Quick Links
After the unexpected massive success ofUndertale, Toby Fox took a few steps back to reflect and start work on a worthwhile sequel,Deltarune. Following its launch, it quickly rose to the top of the charts, both financially and critically. It retains all the charm and flair of the original game while presenting a familiar universe in an entirely new light.
Its story follows a new cast of characters (with some familiar faces) and a different combat system.The game is divided into chapters, with four included in the base game, and additional ones promised as free updates. That being said, there are several key points you should be aware of regarding Deltarune as it currently stands.
The Premise
The Who, What, And Where
The story of Deltarune takes place in an alternate version of the Undertale universe.Its world consists of two distinct realms: The Light World and the Dark World. The Light World serves as a hub area where creatures of all types coexist and interact in a modern-era society.
The Dark World is where most of the adventure takes place, a world of darkness where locations, objects, and characters assume new forms.Entrances to the Dark World can appear anywhere, as long as a Fountain of Darkness has been created to sustain it.
Anyone has the potential to create a Fountain as long as they can focus on the world they want and why.
The main character is Kris, a non-binary human teen being cared for by Toriel. Susie, a rough and tough monster girl, and Ralsei, a magic-user Prince of the Dark World, join them.
The trio is drawn into a prophecy stating that they must save both worldsby sealing the emerging Fountains of Darkness, which threaten to upset the balance between Light and Dark and cause untold destruction.
Chapter 1
Into The Closet
Kris wakes up in their room and Toriel offers to drive them to school. After arriving and heading to class, Kris is asked to pick a partner and ends up choosing Susie, who arrives late to class.
The teacher, Alphys, asks Susie to retrieve some extra chalk from the storage closet and asks Kris to accompany her. Alone in the hallway,Susie threatens Kris before heading to the closet. Upon entering, they realize it’s unnaturally dark and are pulled into the Dark World.
First Steps Into Darkness
After finding each other, Kris and Susie make their way to a nearby town, being attacked en route by a Darkner named Lancer.Lancer is the son of the King, who is attempting to spread the darkness by creating another Fountain.
After chasing off Lancer, the duo make their way to Castle Town, where Ralsei greets them. He explains the prophecy and joins them on their quest to stop the King and seal his Fountain.
While on the way, Ralsei convinces Kris to use actions to spare the opponents they encounter, but Susie resolves to use violence. After more time together and more encounters with Lancer,Susie decides to become a bad guy and partners with Lancer.
Kris and Ralsei continue onward,repeatedly thwarting Lancer and Susie’s efforts to be ‘evil,’ eventually culminating in a battle. Kris and Ralsei convince Lancer of their kindness, which results in both he and Susie joining the hero team. However, as they approach the King’s castle, Lancer suddenly defects and imprisons the trio.
Trapped For The First Time
After arriving in the dungeon, Susie manages to escape and, with Kris' help, can reach the main dungeon hall. There, she encounters a resistant but somber Lancer who refuses to release them.
After a brief battle, during whichLancer refuses to attack Susie, she realizes that she doesn’t want to kill him. Lancer explains that he imprisoned them so that neither he nor his father, the King, would have to fight.
Realizing that she and Lancer are friends,Susie convinces Lancer that she will attempt to resolve things peacefully, and a happy Lancer goes off to talk to his father.
Reuniting with Kris and Ralsei,Susie informs them of their change of heart and asks for their help in learning how to actinstead of fighting.
The trio then make their way through the castle when they eventuallyconfront the King. Lancer attempts to sway the King and refuses when his father asks him to turn on the trio.The King then threatens Lancer’s life, and the trio engage in battle while Lancer escapes.
After a battle where the group has no choice but to attack, the King tricks them to gain the upper hand, but isthwarted when Lancer arrives with an army of all the characters the trio had spared along their journey. With the King defeated, Kris and Susie leave to seal the Fountain and say goodbye to Ralsei, who says they’ll meet again.
In future chapters, you can visit Castle Town to see all the characters you’ve spared in battle.
Once the Fountain is sealed, Susie and Kris awaken in an unused classroom in school, wondering if what happened was real. Despite their doubts,Susie maintains her friendship with Krisand vows to see them tomorrow.
Kris returns home, where Toriel greets them, and they go off to bed. In the middle of the night, Kris begins to violently shake until they rise from their bed and walk, seemingly possessed, to the center of the room.
They suddenly rip out their soul and toss it into a nearby cage. Kris then walks to the center of the room, pulls out a knife, and turns their face to the screen, showing red eyes and a malicious grin.
Chapter 2
Going To Cyberspace
Continuing from the previous chapter, Kris awakens once again in bed and is taken to school by Toriel. They are met by Susie, who enthusiastically takes them to the closet, where they confirm that the Dark World is real.
They jump in and meet Ralsei, who explains thatCastle Town will serve as a safe and peaceful place for all the Darkners they spare on their journey.
Susie wonders where Lancer and everyone are, but Ralsei responds by telling Kris to gather all the clutter from the floor of the neighboring abandoned classroom and return. They do so, andCastle Town is instantly populated with everyone they met on their adventure, including Lancer.
After the reunion,Ralsei shows that he has made rooms for both Kris and Susie in the castle for them to use whenever they like. The duo say their goodbyes and return to the Light World, but not before being joined by Lancer.
Old Friends And New Friends
Once back, they’re met by Noelle, another student in their class, who offers to work on their projects together at the library with her partner, Berdly. Susie and Kris agree to go to the library after a bit of reflection.
Once in the library,they go to the computer lab only to realize that it has become a new Dark World. They jump in to find themselves in a cyber-themed realm with a massive city in the distance. They get their bearings and are soon joined by Ralsei, who senses thata new Fountain has emerged. With the trio reunited, they were sent off to seal it.
During their journey, they learn that a tyrant called Queen is feeding the Fountain and has captured Noelle, who has also been drawn into the Dark World. The trio begins to navigate the world, fighting and sparing characters whom the Queen has assimilated.
As they approach the city,they are attacked by Queen’s newest champion, Berdly, who desires to make a world for only the smart people to live in harmony. The trio defeat Berdly but are still knocked down to a garbage dump on the outskirts of the city.
To cover more ground, the trio splits up with Susie and Ralsei going one way and Kris heading another.Kris eventually comes across Noelle, who has managed to escape Queen. The two navigate the city together, solving puzzles, evading Queen, defeating Berdly again, and reuniting with Susie and Ralsei. The reunion is short-lived as Queen appears and captures all of them, taking them to her Mansion.
At the Mansion, Kris and Susie escape with Lancer’s help. However, he soon begins to show signs of illness, so Kris and Susie decide to take him to Ralsei for healing. They encounter Berdly along the way, and after solving a series of puzzles, they convince Berdly that he’s being stupid, and he joins their side.
They soon meet up with Ralsei, who says that he can’t help Lancer as he turns to stone.Ralsei explains that Darkners can’t last long outside their associated Dark Worlds, but that Lancer will be fine once they get him back to Castle Town.
After The Queen!
The team then splits up to save Noelle and find Queen; Kris goes with Ralsei, and Susie goes with Berdly. As Kris and Ralsei navigate the rivers of battery acid beneath Queen’s Mansion,Susie manages to find Noelle and rescues her, leaving her in the care of Berdly while she rejoins the heroes.
Together again, the trio navigates the Mansion and eventually confronts Queen, who reveals an imprisoned Noelle and an assimilated Berdly.The heroes free Berdly and Noelle while the Queen enters a giant mech suit to battle them.
Once again, the heroes are aided by all the friends they’ve made, who combine to create their mech suit. After a long battle, Queen is defeated, but the group comes together asBerdly prepares to build another Fountain fueled by his desire for a harmonious worldfor everyone.
However, Ralsei stops him, warning that that will bring about the Roaring. He explains that Light and Dark must be kept in balance. Still,by creating more Fountains, the balance is shifting towards overwhelming darkness, which will not only be too much for Darkners to survive but will also overwhelm Lightners, creating destructive beasts called Titans.
The Queen is seemingly shocked at this revelation, having only wanted to use Fountains to make a good world, not destroy it. She reforms and leaves to join Castle Town while everyone says their goodbyes so Kris and Susie can seal the Fountain.
Kris, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly all awaken in the library computer lab, wherethe latter two remain convinced that it was a dream. The group separates, with Kris and Susie heading towards Kris’s house.
Once they arrive,Toriel greets them and invites Susie to stay for dinner and sleep over, much to Susie’s surprise and joy. While Toriel and Susie make pie, Kris goes to wash their hands.
The Night Darkens
In the bathroom,Kris becomes possessed once again, puts their soul underneath the sink, and crawls out the window. During that time, Toriel goes to retrieve sugar from the car, and Kris re-enters through the window, grabbing their soul and putting it back inside themselves. Kris rejoins Susie and Toriel to eat.
Soon after eating, Toriel suggests that they all sleep in the living room. Susie suggests that she and Kris watch movies, but she quickly falls asleep, followed by Kris.
Toriel then places a call to the police, stating that her tires have been slashed, and asks them to send someone over. In the middle of the night, a possessed Kris puts their soul on the couch, walks to the center of the room, and draws a knife.
They plunge it into the center of the ground and create another Fountain. Kris then returns to the couch where they put their soul back, as the darkness envelops the room.
Chapter 3
It’s TV Time!
Continuing fromthe creation of the Fountain in Kris' living room, Kris and Susie awaken in a brand-new Dark World. Knowing this means another adventure, the two set off to find the Fountain and Toriel.
As they explore, they are once again joined byRalsei, who senses the emerging darkness. While discussing and talking, Susie mentions that she and Kris watched movies and invites Ralsei to join them in the Light World sometime.
Although the invitation overjoys Ralsei, he sadly states that it wouldn’t be possible. He explains thatthe Dark World is essentially a compelling illusion created by darkness.
It’s yet to be revealed what Ralsei’s true form is, but it should be noted that when he’s knocked out, he collapses into a pile of clothes.
All the characters Kris and Susie have met are justeveryday objects that the obscurity created by the dark has given life to. Despite this revelation, Susie remains adamant that Ralsei and the other Darkners are real and that she’ll never treat them otherwise. This makes Ralsei happy, and the trio continues to explore.
They are eventually met by a large humanoid with a television for a head, calling himself Mr. Ant Tenna. Tenna is overly enthusiastic and charismatic, andhe invites the trio to be contestants on his game show, TV Time.
The three work together to complete a series of minigames and quizzes, scoring points and winning the round. After the first round, the trio explores the green room and backstage, where they encounter Lancer again, but also sense thatsomething is off about this world.
They compete in and finish the second round, but are surprised and annoyed to learn that there’s another round. After seeing Tenna become saddened by their reaction, they decide to do it, and Tenna enthusiastically begins to prepare.
Returning to the green room, the trio investigates a nearby sealed room, whichleads them to a cold landscape where the Fountain is seen in the distance, and Toriel is sealed in a capsulearound a large Christmas tree.
At this discovery,Tenna reveals that he is Kris' family TV, who misses the days when everyone would gather around to watch him, but now does so seldom.
The Vengeful Electronic
To remedy this, he resorts totrapping the trio in capsules and forcing them to play rigged games. The trio manage to hold out long enough to be rescued by friends and escape Tenna, who demands that all the Darkners in his world search for them.
The trio make their way through the backstage areas, where they answer quizzes, befriend the various employees, and head back to Toriel. Tenna slowly comes apart as his cast and crew also begin to abandon him.
As they continue to explore and fight,the trio come face-to-face with Tenna, who challenges them to one last game. While Tenna attacks, the trio uses mini-games and other actions to get enough points to crash the game.
Defeated, Tenna laments thatall he wanted was for someone to like him. At this, Susie steps in and says that she felt similarly, and that while it did take some time, she eventually found people who wanted to be her friends and with whom she wanted to be friends.
She invites Tenna back to Castle Town and promises that someone will like him. This revives Tenna’s upbeat attitude, andhe happily hands over Toriel’s capsule, but not before being hit with a devastating attack.
The attacker is revealed to be a dark and monstrous figure known as the Roaring Knight, who has been fostering the creation of more Fountains.
The True Villain Revealed
Even though the trio steps up to fight them, the Knight proves too powerful and moves to steal away Toriel. Before they can,they are interrupted by Officer Undyne, who attacks them with spears. The Knight responds by charging and abducting her, leaving the Dark World.
Kris and Susie give pursuit,only to follow them to a shelter outside of town that’s sealed with an electronic lock. With no way to enter, Susie states that they should seal the other Fountain for now and return when they have more clues.
As Susie leaves the area, Kris examines the lock closer to see that it hasseveral symbols marking different code inputs. Suddenly, the shelter door opens slightly.
Chapter 4
Prayers And Prophecies
The story continues with Kris waking up at home and entering the kitchen, where they see both Toriel and Susie enjoying breakfast. While talking,Toriel invites Susie to go to church with them, and she reluctantly agrees.
The group attends church, where Toriel leads the choir, while Kris and Susie take their seats. Following the service, Susie suggests that they ask around to see ifanyone might know anything about the Shelter codes.
Kris speaks with both Noelle and Alphysto learn that codes are associated with certain parts of town, specifically the mayor’s office. Knowing that Noelle is the mayor’s daughter, Susie approaches her and suggests that they work on their project at her house (sans Berdly). Noelle agrees, and they all meet up there later on.
Kris and Susie then decide to check in on Castle Town (taking Tenna with them) and explore more of the castle. After a pleasant visit with Ralsei, Susie charges up to see his room, only for her and Kris to discover that it’s empty.
From this point on, Susie can be found in certain areas where she’ll recommend things for Ralsei’s room.
Ralsei explains thathe never considered his own needs or desires, devoting all his energy to serving and pleasing Kris and Susie. Susie admonishes him for this and becomes determined to fill his room with all sorts of stuff, also asking Kris to keep an eye out for anything interesting. This gesture touches Ralsei, and he resolves to speak up more.
Returning to the Light World, Kris and Susie head to the mayor’s large house, where Noelle greets them. After entering, they take a tour, learning about two rooms that they’re not allowed to enter.
Susie tells Kris that she’ll distract Noelle while they look around. Kris enters the first room, which is revealed to be the room of Noelle’s sister, Dess.
While looking around, Kris finds a guitar that appears to have part of the shelter code written down. Before they can finish reading it,Kris' possession takes over, and their soul is placed in a box in a nearby room.
The soul manages to escape and explores the house. During this time,it eavesdrops on a mobile conversation that the possessed Kris had with an unknown partyand finds its way to the basement, where it shorts the circuit breaker. It then ends up in Dess' room to approach the guitar, but the possessed Kris grabs it and hides in the closet while Noelle and Susie come into the room.
In the closet, the soul manages to make enough commotion to draw Susie’s attention, causing her toopen the door and take the guitar. Noelle and Susie leave while Kris and their soul stay behind.
In the living room, Susie and Noelle talk about going to the festival together while Susie tries to play guitar. They are soon interrupted byToriel’s estranged husband, Asgore, who is doing some gardening work.
Soon after, Noelle’s mother, Mayor Carol, enters and coldly tells Susie to leave and to stay away from Noelle. Susie angrily leaves after proclaiming that she’s taking Noelle to the festival.
Asgore also leaves, and Carol takes Noelle away to talk. At this point, Kris (no longer possessed) emerges and attempts to go, but iscaught by Carol, who apologizes and tells them that they’re welcome anytime.
Returning To The Church
Although Kris and Susie both saw the code on the guitar, neither remembers it clearly. With no leads, they return to the church to speak with Toriel, as one of the shelter’s door symbols matched that of the church.
They return to find another Dark World has formed and charge in. While in the new world,they encounter the Roaring Knight defending the Fountain, but are swiftly knocked down to a lower level. Trying to recover, the duo are saved by Ralsei, who is acting a bit odd, but they continue anyway.
As they make their way through the world, they come across glowing panes of light that depict the prophecy that they’re a part of. Ralsei claims to know all of it, while Susie is excited to see it displayed in this way.
They see more panels, but a mysterious force destroys some, and the group gives chase. They soon come acrossan Old Man who they realize is a Lightner like them, but asks to be taken to his study.
The Old Man is friendly but behaves strangely to the point wherehe destroys a part of the prophecy (possibly intentionally). However, the group eventually makes its way to the study, where it finds a sealed door leading to the Fountain.
On their journey to open the door, they befriend a large Darkner named Jackenstein who gives them tools to climb to higher areas of the world. This allowsthe group to reach a piano where both Susie and Ralsei encourage Kris to play whatever they feel.
They do so, and this ultimately unlocks the door. The trio goes to enter the door, but not beforethe Old Man gives Susie a letter to memorize and then rewrite in the Light World. They then face the Roaring Knight, who flees from them through a large door that seals behind them. Unable to chase, Kris and Susie decide to seal the Fountain for now.
After sealing the Fountain, Susie and Kris find themselves outside the main chamber of the church, the door locked with a combination lock. They look around for a code and enter the pastor’s office, where Susie finds a small glass dome containing a hammer, covered in dust.
Susie realizes that this must be the Old Man’s remains, and the Dark World has managed to summon his spirit. Saddened at this, she rewrites the letter and leaves it on the pastor’s desk.
Although the Old Man is never given a name, the nearby cemetery features a gravestone with his trademark hammer, implying that he is Gerson, a shopkeeper from Undertale.
Outside the office and out of leads, Susie suggests that they recreate the Dark World. They were just in to ask the Old Man if he knew the code.Kris gives Susie a knife, and she plunges it into the ground, successfully creating a Fountain and Dark Worldaround them.
However,this version is warped with different lighting, perspective, and Darkners. As the two search for the Old Man, they end up lost in the dark andbecome separated.
Susie tries to find her way back to Kris, but instead, she encounters the Old Man, who attacks her immediately. As she wards off his attacks and tries to reason with him, Kris rejoins her, andthe two catch a glimpse of the Old Man attacking them.
Shocked by his appearance, Susie wonders what happened to him as Ralsei appears and destroys him. Ralsei explains that it wasjust a statue brought to life by the dark and that spirits like the Old Man can only occur in particular worlds and circumstances.
At this new revelation, Susie becomes enraged at Ralsei, asking why he keeps hiding information instead of just sharing what he knows. Scared and sad,Ralsei reveals that he knows a great deal, but believes much of the information will only serve to hurt Kris and Susie.
To spare them that pain, he keeps it to himself so that only he has to carry the burden. Hearing this, Susie understands and states that, if Ralsei wants to act in a way that makes him feel better, she’ll let him do so, but alsoencourages him to trust his friends and share the weight. This makes Ralsei smile, and the trio is reunited once more.
Still struggling to find the leads to the church door code, the trio goes to seal Susie’s Fountain, only to be approached by the fire extinguisher character, who reveals that he has known the code all along.
Kris and Susie return to the Light World, enter the code, andenter a new Dark World based in the church’s main chamber. They are joined again by Ralsei and manage to catch up to the Roaring Knight.
The Big Battle
Here, Susie taunts the Knight with the idea that all they need to do to stop them is seal the Fountain. The Knight laughs at this anduses their power to create another Fountain right in front of them.
With all the darkness accumulating, a Titan is born, and the trio resolve to defeat it by climbing its body to its weak spot. They are aided by Jackenstein and other friends in the church to keep climbing and fighting.
Upon reaching the Titan’s head,they use the light from Kris' soul to shatter its protective barrier so they can attack it directly, only to realize that the Titan can quickly regenerate. They begin to lose hope as the Titan prepares to attack, but are suddenly joined by the Old Man wearing armor and wielding his hammer.
Through their combined efforts, they manage to shatter the barrier, allowing Kris and Susie to jump into its body and destroy it from within. As the trio celebrate their victory, Susie rushes ahead to look for the Old Man with Kris and Ralsei lagging.
Following Susie’s path,they come across unseen parts of the prophecy, and Ralsei realizes that this is the section that depicts the ending. Terrified, he rushes after Susie and pleads with her not to look at it.
When the two finally catch up,Susie is destroying a section of the prophecy (leaving it a mystery to Kris and the player). Ralsei approaches Susie with concern, but Susie laughs off the prophecy, saying that there’s no way something like that could happen and that they’re not tied to fate. After taking a moment to convince Ralsei that she’s okay, Ralsei stays behind as Kris follows her to seal the Fountain.
A Downer Note With Dancing
Upon sealing the Fountain, Kris and Susie find themselves in an empty church in the evening. Still not getting any closer to opening the shelter,Kris and Susie return to Kris’s house only to find Toriel dancing jovially with Sans, the owner of a local diner.
Toriel explains that she canceled choir practice due to the rain and invites Susie and Kris to dance with her. Susie declines and quietly leaves while Kris goes to their room to sleep.
Unable to sleep due to the noise, a possessed Kris arises, and a split screen depicts two scenes:Kris approaching their bedroom window as their phone rings, and Susie, outside in the rain, stating that the prophecy is not going to happen. As it fades to black, the voice on Kris' phone reminds them that they made a promise.
