Nearly flawless, has a have issues that are bad enough.

8- P. Great. The media is great. Not perfect but better than most.

7- P. Good. Above average with some rough issues.

6- Hard Enjoy. I want to be a huge fan of it, but it's rough.

5- Aight. Average, just okay.

4- Unoffensive. I didn't enjoy it, but I certainly don't hate it.

3- Bad. Has enough issues to make angry or regret consuming it.

2- Poopie Bad Stuff. Terrible. No enjoyment, but it didn't cause me to rant.

1- Dupid. I hate it. Enough to get angry any time I think about it.

Story – Since I am a writer, I am always partial to a well written story. As far as the overarching plot – it is admittedly nothing new. If we take the game at face value, it's a typical other world story. Our main character finds themselves in a magical world and are asked to take part in an epic quest. This particular plot has been depicted in multiple mediums before – most notably anime. Where the story shines, as with Undertale, is the characters that we meet. Once again we meet characters that few other games have made feel so alive. Other than the characterization of our cast, the world also has incredible flavor text. Every little thing you can examine is worth examining. Whether there be a funny joke or a wonderful bit of hidden lore behind it, I implore you to examine all that can be examine. If it isn't clear – The story, for chapter 1 at the very least, is a

10/10 – Big Boi Lovings.

Gameplay – The gameplay for Deltarune is pretty similar to how Undertale was. We travel an overworld and get placed into random battles along the way. One of the big differences, is that we see all the overworld enemies as we are traveling. Think of it like the Pokemon in the wild areas of Sword and Shield. This does give us the slim ability to dodge the enemy and avoid the encounter. Otherwise, we are engaged in standard turn bast RPG fare. We are able to attack, act, use items and defend like most games. Similar to Undertale, the game shines in it's bullet hell dodge sequences. It's a perfect marriage of the two genres that is immensely enjoyable. The magic adds an additional layer to the gameplay, however it was one that I did not fully utulize. The gaemplay is overall wonderful and I don't have any major complaints with it. However, nothing really jumped out at me. The gameplay was near identical to Undertale – and while not a bad thing, especially since that is very common for sequels – it would've been nice to have gotten something a little new. Overall, I'd give the gameplay a

8/10 It's P. Great.

No complaints but not anything praise worthy if you have played with the style before.

Music – Perfection. The music in Delta Rune is some of the best that I have ever heard in a video game. Each tune is perfectly placed and such a joy to listen to. Now, I'm not much of a music critic, but I of course know what I enjoy whenever I listen to it. All sounds in this game are fantastic. Easily a

10/10.

Visuals – Pixel art is always a treat to look at whenever it is done correctly. This is absolutely one of those times. A lot of emotion is conveyed through both the overworld sprites and the up close character profiles whenever a text box pops up. The colors of the world we explore and design of new characters we meet are so pleasing to see and instantly recognizable. A beautiful looking game, through and through –

10/10.

So with the breakdown complete, it should be obvious what I think of Delta Rune overall. Clearly this game is truly a

10/10.

Keep in mind as well, this is only Chapter 1 of the game. There are several more Chapters that will eventually be released – and I will judge all of those separately, and then a final opinion on the whole game once it releases.

Do you agree with me about the first installment of Delta Rune? Is this game the masterpiece that I think it will be? Let me know in the comments and make sure to follow my socials for continued updates on the blog. But for now – thank you all for reading and, as always, good night and joy be with you all.