*This review contains minor spoilers for the game*
24 hours before Halloween, mysterious tweets suddenly appeared on TobyFox's, creator of Undertale, Twitter teasing what he called a SURVEY_PROJECT and after some guessing, all signs pointed to the release of a new game. Then, on Halloween morning, TobyFox released a file called SURVEY_PROJECT which linked to a download for a NEW GAME!! This was a pretty significant moment for me. As someone who loved Undertale and all of the clever ways it flipped RPG conventions on its head, I couldn’t wait to jump into PROJECT_SURVEY. Although upon starting the game, you realize that the game is called (spoilers) Deltarune, an anagram for Undertale. And while this game appears to be very similar to Undertale on the surface: same art style, similar characters and similar music (which is still great); TobyFox insists that this is a whole new game that has no impact on your current Undertale story. I personally find that hard to believe because of the characters you meet along the way, but I will allow him to sell that to me for now if he wants.
As for the game itself, it is an enjoyable, roughly 3 hour story with some optional exploration to increase the length, but what is most interesting about this game is what makes Undertale so memorable. It takes typical RPG tropes and mechanics and flips them on their head while engaging you in a story filled with memorable characters. The gameplay in Deltarune is more complex than Undertale.
This time around you have the ability to fight in a party with one to two other CPUs which means you can have one player heal and another attack/act at the same time. You can also have multiple characters perform the same actions which can lead to combos that deal double damage or double the amount of any action.
So while the offensive side of battles are more complex, the defensive side is about the same as in Undertale. Your overall goal is to dodge incoming enemy attacks as much as you can in a bullet hell style. My only major critique about this part of the game is that the dodging is significantly easier than in Undertale. Even the enemies toward the end of the game are easier than most of the baddies in Undertale. So if you are looking for a new challenging mode then this story will not provide that. If you are looking for a lovable 3 hour journey that at times is scary and features characters than you grow to care for then this game is for you.
Another major departure from Undertale's gameplay mechanics, is that in this game you cannot kill anyone like you can in Undertale. You have the option to spare enemies which rewards you with more money at the end of battles, but when an enemy runs out of HP, they simply run away. Once you finish Deltarune, you will understand why you could not kill anyone, but in the moment it was disappointing to see that my actions did not have consequences like in Undertale.
The music in this game has a very catchy, overarching score, with a variety of other memorable tracks scattered throughout the game, including some classics from Undertale's score which keeps you entertained throughout the whole story.
Finally, when you finish the game, you will probably have more questions than answers so come back here and then follow this link to TobyFox's blog post where he answers them all. Some will be satisfying and some will be disappointing, but all will certainly clarify.
Deltarune is a free game that I definitely recommend you play even if you have not played Undertale, although playing the original helps make this game much more impactful and many of the late game reveals have a better payoff. Even if you have not played Undertale, this is still an high quality, free RPG that can entertain you for three hours or more.
My Score: 90/100
+ Great Music and Art Style
+ More Complex Battle Mechanics
- No Real Character Agency That Impacts the Overall Story