I played Deltarune chapter 2 this weekend and have thoughts about it too. I'm also very curious to find out just what Kris's deal is. I feel like they need their soul inside of them to some extent given how they shamble around like a zombie after tearing it out. That makes me feel slightly less guilty about how I'm apparently possessing them.
I agree with you about Ralsei, both that his behatted design was cuter and that I think he is up to something.
I've seen other people talking about Dess being Noelle's sister like it's a definitely canon thing so maybe it's confirmed somewhere I just didn't look. Speaking of which, I liked Noelle a lot this chapter she's really sweet and her little animations were extremely endearing.