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rionaleonhart) wrote2021-09-20 09:13 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2021-09-20 09:13 am
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We're Busy Hanging Out Alone In The Closet.
The second chapter of Deltarune came out a few days ago! I replayed the first chapter, to refresh my memory (and because I'd lost my save when switching computers), and then charged through chapter two at a frankly ill-advised clip.
I made notes on both chapters, which I'll put under separate cuts, in case anyone hasn't finished chapter two yet and wants to read my first-chapter notes without the risk of spoilers.
Replaying chapter one, and the way Kris turns to look at us whenever we regain control is making me increasingly uncomfortable.
I've wondered whether we're controlling Kris against their will, but, in turning to face us, they could consciously be handing control over to us. Looking at us as an invitation, a 'now it's your turn'.
Kris moving to defend Susie from the King's attack is the only time in the entire first chapter, apart from the very end, that Kris takes action on their own. That's not the player. That's Kris.
One interesting aspect of Deltarune's design (and indeed Undertale's) is the way that, despite originally being created in English, it's written to feel like a slightly awkward translation. The occasional oddly placed apostrophes and commas and quotation marks don't feel like accidents; they're intentionally evoking the days when games would commonly be translated into English by a very small team, or even a single person, without being edited at any point by a native English speaker. It doesn't just want to look and sound like a videogame from the nineties; it wants to feel like a videogame from the nineties.
Reading a comic full of hot demon guys instead of studying. Truly Temmie is the most relatable Deltarune character.
I genuinely love the message on the Gerson Boom Memorial Bench. 'Throughout my career, some of my best ideas came from dreams. Take a rest here. If anyone asks - you're writing!'
What do we know about Kris from chapter one? They're isolated, they're quiet, they're apparently the only human in town, they seem to be the less favoured child to an extent where they've probably picked up on it. They play cruel pranks, they misbehave, there are suggestions that they abuse intoxicants. But we also see signs of sentimentality from them; their throat feels tight when they drink the hot chocolate they used to share with their brother, their experience in the Dark World seems to be important to them. And they also genuinely consider Susie a friend after their experiences together. They save her from the King's attack; they say to Toriel that they've been with a friend; we're told they look annoyed when the Monster Kid badmouths Susie. Kris generally comes across as a lonely, unhappy kid acting out, rather than as malicious.
Frisk, the protagonist of Undertale, never really interested me; they're essentially a blank space for the player to reshape to their will. Kris is very interesting to me. We're still controlling them, in so far as we have any control in this world where our choices don't matter, but it feels like there's something more there.
Something that I hadn't picked up on previous playthroughs is that Kris's family seems to be a religious family, although Kris themselves only seems interested in the church for its wine. There's a book of hymns in the house; the family used to go to the diner after services; Asriel sang in the church choir.
It's been interesting to refresh my memory! Let's head into chapter two.
As with chapter one, I was sort of uncomfortable and unsettled at first, then perked up as soon as I entered a new area with lively music. When you progress into the cyber field after first meeting the Queen, the music kicks in and I immediately remembered that, yes, this game may feel a little unsettling in some respects, but it's also fun and charming!
Ralsei was way cuter with his hat on. Sorry, Ralsei.
I love the Sonic spin jumps!
'From now on, ralsay drools Susie rules' cracked me up. Sorry, Ralsei, but I have to agree; Susie's my favourite, which I didn't consciously realise until I found myself choosing her whenever there was an opportunity. Go with Ralsei or Susie? Susie, obviously. Who do you give the prize to? Definitely Susie. Who would you take to the festival? Susie. I promise I'm not trying to be your romantic rival, Noelle, but Susie's the funniest character in the game and has the best character development.
I wasn't expecting to get new party members, so Noelle joining was a very cool surprise!
Noelle is touched that Kris says they're friends! I'm intrigued by the potential dynamic between Noelle and Kris; Kris generally seems to be viewed as a bit of a problem child, but Noelle's willing to reach out to them in a way others might not be, because she's someone who always wants to give people a chance.
Kris seems to be expressive on occasion! Susie demands to know why they sound so enthusiastic when choosing the 'perish' option; Noelle wonders why they look pleased when receiving the title of 'Moss Finder'. I don't think Frisk ever got this sort of characterisation.
Apparently Kris, Noelle and Asriel used to hang out with someone called Dess. Short for December? Noelle's sister, maybe?
The Queen tends to overlook Ralsei's existence, to an extent that I find strange. Because he's a Darkner? Or for some other reason? (Wait, if he's a Darkner, why can he exist in other worlds, and why was he present in the town before we brought all the Darkners there?) There's no room set up for Ralsei in the prison, but there is one for Asriel.
I didn't trust Ralsei in chapter one, and I trust him even less in this chapter. His kindness feels surface-level, somehow. He's very consciously being nice (in fact, he explicitly mentions at one point that he thought he had to be nice to befriend us), but it doesn't come naturally to him to act with kindness or concern. In particular, he feels strangely callous when Rouxls Kaard turns to stone, or when Noelle is concerned about the Queen after the final battle.
If Ralsei isn't to be trusted, is it possible Kris isn't acting with ill intent in opening a Dark Fountain? Or is Kris just tired of the world they live in and prepared to risk the Roaring if they can just change something?
If there's no malice there, though, why slash Toriel's tyres? To prevent Toriel from taking them out of the new world? Or am I just assuming Kris was the one who slashed the tyres, because they were unaccounted for when it happened?
Another thing I've been wondering: I assumed Kris was pulling their soul out in order to escape the player's control, as the soul is the part we have control over. But there are signs that Kris was in the habit of pulling their soul out even before we arrived. Why? To do things without being held back by conscience? As a form of self-harm? Was someone else controlling Kris in the past? Or will we end up controlling Kris in the past in a later chapter?
I thought after the first chapter that I might like Deltarune more than Undertale, and I can now say it with confidence. Undertale is a good game, but the inclusion of party members in Deltarune really adds something. (And by 'something' I mean 'lots and lots of fun dialogue'.)
I made notes on both chapters, which I'll put under separate cuts, in case anyone hasn't finished chapter two yet and wants to read my first-chapter notes without the risk of spoilers.
Replaying chapter one, and the way Kris turns to look at us whenever we regain control is making me increasingly uncomfortable.
I've wondered whether we're controlling Kris against their will, but, in turning to face us, they could consciously be handing control over to us. Looking at us as an invitation, a 'now it's your turn'.
Kris moving to defend Susie from the King's attack is the only time in the entire first chapter, apart from the very end, that Kris takes action on their own. That's not the player. That's Kris.
One interesting aspect of Deltarune's design (and indeed Undertale's) is the way that, despite originally being created in English, it's written to feel like a slightly awkward translation. The occasional oddly placed apostrophes and commas and quotation marks don't feel like accidents; they're intentionally evoking the days when games would commonly be translated into English by a very small team, or even a single person, without being edited at any point by a native English speaker. It doesn't just want to look and sound like a videogame from the nineties; it wants to feel like a videogame from the nineties.
Reading a comic full of hot demon guys instead of studying. Truly Temmie is the most relatable Deltarune character.
I genuinely love the message on the Gerson Boom Memorial Bench. 'Throughout my career, some of my best ideas came from dreams. Take a rest here. If anyone asks - you're writing!'
What do we know about Kris from chapter one? They're isolated, they're quiet, they're apparently the only human in town, they seem to be the less favoured child to an extent where they've probably picked up on it. They play cruel pranks, they misbehave, there are suggestions that they abuse intoxicants. But we also see signs of sentimentality from them; their throat feels tight when they drink the hot chocolate they used to share with their brother, their experience in the Dark World seems to be important to them. And they also genuinely consider Susie a friend after their experiences together. They save her from the King's attack; they say to Toriel that they've been with a friend; we're told they look annoyed when the Monster Kid badmouths Susie. Kris generally comes across as a lonely, unhappy kid acting out, rather than as malicious.
Frisk, the protagonist of Undertale, never really interested me; they're essentially a blank space for the player to reshape to their will. Kris is very interesting to me. We're still controlling them, in so far as we have any control in this world where our choices don't matter, but it feels like there's something more there.
Something that I hadn't picked up on previous playthroughs is that Kris's family seems to be a religious family, although Kris themselves only seems interested in the church for its wine. There's a book of hymns in the house; the family used to go to the diner after services; Asriel sang in the church choir.
It's been interesting to refresh my memory! Let's head into chapter two.
As with chapter one, I was sort of uncomfortable and unsettled at first, then perked up as soon as I entered a new area with lively music. When you progress into the cyber field after first meeting the Queen, the music kicks in and I immediately remembered that, yes, this game may feel a little unsettling in some respects, but it's also fun and charming!
Ralsei was way cuter with his hat on. Sorry, Ralsei.
I love the Sonic spin jumps!
'From now on, ralsay drools Susie rules' cracked me up. Sorry, Ralsei, but I have to agree; Susie's my favourite, which I didn't consciously realise until I found myself choosing her whenever there was an opportunity. Go with Ralsei or Susie? Susie, obviously. Who do you give the prize to? Definitely Susie. Who would you take to the festival? Susie. I promise I'm not trying to be your romantic rival, Noelle, but Susie's the funniest character in the game and has the best character development.
I wasn't expecting to get new party members, so Noelle joining was a very cool surprise!
Noelle is touched that Kris says they're friends! I'm intrigued by the potential dynamic between Noelle and Kris; Kris generally seems to be viewed as a bit of a problem child, but Noelle's willing to reach out to them in a way others might not be, because she's someone who always wants to give people a chance.
Kris seems to be expressive on occasion! Susie demands to know why they sound so enthusiastic when choosing the 'perish' option; Noelle wonders why they look pleased when receiving the title of 'Moss Finder'. I don't think Frisk ever got this sort of characterisation.
Apparently Kris, Noelle and Asriel used to hang out with someone called Dess. Short for December? Noelle's sister, maybe?
The Queen tends to overlook Ralsei's existence, to an extent that I find strange. Because he's a Darkner? Or for some other reason? (Wait, if he's a Darkner, why can he exist in other worlds, and why was he present in the town before we brought all the Darkners there?) There's no room set up for Ralsei in the prison, but there is one for Asriel.
I didn't trust Ralsei in chapter one, and I trust him even less in this chapter. His kindness feels surface-level, somehow. He's very consciously being nice (in fact, he explicitly mentions at one point that he thought he had to be nice to befriend us), but it doesn't come naturally to him to act with kindness or concern. In particular, he feels strangely callous when Rouxls Kaard turns to stone, or when Noelle is concerned about the Queen after the final battle.
If Ralsei isn't to be trusted, is it possible Kris isn't acting with ill intent in opening a Dark Fountain? Or is Kris just tired of the world they live in and prepared to risk the Roaring if they can just change something?
If there's no malice there, though, why slash Toriel's tyres? To prevent Toriel from taking them out of the new world? Or am I just assuming Kris was the one who slashed the tyres, because they were unaccounted for when it happened?
Another thing I've been wondering: I assumed Kris was pulling their soul out in order to escape the player's control, as the soul is the part we have control over. But there are signs that Kris was in the habit of pulling their soul out even before we arrived. Why? To do things without being held back by conscience? As a form of self-harm? Was someone else controlling Kris in the past? Or will we end up controlling Kris in the past in a later chapter?
I thought after the first chapter that I might like Deltarune more than Undertale, and I can now say it with confidence. Undertale is a good game, but the inclusion of party members in Deltarune really adds something. (And by 'something' I mean 'lots and lots of fun dialogue'.)
Re: Deltarune spoilers
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.
I also wondered about that! I didn't see it outright confirmed in my playthrough, but 'Noelle had a sister called December, who's no longer around' seems to make sense. Noelle, Kris and Asriel used to spend time with a Dess as kids, Noelle shut down when asked to spell 'December' at the spelling bee, and I think Noelle mentions having a sister at one point. Plus there's a calendar in Noelle's search-result personalised room formed entirely of 25 Decembers, which could potentially be the result of searching for 'December Holiday'.
Re: Deltarune spoilers
Noelle mentions that she used to watch horror movies with her sister and reminisces about Kris, Asriel and her hanging out with someone named Dess. Maybe people extrapolated from that. I honestly quite like how we're being slowly dripfed backstory though it's also somewhat maddening to know we probably won't get more info for at least another 2 years.
I wonder what happened to Dess. I've seen speculation that she died which seems like a definite possibility but that raises the question of why she isn't in the graveyard? Maybe she ran away or otherwise disappeared in a non-conclusive way.
By the way have you heard of the Snowgrave route? I was a little surprised to learn that it's apparently a real thing but only a little surprised given Undertale's proclivity to be its own creepypasta.