The Tale of Deltarune

DELTARUNE is an Indie RPG game made by the legend himself, Toby Fox. Toby Fox is primarily known for his first hit game ‘UNDERTALE’, which sold between 5-10 million copies. This is where Toby Fox gained new-found fame, and became a significant idol to admire when it came to Indie games, due to his impactful story-telling which leaves you questioning your beliefs at the end. DELTARUNE focuses on a teenager in high-school, Kris, who is the only human amongst a town full of monsters called ‘HOMETOWN.’ The teen gets bullied by a rough and tough purple dinosaur named Susie. Soon after their encounter, both Kris and Susie are thrown into this surreal counterpart-world called the ‘DARKWORLD.’ They eventually realize that the outcome of their hometown relies on them. The game runs on a turn-based mechanic, and you have the ability to SPARE or FIGHT the foes you encounter. DELTARUNE is where both humans and monsters live in harmony, meanwhile UNDERTALE took place when both species had conflicting views on one another. DELTARUNE is a parallel universe to UNDERTALE, but turns its focus to a different storyline, a variety of new characters, and a new world entirely. 

With whatever events commence in the Darkworld, the Hometown (also known as the ‘LIGHTWORLD’) reaps the aftermath. The game depends on the Prophecy of Deltarune, which is the tale that if LIGHT and DARK were to imbalance, a horrific calamity would occur. This imbalance appears whenever dark fountains are made recklessly in the Darkworld, which the human (Kris), the monster (Susie), and another companion you meet later on are destined to save humans and monsters from this disaster. If darkness were to overturn light, the ROARING (an apocalyptic event) would appear and the Lightworld would surge into a place of eternal night. You play as Kris, a relatively quiet teen who has the role of the hero. Throughout Deltarune, you go through various adventures with vastly different characters in each chapter. Your goal in each chapter is to seal the dark fountain to prevent it from corrupting the Lightworld. 

A unique aspect about DELTARUNE is that Kris is a totally separate character from you. You, the player, have a huge role in this story alongside Kris, and you are acknowledged as a part of the game rather than just “playing as Kris.” When playing the game directly, the cutscene at the start which declares that you can customize your character catches your eye immediately. However, regardless of what you choose to customize your character with, you will always end up playing as Kris rather than a separate being. It’s a strange way to introduce the game, but later on from Susie, you learn that your choices in this world do not matter. If your choices in this world don’t matter, then why would you bother playing this game that you have no control over? Toby Fox even confirmed that DELTARUNE only has one ending which was disappointing to see, but that answer was soon followed up by “There is something more important than reaching the end.” It’s ominous, but the effect you leave on these characters are more important than you’d think. So pay attention to your gameplay when it comes to sparing or fighting an enemy. 

Reviews of the game speak highly, but there are downsides to every game. For instance, a game review said that ‘Chapter 3 is exhausting to play and is mostly a filler.” A lot of people agree with this opinion, but in retaliation, others say “Chapter 3 leads up to Chapter 4, which is heavily lore orientated.” A lot of people don’t feel as attached to DELTARUNE as much as UNDERTALE, and were disappointed when the game couldn’t give them the same feeling that UNDERTALE did during a first playthrough. 

DELTARUNE is an indescribable game which leaves you feeling countless emotions at once. It’s unsettling, comedic, quirky, and heartfelt all wrapped up into one giant ball. The characters seem stereotypical at first, but the entire game revolves around the saying “What’s underneath the surface?”, so it’d be best not to take the game at surface-value.  The storyline is more profound than you think, and it makes you ponder a little more about your choices since it carries much more weight than other RPG games.