Game review — Deltarune: Chapter 5 proudly shows off how much this game has blossomed

TL;DR

Pros:

• Stunning visuals that showcase a higher budget
• Multiple brilliant highlights in the soundtrack
• Staves off boredom by throwing in fun platforming elements
• Rewards curiosity and perseverance with really worthwhile hidden content
• Introduces some of its best characters, and dives deeper into the existing ones
• Miku cameo

Cons:

• Lowers the energy a bit after the more climactic previous chapter
• Weird Route players get a much shorter chapter

Chapter score: 6/7 – Delightful, if a bit lower-stakes than the previous chapters

Price: $12.49 (Steam); $24.99 (Nintendo and PlayStation). Free demo available on PC, macOS, Nintendo Switch and PS4. New chapters to be released as free updates.

Note: This is a review of Chapter 5 of the game, and therefore assumes basic knowledge of the previous chapters. You can read the review for Deltarune Chapters 1-4 here.

Deltarune is already back and it’s at the very top of its game. Yes, we’ve been here before, dear readers; but you have spoken (via vote, on our Instagram) and I simply must answer the call.

Even though this is just one new chapter, the great news is that it’s a nice hefty one. If you take the initiative to explore, it rewards you handsomely with a good several hours of playtime and bonus content. Even playing through it straightforwardly, the story it tells both ties cohesively into the overarching narrative and builds up its stakes, while standing alone admirably in its own right as a new content release.

The story

As usual, the introduction to the chapter allows you to poke around the Light World for a bit before diving into the Dark World du jour. This time, you explore the long-awaited town festival while generally third-wheeling (or wingmanning?) your very awkward friends.

Meanwhile, the theme for this Dark World is “floral with a generous helping of weeby”, which is a compliment. The game knows its target audience: young, media-savvy memesters entrenched in nerd culture, with an off-beat and silly sense of humour and an appetite for emotional beats. It delivers accordingly with dating sim beats, Japanese folklore elements, and the good old classic child with knives.

I also appreciate the way the areas in this chapter are designed and laid out; each one looks and feels very different to explore, but they still all work cohesively together. Plus, there’s a great sense of direction and progression as you move through them, with each area feeling more important than the last and building stakes.

I will, however, say this. Maybe it’s driven home by only having one or two chapters released at a time, but given how high-stakes and momentous Chapter 4 was, I did wonder how Chapter 5 was going to surpass that level of hype. The answer is that, honestly, it doesn’t.

To be fair, it would get crazy if it just kept on heightening. And I loved the storyline of this chapter well enough — but it is definitely much more dialled-back than Chapter 4’s incredibly climactic final boss fight and stakes. It’s an interesting choice to pace the chapters this way, and not necessarily a bad one, but players should take note that the new chapter is more of a return to form and manage their expectations accordingly.

Visuals and audio

Gone are the days of Chapter 1 when the art budget was (I assume) $7 and a dream. The visual quality of Chapter 5 is absolutely stunning. While staying true to its aesthetic roots, it has an incredible polish that makes every pixel feel like it was placed with thought and intent.

The aesthetic quality of this chapter is heavily inspired by Japan, both in visuals and sonic leitmotifs; alongside the generally verdant theming, you’re also treated to Shinto-esque shrines and temples and explore a castle visibly inspired by Edo-period architecture.

And, to show off its budget upgrade, it even splashes out on some full-on animation (and some very different character art).

Several aspects of this chapter remind me of one of my favourite go-to games, Celeste, and the gobsmacking pixel art background design is one of them. It only really hits in the middle third or so of the playthrough, but the vivid sea of pink and orange and dynamic, glowy movement that comprises the view from the cliffs is so good — and so reminiscent of the Golden Ridge — that I often had to take a few minutes to just park my characters in a scenic spot and take it in.

As for the music — there’s usually at least one ultra-solid track in each Deltarune chapter that really hooks me. In this case, I’m struggling to pick one to highlight because there were multiple tracks that blew me away. Yes, that is despite the fact that exactly one of them stars the Hatsune Miku.

The soundtrack both brings back familiar and welcome leitmotifs, and adds its own distinct flavour to these tracks with, again, Japanese influence and some gorgeously adventurous MIDI instrumentals. Here’s an example.

The gaming

Five chapters in, you would expect the gameplay and interface to be feeling a bit samey, right? The game understands this, and takes highly effective measures to prevent things from getting boring.

Behold: it’s a platformer now!

This chapter feels personally designed for me in some ways, because I love a platformer. As I said before, I get some major Celeste vibes from many aspects of this chapter — chiefly this new gameplay mechanic, employable in specific locations, which entirely alters the dimension in which you interface with the world around you.

Instead of walking around and interacting with stuff, or winning over enemies via ‘acting’, you’re in full-on ninja warrior mode, hopping platforms and slicing down enemy attacks while dashing madly between bullets.

There are also bounce mechanics and occasional-but-not-overbearing wind mechanics — both solid staples of a good platforming game, which tells me this chapter was made by a team that understands what players are looking for in one. That said, it retains its Deltarune charm by keeping its bullet hell mechanics the whole time.

I particularly enjoy how much more dynamic this mode feels than the general strolling around dealing with encounters and puzzles. Here, you get to run and jump and slash things with a sword and cast spells at things (without worrying about breaking any Pacifist principles you might be sticking to).

Incredible protagonists, and even more incredible antagonists

In my review of the previous few chapters of Deltarune, I questioned the decision to recycle Undertale characters into an all-new game, particularly one that seemed to have little narrative connection to Undertale if any at all. While certain aspects of that still feel unnecessary to me, I’m appreciating it a lot more this chapter.

That appreciation is largely for a very delicate balance that I think is now being struck successfully. For one thing, the main protagonists and antagonists of the game are all entirely original characters that bloom with personality — even Kris, your silent “player insert”. All three members of the main trio are easily some of the most compelling and interesting characters Toby Fox has ever made, and have fantastic narrative and mechanical synergy alike.

The other flowers, meanwhile, are an absolute delight to interact with, each bringing boatloads of unique personality and mechanical specialties. They also have sparkling dynamics between themselves that are splendid to watch, making them feel like fully-fledged people and not just obstacles with faces. All in all, they read as the heroes of their own story, which I consider a brilliant writing choice.

Hidden content

As per usual, the player is invited to explore a great deal if they so choose, making use of both game modes — and a healthy curiosity about every corner of the screen — to unlock new areas and items. These require some patience and have some potential to break immersion, especially if you embark on a backtracking sidequest right before the final boss. But some of the rewards are well worth the time and effort, and you’ll likely be glad you went for it.

I’m not going to pretend I’ve discovered more than a small fraction of what this game has to offer. I have the time and energy for one solid playthrough and sometimes the chapter’s hidden boss, and while that’s plenty already, it only just scratches the surface of the deeply tucked-away nooks and crannies of each chapter.

Someday, I would love to go back and replay the entirety of Deltarune in a way that scratches the completionist itch. But there’s just simply too much to cover, not even counting the Weird Route that this game has.

For what it’s worth, though, the new chapter does drive home that if you choose to pursue the Weird Route, you’re much better off playing it alongside a neutral or pacifist save file. Not only is Chapter 5’s Weird Route pretty short, it also seems to skip you right past enormous portions of the regular route’s events. Plus, the parallels will just make more sense in context.

Verdict: The glow-ups keep coming

For every year Deltarune spends in the slow cooker of development, it comes back with a richer and deeper flavour than before. Even though this chapter is objectively less hype than the last one, I’m overjoyed by it, and happy to spend time with some of the best characters Toby Fox has given us so far.

Those preferring the Weird Route will possibly be disappointed by the size of this release, and I must recommend that players pursue it alongside a regular playthrough. But the neutral and pacifist versions of the chapter are a real treat, honing in on the biggest strengths of the game and amplifying them by an order of magnitude.

There are still two chapters to go, and I can’t wait for when this game is fully released in all its glory. For now, this instalment does a great job of satisfying fans’ appetites while still leaving them wanting more.