Replayed it and still absolutely blown away. Toby and the team's approach to pacing and tone is unlike any other game out there and it's absolutely wonderful, seamlessly transitioning from great setpieces, battles, and cutscenes effortlessly. This game just WORKS like nothing else. The amount of unique shit in the battles this chapter is astounding, every single little enemy is memorable and fun. I don't really remember what the guys in chapter one did, but I'll remember the goddamn mice, the space invaders virus, and the ambulance outrun guys. That's not even mentioning the boss fights, both major ones just being really fun to fight.

What really amazes me is the writing. Straight up, I have not cared about a cast of characters this much in any video game period. Despite the often wacky shit that happens and all the fucking weird dudes around, the story has some really touching and down to earth moments. The world of Deltarune feels really historied and tangible, the characters all have lives and their own stories its hard not to fall for every single one of them. I just wanna fuckin hug Asgore so goddamn bad.

The crowning achievement of the writing though is undeniably the best character - Susie. Susie is straight up my favourite fucking character. Just, ever. Love her. Love how much you learn about her through how she acts and reacts even when we don't really know all that much about her life. Seeing her actually make some goddamn friends and start enjoying her life is really sweet to me. I love her character so much I'm gonna write an entire fuckin essay about her. She's the absolute fucking best. Also, she's really gay and sick as hell.

Deltarune is incredible and the fact we're only 2/7 of the way through is both the most exciting thing ever and also the most terrifying thing ever. I have no idea where it's going and I can't wait for more.

i don't know if I've ever been more excited for a game like I have with Deltarune. honestly, i thought that was bad - that it would never live up to my expectations beyond its first chapter. It doesn't. Chapter 2 markedly improves on the presentation and gameplay of Deltarune, it consistently surprised me with fucking insane designs and clever encounters. there's a lot more going on mechanically in this part then there was previously.

not to mention the writing. i have NO fucking clue where it's going and I'm fascinated. the characters have so much more time to breathe than in Undertale and this chapter absolutely makes the most of it, the last segment with Susie especially was so sweet it made me cry a bit. i just love this all so, so much. cannot fucking BELIEVE there's gonna be five more of this, that we're not even a third of the way through makes me feel insane. never anticipated something like i have this, if it continues at this quality it's gonna be my favourite game period. fuckin loved it.

the writing is so crusty it loops back to being enjoyable. almost a parody of anime tropes, to the extent that i'm not entirely sure this isn't satirical. the childhood friend girl-next-door love interest, the comic relief loser sidekick, the cute animal mascot, the stoic boy who's actually a super important special powers boy who got evil science done to him, and Toki. TOKI. she's the WORST, she's like how nerds remember the most marketable 'waifu' traits of Asuka and Rei Evangelion combined into a younger, edgier looking fanservice machine. the gameplay is probably the best mainline SMT has ever had up to this point, its atmosphere and art direction is nowhere near Nocturne's (tho what is) but this franchise's character writing hasn't ever been that strong. if you can have a good time with some anime babes saying shit like "homeslice went bananacakes" and dumbass edgelord demons telling you to unleash your joker's trick, then it's worth playing. if you can't handle that, you're a coward anyways.