Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-06-18 11:42 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2025-06-18 11:42 am
Entry tags:
Does Anyone Know What An E-Mail Is?
I've been playing Deltarune! I've replayed chapters one and two, and I've also finished the new chapter three; I haven't played the fourth chapter yet.
For the benefit of anyone who's trying to avoid spoilers, this entry has two different cuts. The first cut contains my thoughts from revisiting the first two chapters (mainly disjointed speculation, including speculation on the Snowgrave route), with no spoilers for the new material, and the second cut contains my thoughts on chapter three.
I do not trust Ralsei for an instant. I don't trust the way he positions himself as the prophecy's 'prince from the dark' when we're given no indication that Ralsei is actually a prince, whereas we do know that Lancer is a prince. I don't trust his claim that Castle Town's dark pillar was the original one and the one at the king's castle sprang up recently, when it feels more likely to me that the king's castle would have been built around the original pillar. I don't trust that he outright tells us not to fight enemies, when Undertale was a lot more subtle about it. I don't trust the way he looks back at us-the-player before closing the door to Castle Town. I don't trust the fact that moving to other Dark Worlds doesn't petrify him, suggesting he's not actually the Darkner he claims to be. I don't trust him! Don't listen to him!
But I'm still nice to him at every opportunity, because, hey, if I'm nice then maybe he'll at least feel bad when he betrays us.
He's pretty cute with his hat on, too, and it's frankly outrageous that he becomes so much less cute when he removes it.
And now for some rambling, possibly incoherent thoughts about the Snowgrave route and its potential themes:
In chapter one, when you examine the bead toy in the hospital, you get the message 'The beads march grimly along their set path.' At the end of a regular chapter two playthrough, you're told the beads continue to march.
Is the message different in a Snowgrave playthrough? Have the beads diverged; is the toy broken?
Is the Snowgrave playthrough about freedom? Or about cruelties committed for the illusion of freedom? After all, the events of a Snowgrave playthrough are just as programmed in as anything else; whether we go down one path or the other, we're still at the mercy of the writing of this game. But, by taking Noelle's freedom away from her, we can feel like we're seizing some agency for ourselves.
Oh, okay, I've managed to look up the Snowgrave description! 'It's a toy with beads on a track. One of the blue beads is broken and torn off.' So Berdly has been removed from the track, his fate has changed (for the worse), but the other beads continue. We cannot escape our fate by 'breaking the game's programming' (in quotation marks because, although Snowgrave is designed to feel like something you shouldn't be able to do, it is in fact an intentional part of the game). We are not free in the Snowgrave route.
(I'm intentionally using 'we' for its ambiguity, because I'm not sure whether I'm talking about the player or Kris or both.)
Actually, it's possible the blue bead is Kris, rather than Berdly. If I know anything at all about Deltarune, it's intentionally ambiguous, especially as we're explicitly told it's 'one of the blue beads' rather than just 'a blue bead'. In which case maybe we are free in the Snowgrave route; who knows? And, if we are, is that freedom worth the cost?
And now on to chapter three!
Boy, I bet the fandom really wants to fuck this television.
The Zelda-esque sections are so charming! They could easily have ended up feeling slow or dull, but they're really elevated by the way the characters play around and react to things on the screen. Susie swapping the controllers is a particular highlight.
I'm glad this game lets us flirt with a watercooler. Not enough do. I'm generally delighted by how often you can defeat the enemy through flirting in these games.
Also delighted that Rouxls describes us as a 'battle throuple'.
Riona: I can't believe Rouxls would say our throuple sucks. Our throuple majority does not suck. Only Ralsei sucks.
Tem: Yeah, our couple is fine.
(I don't hate Ralsei, but I view him with intense suspicion, and he's so outclassed in my heart by Kris and Susie!)
'Wait, you guyse artn't a Thinge?' Rouxls asks. But... are we not? Are we not, really?
The more I play, the more I feel Kris might be willing to accept the player's control, at least to some extent. The way Kris turns to look at us when gameplay sections begin makes it feel like they're handing back control to us. There's also the fact that Kris, after ripping out their soul to climb out of the window in chapter two, intentionally restores it once they've finished their task. How does Kris feel about us?
I've previously seen it theorised that, when Ralsei invites us to picture what Susie is doing, he's intentionally sending the player's perspective away (to follow Susie) so he can speak to Kris without the player overhearing. Chapter three definitely seems to support that; Ralsei outright says that he and Kris haven't really spoken in a while before trying to send our perspective away to follow Susie, and he seems a little thrown when we resist that perspective shift.
(Breaks my heart to resist the perspective shift, because Susie's my favourite and I want to see what she's doing, but I'm so curious about what Ralsei is up to!)
What this suggests is that a) Ralsei knows about the player, and b) Ralsei may be honest when he's alone with Kris in a way in which he isn't when we're around. I still don't trust Ralsei, but maybe I'm wrong to think he's plotting against Kris and Susie; maybe he and Kris are actually conspiring against me. I'm definitely starting to get the impression that, whatever Ralsei's intentions, he might genuinely care about Susie and Kris, whereas in preceding chapters I wasn't sure he cared at all.
Oh, wow, the knight looks like it has antlers; is it Dess??
Susie's such a goddamn hero. She's great. But, if she's the hero, who is Kris?
The Dark Worlds in the first three chapters are each built around a different form of entertainment: physical toys and games, computers, television. But what about the Dark World in the bunker? Bunkers aren't typically known for their entertainment value. I suppose you might have books in the bunker, but it wouldn't be an intuitive place for a book world, especially as the town has a library. No idea what this Dark World could be built around, but I suppose we'll find out!
One of the most striking things about Deltarune, like Undertale before it, is how dense this game is with fun little details. It takes every opportunity to slip in a secret or a joke. You're constantly rewarded for poking around, for trying new things, for taking a second look. It's an approach that makes the world such a pleasure to explore.
I'm looking forward to playing chapter four; please try not to give anything away in the comments!
For the benefit of anyone who's trying to avoid spoilers, this entry has two different cuts. The first cut contains my thoughts from revisiting the first two chapters (mainly disjointed speculation, including speculation on the Snowgrave route), with no spoilers for the new material, and the second cut contains my thoughts on chapter three.
I do not trust Ralsei for an instant. I don't trust the way he positions himself as the prophecy's 'prince from the dark' when we're given no indication that Ralsei is actually a prince, whereas we do know that Lancer is a prince. I don't trust his claim that Castle Town's dark pillar was the original one and the one at the king's castle sprang up recently, when it feels more likely to me that the king's castle would have been built around the original pillar. I don't trust that he outright tells us not to fight enemies, when Undertale was a lot more subtle about it. I don't trust the way he looks back at us-the-player before closing the door to Castle Town. I don't trust the fact that moving to other Dark Worlds doesn't petrify him, suggesting he's not actually the Darkner he claims to be. I don't trust him! Don't listen to him!
But I'm still nice to him at every opportunity, because, hey, if I'm nice then maybe he'll at least feel bad when he betrays us.
He's pretty cute with his hat on, too, and it's frankly outrageous that he becomes so much less cute when he removes it.
And now for some rambling, possibly incoherent thoughts about the Snowgrave route and its potential themes:
In chapter one, when you examine the bead toy in the hospital, you get the message 'The beads march grimly along their set path.' At the end of a regular chapter two playthrough, you're told the beads continue to march.
Is the message different in a Snowgrave playthrough? Have the beads diverged; is the toy broken?
Is the Snowgrave playthrough about freedom? Or about cruelties committed for the illusion of freedom? After all, the events of a Snowgrave playthrough are just as programmed in as anything else; whether we go down one path or the other, we're still at the mercy of the writing of this game. But, by taking Noelle's freedom away from her, we can feel like we're seizing some agency for ourselves.
Oh, okay, I've managed to look up the Snowgrave description! 'It's a toy with beads on a track. One of the blue beads is broken and torn off.' So Berdly has been removed from the track, his fate has changed (for the worse), but the other beads continue. We cannot escape our fate by 'breaking the game's programming' (in quotation marks because, although Snowgrave is designed to feel like something you shouldn't be able to do, it is in fact an intentional part of the game). We are not free in the Snowgrave route.
(I'm intentionally using 'we' for its ambiguity, because I'm not sure whether I'm talking about the player or Kris or both.)
Actually, it's possible the blue bead is Kris, rather than Berdly. If I know anything at all about Deltarune, it's intentionally ambiguous, especially as we're explicitly told it's 'one of the blue beads' rather than just 'a blue bead'. In which case maybe we are free in the Snowgrave route; who knows? And, if we are, is that freedom worth the cost?
And now on to chapter three!
Boy, I bet the fandom really wants to fuck this television.
The Zelda-esque sections are so charming! They could easily have ended up feeling slow or dull, but they're really elevated by the way the characters play around and react to things on the screen. Susie swapping the controllers is a particular highlight.
I'm glad this game lets us flirt with a watercooler. Not enough do. I'm generally delighted by how often you can defeat the enemy through flirting in these games.
Also delighted that Rouxls describes us as a 'battle throuple'.
Riona: I can't believe Rouxls would say our throuple sucks. Our throuple majority does not suck. Only Ralsei sucks.
Tem: Yeah, our couple is fine.
(I don't hate Ralsei, but I view him with intense suspicion, and he's so outclassed in my heart by Kris and Susie!)
'Wait, you guyse artn't a Thinge?' Rouxls asks. But... are we not? Are we not, really?
The more I play, the more I feel Kris might be willing to accept the player's control, at least to some extent. The way Kris turns to look at us when gameplay sections begin makes it feel like they're handing back control to us. There's also the fact that Kris, after ripping out their soul to climb out of the window in chapter two, intentionally restores it once they've finished their task. How does Kris feel about us?
I've previously seen it theorised that, when Ralsei invites us to picture what Susie is doing, he's intentionally sending the player's perspective away (to follow Susie) so he can speak to Kris without the player overhearing. Chapter three definitely seems to support that; Ralsei outright says that he and Kris haven't really spoken in a while before trying to send our perspective away to follow Susie, and he seems a little thrown when we resist that perspective shift.
(Breaks my heart to resist the perspective shift, because Susie's my favourite and I want to see what she's doing, but I'm so curious about what Ralsei is up to!)
What this suggests is that a) Ralsei knows about the player, and b) Ralsei may be honest when he's alone with Kris in a way in which he isn't when we're around. I still don't trust Ralsei, but maybe I'm wrong to think he's plotting against Kris and Susie; maybe he and Kris are actually conspiring against me. I'm definitely starting to get the impression that, whatever Ralsei's intentions, he might genuinely care about Susie and Kris, whereas in preceding chapters I wasn't sure he cared at all.
Oh, wow, the knight looks like it has antlers; is it Dess??
Susie's such a goddamn hero. She's great. But, if she's the hero, who is Kris?
The Dark Worlds in the first three chapters are each built around a different form of entertainment: physical toys and games, computers, television. But what about the Dark World in the bunker? Bunkers aren't typically known for their entertainment value. I suppose you might have books in the bunker, but it wouldn't be an intuitive place for a book world, especially as the town has a library. No idea what this Dark World could be built around, but I suppose we'll find out!
One of the most striking things about Deltarune, like Undertale before it, is how dense this game is with fun little details. It takes every opportunity to slip in a secret or a joke. You're constantly rewarded for poking around, for trying new things, for taking a second look. It's an approach that makes the world such a pleasure to explore.
I'm looking forward to playing chapter four; please try not to give anything away in the comments!