• Game: Toby Fox's Deltarune (Chapter 2)
• Release Month: September.
• Quick Look: N/A.
• Started: 17/01.
• Completed: 18/01.

Next on my list of Free Shit I Picked Up During 2021 we have the second chapter of Toby Fox's Undertale successor Deltarune, which quietly dropped sometime last September. With this chapter, the second of what looks to be seven, the structure and long-term goals of Deltarune are starting to take firmer shape. Part of that can be seen in how the game quickly sets up a hub town of sorts around Ralsei's castle, the one Dark World constant: enemies and bosses you spared in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 start to populate the place, tossing out bon mots whenever you stop by. Of course, it's side-lined for most of this chapter as you discover, explore and eventually escape a world inspired by computers and the internet (sort of taking a Wreck-It Ralph trajectory, given the first Deltarune was based on playthings).

For those not quite sure what I'm talking about, Deltarune is set in a small town not too dissimilar to the world seen in Undertale's true ending (for that reason and others, it's probably best you play Undertale before Deltarune). The first game's chapter had the gender-neutral silent protagonist Kris and local delinquent Susie accidentally fall into a "Dark World" filled with NPCs based on card suits and chess pieces, eventually defeating its tyrannical King and stopping a "dark fountain" that had caused the Dark World to spawn in the real-world school's supply closet. Along the way they met the friendly Dark Prince Ralsei, the hostile jokester Lancer, and dozens of other memorable NPCs who either attack the party or stand around passively making witticisms and bizarre non-sequiturs.

Mechanically, Deltarune Chapter 2 plays much like Deltarune Chapter 1 and to a lesser extent like Undertale. Ostensibly a turn-based RPG made in the classic 16-bit JRPG mold, combat "turns" actually require keen reflexes as you move your heart-shaped cursor out of the way of enemy projectiles in real-time to avoid incoming damage. Players can choose to attack their foes, using violence to solve their problems, or use various context-based options from the "Act" menu which can either placate or tire out the enemy. Ideally, if the player intends to be nice, they'd find a way to sap the desire to fight from their opponents by praising them, playing with them, insulting them, dancing with them, or any of a long list of enemy-specific commands: once the enemy is pacified, the player can then spare them and end the battle. Deltarune's biggest addition to Undertale's template, besides introducing party members, is a magic system that runs on a resource that you can generate with "grazes" - allowing enemy projectiles to come close without actually hitting you, adding an important risk vs. reward factor as these magic spells are often the means to finish fights faster, heal party members, or buff their defense. Some of Chapter 2's pivotal battles even invoke a specific arcade and NES game known for its high challenge level, so reflexes are definitely a necessity.

The true strength of Toby Fox as a designer is his mastery of small character moments; those that are hard to put into words in a review like this without spoiling them and overstating their amusement value. That at any moment you could turn a corner or enter a non-descript room and encounter a joke or a dumb, thrown off idea (or both) that frequently will have no bearing on the story (though might get a callback later) nor lead to any items you could use, but exist purely to make you laugh. It's these hidden gems that had players scouring the world during Undertale's epilogue to see if everyone's still doing what they were doing and had any new dialogue for you, whether they were major recurring characters like the saturnine ghost Napstablook or complete nothing characters like Heats Flamesman, the little fire guy who is shocked into silence that you remembered his very cool name the second and last time you meet him. It was a smart idea to have many of Deltarune's NPCs start populating Ralsei's Castle Town, as this allows you to touch base with some of the game's running goofs and low-key favorite characters in case it's been so long since the last installment that you've forgotten about them.

Given the many experimental ideas for new gameplay mechanics and puzzles, you do eventually encounter the occasional clunker. Deltarune Chapter 2 has these teacup rides where you move left or right to turn the teacup ride clockwise or counter-clockwise and it's one of those things that becomes tricky to grapple with once you're on the upper half of the circle and the controls become reversed. There comes a point when you're pursuing the chapter's superboss - each chapter has one so far, producing a key item that I'm sure will lead to something interesting when you've collected all of them - that you have to quickly evade a whole bunch of hazards while in a teacup, and I was almost tempted to abandon the playthrough. (Fortunately, I beat the boss in question in a single attempt; he turned out to be much easier to handle than a certain chaotic clown from the first chapter.) Figuring out the right distance for a graze without getting smacked in the face by a projectile that suddenly lurched towards you can also be an occasional exercise in frustration, but the game's not so tough nor are the avenues for healing so thin on the ground that you can't weather a bunch of hits and still get by.

On the whole, though, Deltarune continues to be an easy game to like and a world I'm happy to explore every few years, as the case may be for the foreseeable future. Chapter 2's new characters are all keepers - the Queen of Cyberland is how to do the "antagonist who keeps popping up to mock you" trope right, Borderlands take note - and the ending to this chapter has me excited for where Chapter 3 will explore next with its themed Dark World. I also appreciated that the second chapter's handful of mechanical advances over the first were subtle but welcome: for one, your companions can now "Act" as well, though often producing a lesser effect. Certainly better than having them sit around defending while Kris does all the work, and it makes the encounters faster too. The challenge now will be deciding whether to play the new chapters as soon as they come out or wait until the whole story is complete.

Current 2021 GOTY Ranking:

1. Scarlet Nexus
2. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Nights
3. Loop Hero
4. Deltarune (Chapter 2)
5. Luck Be a Landlord
6. StarBoy

< Back to Go! Go! GOTY! 2021