Warning: contains spoilers to “Deltarune Chapter One”

American game developer and composer Toby Fox created Deltarune in 2018. As of 2021, both chapters of Deltarune are available on PC, PS4 and the Nintendo Switch. Deltarune chapters one and two had a large gap in terms of release as Chapter One came out in 2018, and Chapter Two in 2021. Fans hated the wait, but it was certainly worth it.

At the end of Chapter One, Kris physically tore their soul out of their body and held a knife to the screen. Chapter Two starts up, and the player is immediately stressed as Toriel, Kris’ mother, is panicked to find her child with a knife. The first thought was that Kris had stabbed Toriel since she screams in the scene. Typical Toby Fox, however, plays the whole thing off and makes it light hearted. Instead of being shocked that Kris even had a knife to begin with, she calls Kris out for using the knife to eat the pie she made the night before. Toriel even says, “this is your knife, is it not?”

The beginning of Chapter Two takes place the day after Kris, Susie and Ralsei had their adventures in the Dark World. Kris and Susie’s relationship has an immediate shift too—it’s much less hostile than the first chapter. They joke around and talk to each other like they’ve been friends forever. Of course, this is thanks to the many life or death situations the group was thrusted into the previous day. After class, Susie tells Kris that they have to go back to the Dark World to visit Ralsei and Lancer, completely blowing off their group project. However, before they can enter the Dark World portal, a girl from their class approaches them, Noelle Holiday. Noelle has a very obvious crush on Susie and can barely talk to her without stuttering or running away. This interaction has got to be one of my favorites because when Noelle asks them what they’re doing by the old closet door, they panic and tell Noelle they’re committing crimes. Noelle reluctantly, and very concernedly, leaves Kris and Susie to their own devices, but not before giving Susie a box of chalk. Finally, Kris and Susie are able to enter the Dark World and reconnect with their friends. Raslei gives them the tour of his newly rebuilt castle, complete with special rooms for all of our heroes. Eventually, things get boring with no magical quests or monsters to fight with, so Kris and Susie bid Ralsei and Lancer goodbye for now. Once back in the real world, the pair decides to go visit Noelle and her group project partner, Berdley, in the library. However, things are eerily quiet in town and only get weirder when Kris and Susie enter the library, where they find another Dark World portal. The pair nervously, but also excitedly, jump into the portal and prep themselves for yet another epic adventure. Kris and Susie are transported into Cyber World, a mysterious place full of computers, outdated internet memes, tedious puzzles, a trash salesman and relationship issues. However, Kris and Susie find they aren’t alone in this world when they see Queen kidnapping Noelle, assisted by Berdley. Kris and Susie, and now Ralsei since he seemingly appeared out of nowhere, go on another quest to save the day.

Chapter Two was a lot of fun to play through, the dialogue was entertaining, the music was fantastic and the story was very well structured. One of the best parts of the chapter was the salesman you meet in a trashcan around the middle of the story, Spamton. Spamton is such a colorful character, both written and visually. Spamton quickly became a fan favorite, much to Toby Fox’s confusion. On Nov. 26, Fox tweeted about the love Spamton was receiving, and how it shocked him.

I love Chapter Two’s OST a lot and encourage you to listen through it. Every song on that track is able to make you feel exactly what Fox wants you to feel. The tense songs make you anxious, the peppy songs make you feel energetic and etc… I’m always impressed with how well Fox composes his music, it not only makes for a better playing experience, but it gives players some more music to listen to outside of the game. Some of my favorite songs from the Chapter Two OST are Smart Race, BIG SHOT, Queen and A CYBER’S WORLD.

Another part of Chapter Two I loved was the Snowgrave route. Snowgrave is a secret genocide route that you can unlock after Noelle joins the party while trying to hid from Queen. Genocide routes in Deltarune as Undertale are often very dark and twisted, fitting for murder, but nothing compares to Snowgrave. This route is extremely unsettling. Without giving much away, Kris teaches Noelle how to defend herself by killing, hence the genocide route. Kris is essentially possessed by the player, so it’s not Kris forcing Noelle into these situations, but it’s the player. This trope is in the other games and is very well done, but Deltarune does it the best.

There was a lot I didn’t cover because there’s simply so much content. Chapter Two was well worth the wait, and if you’re a fan of 8-bit inspired games, Deltarune will most likely be your thing. Toby Fox is a fantastic game designer, and everything he’s made thus far has been a home run. I’m giving Chapter Two a solid 10/10 and am wholeheartedly recommending this free to download game.