Welcome everyone to a brand new challenge for the blog – Mae’s 30 Day Video Game Challenge for 2024! Well, it’s more of a monthly celebration of all things gaming, where I gush about 30 of my top games overall instead of answering daily prompts. They can be some of my forever favorites, games that have recently piqued my interest, or even games incoming that I’m currently hyped about. I may even group some games up in categories here and there, maybe as games from the same series, or various versions of the same game, to hype them up as why I enjoy them so much. We’ll see where the night takes us haha.
Day Twenty-Seven: Undertale and Deltarune
Yes, we’re finally going to talk about Undertale and the game that followed after, Deltarune! That’s right baby, two games for the price of one 🙂 the Toby Fox Universe collides once again! Hahaha! I felt it was only fitting to share my love for this franchise after chatting about Earthbound and the Mother series – considering these games would probably never be without their influence to a young, up-in-coming game developer.
In 2011, Toby Fox awoke from a dream that would change the course of his life forever. In this dream, he saw the ending of a game – an ending so detailed and impactful that he was determined to see it through, creating the game that would house that ending. Thus Fox’s journey began in the first steps of this franchise – beginning the development of his game…Deltarune. Yes, Deltarune was actually the game that started it all.
Fox was no stranger to game development. He and his brothers would experiment with RPG Maker 2000 to develop games of their own, though few were ever completed. Fox also worked on several Earthbound ROM Hacks in high school, influenced by a game that left such a meaningful impact on his life. One of his most popular games, a Halloween ROM Hack, still circulates the internet to this day – though I won’t dive any deeper on it since Fox himself is not proud of this game and instead wishes to focus on the works he is putting into the world in present day.
Development for the game began in 2012; however, Fox abandoned the project after completing the first room, his mental state in building a project like this all on his own too much to bear for the time being. Instead, Fox then shifted gears and turned to another idea of his – a game that would become Undertale. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Fox developed the entire game in 32 months with only minimal assistance with the art, with Temmie Chang taking on the lead artist role for the game. This indie developer who before was only known for his ROM Hacks and musical themes he developed for the web series Homestuck…had made a game. And this game…would send waves across the world, spanning far and wide.
I didn’t have the pleasure of hearing about the game when it was first being campaigned in 2013. I only came across it in its early stages of release, with Let’s Players across YouTube and Twitch diving into this game…that was all about choice – do you play the game like any other and slay the monsters that stand before you – or do you find the common ground and show a bit of mercy? A theme you’ve probably found throughout a lot of the games I’ve mentioned this month is I relish when my choices in the game actually have weight to the story at large. And this game – immediately kicks off with your choices shaping just how this story will play out.
I don’t think I’m really going to get through this post without dropping a few spoilers on these games period – so I’m just going to go ahead and give the BIG OLE SPOILER WARNING! Because in order to really tell you why these mean so much to me…we’ve really got to talk about them. So let’s talk.
When you, the protagonist, first fall into the Underground and come across Flowey, something of note as the player is that your character (which you can name whatever you want but let’s just go ahead and call them Frisk) is silent. And this silence remains throughout the entirety of your game. You are in control. To me, Frisk is you. And whatever you decide is what Frisk does. It’s a pretty simple way to look at it overall but it’s hard not to see it that way. Because without that voice and with every action having to be decided by you – there really isn’t another way to see Frisk. As the text says as you stare into the mirror at Toriel’s home, “It’s you!”
The characters you interact with, they are speaking to you, they are interacting…with you. Whatever happens, it is because of you and your choices. When I first heard someone mention this back in the days of exploring the different theories that live in this community, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to really see the game differently. And honestly, I’m better for that. It connected me so much with this game – feeling connected with Frisk because everything they did was what I would have done in their position. Because Frisk…was me. I was the one who fell into the Underground and was now facing against a world of monsters who wished nothing more than to climb back to the surface and feel the sun. And even if they were scary, seemed aggressive…in reality, they just wanted to live. And when I stopped playing out the usual way RPGs like this go, I found that the monsters and I were quite similar…
I adore every single character in this game. Toriel, Asgore, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Napstablock, Monster Kid…Asriel. Every character I came across – I felt a connection with them. I put in the work to understand them at their level, through this bullet hell-like battle system, and be able to find that kinship with them. And i would show mercy. Because that’s what I would do in Frisk’s shoes.
Undertale is about choices. With my choices, I was able to go the route of True Pacifist. I did not kill a single soul in my playthrough and only fought when my hand was forced by the game itself. The game in this run can take a bit of time and seem repetitive but I relished in it – smiling from ear to ear every time I got to interact with these different monsters that were so lovingly created by Fox and his small team of artists helping out. And through this run, I got an ending that still brings tears to my eyes – even now as I’ve played this game…many many times. Each time, because of my feelings on the game, I’ve never been able to stray from playing it True Pacifist. Because I don’t want to kill these characters. They are so important to me. So much so that even though it really is just a game – I want them to be able to live and find their happy ending. So I make my choices and do my best to get them to the surface. Because that’s what I would do.
“Despite everything, it’s still you.” That line when you revisit a mirror, similar to the one in Toriel’s house that resides in Asgore’s home, still sends shivers down my spine. It’s so powerful and means so much…even through only a few simple words. This moment comes towards the later part of the game, after your full journey across the Underground to face off against who stands in your way in getting home to the surface – the kind King Asgore who commits to ending the lives of humans for the sake of his people, in order to release them from the darkness and bring them back above to the light. Through all your choices that you made getting to that point, despite everything, when you look at your reflection – it’s still you. It’s always been you.
Undertale is an amazing game. One that can connect so heavily with those who play it. Sure, it’s not for everyone – nothing ever is. But it was 100 percent a game for me – and I will forever love it for that. And I will play it again and again (hopefully on every platform because knowing that you replaying it on a save file is noted certain characters kinda makes me feel guilty lol). Also side note – the world that’s been done to make some subtle differences in each platform’s release of the game makes it 100 percent worth diving in to it across these platforms. They are earth shattering game changes; however, they are a lot of fun and I appreciate that level of work that went into making each experience it’s own thing. I’m thankful for all the work Fox and the artists did to make this game happen. Even if it wasn’t the original game he wanted to start with, it was fully embraced and I as well as many others are so happy to have it in our lives.
But like I said – we’re talking Undertale…and Deltarune today. Because Deltarune, in a way, started it all. After the success of Undertale, Fox was able to finally step back into that dream of releasing a game that had the ending he envisioned. With willingness to accept more help, he stepped back into the developer seat and began to work again.
Deltarune is currently an episodic RPG, with episodes one and two currently out for free for anyone to dive in and play. Yes, it’s an anagram of Undertale, and there are a lot of similarities between the games, such as familiar characters on the screen with you. However, the setting is different and we’re not entirely sure what the full connection between these games are. One thing though that we can see currently from this game is that the feeling of choice…is not the theme within Deltarune. You begin by creating a vessel, building it however you’d like…and then the game discards it because, “no one can choose who they are in this world.” I audibly gasped at this line, a huge shift from Undertale which I adored so much.
You then wake up as Kris and begin your adventure, seeing the world through their eyes as they experience a normal day at school that soon turns into you and your companion Susie falling into the Dark World. I’m not going to spoil this one as much because there’s still a lot of mystery behind this game. After all, we’ve only gotten the first two chapters. But there’s something about you as the player and your relationship with Kris – the one you’re in control over. Because there’s clear signs in your playthrough that…Kris does not want that control over them. Or maybe Kris is fighting against control of others, and not just you. I’m not entirely sure – I enjoy the theories I’ve read or listened to but until we see more of the game, I tend to keep my guessing to a minimum and letting the smarter people chat. But one thing I feel is real is that Kris is not you – and you are not Kris. You are two opposing forces in this game. And I’m very intrigued to see what happens next when Toby Fox is ready to release the next steps in the journey. After all, the ending of this game is one Toby Fox dreamed of – building his games to finally reach. I’m just thankful to be on the journey to that end.
I managed to tame my post from just ongoing rambles of why Undertale and Deltarune are so special to me. They are amazing games and I am so excited to see where Deltarune goes next and what else Toby Fox may share with the world. For now, I invite you to check out the Undertale and Deltarune website – I also welcome you to sign up to the newsletter because that’s where Toby Fox provides many never-before-seen updates for Deltarune’s progress. There’s also a ton of videos that dive into these games, the fandoms, etc. that I welcome you all to check out.
Thank you again to all who joined for my gaming ramblings. I know quite a few asked me when I would talk more about Undertale – well here you go! I’m sure I’ll talk more about these games in future posts as well because they are so special to me and we’re only just getting started on Deltarune after all. Stay tuned for more gaming posts as we end out the month strong. Lots of love and stay safe out there!
*~Mae's Corner~* 