It's very impressive how Chapter 1 of Deltarune manages to simultaneously embrace the love people have for Undertale's characters and the emotions that game made its fans feel whilst also being something very unique and different that doesn't want to just live in Undertale's shadow. How it manages to subvert Undertale's subversions and play with your expectations in delightful and meaningful ways. How it stands on its own as a genuinely affecting self-contained story, whilst hinting at the larger themes and story-beats just enough to entice you and yet not so much as to really give you a clear idea of what to expect next.

There's a lot of heart here, especially in regards to Susie's character arc which is very well-realised and almost brought me to tears. As a result of being one chapter of a longer tale some of the more gamey elements don't quite have enough time to realise their full potential (Jevil rules, however), and it's possible that once the later chapters are out I'll revise my score upwards especially as it's hard not to believe that the full picture won't make some aspects of this Chapter come into clearer focus, but this was lovely and I'm very excited to play Chapter 2 soon.

Reviewed on Jun 21, 2022


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