Summary
Being on the internet in the decade of the 2010s, it was nearly impossible to avoid the little indie game gem that wasUndertale. This revolutionary indie title was a fantastic RPG that put morality into the hands of a player and, when combined with incredible music and silly lovable characters, it became an iconic hit.
Toby Fox is the legend who worked on the title and he quickly used the success of Undertale to work on his dream project,Deltarune. These two games share a lot of elements and have introduced us to some iconic characters, but has Deltarune been able to live up to the legend that Undertale set?
Slight spoilers for Deltarune chapters 1-4 are mentioned ahead. However, no major plot points are touched on.
9Gameplay
Winner — Deltarune
Being RPGs, Deltarune and Undertale are both filled to the brim with dialogue and battles, but unlike other RPGs where you might mash through dialogue and flee from battles, you won’t ever want to skip them in these titles. Undertale has charm all over with plenty of characters to meet and befriend as you make your way out of the Underground, while Deltarune heavily meshes its story into its gameplay and characters.
Both games give you puzzles, minigames and plenty of quirky events to enjoy that break up the combat and dialogue, but with Deltarune these are much more creative due to the locations of each Dark Fountain. Chapter 4 alone has so much variety in gameplay with its ’90s TV game-show theming. Compared to Undertale’s TV show section, it’s like night and day, despite how wonderful Undertale’s was.
8Combat
Undertale’s combat is not like your traditional turn-based RPG where you either flee or fight; instead, you have the option to spare foes and resolve fights peacefully. Battles feel more like puzzles thanks to you having to figure out how to pacify and befriend your foe rather than just beat them down and, when enemies attack you, you must dodge their bullet attacks by moving your soul around.
Deltarune feels like a complete evolution of Undertale’s combat with tons more varied enemies, not just in how you spare them but also in how their bullets work. One major difference in Deltarune is that you now have a party of three characters rather than just being on your lonesome and this brings so much more depth to combat. Even without other party members, Deltarune has creativity baked into its core with countless fights that all feel distinctive thanks to how you have to approach them.
7Story
Thestory in Undertaleis a big part of why it is so iconic, as the tale of the Underground is a magical one to experience. Being a human child in a monster-filled land, you venture towards your way out with determination making friends with the monsters on your journey to return home. There are plenty of mysteries and interesting lore hidden in every little corner and the tale does not disappoint.
While Deltarune’s story is unfinished as of Chapter 4, themysteries and plotpoints laid out so far already blow Undertale’s out of the Underground. The tensions get more climatic with each chapter as you learn more about each character and the prophecy of the Delta Warriors reveals the fate of the world, with the trio growing ever closer. It’s heartwarming and every single cliffhanger at the end of each chapter leaves us begging to instantly start the next one. Undertale’s story will make you cry at its true climax, while Deltarune’s will make you sob uncontrollably at multiple points.
6Characters
Winner — Tie
Undertale is unanimously praised and adored for its amazing cast of varied lovable characters that have become indie game icons and Deltarune is no exception. From the caring Toriel to the funny-bone-tickling Sans and his heroic brother Papyrus, the cast of characters present in both titles will stick with you for their quirky and creative designs and personalities.
Deltarune being a parallel story to Undertale means many characters who appear in Undertale are also in Deltarune, but its main cast is almost entirely new. Kris, Susie and Ralsei are the main party and each one of them has so much personality and charm, making them some of Toby’s best-written characters. The character development each goes through will tear your heart apart; we just hope they have a happy ending.
5Additional Routes
Winner — Undertale
One of Undertale’s biggest calls to fame was the multiple routes determined by whether you spare or kill the monsters of the Underground. Depending on your actions and choices, the story changes with different events and dialogue reflecting your decisions to kill or be killed.
In Deltarune, the sparing and fighting mechanics have been vastly improved, but the additional routes are all but gone. There’s only one cryptic way to get a second route going and, in all honesty, you are very unlikely to discover it casually. This ‘weird’ route, as fans have dubbed it, is very eerie, just like the genocide route from Undertale and, despite the deeper story, Deltarune is just missing what made each different route in Undertale worth doing.
4Variety, Content And Replayablity
Even if the gameplay is super fun and the worlds are creative, a game can only be truly enjoyable with a good variety and amount of content. Undertale and Deltarune are quite opposites in this regard - while Deltarune has more variety and content, Undertale has more replayability.
Undertale can be quite linear and short, but it has multiple routes that give you different ways to approach the game. However, in the long run, these do end up being the same experience even with their unique elements. Compared to Deltarune, however, the sheer variety between each chapter easily makes it more fun to run through. Deltarune’s first two chapters alone are about the same length as one Undertale route, meaning with just one playthrough you get a lot more out of Deltarune.
3Visuals
Undertale is recognizable from a single screenshot alone. The simple yet classic overworld sprites combined with the stylistic detail of the battle black and white ones mesh together perfectly to leave an impression. The two games share a sprite artist in Temmie Chang, who has brought all of Toby Fox’s characters and concepts to life, but in Deltarune she went all out.
Not only are the sprites in Deltarune more detailed, but each Dark World gives each area such a distinct visual feel, being themed around specific rooms or objects. For example, the Dark World in Chapter 2 is a cyberpunk city because the Dark Fountain was made in a computer room. Characters also have so many unique sprites and animations that give the title so much life at every little moment, and it’s one of the most fun styles of anypixel art RPG.
2Sound
Toby Fox is more of a musician than he is a game developer and this really shows with the treat to the ears that both Undertale and Deltarune’s soundtracks are. The atmosphere each track creates brings every fight, town and plot point to life with perfectly bitcrushed chiptune pieces that always take the world by storm for a reason. Even other developers took notice of Toby Fox’s talent, as after Undertale, he got the chance to make music for many games, even ones as large as Pokemon.
In Deltarune, tracks such as BIG SHOT, Hammer of Justice and Rude Buster take heavy motifs from Undertale tracks but still manage to feel very fresh. When buying Undertale and Deltarune, half the package is just the soundtracks, as nearly every track is one that will stay in your head just as much as the characters will.
1Verdict
Undertale is undoubtedly iconic and holds a special place in so many gamers' hearts for a reason, with its brilliant silly atmosphere and masterful music like no other. However, the passion and love Toby Fox and his team have poured into Deltarune is undeniable.
The story, gameplay, scope and music are grander than ever and even while looking through nostalgia glasses, it’s hard not to say that Deltarune has successfully surpassed its predecessor. Undertale is amazing, but Deltarune took everything it did well and expanded upon it to even more zany and creative heights, creating an RPG that can stand toe to toe with some of gaming’s best.
