Deltarune facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Deltarune |
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| Developer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Designer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Programmer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Artist(s) | Temmie Chang |
| Writer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Composer(s) | Toby Fox |
| Engine | GameMaker Studio 2 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release date(s) |
Chapter 1
macOS, Windows
October 31, 2018 Nintendo Switch, PS4 February 28, 2019 Chapter 2
macOS, Windows
September 17, 2021 Nintendo Switch, PS4 September 23, 2021 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Deltarune is an exciting role-playing video game created by Toby Fox. In this game, you control a human teenager named Kris. Kris is meant to save the world with their friends, Susie (a monster) and Ralsei (a prince from the Dark World).
Their big adventure is to seal special "Dark Fountains." These fountains are said to be dangerous and could end the world. Along the way, the group meets many new friends and some enemies too. The game uses a turn-based fighting style. It also has "bullet hell" parts where you must dodge many attacks. Just like Toby Fox's other game, Undertale, you can choose to be peaceful or fight enemies.
Toby Fox started working on Deltarune in 2012. This was even before his famous game Undertale came out. While Deltarune shares some characters and ideas with Undertale, it takes place in a different world. Fun fact: "Deltarune" is an anagram of "Undertale"! The fighting system in Deltarune was updated to be more like games such as Final Fantasy.
The first part of the game, called Chapter 1, was released for free. It came out on October 31, 2018, for computers (macOS and Windows). Later, it came to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on February 28, 2019. Chapter 2 was also released for free in September 2021 on the same systems. More chapters are planned for the future, but they will be paid. People who have played the game really like its music, characters, and funny parts.
Contents
How to Play Deltarune
Deltarune is a role-playing video game where you see the world from above. You play as Kris, a human. But in battles, you also choose what actions your friends do. The game has puzzles to solve and "bullet hell" sections. In these parts, you move a heart-shaped soul to avoid enemy attacks.
Unlike Undertale, you can see enemies before you fight them. This means you can sometimes choose to avoid a battle or go straight into one!
The game uses a turn-based combat system. This means you take turns with enemies to act. Each turn, you can pick from actions like FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, MAGIC, SPARE, and DEFEND. These actions are always written in all capital letters in the game.
When you dodge attacks closely, defend, or hit an enemy, you gain Tension Points (TP). TP lets your team use special spells or unique actions. For example, Ralsei can use a spell to calm down tired enemies. If a character's hit points (HP) drop to zero, they fall down. They can't fight until they are healed. Their HP will slowly go back up to 1, but you can also use items to heal them faster.
The game often encourages you to avoid fights and be kind to monsters. But this can be tricky in Chapter 1. Susie, who you don't control at first, will attack enemies. If you want to be merciful, you have to warn the enemies about Susie's attacks!
Deltarune's Story
The story of Deltarune is planned to have seven chapters. So far, two chapters have been released. Even though it has some characters from Undertale, the story happens in a different world.
Chapter 1 – The Adventure Begins
The game starts by asking you to create a character. But then, your character is thrown away! The game says, "no one can choose who they are in this world." Instead, you play as Kris, a human teenager. Kris is late for school one morning. Their teacher, Alphys, pairs Kris with a monster classmate named Susie for a project.
Alphys sends them to get chalk from a supply closet. But the closet pulls them into a strange place called the Dark World! There, they meet Ralsei, a dark prince. Ralsei tells them they are heroes chosen to close special "Dark Fountains." These fountains create Dark Worlds and must be sealed to keep the world balanced.
A new Dark Fountain has appeared, guarded by a mean King. Susie isn't interested in Ralsei's story. She joins the King's son, Lancer, to stop Kris and Ralsei. But eventually, both Susie and Lancer become friends with Kris and Ralsei.
Lancer doesn't want to fight his father. He also doesn't want his new friends to get hurt. So, he locks them in King's dungeon. Susie helps Kris and Ralsei escape. She fights Lancer, but they make up. Susie promises not to hurt King.
Kris, Susie, and Ralsei then face King. After a battle, King falls down, tired. Ralsei feels bad and heals him. But King then tricks them and gets ready to hurt them!
If you played peacefully before, Lancer and the Dark World people will overthrow King. They will put him in prison. If you fought some enemies, Susie will distract King. This lets Ralsei use a "Pacify Spell" to make King fall asleep.
After sealing the Dark Fountain, Kris wakes up in an unused classroom with Susie. It turns out Dark Worlds are just ordinary rooms that have changed! Kris goes home. That night, Kris gets out of bed. They pull out their soul, lock it away, and grab a knife. Kris's eye flashes red.
Chapter 2 – A Cyber World Adventure
The next morning, Kris's mother, Toriel, finds Kris has eaten a whole pie with their knife. After school, Kris and Susie go back to the Dark World. They meet Ralsei again. Ralsei tells Kris to get items from the unused classroom. When Kris brings them to the closet, Ralsei's Castle Town grows bigger! It fills with Darkners they met before, like Lancer and the imprisoned King.
Ralsei tells Kris and Susie to leave and work on their school project with their classmates, Noelle and Berdly. Kris and Susie go to the library's computer lab. But they find a new Dark World has appeared inside it! Noelle and Berdly have been pulled in.
The ruler of this new Dark World is a robot named Queen. She kidnaps Noelle. Queen wants to use Noelle to create more Dark Fountains. Berdly, who looks up to Noelle and Queen, joins Queen's side. Ralsei travels to the new Dark World to help Kris and Susie fight Queen.
Kris gets separated from Susie and Ralsei for a bit. Kris joins Noelle and helps her hide from Queen. During this time, Kris meets Spamton. He is a strange robot who wants to be "free" by taking Kris's soul. If you do an extra mission, Kris can help Spamton. He can then become a very strong boss called Spamton NEO.
Kris and Susie convince Berdly to join their side. But Queen captures him. After Berdly is freed, Queen talks about the "Roaring Knight." This knight created the first Dark Fountains. Queen says that anyone from the Light World can open a Dark Fountain using "Determination." Before she can force Noelle to do this, the rest of the group arrives.
Queen attacks the group with a giant robot. She threatens to hurt them if Noelle doesn't follow her plans. But Noelle refuses! Queen then realizes her mistake. She tells Noelle to choose the world she wants. Berdly tries to make a Dark Fountain. But Ralsei stops him. Ralsei warns that too many Fountains will cause a huge disaster called "The Roaring." This event would cover the world in darkness. Kris closes the Dark Fountain. Queen and her followers then move to Ralsei's Dark World.
Kris and Susie wake up in the computer lab with Noelle and Berdly. They think their adventure was just a dream. Susie walks Kris home. Toriel invites Susie to stay the night. In the bathroom, Kris pulls out their soul again and climbs out a window. After Kris returns and puts their soul back, Toriel finds her car tires are flat. She suggests Susie stay the night and calls the police. After Toriel and Susie fall asleep, Kris, limping, pulls out their soul again. They turn on the TV and use their knife to open a Dark Fountain in the living room. The screen goes black. Kris holds up their soul, and a smile appears on the static TV screen.
A Different Path
There is an alternate way to play Chapter 2. If you make Noelle freeze enemies with ice magic, a different story happens. In this path, you guide Noelle to freeze enemies and solve puzzles by herself. You also make a deal with Spamton to get a ring that makes her magic stronger.
Noelle is eventually forced to freeze Berdly completely with a powerful "SnowGrave" spell after he tries to stop them. She then leaves Kris, very upset by what she did. She is too tired to help with Queen's plans. Ralsei tells Queen about the Roaring early, so they avoid her battle. Kris goes to seal the Fountain alone. But Spamton stops them. He has become Spamton NEO while Queen was looking for Berdly. Kris fights Spamton. Kris calls for help from Susie and Ralsei, but they don't answer. You then call for help from Noelle, who freezes Spamton. Kris seals the fountain.
In the Light World, Berdly is found not moving. Noelle later wonders if the Dark World was truly a dream. This path ends the same way as the normal path. Kris opens a Dark Fountain.
How Deltarune Was Made
Chapter 1's Beginning
The idea for Deltarune came to Toby Fox in a dream he had in 2011. He was in college at the time. In his dream, he saw the end of a video game and wanted to create it. Fox also got ideas from playing card designs by an artist named Kanotynes.
Work on the game started in 2012. But it was stopped before the first room was even finished. Some music from this early project was later used in Undertale. For example, the main battle theme became Papyrus's theme, "Bonetrousle." Another piece, "Joker Battle," was used for the Toriel fight as "Heartache." Making Deltarune was harder than making Undertale. This was because of the new graphics, a changed fighting system, and Toby Fox's own health.
Temmie Chang, who helped with character art in Undertale, was the main artist for Deltarune. She helped design characters, sprites, and animations. Toby Fox got the idea for Susie's design after playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He first thought she would be "nice and cute," like a character named Maya Fey. But as her design changed, she became more like a "thug."
Toby Fox made Deltarune using GameMaker Studio 2. The game has a new battle system. It is more like the Final Fantasy games. This is different from Undertale's system, which was more like the Mother series. Some of the game's music is new, but it also uses parts of the Undertale soundtrack. Toby Fox has said that Deltarune will only have one ending.
After hinting about something new, Toby Fox released Chapter 1 of Deltarune for free. It came out on October 31, 2018. It was first called a "survey program." He said it was for people who had finished Undertale. He wanted to make a bigger game than Undertale. So, he said he needed a team to release the full game. It would be sold as one package. In November 2018, Deltarune merchandise was announced. This included T-shirts, posters, plush toys, and the soundtrack on CD and vinyl.
A Nintendo Direct on February 13, 2019, announced that Chapter 1 would come to Nintendo Switch on February 28. On February 21, 2019, the official PlayStation Twitter account said a PlayStation 4 version would also be released on February 28. The Switch and PlayStation 4 versions were made and released by 8-4.
Chapter 2's Development
Work on Chapter 2 began in May 2020. Toby Fox spent a lot of time trying different game engines. But he decided that GameMaker Studio 2 "still felt like the best fit." So, using Chapter 1 as a base, he started working in May 2020. Toby Fox and Temmie Chang were joined by a few other team members.
Fox has said that Chapter 2 might be the biggest chapter. It has the most cutscenes and many characters. In 2020, Fox said he was thinking about adding more people to his team. This was because he had wrist and hand pain, which slowed down the game's creation. Since then, he has received over 1000 job applications!
During a live stream on September 15, 2021, Toby Fox announced Chapter 2. It would be released on PC and Mac (Steam and itch.io) two days later, on September 17, 2021. It was another free release. The Switch and PS4 versions were updated to include Chapter 2 on September 23. Fox said Chapter 2 was free because the COVID-19 pandemic made the world "really tough for everybody recently."
Fox also shared that Chapters 3, 4, and 5 would be released together as one paid game. The game's menus currently show a total of seven planned chapters. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 are still being made. No release date has been announced yet. Two years later, in September 2023, Fox said Chapter 3 was playable from start to finish. A month later, in October 2023, Fox announced that the first paid release would only include Chapters 3 and 4. This was because development was taking a long time.
See also
In Spanish: Deltarune para niños
