Deltajune

• 6 June, 2025
• Deltarune
• Review

Deltarune chapters 3 and 4 released on the fourth, and of course, I played them. As someone who didn't really care too heavily for Deltarune previously, I am mostly hooked now. I never had anything against Deltarune, but I think I wasn't able to firmly grasp it like everyone else because it wasn't finished. Chapter 1, then eventually 2, were completed and released, but I never latched on for some reason. The music I revisited, the characters popped into my head rarely... I liked the game, but I never had much reason to think about it. That is, until now.

Chapter 3

I didn't replay Deltarune when I opened up Chapter 3. I had a pretty firm memory of the previous events, how the game worked, and I immediately picked these skills back up like I never quit playing. I really like this chapter. Finally, Kris gets a bit more time to express themselves and be themselves, though a secret boss. To access it, you must get S rank (or fail everything so bad you get Z rank) on both boards 1 and 2. This was a lot easier than I expected, and as I played, I took the time to really absorb everything.

Entering the S-Rank room after board 1, you access the game Tenna modified, in its near original, unaltered state. I noticed how the enemies on the overworld in this section don't attack you or damage you upon touching them until you get the sword. I also noticed, despite the obvious Legend of Zelda inspiration, it snuck in the classic "hurting people bad" theme. Not that it's a bad thing, because the way it was executed here was fantastic. Upon defeating every enemy, the music is replaced with ambience, and it really makes you feel alone.

More of the same happens after accessing this room once board 2 is completed, but that eerie feeling begins to return quickly. In board 1, you gain the ICE KEY. Board 2, you unlock an ice-themed dungeon. However, what's really bold, is this dungeon begins to reference the weird route from chapter 2. It says to follow the figure in a white cloak, and attacking also allows this figure to shoot ice particles. This instantly freezes enemies. It's a nod to Noelle freezing all of the Darkners in chapter 2, a requirement to envoke the weird route. This takes it even further when a bird is found in the dungeon, and the figure is able to freeze it. Noelle uses Snowgrave on Berdly in chapter 2 if the weird route isn't aborted. Reaching the end of the dungeon will note that the figure was used up... then, Kris was used up... then, the ice key. It was simple, but haunting.

Board 3 takes the parallels, and instantly smashes them together. The player in the game Kris plays is now in the blue section of Cyber City, where they team with Noelle. Certain rooms are even modeled after that section. However, this time, they have Susie and Ralsei in-game with them. No enemies are visible around the map, but considering the last two rounds required the player to eliminate everyone on the board... I accidentally hit Susie, and saw her disappear. I watched the Kris playing turn away, pale. I did it again, with Ralsei. Kris reacted the same way. On one hand, I had confirmation that Kris really does care about both Susie and Ralsei, which is obvious in hindsight. Long story short, there was a fan-theory I really disliked where it claimed Kris hated Ralsei... Anyway, defeating Susie and Ralsei increased the player's level, and allowed them to proceed. This led to a maze filled with enemies, prompting the player to defeat them, too. This eventually leads to a boss against the Shadow Mantle that Seam had previously mentioned before, in chapter 2. It was... admittedly, really frustrating. I felt like it was really hard to telegraph in the third and fourth phase where the attacks would go. The monologue from the Shadow Mantle beforehand is really interesting, ESPECIALLY if you have played the weird route in chapter 2. After defeating this boss, Susie comes in asks a pale Kris if they're having fun. I initially said no, wanting Kris to be honest, but I later discovered that you have control over the player from the game Kris was playing. Here, you can make them approach Susie, where they quickly yank Susie out of the way, hyperventalating. Susie never sees what Kris was so anxious about, but it was really great to see Kris act on their own to defend Susie again.

Toriel's dark world outfit reflecting one of a queen was also REALLY cool. Her robe even had the deltarune on it... Her chair, too, was that of her throne from UNDERTALE, the same one that Asgore hid under sheets in his castle. It was so cool to see that parallel.

And then the Roaring Knight showed up.

Apparently, it's possible to defeat them, but you have to play VERY tightly, which is annoying. I think that's intentional here, since you're supposed to lose against them. However, winning awards the player with quite literally the strongest weapon in the game. So, I suppose that's quite a fair reward for an unfair fight! Seeing the Knight was completely unexpected and their appearance really made Susie realize the stakes of the situation.

... I say, Susie, because Ralsei already knew. And, it's likely Kris did, too.

Undyne, as I predicted, came in last minute into the dark world! She resembled her UNDERTALE appearance, too, which is CRAZY??? I love it! The Knight, initially aiming to kidnap Toriel, grabs Undyne instead and disappears. Despite giving chase all the way to the town bunker, the Knight got away with Undyne. A new task is on the table: resue her.

There's just... one problem.

The bunker is sealed off by a keypad, requiring a code. And the only people who know the code are Undyne, the mayor, and Kris.

We know Kris knows, because they open the bunker door.

Chapter 4

I started this chapter PISSED with Kris. They knew Undyne was at risk, stolen into the bunker, possibly to never return. Susie is desperate, wanting to do the right thing and help, and goes with Kris to church under the impression they'll look for clues. This leads to Noelle's house, where Kris and Susie go under the guise of working on the group project with Noelle. Kris slinks around the house to investigate, including entering Dess's room. However, when you finally find the code, Kris rips their SOUL out of their chest and stuffs you in the storage closet downstairs. I was furious with Kris. Why the hell would they be willing to risk someone's life?

As the SOUL, we lurk in the Holidays's vents. There, we see Kris on the phone, presumably with the Knight. And they're being fed instructions to keep the guitar away from Susie as they make themselves chocolate milk.

I was shocked, furious, and angry. I had the SOUL return to Kris, to which they angrily threw it back into the storage closet. They then proceeded to just... play piano, in the meantime. I couldn't believe them. They'd rather play piano and listen to the Knight...!? Slinking around the house, there's a few other scenes to find, too. Asgore talks about how this time, Toriel will see "what really happened," that he just wanted to protect everyone. That this time, she'll have to believe him, that they all will... and become a happy family again. It makes me sad, because the context from chapter 1 and 2 reveal that Asgore was previously the captain of the police. However, something happened, and he was removed. It's implied it's tied to Dess's disappearance, hence why the Holidays and the Dreemurrs have grown so distant. It's depressing... and it's really nice to see a more sincere, somber part of Asgore again.

The SOUL navigates to the basement and turns off the power, causing Susie and Noelle to accidentally trap it under a snow figurine. They bring it upstairs to the living room but leave, allowing the SOUL to escape. It flees back into Dess's room running for the guitar, where it's stopped by Kris with a scarily accurate shot with a hockey puck. They hid under the bed when the lights turned off, and are about to do something with the SOUL until Susie and Noelle approach. They hide with the SOUL and guitar in the closet, and the other duo enter the room. They attempt to prevent the SOUL from making noise, initiating a sequence where the SOUL must avoid and persist through Kris swatting it with a hockey stick. Here, if you pause to read, Susie and Noelle talk about each other and Kris. Kris stops multiple times, shocked to hear what's being said. Noelle notices Kris acting oddly, being more loud versus their mumbley voice. She even talks about how Kris and her grew up together, causing Kris to cringe and blush. Eventually, Kris fails and Susie finds the guitar. Her and Noelle leave the room with Susie being suggested to play it, but before Kris allows the SOUL to return to their body, they phone somebody. The same voice they called earlier, saying Susie has the guitar. It says they'll come right away... and then, Kris deletes everything on their phone and puts the SOUL back inside.

I couldn't be any more pissed at Kris. Carol shows up, which makes me think that it was her on the phone with Kris the whole time. She SCOLDS Susie, talks over Noelle, and bans Susie from talking to Noelle ever again. And Kris watches it all, with everyone else unaware they're even seeing it. When they come down, Carol says despite Susie, that you, highlighted in red, is always welcome over. And I couldn't be any more angrier with Kris.

They didn't even stand up for her. It pisses me off.

Interestingly enough, this entire sequence goes COMPLETELY differently if you've previously completed the weird route in chapter 2. Noelle asks to talk to Kris before they're able to stash the SOUL in the closet downstairs. When Noelle walks into her room, Kris stashes the SOUL in the closet, heads to her room. Unfortunately, the SOUL follows. When Noelle asks if she can talk to them about something, it inadvertedly frees the SOUL, and allows it to return to Kris. If it doesn't, Kris takes Noelle and RUNS out of the room, horrified, before returning and retrieving the SOUL to stash away. It's such an impressive piece of detail here... This completely abandons the weird route. However, if you decide to continue the weird route, it leads to a horrifying cutscene. Kris shudders, and eventually says to stop talking because they'll hear. When she asks who, the voice returns with a quiet, powerful "Me." She shrieks, and as Kris is forced to say that this wasn't a dream, that it's real... she also learns that whatever this is, it can also read her thoughts. She begs to be told it's not real, but her worst fears are realized when we force Kris to equip the ThornRing onto her. There, only found in the initial release, is a beautiful, short, and tiny animation. The scene cuts to black, and we watch a red flower wilt, leaving behind only a dot. It resembles the permanent loss of innocence, freedom... and her forced allegiance with the player. Afterward, ears ringing and vision blurry, Kris stumbles into the bathroom and throws the SOUL into the trashcan. They violently stomp it around, utterly filled with a hatred previously unseen. Eventually, they're forced to put the SOUL back in as Carol kicks everyone out of the house. Interestingly, too, is that Susie wasn't scolded out of the house. She found the guitar, but didn't get to write down or remember the code immediately.

On both routes, you're unable to return to your house since it's locked. Toriel previously said she'd be at church for choir practice, so Susie and Kris run over to ask for the keys. However, on the weird route, on their way over, Susie laments about not even being able to hang out with both Kris and Noelle. She asks what Noelle even wanted to talk about with Kris, considering how anxious Noelle seemed. This causes the world to pause, giving the player four blank options. Choosing any of them causes the game to progress as normal, with Susie jokingly asking if it was about her. Kris gives a look that causes Susie to drop the subject entirely, which is sad. I feel really bad for Kris here. Noelle, too.

This is where the bulk of the chapter finally begins. It's surprisingly long, and I found it hard to get through personally with my anger towards Kris on the regular route, but I managed. There was a theory initially going around where it was said that if there was a dark fountain errected with Gerson's remains around, it may "revive" him. Turns out, that was correct??? He's also AWESOME??? I've loved Gerson since getting into Inverted Fate and learning to appreciate him more, but oh my god??? Seeing him and Susie mirror Undyne and him in UNDERTALE was a special kind of magic. Susie was already taught to hope and love again thanks to chapter 1 and 2, but Gerson taught her she can still be independent without being destructive about it. She can still carve her own path. And it's this, that later, Susie uses to comfort Ralsei when he laments not being real and feeling like his only purpose is to serve others. It's here we really see Ralsei's self-hatred on full display, hiding in the form of selflessness. It's so, so amazing to see the theories going around of "Ralsei is evil and hiding stuff!!" to finally be put to rest, because it's shown here, he hid things in order to protect the feelings of Kris and Susie. He wanted to avoid them being hurt, so badly, that he'd rather hurt himself. He avoided having opinions, because he felt he wasn't real enough to have them. He didn't feel like he should be considered a person. Kris can comfort Ralsei to say it's okay to be unhappy, that it's okay to just... be himself. This was already slowly being alluded to since chapter 2, and especially 3, but it's on full display here as Ralsei's taken over by emotion. The self-hate isn't completely erradicated, but it slowly begins to undo itself through the chapter.

And then the Knight errects another dark fountain, within the dark world, summoning a Titan. Through the courage of Gerson, the gang find a way to defeat the Titan, and all is well... until, Susie proceeds forward and Ralsei remembers the end of the prophecy. That self-hatred of Ralsei's gets a bit stronger upon Susie learning the ending of the full prophecy. My current theory is that it requires the sacrifice of at least one. Susie, at the least, is prophecided to die, I feel. And Ralsei breaks down upon her finding out. He so badly didn't want her to know because he's so scared it would upset her. But she punches it, cutting her hand, and tells Ralsei that she, Kris, and him will make sure that it's changed. That they'll re-write the ending. And it helps Ralsei a little.

The chapter ends with Kris and Susie sealing both fountains, returning home... to a drunk Toriel dancing with Sans. That's the most that shortstack's moved in his life. I'm still not sure how people see them as "just friends" at this point... in UNDERTALE, he made a promise for a woman he didn't know the name or face of. He got snail-shaped pasta because of her. She learned to start taking care of herself again and have something to look forward to... and that's just UNDERTALE. Ah, whatever. Susie, interestingly enough is so uncomfortable she leaves. Kris was embarrassed, looking away, looking down. And when Kris tries to sleep, they can't, because those two are joking loudly to hell and back downstairs. Kris hears Susie outside and climbs out the window, but stops briefly to be told by the Knight, "don't forget... you promised."

I'm enthralled with Deltarune now. Not as much as I was with UNDERTALE, but that may change!! And I'm excited for chapter 5. However... I should note, that something very interesting that I really loved about Deltarune was recently, of this day, changed and removed.

Hotfix 1.01A

The animation where a red flower wilts and leaves behind a red dot was so, so powerful to me. A friend had anxiously worried people would take the wrong meaning away from the scene. Specifically, that of "deflowering", the removal of one's innocence or virginity, especially a woman's. I personally never viewed the scene as sexual, nor did I interpret it that way. I felt like the animation, despite how small and short it was, held an excellent symbolism of Noelle being used by the player, corrupted by the player into a husk of her former self. However, this was removed, and was replaced with a single, red dot: the end of the animation. And it removes so much impact the scene initially had. I left this comment in the thread of the patch notes:

"Small graphical alteration to a certain scene."

i'm admittedly a little sad about that... it made for a really, really powerful moment. i understand the concern with the flower wilting being associated with "deflowering," the loss of innocence (or virginity), especially of a woman. as a grooming/CSA survivor (if it helps to know my background?), i felt the original was incredibly powerful and respectful. it doesn't make light of anything at all, i didn't associate it with anything sexual, and it struck me deeply. i know the scene isn't meant to be sexual, and i never interpreted it that way, but to me i saw the symbolism for the corruption and abuse from us, the player, to noelle. it stuck with me personally as someone who was sexually violated, and it stuck with friends as well. it hurt us to know this was removed.

i hope it gets added back, but i know it won't. i'm... admittedly, really disappointed. i DO NOT agree with people wishing harm on those disagreeing or agreeing with the altering of the scene. i ALSO do not agree with people saying the removal of it makes the game ENTIRELY worse. i think it loses the impact the scene initially had, but... it doesn't make the game overall horrible. i think that's stupid.

i don't think toby, or any of the team, reads these... i hope they do, though. it would be nice to have this considered.

thank you, for chapters 3 and 4. i excitedly await 5 and the rest. take care of yourselves

EDIT: talked with some friends, and we realized that the single red dot, instead of the initial wilting animation, now can be read as noelle's nose in the dark, making for a really... odd visual, especially for a heavy scene as that. it's going to throw off the mood for a lot of people.

I still stand by this. I know that I do not speak for everyone, and people will always be uncomfortable with certain topics. I think that's fine. However, the way the weird route was set up, it always explored the abuse of Noelle. Of course, non-sexual, and I mention that I never saw it as sexual. I still think if anything, the removal of this animation revokes the impact of that scene, especially when all that's left is a red dot that can be mistaken for Noelle's Nose. There's users causing discorse with each other within the discussion post, and it makes me sad. I think harassing others for disagreeing or agreeing with the removal of the animation sucks. I think its removal was an overreaction, but I'm not going to call other users "pearl-clutchers" over it. I think the misinterpretation of the animation as sexual assault, while understandable, more falls on the player for thinking with the context of the weird route entirely that this is what's actually being implied. The symbolism struck me and friends who've been violated sexually in the past on a deep, personal level and it made us feel closer with the game's messages. It made us feel uncomfortable, but in a good way. It felt so... personal. The removal of it just feels like sanitization. The discussion around its removal lacks nuance and it hurts to see. It reminds me why I stopped being so vocal about my enjoyment of UNDERTALE and Deltarune works... It feels like this topic shouldn't be discussed, referenced, or hinted to at all, and it feels so sad. I hate seeing people push for sanitization of art. I hate that people are out there implying that people support sexual assault for liking this scene. Real comments I've seen on the thread flat up say that talking about mass murder is fine, but sexual violation is not. It made me feel worse as someone who's been violated.

... I hope something's done about it in the future. This didn't ruin my wonderful experience of Deltarune, but... admittedly, it did put a damper into things. I'm still eagerly awaiting the rest of the game, and excited to see where it goes.

EDIT: I've ripped the original sprites from the initial release. Feel free to do whatever you want with them. I'm just glad I managed to get it so something that left a huge emotional impact on me won't be lost.

Download spr_rose.zip

Hotfix 1.01C

Written at 9 June, 2025

The animation was replaced today with a much more fulfilling animation that keeps most of the impact of the scene. Instead of a wilting rose, it is now the barbed roots of the Thorn Ring shooting out. It's just as powerful, and I think this is a wonderful replacement. I'm very happy with this. However, I cannot lie, I think I will always prefer the initial animation for how much it stuck with me personally.

I already attempted to explain what the wilting rose meant to me, but I feel like I struggled a little. To me, after equipping the ring, the rose wilting respresented a loss of hope. Blooming flowers I've always interpreted to represent hope growing, a will to continue. The opposite of that, naturally, is a flower wilting. The loss of hope, the feeling of being trapped. Life almost always finds a way to persist, but when nature struggles to survive, such as its plants wilting... it feels horrible. It doubled its meaning with the accidental "deflowering" meaning, because while it's clear that nobody was being violated sexually in this scene, there are absolutely parallels for abuse throughout the entire weird route of Deltarune. I've experienced a lot of abuse in my lifetime, and one of those unfortunately included being sexually violated. On top of the meaning I first gleamed, knowing the "deflowering" meaning, the loss of innocence or virginity, especially of a woman... it struck me deeply. It made me sympathize harder with Noelle and the predicament she's been forced into. It felt... personal. Raw.

The new animation definitely tackles a similar feeling of hopelessness and trapped. If you know anything about root immagery, it's often used to represent feeling secure, stuck, or being unmovable. In this context, the roots rapidly shooting out of the ring, to me, represent becoming trapped within the cycle of abuse the player is putting Noelle through. It being barbed shows that it's not a hopeful or positive type of "rooting," where someone successfully makes connections and plants themselves into the ground healthily. It's a toxic kind of rooting, almost parasitic. The ring, representing the player's force, has planted itself within Noelle to assume control, much like a parasite. The barbs lock itself into place, where if someone were to try and remove this control, it would undeniably hurt the victim in the process. It's a powerful visual, and I think this works very well as a replacement.

... I think, my frustration came from Hotfix 1.01A lacking any kind of clarity. It just said it was altered, and it removed the impact of such an important scene depicting abuse and its affects on its victim. It made it impersonal, and it really, really hurt. Like I've stated prior in its section, the initial imagery struck with me and friends very closely and it made us feel seen. It made us feel closer with Noelle... It's why anyone claiming that those defending the initial scene were "just glorifying sexual assault," or "supporting sexual assault," hurt so much. The silence from the team also didn't help much at all... Thankfully, it was only a few days. It would have been much more damaging to my relationship with Deltarune if it was never replaced or addressed. As petty as it sounds, the public reception to the removal really hurt, on top of the removal itself. Deltarune is inherently more mature than UNDERTALE in how it tackles its themes and topics, and seeing one of its themes stripped back initially because of misinterpretation and backlash... it hurt. It made me feel like depicting any allegory similar to it would be written off as "glorification" or "support" of such a horrible thing. It made me feel like I was not allowed to talk about it, and how media depicting it, accidental or not, positively affects me...

... At this point, the Deltarune team has done all I'd ask for. A suitable replacement that doesn't revoke its impact. While I will always prefer the original, I can't deny that the new one isn't powerful, either.