There's no denying how impactful Undertale was from a lot of its aspects, if not all. From its effortlessly charming characters to the way it played around the well-known JRPG tropes, it's a massively beloved title for all the right reasons. So there wasn't a lot to expect about a sequel being able to follow up to the success without feeling like a rote rehash of the aspects that made the first game so amazing to begin with. Fortunately, Deltarune: Chapter 1 is way more than that.

Deltarune: Chapter 1 sets itself up from the beginning as a direct antithesis to Undertale, starting up with a character customizer only to completely discard your customized character once you finish, before telling you that you don't choose who you are in this world. The whole point is "your choices don't matter", as unlike Undertale, here, you'll just get to the same outcome regardless of what you do in every situation.

While Undertale played around the JRPG tropes and even turned them around their heads more often than not, Deltarune: Chapter 1 plays with all of these tropes in a completely straightforward way. This puts the latter back in familiar territory, which is a bit baffling considering how well the former stood out from the rest with its unique ideas, but Deltarune: Chapter 1 has its own little perks that help mold an identity of its own; namely the way, depending on your choices, you can get different and entertaining approaches to the same inevitable outcome.

The game also introduces a few mechanics to improve over Undertale's gameplay, and most of them work well. Having 3 save files instead of only 1 is nice, the running feature should've honestly been in the very first game, and the Defend feature is a good way of getting TP at the expense of a turn. The only mechanic I'm torn between (mostly in terms of execution) is the one involving more than 1 character in your party. It's a nice feature on paper, but having all the three characters act on the same turn marginally lowers any risk of loss (whereas I got a significant amount of Game Overs in Undertale, I got a grand total of zero Game Overs here, which says a lot).

In terms of story and characters, Deltarune: Chapter 1 isn't that much of a game changer; you got the mysterious world with a prophecy of a human and a monster that just so happen to eventually come to save the world (the chosen ones); nothing revolutionary. But hey, there's some excitement to be found around how this particular Dark World is built and the characters that inhabit it. The particular highlight here, though, is Susie. She starts off as an apathetic school bully who couldn't give less of a shit about the carnage she provokes, but once she eventually joins "the bad side" and has a lot of fun with Lancer, she forms a bond with him and learns to be a lot more empathetic and understanding by the end without giving up on her signature rough 'n' tough attitude. It's a very compellingly crafted character arc that we see and feel happening through the dialogue and interactions the characters have along the game, and all without mentioning her and Lancer's antics are really fun to watch especially when they're together.

And the soundtrack, of course, is just as strong as the predecessor if not just as memorable; using a lot of the leitmotif formulas from Undertale but with its own catchy tracks. Not much to say here; I like it.

Overall, Deltarune: Chapter 1 isn't particularly able to live up to the masterfulness of its predecessor, but that's okay. Because if this chapter proves something, it's that Deltarune isn't Undertale, but its very own thing. And I respect that.

I played both this and chapter 2 together in one sitting, so instead of reviewing a singular chapter, I'm just going to review them both as parts of a singular whole with same score. Kind of awkward, but that is what happens when you don't fully release your games :P

That being said, Deltarune makes a good first impression. The story is considerably more interesting, the character designs are much better, the gameplay is massive improved and good lord, the soundtrack is wonderfully catchy. My biggest complaint of Undertale was that the battle system was largely neglected. Deltarune completely sidesteps this issue. Fighting is a valid option, mercy is a valid option. Do what you want! It means that I can fight however I damn well please and have a good time doing it. The combat system is fun, too. The game design here is a significant improvent than from Undertale. Memorable area after memorable area, as well as good fights - Deltarune knows exactly where to pick up from the failings of Undertale.
However, Toby Fox is still Toby Fox - and around the time of Chapter 1, the combat system was still lacking polish. I found myself underwhelmed by the supporting cast - Ralsei and Susie feel very plain, and trope-heavy. They weren't unlikable, but I had expected more from them. Kris, on the other hand, is intriguing. I love their role in the story and I cannot wait to see what direction the character goes in. The gameplay is lacking polish, and it becomes apparent after playing Chapter 2 that the devs knew it. Only Kris can act, meaning that some of the party members can feel more like burdens - especially Susie.
However, while I don't think these complaints are minor and are actually rather significant, Deltarune is a step in the right direction. Chapter 1 is a great setup, and it begins to show a real growth in the style of Toby Fox from Undertale.