Deltarune Is Almost Here! | Deltarune: Newsletter Thoughts | Deltarune Theory and Analysis

[@OLuziOLusic]

Noelle staring into the flashlight might just be a "deer in headlights" gag/joke lmfao 😂

[@Peterpetercheeseeater]

💀

[@rcutler9]

Maybe this is Noelle's way of training how to not freeze up

[@meggie945]

*Megalovania intensifies*

[@TheShadowOfMars]

My first thought is that she's holding the light up under her chin as part of the cliche "spooky story teller" pose.

[@BaxterSquee]

Birdly better poop on someone sometime in the game or I’m gonna poop on someone

[@HollyfromtheHollow]

I'd love if, instead of "funny haha gameshow host", we got "corrupt, cruel director" as the next Dark World leader archetype. Someone who might be funny on the surface, while the cameras are still rolling, and open to funny moments, but can be _genuinely cruel_ to their staff and employees. From comedy to tragedy. Queen was kinda mean at times, but her villainy was always played for comedy, and, Hell, when the plugged darkners aren't serving her, _they still get to live their lives. And they like their cool bodies!_ Someone who's more of a reflection of the corporate cruelty behind the scenes instead of just being comically misguided and self-centered would be a breath of fresh air, in this case. It sounds like Spamton and Mike got really screwed over by them, after all. A scar that never healed.

[@3DFella]

What about corrupt, abusive TV executive? I think that’s the best of both worlds

[@HollyfromtheHollow]

Now DERE's a million dollah idea, @@3DFella! Ya get a promochun!

[@jollyjadentnt7963]

EXACTLY I’ve always wanted the chapter 3 villain to be one of the few genuinely evil, irredeemable villains in deltarune, but because king and queen are both portrayed as goofy as of now, you could have the TV villain act all charismatic and honestly even likeable and goofy as you said, which would give the players the false impression that he’s like king and queen… until we turn back the curtains and see, he really is corrupt.

[@jma0645]

Now in picture dark world Chris McLean going "Alright ligthners todays challenge is EASY"

[@JonnySpec]

Sounds kinda like how Burgerpants views Mettaton in Undertale.

[@gradientLX701]

In my opinion, chapter 2 being quirky fits the computer and internet theming very well, the internet has always been unserious and casual for most people, and with memes being VERY huge in internet culture. It only makes sense that the queen of the computer would be that way. would a scary medusa person really match the general feel of "the internet"? Don't get me wrong though, I still really like the Queen's first design, but I think that what Toby ultimately went with was better for the chapter's theme.

[@RancorSnp]

It's like - I can totally see where they are coming from - and I would LOVE if got this more menacing Queen, but on the other hand - I enjoyed Deltarune chapter 2 more than I enjoyed Undertale, so I also can't say that I am too worried about the game being "too quirky and funny" ^^

[@tpfoxCastro]

Plus, if Queen had that evil and menacing firt iteration of her...She would just be "female king".

[@Double400]

I'd prefer a darker more threatening villain later. Keep in mind that they see this as a form of escapism, the gang needs to be lulled into a false sense of security and that requires a sillier tone with only small pieces of darkness being hidden away enough for them to ignore.

[@hannahparmenter3905]

Agreed

[@manufacturedfromabove79]

Feel like we're going to get a evil and malicious villain soon someone who'll make Spade King look like a total sweetheart

[@funnyvideogamecult2737]

I think it's going to follow a similar structure to Harry Potter, Chapter's 1-3 are lighthearted with a touch of darkness hiding beneath, Chapter 4 will be getting darker until towards the end when some major plot implications begin to both welcome 5-7 being a lot darker and to hype people up for the transition between the two halves of the story

[@BaxterSquee]

It did kinda annoy me how they dampened the moment where the king raises lancer on the roof by saying ‘oh he’s just a little bouncy boy’ lessens the impact of the scene. I hope Toby creates a super dark villain and keeps it that way, instead of quirkifying them later. I love the quirkiness, but it can’t be everywhere.

[@empeanutson]

@@BaxterSquee I don't think a constantly dark villain would fit Toby's overall style of writing. Unless I'm misinterpreting things here

[@tigerbear5845]

Personally, I feel like the old ch2 queen would feel to close to king. I prefer having one wacky and one menacing character instead of two menacing ones.

[@pedroba76]

agreed.

[@egg_l0rd13]

Exactly what I thought when he brought that up. I feel like that’s the reason why Toby scrapped this Queen concept, too. I like how the final version of Queen contrasts with King, it keeps the game feeling fresh and unpredictable.

[@Axolotlboi72]

I think the reason for the flashlight and the dark room in the Noelle screenshot is a power outage. We know from the 2022 screenshots that it's gonna rain during Ch 4, so I can totally see that developing into a full on storm while Kris and Susie are visiting the Holiday Mansion.

[@TheSkyGuy77]

Or Noelle is just in a large walk-in closet 😂

[@1BeautifulDuck]

Everything is fun until a music box begins to play

[@TheSkyGuy77]

@@1BeautifulDuck And it plays a music box version of "once upon a time" 😂

[@eltiolavara9]

good theory!

[@argarock0]

I feel like chapter two having very "internet humour" makes sense considering the dark world is themed on well... The internet?

[@trolololtrololol-v2w]

yeah especially since the major suppliers of that humor were berdly (A redditor most likely ) and Queen (the embodiment of internet itself)

[@-Vanova-]

Me too, I feel the lightheartedness also plays a bit into some of the games themes of escapism. I ultimately feel like they made the right decision as this angle seems to fit the characters and pacing of the story better; instead of just being serious for the sake of being deep.

[@owenbridgers]

Exactly! Like this is THE INTERNET chapter

[@jinxsterr_Dispenser3741]

But I still can’t get over Susie switching out of her meanness/opening up thing quite literally overnight, and missing out on all that coulda been from it.

[@despertacular3241]

EXACTLY,Like imagine if the story from start to finish was all serious.And the internet has so many memes and Toby Fox took advantage of that. Don’t get me wrong deltarune is supposed to be a serious story but again the story just started so why would it be super serious from the beginning to the end. It’s like a teacher complaining about you not finishing your homework tho it’s due on Friday

[@darealsooski]

I get your gripes w/ ch.2, but I cant help but feel it was purposeful. Chapter 2 is the point in the story where the fun gang and all associated lightners are engaging in the fantasies of the dark world that the story is working towards proving can be dangerous and malevolent behind the curtains. To prove to us as the players that the dark world is an alluring and captivating place, we have to see its splendor before we see its dark underbelly. Chapter 2 is quirky, fun, and the exact kind of place youd WANT to go on an adventure in, which is why what we see of the underbelly worked so well in the chapter (Spamton, notably). I think that as we get further in the game, the quirky schtick will slowly drop and we're gonna see the horrors of the existential implication that IS the dark world, with its place in the narrative and meta-narrative of the game and I personally cant wait

[@TheGlenn8]

Queen being silly kinda makes sense. If there was any time to do a silly villain it should be for the internet/computer dark world.

[@abs1nthk]

I believe Chapter 2's lighthearted and humorous tone is well-suited, considering its online setting. The Snowgrave route is dark enough on its own, and the portrayal of the Queen as a safe space for Noelle enhances the alternate narrative and creepy atmosphere similar of how a creepypasta would be portrayed, like, inside a jolly silly game, there’s a secret route where everything is twisted. Susie being more open speaks volumes about her personality and how she quickly gains confidence with people who treat her well, similar to how street dogs are with people who give them affection - it's like she was always silly but never had someone to unleash it with.

[@jinxsterr_Dispenser3741]

But completely dropping that quite literally overnight just doesn’t sit right with me, and it feels like we missed out on CHAPTERS worth of character building for it.

[@abs1nthk]

@@jinxsterr_Dispenser3741 There must be a reason. I feel as though the character development might be “deconstructed”. Perhaps Susie will no longer trust Kris for some reason and become reclusive once again or something like that. I'm sure Toby Fox will come up with cool.

[@lbsc1201]

13:40 I don't think the recontextualisation of King's behaviour was due to Chapter 2 being more light-hearted. Rather I think it has been planned from the start that by the end of the game we'll see King much more sympathetically.

[@chongwillson972]

@lbsc1201 and even in chapter 1, we do see king cares about lancer, since when susie talks with him, he says he doesn't care if susie kills him, and she should show lancer monster lighteners really are.

[@combinegaming1353]

My theory is a flashback of Noelle sneaking looking for presents

[@sarahcivilization9905]

TRUE Noelle CAUGHR opening her CHRISTMAS presents EARLY

[@android19willpwn]

I see your point about Queen, but I think between King last chapter and Spamton in chapter 2, having Queen be goofy and nonthreatening was the right call. It's similar to Snowden from Undertale. The game starts a little serious and then foreshadows that there will be some more serious material in the future, then gives you a fun goofy space to play around in so that the future serious tone feels like a bigger shift from where you started. Also, these are a bunch of teenagers who have just discovered magic. A theme looks like it's going to be how we interact with this kind of escapism. We need to have a little bit where the Dark Worlds are good and fun and only scary enough to be exciting. That darkness is still there if you scratch beneath the surface (Spamton, Snowgrave) but at a glance? These kids will want to keep the dark worlds coming.

[@average_deltarune_fan666]

To me, Noelle’s flashlight angle makes it look like she’s telling scary stories and wanted mood lighting.

[@melodyMonger413]

yeah, that was my first thought too

[@owenbridgers]

Same

[@BaxterSquee]

SLEEPOVER?!?! OMG

[@ScrewlooseStudios]

The Mayor is the Knight. Knight Mayor. Nightmare. There you go.

[@Wailbouzidi242]

imagine if the chapter 3 villain is like that wacky game show host and they're like kinda friendly at the beginning, but towards the end they really start showing how mentally corrupted they are and just care about being famous and all that even if it meant causing the roaring. another point is that, queen had a reason to protect her dark world... and she didn't know about the roaring, but if this villain already knows that guarding the fountain can cause the roaring then they should have another reason for doing so and it would be weird if they don't know about the roaring and ralsie explains it again, and the last interesting thing about this villain is... well they don't know who is the knight, they couldn't have seen kris create the fountain bc the smile appears after kris puts back his soul and goes back to sleep, so they could've heard about the knight but they're not sure if he's the one who made their world and i guess they will try and make a false assumption like making undyne seem like the knight or smt, this villain seems to be the most interesting one yet in my opinion, and i guess the chapter 4 one will be much more serious bc angel church and whatnot. there's also the fact that they're the TV, probably the closest boss to kris and his familly

[@jinxsterr_Dispenser3741]

About that smile thing, why wouldn’t it have been able to retroactively watch Kris opening it? I mean it’s not like queen was right there in the light world either, and she saw it.

[@ProfessionalBadPerson]

Noooo don't take away my December 2024 hopium

[@Kristiano100]

I still feel it’s quite plausible, Toby and his team have gotten more and more efficient at doing what they need to do, meeting deadlines, getting external help from studios, plus the team likely having smaller groups that focus on each thing. I imagine the process of translation, bugfixing and porting to console are now much more efficient than chapter 2. That said, 2025 is definitely still quite plausible too, december 2024 is the best case scenario imo

[@xenrx9781]

oct 2025 😈

[@cazzok]

march 2027 😈😈

[@Ebtihalalhosani]

February 30th

[@youyououmf8200]

Spamton isn't a funni li'l guy, his story is deep and metaphorical

[@goodname9154]

i think both can be true tbh

[@owenbridgers]

@@goodname9154Yeah but you can’t just disregard a whole part of his character like happens quite often

[@BaxterSquee]

Spamton is just a representation of what capitalism does to people (high fives myself because this comment was definitely super clever and deeeeeep)

[@hp8167]

The Japanese localization for chapter 3 started around late January (early Februrary), and in the September newsletter we were told that its in its final phases (them running through everything for mistakes). The rough draft of Ch4s translation will be finished sometime in October then it'll go through the final drafting phases. Because Toby is very specific in how he refers to characters, the names, the references, and the jokes the whole process takes a while (The official Undertale Japanese localization started in early 2016 and ended in 2017 (localized release in August) and was noted to be a somewhat difficult process due to the nature of some jokes). Additionally they had to test Chapters 1+2 with the new GameMaker function (game_change) as well as implement it into the new chapters. Since this is going to be the first big paid release since Undertale, the team wants it to be the best they can possibly make it and have a simultaneous console and PC release in English and Japanese. Taking all of this into account, I think we'll get the next chapter in the beginning half of 2025. I'm hoping for some kind of teaser in the Winter Newsletter before it releases. But who knows, it could release late December this year for plot.

[@doom64hunter]

The translation of Chapter 3 started in March of 2023, not January 2024, that's 18 months. And like you said, the Undertale translation also took more than a year to complete. And then you still have to port the game to consoles. Even if chapter 4 is tiny by comparison, this game isn't releasing until late 2025.

[@phoenixmesmer3396]

Deltarune Chapter 3 Theory: What is Mike is actually a Microwave and not a Microphone

[@BaxterSquee]

Image a food themed dark world lol

[@VariantBank]

The trailers probably coming in december. Once the japanese localization is done everything will be ready for a trailer to be made, and everythings already ready for the english one. Financially, if the game is able to be preordered before christmas it will make more money

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

I'm on the extremely late December release date train, but minimum I'm expecting the next newsletter to at least give some info around then even if it's not a release date or the release of chapters 3&4. But if Toby, Temmie and co need more time, then 100% I say we give them more time. Like that's our call, but still we've waited 3 years (again) we can wait another few months minimum

[@SemiHypercube]

I'm hoping for a Christmas release because _December Holiday_ is an important character to the lore, but that's probably very optimistic so I feel like it'd have to be Winter 2025, (as in the beginning of the year) with Spring 2025 being the absolute latest I can see it being

[@ramhthewatermelon]

I doubt they'll release the chapters the day they presumably must spend with their families, but I agree To me a release between December and February seems a pretty solid guess

[@Jampo-cx3wd]

I think it might be early december, the team seems like they are getting a pot quicker in the development

[@ramhthewatermelon]

@@Jampo-cx3wd the development of ch3&4 is finished tho, now it's about the localization which they don't make

[@RancorSnp]

I'd say it's quite possible based on the amount of progress between the last newsletter and this one

[@BaxterSquee]

I’m leaning on somewhere near February or spring

[@TaskMaster369]

Toby REALLY wanted some pizza pie from my newsletter.

[@maoopan]

That's amore for you

[@person54454]

Saaaaaame

[@Elaniden]

He wanted for me a ketchup pie...

[@SuperDuggy117]

I'd completely forgotten that I'd put "Deltarune Chapter 3" as my favorite food, so I was REALLY confused when it said "Deltarune Chapter 3 pie". I didn't even realize that was pulling from the 'favorite food' thing, either, since the other mention of it said that Toby felt like "Deltarune Chapter 3 was just out of his reach", which made perfect sense as a sentence. It was only as I saw OTHER people read the newsletter that I realized...

[@zoooe]

​@@SuperDuggy117I forgot that I'd put my favourite food as "your mother" so I was pretty confused as well 😭

[@greenberrygk]

I don't think the roaring is gonna happen. I think ralsei made that stuff up about the roaring because of how suspicious he's been. Plus the chapters seem to be suggesting a different ending of some kind, more mysterious. And Toby said that he wanted to make Deltarune because he had a fever dream where he dreamed the ending and he knew he had to make it his mission to make a game with that ending. So I can only imagine that the ending is going to be a major twist or something that we don't expect at all. If Toby is doing great, then the following chapters are not going to be something that we can really predict based off of current info. And he succeeded at that with the last chapter so I believe he can do that.

[@matthewr6148]

Ideas regarding the Chapter 4 screenshot: 1. Noelle turned off the lights, and wanted to use the flashlight to tell a scary story. She does like scary things, after all. But being a deer, when she did turn on a light pointed directly at her face, she couldn't help but stare at it directly. 2. There's a power outage at Noelle's house for whatever reason. She went to find a flashlight, fiddled with it to get it to turn on, but thought it was pointed downwards. It was actually pointed right at her face, so when she turned it on, she accidentally blinded herself.

[@4per8]

Yo pro tip on the sansfield fight. The attack where he launches exploding odies at you you can just sit in the bottom left corner and be completely unharmed

[@shellpoptheepicswordmaster755]

What if the chapter 3 villian is like flowey at the beginning of undertale? Starts and seems like a somewhat silly goober, but drops the act quickly.

[@sonicthelegend8741]

I swear to god If gaster is in the bunker house I'll literally eat toilet paper

[@mr.kfakking]

My theory about the screenshot in Chapter 4 is that we know it's going to rain, so Noelle, Kris and friends will go to the holidays house and wait there until it stops raining. The reason it's dark is because it rained so much that there is no electricity, so the screenshot takes place when Noelle turned on the flashlight to see it work. It will be great to watch they talking about all times and make sense for narration.

[@lordofrandomthingsyt4669]

There’s a gif of a red solo cup with legs meaning chapter four is probably the church

[@Flavio-bn7ne]

Agree with you that it would be nice to see more serious antagonists in the future. You don't have to get rid of the silliness, just tone it down a bit as the stakes get higher

[@fantasmonabizarra1015]

Deltarune has been 'almost here' for the last five hundred years at this point

[@d0ntwearit0ut]

I get what you’re saying about menacing villains but I think they’ll probs be more akin to whatever themed world they’re in. It makes sense for the internet villain to be silly and stuff, and perhaps the tv one too. But I think like you said it’ll get more serious as we go. And even so there’s one villain I’m sure that will be quite menacing… Mrs mayor, any words?

[@callmequaz9052]

There's actually a lot than can be learned from unused content, particularly given that Toby has written pretty informative notes about them. Sometimes content that goes unused can shed light on the creators thought process and allow us to analyse what we did get from the perspective of the creative process of the creator. Something which I think is quite invaluable.

[@CoolMaster-gr3bp]

...I still want to see that final predictions video

[@Grxblrg5757]

I agree that, on her own, the unfinished version of Queen would be better. But another "dark scary menacing final chapter boss" isn't very interesting, it just sounds like it would be King again. Queen as she is is distinct from other final boss concepts I've seen. If the entire game was dark and scary, then the darkness would have no meaning. Undertale was silly very often. The entirety of pacifist Snowdin is just goofy fun, we just remember the dark parts of the game better. I think some people are just aging out of Deltarune's humor, we're all 5-6 years older than when Chapter 1 came out and most of us fell in love with the game. Susie also still has a whole unfinished character arc with her parents, and opening up to the other kids who still only see her as a bully. You're also never punished or called wrong for fighting beyond just, people who you beat up don't want to be friends with you. Yes, the Snowgrave route calls you out, but thats because you're doing everything you can to change the ending to a game that only has one ending.

[@chongwillson972]

@Grxblrg5757 funny enough king calls you out for losing darkeners. "...talk to you? Hah" "You left them behind, didn't you?" "just as you left us..."

[@Grxblrg5757]

@@chongwillson972 Id argue this just makes sense with who he is. It wouldn't make sense for him to be HAPPY for you leaving Darkners behind, you're just proving him right that Lightners don't care about Darkners at all.

[@chongwillson972]

@@Grxblrg5757 he is more somber about it, like you let him down, and you lose out on the queen talking to him as well. king is interesting, what did the knight did to inspire such faith, such malice, and by all clues seems the knight is a lightener(?)

[@Grxblrg5757]

@@chongwillson972 He's somber because he's sad those Darkners essentially died. If you look at his talk sprite during the scene, he's smiling.

[@cringecande_9352]

Dgmr I love dr and I dont mind silliness, but if we get another silly main antagonist in ch3, I feel like it would just be another queen. Queen was good for ch2 but I think we should have a little bit of both maybe?

[@999clovers]

I feel like the Noelle screenshot actually takes place in the basement of the Church? It looks like she's wearing a nice dress, and I'm pretty sure Rudy mentioned that service is "tomorrow". Maybe the town keeps holiday themed props there for the town celebrations?

[@BaxterSquee]

That may actually be it. It’s weird to me that they would constantly keep presents in their house even when it’s not Christmas

[@EpicAntos]

I think another reason why this update will take a lot longer is because Toby’s aiming for the paid release on Windows and Mac, as well as all consoles in English and Japanese simultaneously.

[@batsnake__113]

I wasn't really displeased with the more comedic tone chapter 2 took as if I remember correctly Toby mentioned it intentionally was supposed to be more like a lighthearted adventure and in general I begin to see that the surface dark worlds are gonna be intented as your predisposed fun adventure where it all goes right AS LONG as you do what you're ment to do and it's when the real problems coming from the real world and the characters not wanting to stick to the predestinated path that the safe facade is gonna start making to crumble (and we already see that with Spamton and Snowgrave route) I can also still see chp 3 boss still working as a genuily evil presence while still having the show host vibe, and if another cho ends up being in the church I can see it even more likely having a more serious main boss

[@elliottlava7784]

Like the background gameplay, i see you're a man of culture as well.

[@Oceane1803]

I think that I would have preferred Queen if she was a mix of her current and beta iterations. Because, Queen is dangerous, but Chapter 2 doesn't make it the most obvious with her constantly being goofy. I think I would have liked of they still made her goofy, but acknowledged more clearly how dangerous she can be outside of that final scene with Noelle. Also, I think it's interesting and could have been brought to the front of her themes that Queen is a character who indulges in her obsessions. Like, she constantly drinks battery acid, and the Swatchlings in the room with the video of the Knight creating the Fountain inform us that she likes watching funny videos. We also know that she's gone even more "crazy evil ruler" since the Internet outage started. So maybe what it means is that she started lashing out as soon as she stopped being able to indulge in these funny videos that she loves watching. Heck, maybe that's why Queen became obsessed with the Knight and his goals, as told to us by Sweet Cap'n Cakes. Seemingly the only video they have since the Internet outage is the video of the Knight creating the Fountain. And so, since she's obsessed with watching videos, she latched onto this one, the only video left, the one with the Knight. And she's grown so obsessed with it that she wanted to continue what she thought was their goal. What I'm saying is pure interpretation and I don't think is really confirmed. But it would make sense. And making that part of her more evident in the game would have made her feel more dangerous. Because we would see that she's basically addicted to these videos (and to battery acid), and we would see how far she can go when she can't watch those videos anymore, latching onto the only video left in a very unhealthy way and lashing out due to not being able to indulge like she used to. Heck, I think it's my headcanon now, because it makes a lot of sense. And maybe her misguided care for Noelle is what made her change her mind at the end. Because she does care for her, and she realized that what Noelle wants is more important than one silly video. But of course she's still herself and she still indulges. Literally in one Chapter 4 sneak peek, we see her constantly drinking battery acid, and she can't say a full sentence without interrupting it in the middle by sipping her battery acid.

[@pedroba76]

so she's like the funny boomer relative that shares facebook memes.

[@Oceane1803]

@@pedroba76 I mean I guess that's kinda what she is in the actual game. For my interpretation I don't know since nobody in my family knows about memes, so I don't really know what a aunt who shares memes on Facebook is like ^^'

[@meggie945]

Oh man. Respect, but Queen is my favourite DR character lol

[@GamerTheDev420]

given the name of the chapter 3 image is ch3 intro area it would make sense if it was the couch

[@leedlelel2373]

oh my god, i didnt realize the medusa theme of beta queen tying in with the darkners turning to stone... and i guess a bit of relation to the pandora palace name? thats such a shame we didnt end up with such a connection Maybe this implied the chapter would have also had a more cyber-underwater aesthetic to it, which wouldve been amazing I hope we do end up getting a medusa-like darkner at some point in the future, i remember haldbreadchaos finding some sorta code thingy which handled all the darkner enemies, called echidna, whos sorta similar enough

[@Oceane1803]

I really like that little bit of characterization of Chara, where they want to become powerful, to become invincible so that nobody can hurt them. With that plus the fact that they hate humanity, that the reason why they fell into the Underground "wasn't a happy one", and that their first reaction when seeing the humans when fused with Asriel was to want to kill them all, it basically confirms that they were hurt by humans. At the very least psychologically. And it's great for me because this really fits into the characterization I have for Chara in my "Control Route" AU, where Chara and Frisk attempt a different path, to try and become god-like and not be limited by the rules of the world anymore. But after that, Chara would have to face their insecurities and grow from them as they use their god-like powers to reshape the world with Frisk and create scenarios where they can lash out and try to forget about them. But the thing is, they have Asgore's soul. They needed it to absorb the 6 human souls, since human souls can't absorb other human souls, and become the god of this world. And so Asgore, from within their soul, tries to talk to Chara, to understand, guide and help them through their pain. He's their father after all. But Chara attempts to ignore it, to distance themselves from it all and try to not face their problems. Also Flowey is there, because Flowey always destroys Asgore's soul at the end of the runs where they kill him, so Frisk and Chara promised that they would spare him and take him with them once they reached infinite power if he doesn't do that. Flowey didn't want to accept at first, but Chara threatened him with their creepy smile by saying that they would get that soul one way or another, and that it would be beneficial for him to not make it difficult for himself. So he begrudgingly agreed, and he's alongside Frisk and Chara in their sadistic games, playing with the Underground and its inhabitants like they're toys. But Chara still acts cold towards him, as she considers him the reason why they both died. Frisk meanwhile, they're mostly here to support Chara. Because clearly this story is about Chara, not Frisk. Frisk doesn't have the trauma that Chara has, but they've grown to care about Chara throughout all the runs, and so they want to have Chara's back. Frisk is basically here to show Chara support, to let them know that they're not alone, and to make them feel accepted, and slowly allow them to feel happiness again, eventually leading Chara to learn and to grow from their problems. From then, they would be more open to listen to Asgore, and to slowly forgiving Asriel, as well as slowly reforging the sibling bond that they lost. I think it's a great idea, but the problem is that, while I have this idea for a long time, I struggle with figuring out the exact execution of the scenario, as well as writing the dialogue between all of these characters.

[@Solesteam]

15:23 Unfortunately a character that dynamic would have to somehow make a 180 on their dark world goals cause the roaring isn't beneficial to either side... If they are intent on it an genuinely bad then them dying at the end of the chapter or at least put in a state where they can't hurt anyone ever again would be the only conclusion... Which besides moral reform like the other two is: locked in the dungeon and forgotten about. Which only a half step up....

[@royaloreo1275]

13:56 I mean, in the first chapter Ralsei says not being a pacifist will lead to a less favorable outcome, but in chapter two we are introduced to a mechanic of losing darkners. And that we grow stronger by bonds we break. So it became more nuanced, not less. We have an incentive to not be pacifists.

[@triassicraptor4375]

I don't think we are going to get a light World chapter Specifically because it would be 1/7 of the game that was suddenly missing the core identity and premise, and no matter how you spin it that's just wouldn't be satisfying. I think sometimes as a fandom we forget that DR is a *game.* We tend to look at it as a story, we often engage with it in the form of theories and fandom content but the basis of all of that is a game at the end of the day and it has to be something that actually works when being played. It would be really weird if Pokemon just had a 7th of the game where there aren't any Pokemon battles. It wouldn't work. It would halt the momentum of a player experience in a way that wouldnt happen for a reader or a watcher. The light world is important to the lore but from a game play standpoint, it mostly serves the purpose of letting us travel between playareas and being the setting for important cutscenes, not to mention the game as a whole. The entire time a casual player might be playing a light world chapter they would be waiting for when the dark world would open, and when it ended on a cliffhanger after a couple hours of dialogue and not a single fight or anything like that, I at least would be disappointed in that position. Although that being said I would like something like a pseudo light world chapter, like a chapter where for whatever reason you can move in and out of the Dark World and have to do stuff in the light world to progress. I don't think that's going to happen either the game seems to want to fully section off the light and dark until presumably doesn't for full effect. My point is I don't think that we will get an entire chapter in the light world, maybe in the dark world but definitely not in the light world.

[@jupitersstorm1192]

personally i like the current version of ch 2 since the silliness contrasts a lot with the darker elements like snowgrave, And like what someone else said i think this chapter was just more silly because it was internet based! we're also only 2 chapters in, so theres a lot of time for the atmosphere and such to change/develop

[@Christianburn-tq5mo]

aww this cant go in my "deltarune might come out in 2024" affirmations playlist

[@chongwillson972]

@Christianburn-tq5mo deltarune maybe is coming out in 2024. there you go.

[@StaticH5]

13:52 Okay, i have to disagree with this,in chapter 1 you don't actually need to fight King since Lancer (or Ralsei depending on the route) saves you, and in chapter 2 you HAVE to fight Giga Queen, in the end, we do not just convice Queen to stop through acting, to make Queen stop, Ralsei has to tell her about The Roaring to change her mind, and Queen becomes friendly because she just wanted to create a paradise for lightners. Although i DO agree that the next main villain should not become an ally as easily as Queen

[@FeliksTheGoblin]

Gasped and then started kicking my fit in the air like an anime girl. Good title.

[@the_crum]

i’m so glad we didn’t get freaqueen 😭🙏

[@Christianburn-tq5mo]

the only reason I think chapter 3 and 4 could still come out in 2024 is the fact that toby fox hasn't out right said its coming out in 2025

[@SpacetimeSandwich]

When I saw the chapter 3 teaser image I immediately thought "Hmmmm, that looks like the dock that Onionson is at but oriented differently." But that may just be me.

[@marcelolupatini5553]

Looking into Deltarune newsletters, I noticed the Japanese localization for chapter 3 started around late Junuary/early February, and just in this last newsletter written in early September we got to know it's in its last or one of its last phases (checking phase). Toby expects that a preliminary pass on ch4's translation will be finished in mid October, then more passes, and checking. This seems to take a good while. Only after that, professional testing in chapter 4, subsequent bugfixing, testing all of it again, repeat, which it's like to end way after this process ends for ch3 professional testing. At least ch4 seems to have been easier to translate. So many things that take a lot of time, so that's why I expect it to release between January and March.

[@kyu4903]

I agree that it would be INCREDIBLY funny if "the freedom motif" didn't actually become a thing and it was just a part that TWR and BIG SHOT happened to share, but at the same time, I personally have fallen in love with that motif over the past 3 years and would be super disappointed if it wasn't a reoccurring thing with secret bosses

[@mannythemaniac1009]

Nice use of Chrono Trigger music at the end! The sewer theme is a bop

[@Plumsforlife34]

when you mentioned the carpet fiber thing i was thinking that when i saw it lmao

[@plsmorecats]

I'm assuming chapter 4 is about the church and maybe Noelle was late for it so you go to her house to check on her, and maybe something happened and the lights went out and that's why she has a flashlight in the teaser

[@WholesomeCureShow]

Chapter 3 n 4 was being released soon for the last year, so another two years and we'll get it

[@ImmOmega-dv6yf]

So you played vs kirby then, geeze that fan boss kicked my rear good.

[@brauliorivera2564]

I can't wait for it

[@tpfoxCastro]

I think that Queen wouldn't really have worked as a serious menacing boss. Think with me, why would anyone care about Queen if she actually was just "Female King"? Having a very terrifying boss on the second chapter is kinda weird, afterall, if all bosses are supposed to be menacing and scary, then they will all eventually...Not be. Any of them. We need less serious bosses like Queen, with distinct personally that isn't just "cruel, spooky, scary, evil", especially this early in the game. Also, as other people pointed out, it's supposed to be a fun funny fun game where you have fun. I don't think you should be jumpscared with evil medusa every 5 seconds to be on constant tension. Like, you're complaning that the silliest chapter, which is based on the internet which is very silly, of a silly game is...Too silly. How can you like Undertale and not like sillyness? That's like, half of a pacifist route! And I wouldn't call Susie's literal character devolpment "quirkyfication". Bro genuinely saw that Ch2 had jokes and said "nah, I'm now looking at this chapter through the most foggy and superficial lens ever", because man you really don't understand the game you're talking about.

[@crexcrow5581]

My first initial thought when I saw the Noelle image was that she was in her home’s garage where they keep all their Christmas stuff. Looking for someone or something. Her looking into the flashlight could be that joke where the character tries to turn on the flashlight and looks at it while turning it on, just my thought

[@dr.koupop880]

if the TV is where the end of the dark world is, it'd probably be a bit before Toriel shows up. Rather, she may be held captive by "Tenna"

[@MalzraAirwynn]

I liked Queen and Chapter 2 in general, but I feel like some of this may be smoothed out for you when there are more chapters out or even the full game. Because then it will be in the context of the full game, where as of right now it's just be 'the second half of the game' instead of 'one out of seven chapters' because of the release schedule as the game is developed. I didn't really notice a huge shift though. Yeah Queen and chapter 2 are quirky but so was a looooot of chapter 1 before getting to the palace, and even then some of that too.

[@evanhewitt762]

that noelle screenshot...what if she used that flashlight to leave a dark world?

[@qua_xor3348]

I say that its late 2024. Translations will probably take a bit longer since some language specific jokes need to be translated over correctly so they actually land.

[@Memily23]

I have a theory that every dark world looks like that screenshot from ch 3 and when a new fountain is created, it adapts itself to the environment in which it was made, in this case the Dreemurr household and the TV. Maybe it looks like that in the beginning because the fountain was just created and didn't have time to adapt yet.

[@ScorpionTamer]

I don't believe that Chara was 100% evil or in any way abusive to Asriel, but I feel the need to point out that him saying he wants to be friends with them for 999 more years doesn't really debunk that for those who do believe. It's not uncommon for victims to become emotionally attached to their abusers or not even realize they're being abused because they can't believe someone they care about are doing these things to them. Not to mention the letter clearly feels like it was wrote prior to their deaths, and it was only in hindsight that Asriel realized Chara wasn't that great a person. Again, I don't believe that Chara was ever abusive to Asriel. I mean they were both children so they may have bullied him a bit, but ultimately it was obvious Chara cared for Asriel. Also using the letter as evidence feels redundant when we know even as a soulless flower Asriel considered Chara to be his best friend lol. (It can also be stated that Chara was the only character capable of making Flowey feel as during the genocide route he gets scared of the player who at this point he is certain is Chara.)

[@goddafridsigrist8956]

The next chapters will be revealed during the donkey kong decembrr direct

[@ThePr0_0149]

Honestly,i think the church is gonna be in chapter 7 The reason? If chapter 1 begins on monday,then it would only make sense for the church chapter to happen on sunday-the day where in the real world,most christians go to church Imagine the chapter starts with the characters going there like normal,and then kris and susie realize there might be a dark world there, Anyway,that is my theory atleast

[@FlamingLily]

3:10 Personally, I think they might be the water sausages, also in the living room

[@dinogolfer]

I think the March estimate is still way too early. I would actually put it in summer or even all the way at the anniversary next year. Testing takes a LONG time for a major release, ESPECIALLY since this time they'll be testing the console versions as well. The console thing adds a lot of time I don't think people consider. We don't even know if a console port is completed yet, as it wasn't mentioned in the newsletter. But each console release requires an entirely new set of testing. And that's not to mention actually getting games on console takes WAY longer than people expect, getting it rated and then going through each console's own release process, all that can take months just on its own, and that's AFTER testing is mostly complete.

[@GiffanyCD]

Dosent Berdly work at the Library, maybe Mrs Boom is the run who runs the library

[@storyline9229]

There's the possibility that the flashlight is Noelle trying to be spooky.

[@spicytrashpanda]

I think the trailer will be in December because of the important role in Noelles backstory she played. That seems like a very Toby thing to do

[@geonations6618]

Please make theory video on the new psychological horror game Tsunagari Chess School

[@amber2778]

Something i just realised, while the image is seemingly cropped, the image with Noelle just shows her, not Kris, not Susie. Of course this could just be another cut away scene, but what if we somehow end up being able to ditch Kris as the main protagonist?

[@SearchableUsername]

we need woody theory 2 please proceed

[@hymengorgon]

i think march is a little pessimistic, toby wants this game out more than anyone else i'd be willing to believe a march release it if the chapter 1 and 2 demo update happens maybe in november, but march or even febuary sounds a bit like an overestimate

[@tacoeateryumyum]

I wonder if the main bosses will stop being dastardly and that role will fall upon the much more menacing secret bosses. I thought all the scenes with spamton and noelle felt like that chapter one vibe you were talking about. Tenna is just gonna be wacky and the secret boss will do some fucked up shit.

[@JackNick2000]

Maybe the Christmas-themed stuff isn’t owned by the Holidays, but instead belongs to the church. Sure they’re literally based after Christmas and related media, but the holiday itself comes from religion, so Deltarune’s version of Christmas could be related to the Angel and therefore related to the Church. And because of that, maybe the Church has a bunch of Christmas decorations in their basement. That’d also explain why Noelle seems to be wearing black instead of her red-and-green sweater (or at least is wearing something black over her sweater)

[@tomascarlsson3073]

10:14 wdym its tied down

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Fair points and opinions, really makes me look forward to see what will be the case. Say, is Noelle wearing a coat? By the way, do you know of UnderEvent? Can’t remember if I’ve asked that already.

[@skep2923]

I wonder if the Noelle scene is maybe missable. Edit: Hey another person saw those Queen sprites as Medusa

[@royaloreo1275]

Like the ferris wheel scene?

[@Yuti640]

I think the holiday mansion scene would make sense at the end of the Chapter 4 Light World sequence we’ve already seen before heading to the church, maybe Noelle is mysteriously late for church And maybe the Festival is the post chapter 5 light world sequence after the Knight is defeated I sort of agree with your Queen thoughts, while Queen is fun I could never take her seriously, and when Toby suddenly made Berdly say “Noelle’s face will be turned into a robot one” in the Palace in a serious way I was wondering why they were turning a mere joke into something with actual stakes

[@hyparpax]

the closest i've got to anything in the same nonsensical vein as woody theory is that the spamton post about the "ketchup kids" is not just a reference to that one tumblr post but also foreshadowing actual characters in some food-themed dark world later

[@redkarnationaprettymuchany1325]

"Chapter 2 was too silly and quirky" Yeah, this isn't your type of game dood

[@pteroid11]

What I don’t see people really getting with chapter 3 is yes this is a tv, but it’s a TV in the DREEMURR house. Need I remind everyone about Toriel’s reaction to Asriel kissing Bratty? Certainly we could have a loopy doopy game show host or a scummy executive but I take an opposite view. I think Tenna’s a censor. A self-righteous overzealous sort who is a dark mirror to Toriel’s failings as a parent just as Queen was a dark mirror to Noelle’s issue with her own mother and King was to Susie’s own need to lash out at the world.

[@friskdreemurr2663]

For a long time, I’ve had a strong feeling that chapters 3&4 were going to be released in 2025… I guess it’s not a big deal. I’m just glad I get to play it soon-ish

[@guygeva7375]

I LOVE me some more personal chara "lore" - the whole obsession with 9 is both them being a silly child who still didn't figure out how the world works and also a response to their trauma, this is just a good detail

[@tarvoc746]

If we had gotten the Beta Queen, Berdly would have NEVER joined her, because he is a MANLY GAMER who would never join a Queen of BETAS!

[@cycloneabsol9405]

Spooky: "I want a real villain" Me: "Give me a one-winged angel" Me, two seconds later: "OH F**K!"

[@crexcrow5581]

10:34 The ring doorbell scared me lmao

[@tiffy5220]

i personally think even if the chapter 4 screenshot probably isn't the church, they go there sometime in the chapter, because if you notice, Noelle is wearing all black in the screenshot. Or that might just be a coincidence, but i don't think it is

[@allergic.to.strawberries]

what about chara’s theme lowkey being at the end of spamton’s original theme? i feel like it’s notable considering that spamton has ties with the [x left] dialogue. also, the holy bassline gets used in power of spamton!

[@cringecande_9352]

Honestly i totally agree on a more serious deltarune.100%