I doubt anyone will disagree when I say that Deltarune is likely in the top 3 best indie games ever made, if not the best at this point. With each new chapter, Tricky Tobias "Music" Fox blows the last out of the water. A game this good selling for a measly $25 is genuinely criminal. I'd sell a kidney for this game. That said...I do have my issues, and what better way to bring them up than to analyze each chapter?
Chapter 1, where it all started. The chapter that brewed the most disgusting fan theories and mischaracterizations I've ever witnessed. But we were all young back then. We thought the theories were peak storytelling. WE ALL did. Chapter 1 wasn't outstanding, but what first episode is ever the best in the series? Chapter 1 was an amazing introduction to the world of Deltarune. While lacking mechanical depth, this is where we learned the rules of Deltarune's world, met many fantastic characters, had the second best secret boss thus far (in my opinion), and where the heartfelt character arcs started to bloom. As dated as it is, Chapter 1 still holds up. Short and sweet, with everything an introduction needs.
Chapter 2. What a time to be in the fandom. A step up in practically every department from Chapter 1. More lore, better gameplay, character development, and the goofiest chapter by far. The unparalleled joy and whimsy throughout all of Chapter 2 sets up the emotional turmoil of Chapter 4 nicely. The Snowgrave Route (Weird Route, Side B, whatever you want to call it) parallels the fun of Chapter 2 well, giving a spooky reward to players who backtrack and explore all the possibilities. The route as a whole is a nice callback to Undertale's Genocide Route while feeling much different. What this chapter may lack in gameplay, it makes up for in the mood and lore drops. The poor fandom went crazy until 3+4 came out with all the Kris Knight theories...
Chapter 3 is where I feel Toby got lost in the sauce a bit. I personally think that Tenna and the Knight fight carry this chapter. Gameplay-wise, it's incredibly bland. The minigames feel very out-of-place, but rather than a fun change of pace like the platforming sections in Chapter 5, the boards and physical challenges hurt the chapter's replayability. There's plenty of worldbuilding in this chapter as we learn more about the families and even see Rory Nyte themselves, but the gameplay is still a slog. The Knight's fight was excellent, and most of the common enemies are decent, but Shuttah and Tenna's fight made me want to die. With Shuttah, the bullet freezing mechanic was interesting on paper, but poorly executed. And with Tenna, most of the fight is the tedious physical challenges, or the annoying regular patterns (particularly the rimshot and flying star ones.) You can't even bypass the minigames by FIGHTing, since they're scripted to happen after weakening Tenna. You're forced to play through tedious minigames in order to progress the battle, which feels incredibly jarring and is an unwelcome deviation from the typical bullet hell gameplay. If the gameplay was better and/or boards and challenges were skippable, I could see this chapter being much better.
Chapter 4. This is the pinnacle of Deltarune so far, and honestly, I'd find it incredibly challenging for Toby to top it. Definitely not impossible, seeing his track record. This chapter is the peak of virtually everything. Watching the cast transform, Kris show THEIR personality more, Tobias "Music" Fox blessing my ears at all times (besides Third Sanctuary. Hot take, it's bad. Why do people glaze the musical equivalent of "random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ go?"). and some stellar gameplay. Gerson's fight was just the right amount of challenge, plus it expanded on the green soul mechanics from Undertale. The Titan Spawn and Titan fights were unique and challenging, with amazing songs to boot. Jackenstein was a very fun, albeit fairly difficult fight, and most enemies had interesting patterns. For lore, we learned a lot about the Holidays this time around, as well as the prophecy, Ralsei's secrecy, and the hints towards other Dark Worlds, or possibly the Knight, being closer than we thought with Asgore's mention of a black shard. Plenty of cliffhangers in this chapter, plus heartfelt moments and unique gameplay. I really wish that Chapter 5 had continued the emotional tone of 4. Speaking of which...
Chapter 5. A definite downgrade in most aspects versus Chapter 4. The tone shift from 4 to 5 is incredibly jarring, and kinda makes it feel like Chapter 4 was swept under the rug. I'm sure this was intentional, though, what with the ending showing Susie feeling more at home in the Dark World than her real home. The escapism theme that's been accentuated in this chapter was done incredibly well. While I can respect that, I feel like there's too much joy and whimsy coming off of the emotional valleys of Chapter 4. Susie and Noelle are finally (and unfortunately) now a thing, Ralsei is mostly composed for the chapter aside from a couple scenes, and the chapter as a whole feels unserious until the Top of Castle section. Despite my distaste for the tone, I can appreciate the stakes being raised with Asgore's capture. Susie deciding this can't just be between her and Kris anymore certainly hit hard. Moving away from story, though...this chapter is one of the best in terms of gameplay aside from its mediocre fights. The platforming sections are surprisingly fun, especially the Top of Castle puzzle where Susie and Ralsei begin ACTing on their own. Not only is it enjoyable from a gameplay perspective, but the emotional weight of this section pulls on my heartstrings the same way Chapter 4 did. Mew Mew's fight was serviceable, but bordering on overstimulation. With how many times I got confused due to how many things were on screen at once, I'm surprised I scraped by on my first attempt. Flowery was a decent fight as well, but the orange soul feels very clunky, especially with voice clips off. I like that Toby included the option to disable them, but the clips are important during some attacks for the warning they gave before attacks. Why there wasn't an alternative sound made for them being off is beyond me. You can't even re-enable them before the fight, since the Feather settings take over. My biggest issue with both fights, though, is that you have to spare them both. It's a bit lame to be locked out of violence when pretty much every other area allows it feels off. With the Titan, it absolutely makes sense that you can only FIGHT, since it exists purely to destory, and the Spawn can be Purified, sort of like MERCY. (Side note: The "But, it was not something that can understand MERCY" when you try to spare the Titan/Spawn was a beautiful detail.) Plus, you technically don't "kill" or "lose" the Titan, since you really just seal it like a Fountain. With Mew Mew, I guess it makes sense due to the whole ghost thing, but with how the body already malfunctions, surely you could have done SOMETHING with FIGHTing. Flowery just doesn't really make much sense to me, with him being unable to be defeated through FIGHTing. Sure, if you beat him up he probably wouldn't want to help with the Knight or anything, and Toby probably didn't feel like accounting for violence, but it still feels kinda bad. Aside from gameplay, I feel like the story is a bit lacking. We don't learn much about the world aside from the possibility of much older Fountains, and the Festival was very underwhelming for how much it was teased in previous chapters. Overall, while Chapter 5 is amazing, Chapter 4 is superior in almost every way. I still love to Delta my Rune, don't get me wrong, but I wanted to offer some criticism so that hopefully Chapter 6 will live up to 4. Deltarune is still one of the best games ever, and we owe it all to Toby. I eagerly look forward to how the rest of the series will develop!
