![]() ![]() Play this game like Undertale, it tells us. They know that their choices matter, and that everyone can be pacified with kindness. They’ve probably played a True Pacifist run. And how could it not? Everyone playing this has played Undertale. Deltarune explicitly makes it the main conceit. Undertale gives us only the vaguest hint of the pacifist option, with Toriel telling us not to get into fights, balanced out by Flowey’s insistence that the world is kill or be killed. If you ACT instead of FIGHT, everything will be okay. Unlike Undertale, Deltarune spends a lot of time telling you about the power and value of pacifism. She refuses to engage with anything other than violence, and you have to spend significant time and energy to prevent her from messing up your no-death playthrough.Because you’re playing a no-death playthrough, right? That’s what Undertale is all about.Except, as the game has worked hard to make clear, this isn’t Undertale. Yet until very late in the game, Susie rebels. Although we expect RPG companions to have their own storylines and make their own choices, we also expect them to follow our instructions during battles. THIS is the way to your classroom, THIS is the way to the supply closet, and don’t you dare try to go anywhere else.Even once you have greater control over Kris and can explore as you please, you still can’t control other characters’ decisions. Toriel will drive you straight to school, and you cannot leave or explore once you get there. If Undertale is all about free will and player choice, Deltarune’s first section puts a lot of effort into making sure you know that you’re not playing Undertale any more. The fact that we forget it makes the ending even more impactful - but we’ll talk about that later. The voice that connects you, toys with you, and then puts you in control of Kris. This voice is guiding you through character creation, until it’s not.It was easy, over the next few hours of gameplay, to forget the ominous voice at the beginning of the game. Flowey is a cutesy character giving you a tutorial, until he turns out to be the main villain. I’d just downloaded a file from the Internet, I had no idea what it was, no one had had time to play through it all yet… and the opening was creepy as all hell.And rather like Flowey the Flower giving us a nice, friendly introduction to the world of Undertale, before tricking us and screaming that in this world, “it’s kill or be killed,” it plays with your expectations for the game. It sounds powerful, distant, judging.As a total wimp, I was actually fairly on edge during this section. The game is speaking with you, connecting with you, and its voice isn’t a friendly one. You are not just starting a game and making a character. Now we may begin.”It’s an incredibly ominous beginning to the game, and that ominous vibe doesn’t go away through character creation. “Are we connected?” The familiar red heart that represents the soul in Undertale appears, and the voice continues. “Are you there?” the game asks, in white text over a black screen, while that strange humming sound fades in and out in the background. Of course, I gave the character my name before I realized I had to name myself as well, to which the game voice simply commented “very interesting.”And then it’s all wiped away, because “no one can choose who they are in this world.”įrom the first moment, the game has a sense of sentience about it that Undertale players will find familiar. One choice for favourite food is “pain,” and when asked about blood type, you aren’t asked to PICK a blood type, but which one your favourite is.You can name your creation, and then are asked for your name. The body options grow increasingly identical. ![]() The music in the background is incredibly ominous, to say the least. So far, so RPG, as you pick a head, a torso, legs, a favourite color, a personality trait… but already, something is wrong. ![]() The first thing that Deltarune asks you to do is “create a vessel” - your player character for the game. Deltarune.But from its very beginning, Deltarune wants you to understand that you are not playing Undertale any more. I think it’s a masterpiece of heart, soul and meta gaming commentary, and I thought I’d never play a game like it again.At least, until Halloween this year, when the creator surprise dropped… something on Twitter. ![]()
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