Delta Rune: A short review with possible spoilers
It was three incredibly long years ago that the world was introduced to one of the most emotionally-gripping, heartwarming, musical masterpieces of a game we've ever encountered. Now, as of Halloween of 2018, Toby Fox has returned to gift us all an equally powerful and emotionally stunning work: Delta Rune - the precursor to a sequel for Undertale. My heart is, once again, filled with DETERMINATION. And now it would seem to be filled with shining courage as well. Much like Undertale, I naturally chose the pacifist route - for whatever reason, I don't have the heart to just mindlessly kill other characters. They have a way of tugging at your heartstrings. It would seem Delta Rune is taking a MUCH harder grip on that aspect of gameplay, as I'll explain shortly...
We see the return of many familiar faces from Undertale early on in the game after a rather strange intro. Supposedly, however, this is an alternate universe/timeline, instead of a direct continuation. This both upset me and made me interested; For I hoped it would more so play out from the previous story line. But a new story, with new challenges and new characters to befriend, sounded right up my alley. So, my advice is to just go with it - So far, the independent plots are pretty awesome.
What I didn't care for in the slightest, however, are the "darker" attitudes and themes in the game. In Kris's class, an assignment required finding a partner... Nobody wanted to partner up with him. Even Temmie, the lovable nutjob of a dog from Undertale, quite literally would rather have an egg than Kris for a project partner... Thanks for making Kris (me?) feel like a loser, Toby! Susie - the purple dragon girl on the left- especially rubs me the wrong way. She seems to have a very rude, nasty, and hateful attitude - especially depicted in a scene involving Kris (your character, the blue kid in center) being pinned up against school lockers and being told "Your choices don't matter. You're nothing." before she coldly drops Kris on the floor and walks away. Just... Ouch. I'm not afraid to admit I wanted to cry. That was seriously mean and screwed up, ESPECIALLY with the depressing music playing as this scene played out.
Much like Undertale, Delta Rune is blessed with a truly captivating soundtrack. There were times in which I'd seek out an enemy JUST to hear the battle music. And these aren't just your standard chiptunes - they are incredible songs that express deep meanings and accurate reflections of the scene the music accompanies. Not sure if Toby Fox is known for his musical masterpieces, but Delta Rune definitely keeps up in that regard.
As for my own gameplay, I've met the "fuzzy boy" on the left, and have gotten just beyond the three-headed cat. Gameplay itself, in my opinion, surpasses Undertale. Susie and the fuzzy boy accompany you; when you go into battle, you have all three to work moves with in parallel - and the coolest feature is how each character plays off of eachother's moves; often times it works out to your advantage. That is, until, Susie the brutish dragon split on the group. But I won't delve into too much detail there. The fighting mechanics itself surpasses Undertale as well - different attacks, different strategies, etc... It's even more fun to go into battle than before!
To wrap this up... This game seems much more darker, and much more sinister, than Undertale. While the goal still is to save another world and make as much friends as possible... There are darker elements at hand. Hateful, depressing elements. I have a very uneasy feeling that it's going to make some players cry... But, again, my heart is not only filled with DETERMINATION, but a "shining courage" as well.
If you haven't already, I strongly suggest downloading and playing it for yourself. It's free, and will run on a toaster! Thanks again for reading; And as always, if you have any tips to make my blog posts better, please let me know!
Good luck, and may your hearts be filled... with DETERMINATION!