In my review of UNDERTALE, I professed my love calling it “a classic that deserves the fan and critical praise.” It introduced a concept of choosing between Pacifist or Genocide mode, aka saving or killing the monsters the player encounters.
DELTARUNE is a LOT of game, and it’s not all good. It’s as though the creator, Toby Fox, took all that gamers loved from UNDERTALE and amped it up for a sequel. Bigger battles, more choices, extra characters, and much larger worlds. Yet, for all that excess, the one thing he forgot to focus on was the story. I wouldn’t dare spoil what characters return from the first game. However, I can say that it continues the UNDERTALE world with some of your favorite “cinnamon/butterscotch” loving monsters.
My biggest gripe with DELTARUNE was the sheer amount of character dialogue. I love reading in games when the text is humorous or serves the story. When it does neither, I find myself button-mashing to skip from the cut scene to play the game. I sadly found myself doing that a lot in my ~10-hour playthrough of Chapters 1 & 2.
Yet, even with that complaint, this game still has three things going for it.
- HEART – I’m not just talking about the ❤️ battle mechanism but also the characters. From their teamwork, emotional reactions, and how everyone wants to do good, they are all so damn lovable.
- UNIQUE GAMEPLAY – I never thought the teacups would be so much fun.
- BOSS BATTLES – There are some fun PUNCH-OUT-inspired fights that players will enjoy.
If DELTARUNE came before UNDERTALE, it would’ve been a hit. Sadly, it has one of the greatest games in history to be compared to. It’s a miracle that DELTARUNE could still be unique and worth a playthrough. Yet, here’s to Toby Fox getting an editor for the additional chapters, avoiding any more run-on sentences in his character dialogue that goes on and on and…
It’s available on most gaming platforms. I played it on the Nintendo Switch.
