Because the topic of other webserials came up, I'd like to talk to you about a relatively popular one, but that I feel doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. A Practical Guide to Evil is a webserial that's been running for a little over three years now, and is currently in the middle of its fourth book. It is a fantasy series, with a heavy focus on the deconstruction of common fantasy tropes and archetypes. It actually has a very similar tone and themes to Worm, but a different plot.
The main character, Catherine Foundling, is an orphan girl whose country, the Kingdom of Callow, has been under the rule of the Dread Empire of Praes for twenty years. Normally, a Hero would have risen to rally the kingdom and fight the Evil empire, but Dread Empress Malicia and the Black Knight have been systematically crushing all opposition to their rule in the most efficient ways possible. Determined, Catherine decides to join the imperial war college and change the system from within.
If you want to check it out, whether as a future liveblog, or just to read on your own, the official summary page is the first thing you see when you visit the site. Personally, I can't recommend it enough, and I wish it was better known about than it is.
That’s a fairly interesting premise. I’d... say “I’ll have to keep that one in mind”, but in all honesty, I probably won’t remember it of my own accord if/when I finish Worm, let alone Ward, just because of how long that’ll be from now. Still, sounds pretty neat!
Alright, so last night, I played through Deltarune chapter 1.
For those not in the know, this is a free teaser for the sequel to Undertale, which takes around 3-5 hours to complete. It’s meant for those who have “finished Undertale”, so if you haven’t either finished Undertale or, like me, watched enough playthroughs of the game that you’ve practically finished it by proxy, you should probably skip the rest of this post. Same goes if you haven’t played Deltarune yourself. Go do that.
Liveblogging Worm isn’t my first time sharing my reactions to things as I went along. It kinda comes naturally for me to do that. So a few minutes into Deltarune (in the classroom scene), I decided to share some thoughts I’d had up until that point. But the problem was, I couldn’t go into the #deltarune_spoilers channel on Loreweaver’s server to talk about it, or I’d get spoiled myself. So, I opened a NotePad document and began typing my thoughts there for later sharing. And then I continued doing that until I finished the game.
And hey, I have a liveblog, why not use it for this too? So, below the readmore, if you’re interested, here are my thoughts on Deltarune.
Warning: It’s long. Also, spoilers for Deltarune (duh), Undertale, Kingdom Hearts II and vaguely Homestuck, Wander Over Yonder and Over the Garden Wall.
It's kind of hilarious how the game goes "nah, you don't get to decide who you are", and then gives the character a name that works as a shortened version of my legal name.
Kris looks like an older Frisk, but doesn't share the name. Are they separate? But why would Toriel be raising them then?
The narration is far less filled with FUN than the narration in Undertale, giving Kris a depressing feel. The shaded eyes and the mirror narration "It's only you." (in contrast to Undertale's) "It's you!" reinforce this. I wonder if it has to do with Chara's presence in Undertale and the narrator!Chara theory.
Kris has a brother...?
Asriel's around? Well, then. Alternate universe alarm bells are ringing.
We could be following Chara, but the world seems to have monsters and humans living together, Toriel isn't a queen, and many characters in and after the driving cutscene shouldn't have been born yet when Chara was around.
Alphys as a school teacher is fun. I immediately went to her when she asked me to pick a partner, just to see what she'd say - I love that she's watching anime in class.
Decided to go for Monster Kid first, in case I couldn't check out everyone before making my choice. But apparently he's partnered already, so I guess there is no choice. I'm guessing the snake is the one who hasn't got a partner yet.
...Snowy, you're incorrigible.
Wait, so Temmie is partnered with an egg. That leaves an even number of other candidates. So I guess we're not going to find anyone to partner with. I suppose that fits the tone we're going for with the narration.
Blue bird guy is a jerk.
His name is Berdly? ...sure.
I like the reindeer.
Jockington. These names! And apparently the cat is named Catti. Not to be confused with Catty, whom I'm pretty sure I saw in the driving cutscene. Or did I only see her parents? I definitely saw Bratty, at least, so Catty shouldn't be in school. And the personalities don't match.
That's an origin story, alright. I suppose that means we've already got an implied ouroboros in this game, since Jockington was a hula hoop rather than a jumping rope.
Noelle is a good name for the reindeer. I'm not surprised to see Berdly objecting to the trio idea.
...hello there, important character. Susie?
So I suppose we're teaming up with the intimidating goth.
Poor Alphys is terrified of Susie. Susie honestly seems kind of chill at first glance, but there's gotta be a reason why she intimidates Alphys especially much.
Okay, who's eating chalk? I noticed the green chalk was missing from Kris' house, and now the school's chalk is gone for the third time. Did someone let a Homestuck character or two loose in this world?
So we're babysitting Susie on the chalk quest.
The classmates don't seem confident in Kris' survival. Apparently Susie has a reputation for beating people up.
"You SUZ, you LOSE!" Okay, Snowy, I'll give you that one. :p
What did Susie just do? Eat something? She doesn't seem to want me to have seen it.
Yeah, Susie doesn't seem so bad. So, secret, you say?
...bad timing to add that, huh. Also, quiet people piss you off? Hypocrite.
OH! That was the chalk! I was kidding when I said someone was eating it, but of course, this is Toby Fox. Which this electric guitar music is also reminding me of.
Whoops. Looks like she's gone full "well, why not make this worse so the punishment is worth it" mode.
"I would rather not lose my face, thank you very much."
All bark and no face-bite?
"If you hadn't gotten it by now, your choices don't matter." That's definitely meant in a meta sense. It's starting to become a theme. I suppose Deltarune isn't particularly branching, unless this changing is going to be a point.
Is "blurry yellow object" any way to talk about your teacher, Kris?
I like Susie's reactions to you trying to go the wrong way.
I don't think this is supposed to happen when you open a closet.
This is not a closet anymore, Susie.
"kind of big" YA THINK
Yeah, the closet's definitely broken, in some fashion. So where is this taking us? Narnia? The world of Undertale?
Aaand the door's closed.
And here goes the floor. Time to let gravity do its thing?
Can't have an Undertale game without falling into another world, eh? So, where's Susie? And is it just me or did Kris just get a new wardrobe? Yeah, that's definitely some kind of armor.
Oh hey, save point. I wonder if we're getting filled with anything. Dread, maybe. Everything's blue, even the save point...
"At times you see it flickering. The light only you can see. By second nature, you reach out and..." So Kris, whether they're Frisk or not, is familiar with the save points, and knows that others can't see them. Interesting.
Hang on, did I just overwrite a Kris save with a Krixwell save? I *knew* it wouldn't completely discard those answers from the start. (That's why I answered the same things when I restarted to get my headphones working.)
Hmm. Eyeballs on stalks that start swinging when you walk past them? I like the sounds they make.
Something just moved off-screen in the top right. Also, there's something flowing out of holes here. Oil?
Huh. An eye symbol. Reminds me of Madoka Magica.
Another one, in case you missed the first one... Am I supposed to go down this water(?)fall?
Yep. No return. Not that there's anything to return to.
Sleeping gray oozes...
Is this what's left of the underground after the pacifist ending? Except that doesn't explain the relation between Frisk, Asriel and Kris. I suppose it's possible that Frisk is the brother and took on the name Asriel as a tribute, but that honestly just seems rude. Besides, Toby would catch all sorts of flak if he were to gender Frisk now.
Pfft, those eyes and the oil hole look like a silly face. So, this *looks like* the first real choice of the story. Not that "real choice" necessarily means much - it's not like Undertale actually branched much. Most proper choices in Undertale were fake, still leading to the same outcome.
Hmm. If only one of these leads onward to the rest of the story, it's probably the silly face route. So I should probably go downwards if I want to not miss anything.
Yep. Dead end, with something shining in the oil hole.
...a Glowshard. Alright, let's see what its info says.
Woah, new menu! Earlier, in the house, I discovered that the menu was the same as in Undertale, but now that I'm in the closet, there's a new interface. Interesting.
The Glowshard's use is unknown. Alright.
Cell phone's not working and makes beautiful sounds to show that.
Apparently along with the armor, Kris wound up with a "wood blade". I wonder if that's actually the pencil they had earlier. I say this while sitting here with a shortsword-sized pencil next to me.
"Body contains a human SOUL." That's ominous. The fact that the game is specifying that makes it sound like it might change.
While Kris is wearing something that looks like armor, it doesn't show up on the equip screen as such.
They seem to have lost their 2 money.
Silly face path time!
Should I be concerned about that eyeball-stalk having a red outline? I probably should.
Interesting. Going into "combat" against the hostile stalks gave more things outlines, and the SOUL became visible. I wonder if getting hit would send me into a mini dodging game like when Undyne chases you in Undertale.
I should probably note that while I've watched many playthroughs of Undertale, I've never actually played it, apart from a browser version of the Sans fight. So if this contains bullet hells scaled after the end of Undertale at the very start, I'm kind of screwed.
"A power shines within you, breaking through the darkness." Determination? Hope? No, hope is HP. I suppose it could just be the ability to save, which is a side effect of determination. Even if Kris hasn't exactly seemed like the determined type so far.
Oh, right, restored HP. Maybe that was hope after all.
"Eye Puzzle". Alright, let's puzzle this out.
Without having read the sign, just looking at the iconography, I'm guessing the dots mean which eyes are affected by each light, and you have to close all of them to proceed.
"In this land, only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way..." Yeah, definitely sounds like I need to close them.
Rightmost eye and middle eye. Easy as p-eye. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN MAKE BAD PUNS SNOWY
I just saw the black thing again, at the right edge, moving real fast. Looked almost like an Enderman from Minecraft at a glance.
There it is again. I'm about to catch up with it, aren't I. Did it come down the other waterfall?
Oh cod, did I just kill one of the sleeping oozes?
Oh! It's Susie! Hi.
How did Kris get you into this? You're the one who ate the chalk so we had to get more, you're the one who pushed on into the closet.
Susie's outfit looks like she fell out of Kingdom Hearts. Maybe that's what's going on. Maybe Kris is Frisk's nobody, who's been living in a fake world.
Ooh, someone waving, you say?
Apparently they've got hostility in spades.
This looks like a ghost town. Like, literally, a town for ghosts, with the curved houses and all.
Well, at least it's a ghost town in the figurative sense. That castle is intriguing. Not to mention the geyser.
"Why the hell is there a castle inside a supply closet?" Ahaha
"Welcome, heroes...!" is off-center and it's bugging me.
A masked stranger introducing himself as the Prince of this Kingdom. In yellow. I don't trust this at all. Flowey, is that you?
The Kingdom of Darkness. Alright. Is this connected to the Underground in any way?
The stranger knows our names and called us heroes. He's been expecting us.
Heroes of Light? I don't know, I don't think I'd peg either of them as having that aspect.
Foretold by time and space... look, the Homestuck jokes write themselves and I think Toby Fox knows that.
Hopes and dreams, light and dark, balance of the world being threatened... fairly basic plot beats in and of themselves. Fair enough. Three heroes, including the Prince, supposed to restore the balance... The thing is, I still don't trust the Prince to be telling the truth, or at least, the full truth, and I think a lot of the plot is left in the inaccuracies. I'm watching you, Prince.
"Delta warriors" sounds like something you'll try to make a thing but not really succeed at making a thing.
"Please, won't you accept this destiny?" "Uhh... Nah." Ahaha, I love it.
The Prince seems genuinely distraught at Susie's refusal.
Pfffft, bye Prince! Oh my cod, is that you, Sans?
Okay, no, this isn't Sans. And he sounds like he's an antagonist, talking about the heroes "running away". He mentions his dad, whom I'm guessing is the supposed main antagonist for now.
"I'm... the bad guy." I'm not hearing an elaborate and catchy song to explain that, so your point is invalid.
"We both know you'll go EAST!" Yeah, because there's no other exit that we didn't come from.
Lancer, huh. As if the Son of the Month thing didn't make it clear that you're not the main antagonist. So, hey, depending on the exact role of his dad, would Lancer perhaps also count as "a Prince from the Dark" for the prophecy?
Alright, new fighting UI. This ought to be interesting. It looks kind of early-Final-Fantasy-esque?
(Act -> Check) Ohh, Lancer was the spade guy. Pfft, he's just got a burning bike, not a motorcycle.
So Susie's also found herself with a new weapon.
He claims his bike's running out of fuel, but the check established it doesn't actually run on fuel...
So what's the real reason he's forfeiting-- oh, dinnertime. Fair enough. Enjoy!
Ralsei. I think I've seen fanart of you. I like how you have a heart on your shirt - a human heart - to contrast with Lancer's spade. I don't trust it, but I like it.
So why don't you have any subjects, Ralsei? Why have you had to wait alone your whole life?
"Ralsei, the lonely prince, is now your ally." Hey... Ralsei is an anagram of Asriel...
"The power of fluffy boys shines through you." Ahahaha
Ooh, training dummy. White outline, which I suppose indicates you can fight it but it's not hostile like the ones with red outlines.
This big door looks familiar.
Ralsei explicitly asks me to do a pacifist run. Interesting.
These red trees look weird.
I like how it gave me a little thing telling me the name of the track that was starting to play. The Field of Hopes and Dreams, huh? It's pretty sweet, too. Meanwhile, Lancer left a message about upcoming enemies. Should be fun.
"If you're reading this, I guess you're dead." I think you got that backwards, dude.
Hi there, Lancer. I thought it was dinnertime?
Hah, the group term for the diamond-based Rudinns is "necklace". Nice.
So if you do the thing that lets you spare an enemy, you can also have your partner spare the enemy on the same turn. Good to know.
RIP Topchef's cake.
Maze of Death? Sounds pleasant.
I see Susie's not doing a pacifist run. Hey, what if she's the true main antagonist by the end of all this?
Pfft, poor Lancer has no sense of direction, apparently.
Hehe, the White Ribbon enhances Kris's cuteness. I wonder if that has mechanical consequences.
Apparently only Kris can seal the dark fountain, and Susie is stuck with us.
Oh my cod the fanfare gag is hilarious
Whoops. Susie killed the C.Round because I took the time to *Check it. Does that mean I'm no longer on a pacifist route?
Violet tormentor. Good title.
"The power of mean girls shines within you." Oh my cod, Kris, you can't just ask people why they're violet!
*haggles the tutorial seller down to 1 dark dollar, buys, and then just turns around* Nah.
This shop guy looks like someone mixed together the Beldam, Mad-Eye Moody, an old cat and the goggles from Splinter Cell.
Seam, pronounced "Shawm"? Not a bad name for someone who looks to be part doll.
Lightners, Darkners... Apparently the Lightners were godlike. Are the Lightners the monsters, and the Darkners their "shadows"? Ralsei being the shadow of Asriel?
The Darkners were "locked away and left behind". Sounds familiar.
King seeking revenge...
Historically, there were four kings, in the "Card Castle". No points for guessing how the kings were themed, or who Lancer's dad is. Or who Ralsei's dad was, for that matter.
So does that make Lancer the Jack of Spades?
A strange knight, description in red, appeared and locked three of the kings away. Again, no points for guessing which one wasn't locked away. So does this knight work for the King of Spades, or vice versa? Are there Aces in all of this?
Oh, alright, so the King of Spades put the Knight and his son, Lancer, into power. That suggests the King works for the Knight rather than vice versa. Possibly not willingly.
"Haven't seen this much chaos since... Ha ha ha... Well, you don't need to know about THAT." Since what? Since just before the Lightners left for the surface? Since some plant absorbed nearly every Lightner's soul for a while?
Bought the Amber Card and a couple more Dark Candies.
Alright, let's go see what bullshit the desperate tutorial salesman has for us.
Ah, yes, because this group of suspicious individuals don't look ready to ambush us.
ROUXLS KAARD. The surname is obviously a reference to cards, but everything else about this name screams "anagram". DARK SOUL ARX? AR DARXOULS? SOUR KLAXARD?
I love how there are tutorial guys for Ralsei and Susie, and the way they barely know what they're talking about. Is the last one for Kris? ...yep.
Oh, nice, Kris Master and Ralsei point out the thing I found out earlier about sparing on the same turn.
So there are two paths that both seem to keep going. One with a puzzle, and one with an encounter. I saw the puzzle and went back to the encounter... Hm. Let's try the puzzle too.
Ahh, it's something you're not meant to be able to do unless you've been to a later section of the game. So either you'll be able to go back here later, or you're supposed to use meta knowledge from a previous playthrough. Then again, I kind of suspect what the order is anyway. If I'm right, I won't go on through, because I'm not supposed to see this yet, but I want to try it out.
Alright, looks like it's not the standard order of the suits. Fair enough, that'd be too easy. Even if the input is a puzzle in itself.
I have to do the encounter again?
Well, I made a few mistakes this time, so Susie killed one of the Rudinns.
"When you step into the light, you'll return to where you were before." I don't think it's talking about home. Avoid the glowing tiles, got it.
Hm. Easier said than done. Right, I should probably run.
Can I switch to the lane that's fading before the light fades in on the lane I'm on? ...yes! Puzzle solved.
Apparently the effect of the light only applies to Kris.
Is that a bucket, Lancer? Ew.
Oh great, it's literally to put bodily fluids in. Toby knows exactly what he's doing here.
Oh cod, he's asking for an official name. Ralsei, don't you dare say Delta Warriors.
"Blue person"... how did I not notice that Kris is still blue?
Alright, so I get descriptions of the papers. Definitely not going for the neat paper, which is obviously Ralsei. So my choices are to let Susie name the team, or to let Lancer name it. Great.
Let's see what Susie's got.
Ahaha, he's not allowed to say it. Classy, Susie.
THE $!$! SQUAD
Cool, I'm down with that. Better than Delta Warriors. Well, not really, but still.
(Lancer to Ralsei) "Yeah! How about I be in the Squad and YOU be the bad guy?" That's an interesting idea you've got there, Lancer.
I kinda trust Ralsei a bit more at this point, because he seems a lot like the non-evil iteration of Asriel, but I'm still not entirely sure. That could easily be a front.
"The power of The $!? Squad shines within you." Ahahaha
So the Great Board is inhabited by chess people. I suppose maybe the Knight is from there? Or maybe that's just what Toby wants me to think. Now where have I heard a story about chess pieces and cards and a takeover from within before...
So what's this extremely dangerous thing? A card shredder?
Oh, a C.Round. Maybe we can keep Susie from killing this one.
Ah, fuck, it got promoted. Nice legs.
Hah, K.Round. As in King Round. Not sure what the C stood for.
That was a fun little fight. And now it seems it's time to explain to Susie that violence isn't always the best option.
Ahh, great. Switching sides because she's bad at heroing. Honestly, though, it really does suit her better.
Alright, now I'm in a forest, and there's a door with colorful flames. Interesting.
The door is for fast travel. Got it.
"We managed to fix this thingamajig up for you." Oh yeah, that's right, I found an empty doorframe earlier.
Oh jeez, they've practiced an alternating dia-monologue.
"Dark Jack Lancer"? Guess I was right about his card, then.
Ahaha, the Dark $!? Squad! And it's Lancer who says it, too. Susie, you're a bad influence.
So there's a Rudinn asking me to help with a gift for a friend named Clover (I think I have an idea which suit she's aligned to). Sports, cute boys and trees? Well, I've got one of those things.
Salsa stump. Well, at least they're getting along.
I got a scarf that's apparently sharp enough to use as a weapon. Nice.
Oh hey, a puzzle based on the same input method as the post-game puzzle from before. I know how this works, so this shouldn't be too hard, what with the password being stated.
...yeah, that only requires clubs and a heart, that's super easy.
I like Bloxer.
Alright, so there's a dead end down here with two seemingly unreachable buttons in sight. Looks like a path-building puzzle.
There's a symbol puzzle meant to teach you how to mix the lower and higher suits. I managed to find the answer in two tries, before talking to any of the hint... beings.
...who were apparently one three-headed being. I may have just triggered a fight by not talking to them when I came back into the room after checking whether the answer was the same to the symbol puzzle I just passed in the room with Bloxer.
Oh! This is Clover. Hey, Clover, would you like a gift? I've got a cute boy here.
Let's talk about boys.
"Herselves". Cute.
Alright, bake sale time. We've got diamonds, hearts, and spades (run by The Dark $!? Squad), but no clubs. Why not?
The Choco Diamond and the Hearts Donut each heal ??hp. The Choco Diamond sounds like it'll work better if given to certain characters. Maybe it heals more if the target is diamonds-aligned. Same going for the Hearts Donut on hearts-aligned characters. I should buy another Hearts Donut and test that on Kris and Ralsei.
Sure, I'll donate to the noble cause of kicking my ass too.
Did they just... do that so they could buy a Hearts Donut?
So to the west we have another fast travel door, and to the north there's... a martial arts dojo?
Oh, the smith! I just saw in the inventory that the Broken Cake is a key item that needs to be fixed by a master blacksmith. Guess it's time to do that.
Ahahaha the squeaky hammer sounds! And the cake was "fixed beyond recognition". I love this.
A topcake... can I wear it like a top hat? Is it armor?
Ah, no, but it is a 160 hp full party heal, single use. Good to keep in store, just like the butterscotch-cinnamon pie.
"(This cardboard stand is actually just a fake cardboard stand of a cardboard stand.)" Pfft. Glad we got that cleared up.
Hello, hungry hungry caterpillar.
Nice disguise, Lancer.
Oh, please tell me I get a choice of "the most evil thing I can imagine" here.
Oh fuck, this is even better.
Look, I know the duck face is "garbage", but I can't just NOT pick that one.
Tank body sounds good.
I'm torn between the sneaker shoes and the attractive wheels... I think I'll go with the sneakers. Wheels just make too much sense for the tank body.
Lancer: "Are you sure you're not evil?"
Ralsei: "Er, no, I suppose we just have a knack for it."
...
Damn. The bird thing killed me and now I have to make my beautiful thrashing machine all over again.
"The darker it gets, the more you can see." That's familiar. Like the eye puzzle early on. What does it mean, thematically? That you have to see the darkness to truly understand the world?
I was right about the Hearts Donut. It heals Kris by 20 hp, but Ralsei by 50.
Alright, so a Rudinn just confirmed that Susie is considered a Lightner. Does that extend to Kris too?
The save point here names the room as "Before Maze". Way to spoil it, dude.
These villains are so ridiculously ineffectual. But how long is the Papyrus section of this game going to last? I didn't buy for a second that Lancer was even close to being the main antagonist, and now we've long since established the bigger threats (the King and the Knight).
Well, the maze was something. Ooh, machine time!
Aw, I didn't get to fight it. Fair enough.
Susie says our design sucked, so does that mean they've come up with another one?
Ralsei points out that Susie needs him and Kris to return home, but I don't think she WANTS to go home anymore.
Alright, defeat means friendship, huh? Bring it on.
Hah, trying to convince them not to fight is working on Lancer.
Ahahaha, Lancer blocked the pacification with his bike and the bike got tired.
Lancer, join OUR team! That way you can be a team with Susie even though she's joining back up with us! And then when Ralsei turns out to be evil, you can take his place as Prince from the Dark.
Pfft, poor Ralsei being tasked with making the track jackets.
Oh cod, no thanks, put those eyes back where they came from, Lancer, or so help me.
Lancer's Stool Forme is very useful.
Susie is SO into Lancer at this point.
I kinda like and kinda hate how Lancer just floats outside the path instead of following the rest of the party Earthbound-style.
It does seem like Kris is counted as a Lightner. I'm not sure how to feel about the whole "Darkners can't feel fulfilled unless they're helping Lightners" thing, though.
So this is very much the calm before the storm, where our protagonists are happy and content with being friends. What's going to shake this up?
Oh hey, it's Card Castle. Neat.
Lancer doesn't want us fighting people inside the castle. Is it for our sake, or for the sake of the people in there?
See ya, Lancer.
Well then. We've been captured.
So where's Susie?
Ate some moss and “mossed out” my HP. Nice. :P
Took me some time to realize that I had to continue talking to Ralsei to proceed.
Pfft. Classy, Susie.
I like the thing about thinking about what Susie's doing now to segue into a section where we semi-control her.
...alright, where we're tricked into thinking we can control her.
Especially the purple one, eh? Is that because she's especially dangerous, or because you care especially about her?
"It's fine, actually." Is it, Susie?
"You don't have to say anything." This is becoming a trend for you. Making your conclusions and telling people not to bother saying things.
Lancer, you may want to explain yourself quickly, regardless of Susie's demands that you shut up. Your face is in danger.
He's attacking, but he's doing the Toriel thing where the attacks fan out. I wonder if there's a path in this game where you cause Lancer to accidentally kill Susie rather than let Susie kill Lancer. If things are going to get to that point.
These spades are better at dodging the heart than Toriel's flames were.
He's visibly trembling more with each attack.
Good, Susie. Good. Now put down the axe and listen to Lancer.
What, a lengthy elevator scene with no proper elevator music?
Susie is the best character in this thing, so far.
Card Castle, first floor. Time to pay attention to the order of the suits' rooms, I think.
"You are unbanned from free ham sandwich day" ahahaha
IT WORKED.
Alright, so diamonds first.
Club Sandwich, can be divided into three to heal the entire team. Cute.
So there's a disembodied voice that has trapped us in a room. "Thoust FOOLS!"
Oh hey, it's Rouxls Kaard, "thou're greatest adversary". Clearly also an adversary of grammar.
Shit, that puzzle looks really fucking hard, man.
So does the Royal Flush (bathroom) count as the spades room for the sake of the post-game puzzle?
Well, the third floor is clearly the Hearts floor, since there are Hathy here.
I just told Susie to flirt and it's beautiful.
Oh cod, it's so awkward that there's no need to even spare.
Well, that was definitely the Hearts room. Diamond, maybe Spades, then Hearts.
Clubs door, and now another room like the one we met Rouxls in. Time for another "puzzle"?
Hah! It's not even a different super easy puzzle, it's just a longer version of the earlier one!
I like the Clubs room.
Alright, there's the Spades room, so the Royal Flush doesn't count. Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs, Spades.
Oh my cod, Rouxls is a shopkeeper.
"decidedesteth"
Oh for the love of cod. He's got a K.Round too. :P
Ralsei thinks the crown looks different... is it a Q.Round?
Ahh. Rouxls is controlling it using the crown. Or so he claims.
Hah, tossing Ralsei at it. I like this plan.
Throne room. Time to meet the king?
What happened here? Lancer said he was going ahead to talk to the king. Did they end up fighting?
Hi, Lancer.
Wait, Lancer's dad was the Knight, not the King. Right? Or are the Knight and the King the same thing at this point, since the fourth king put the Knight in charge? Right, that's how it worked. So we're now seeing the talk Lancer was going to do.
Pfft. I like how the Knight/King is like "Oh, Lancer..."
What was that about "They care not for you", Mr. "I'll drop my son off the edge to let him splatter"?
I did not get a choice in whether to kneel or not. The characters made that choice on their own.
OOH, NICE BACKSTAB!
Ah, see, this is a guy I can believe when he claims to be the bad guy. Even if I'm still not fully sold on the idea that he's necessarily the final boss.
"Lightbringer"? "Your very existence goes against our own"? Interesting...
By the Knight's will... so this ISN'T the Knight?
Is Ralsei the Knight?
"You, that left us in the shadows, stripped of meaning..." Yeah, I think I was onto something earlier.
Ralsei probably isn't the Knight. His interactions with the King wouldn't make much sense that way.
The King seems to be indicating that he's worshipping the Knight instead of the Lightners.
The Knight made the second fountain? Maybe even the first?
The shadows of the fountains are creating a new world... for the Darkners...
I'm taking it that this is a survival fight, like Sans. I just need to let this guy exposit for a while.
Ahh, so it's not so much that it's making a literal new world as that it's darkening the existing world. An apocalypse which he believes to be in favor of the Darkners.
"Enough talk"? Was I wrong?
The King seems to be getting less confident.
And he ended the battle.
His... cape just flew away?
So he's asking for a peaceful solution now. Alright, sure.
I don't like the sound effects here. They sound too much like someone's about to get killed. Maybe the cape flew off to tell the Knight about the King's failure/betrayal?
Honestly, the King just seems to be dying without anyone actually hurting him.
Nice, yes, good work healing him, Ralsei. Let's just hope he wasn't faking it just to get that heal.
...yep.
"You can't even say?" Nice echo of what Susie said at the start.
"Let me tell you a secret." We're echoing the whole scene, huh? But somehow, I don't think "All bark and no face-bite" applies to the King.
Susie FTW.
"But THEY might." Who's "they"? Kris? And maybe Ralsei? Or are we bringing in other characters?
*crazy glue voice* get him
"Now I'M the dad!!!" Uh, Lancer, I don't think that's how it works.
And now we're getting Ralsei contemplating whether kindness is always the solution after all, since his healing the king almost fucked everything. Nice. Character growth all around.
Wait, Ralsei, why are you staying behind? I thought you claimed we needed you too to stop the fountain?
Nice try, Susie. I know you want to talk to Lancer.
See? Lancer sees right through you.
Hiya, Asriel! What's up?
Not gonna explain that, huh?
So, uh, did Kris's soul just leave their body to fuse with the fountain?
Aaand we're in the supply closet. Alright.
Wait, no, this is an unused classroom.
...menu's back to the Undertale style.
Let's try calling home.
Alright, so some time has passed. It's after school. Don't think going to tell Alphys you couldn't find the chalk is going to work, Susie.
Toriel is sweet. Though it's a little sad that the word "friend" makes her give Kris a free pass, because it implies she's surprised that they've gained one.
Playing cards and chess... Legos... Fuck, this is lending some serious credence to the dream idea, much in the same way a lot of things in Over The Garden Wall reflect what's seen in episode 9. But like there, I'd say this was probably a certain degree of real.
The room we ended up in is to the right of the supply closet.
Sure, go back there tomorrow... if you can.
The supply closet is locked now.
Hey, I found Asriel's/Frisk's/the brother's locker. And Kris's.
Ooh, Toriel's classroom!
The clock has been updated to 10 PM in Toriel's classroom, but in Alphys', it still says 2 PM.
I can visit the Librarby, neat.
So is the game over now, or will we be seeing the return to the Dark Kingdom?
Hah, found Toby. I'm aware that this is only supposed to be a teaser, so I guess it'll deliver on the promise that you'll be able to go into the computer lab in the full game.
Books written by Undertale characters, nice.
UNDYNE
Wait, Asgore's kid? Kris is Asgore's kid?? Or, wait, wasn't it Undyne who couldn't tell Asgore and Toriel apart? No, that was Papyrus. So this raises the whole alternate universe question again. Who the fuck is Kris?
Undyne claims not to know who Alphys is.
...who's the mayor?
I found a door to a bunker or something that makes spooky sounds. This feels like plot.
Gerson's dead, among a couple others who may or may not be characters we know.
At least Gerson being dead rules out this happening before Undertale, in the same timeline.
Burgerpants!
So Azzy's in college.
"Things happened" in Kris's family before Asriel left. Asgore and Toriel separating?
SANS
Sans is new in town, and has never met Kris. Kris, say hello to your future stepfather.
And he wants Kris to hang out with Papyrus. I'm all for this.
(I'm also all for finding a save point so I can go to bed.)
Asgore x Alphys???
So Alphys watches a Simpsons knockoff and has an imaginary cat named MewMew. The alternate universe theory intensifies.
Apparently Asgore runs a flower shop.
Aww, that hug was adorable.
Containers containing flowers instead of souls...
Time for bed.
Umm. Kris. You, uh. Kinda need that soul.
So, uh, the Chara option is still available...
Well then! That was Deltarune chapter 1. I'm gonna write a wrap-up tomorrow, because it's way too late now and I need to go to bed in real life. Good night!
...Alright, hello again! It's been about 17.5 hours since I finished Deltarune chapter 1, and in that time, I've been thinking a bit. I think I've come up with a decent theory about what's going on with the world of the Lightners in relation to Undertale:
I don't think this is post-pacifist. I think this is post-genocide.
"Oh, but many of the characters you kill on the genocide route are alive, and monsters seem to live on the surface!"
Here's the thing: At the end of the genocide route, you meet Chara, who talks about wanting to "erase this pointless world and move on to the next". The choice they give you is fake, both options end in you, the player, being killed, ending the game. What I'm suggesting is that Chara did just that: Erased the world and moved on to the next. That "next" world is the world of Deltarune.
Chara isn't entirely physical, so they need a vessel, like Frisk was in Undertale. That's why they're taking control of Kris, and throwing out Kris's soul (hey, look who managed to guess that their soul would leave their body, even if I didn't guess how). I'm not sure whether Chara was already partially possessing Kris at the beginning and just decided it was time to get rid of that annoying soul right at the end. The soul being the culmination of one's being and the center of emotion... Identity and emotion seemed to be fairly low in Kris from the start - maybe Chara had to weaken the soul before they could toss it out and take proper control?
There's also the player to deal with, though. Chara knows we're here - you can tell from the way they glance at the fourth wall after taking control - so I wonder if they'll let us continue controlling their vessel, Kris. Then again, in Undertale, Chara seemed to consider that a good thing, but what if the player continues to steer Kris towards pacifism?
Meanwhile, the world of the Darkners is still largely a mystery. They seem to be a remnant of the Underground's essence in some way, but who knows if monsters ever lived underground in this world?
A lot about the Dark Kingdom adventure in chapter 1 mirrors Undertale. In fact it very much feels like discount Undertale. (Which I suppose is fair considering this game does in fact cost 100% less than Undertale.) I wonder if any of it was Chara's work, whether Kris knew it or not?
This chapter of the game is deceptively simple, but there really is a lot to think about here.
All in all... The game wasn't quite as good as Undertale, though it had its share of funny and/or heartfelt moments, and it did good stuff with the characters of Susie and Lancer. I like the introduction of a party system due to its effect on character dynamics, and the battle graphics were a huge step up.
I suppose I shouldn't expect Deltarune chapter 1 to hold up to the whole of Undertale. The full version has a hell of a lot to live up to, but I'm optimistic about it. I think it can at least get close. And with Chara getting visibly involved, I have a feeling things are only going to get more interesting from here.
He reached out and let the darkness stream from his fingertips. It wove in and out of itself, coiled at things that weren’t there, alternately creeping and lunging forward. Heavy, it drifted to the ground to spill out there. It didn’t obscure his sight, but he could tell where it was, almost as if he were seeing in strict black and white when he looked through the darkness, but the color was still there.
...alright. Strange, but alright.
The best I can figure from that last description is that what he sees through the darkness is desaturated, but not completely.
Bad analogy. The difference was stark, but he couldn’t pinpoint what separated it from anything else.
I see.
The contact with Taylor was like having his eyes shut and then opening them as a firecracker burst spectacularly, seeing the sparks scattered over half a mile.
Niice. This is a good description.
Only the sparks were alive, moving.
Unsure about how to use the ability, he pushed out. There was no control, no sense of what he was controlling. He was the gust of wind, and Taylor’s bugs were the leaves that blew in that wind.
“Go away!”
This has to feel pretty odd for Taylor, sensing the bugs acting like this without her input. Even if she knows why it’s happening and was prepared, it’s an unusual feeling.
She pushed back, and won with little effort. He could feel her moving the individual bugs, the casual hand with which she picked out the ones she wanted.
Heh, nice. Of course, she’s the one with the majority of the power, here, and she knows how to use it.
Unlike the major players in the Cold War, the monsters he was thinking about weren’t so rational that they’d stand down with Scion in the picture.
Not without a bit of a destructive fight.
Although Scion’s power actually seems to reduce the destructiveness.
“Hey,” Taylor spoke up, “You okay?”
Oops, spacing out again.
“Hm?”
“You’re sort of staring off into space. Come on, sit down and talk to me.”
Brian nodded and followed her into the kitchen. He opted to stand instead of taking the stool.
*calm dog owner voice* Siiit.
“Chicken breasts okay?”
“Sure.”
Fuck, can I join in?
She reached into the grocery bag and retrieved a ziploc baggie with chicken in marinade. “Was going to bring pork chops, but I just served this huge pork shoulder roast for everyone in my territory the other night, and then we had leftovers so I’ve had it for lunch a few times. Kind of sick of it.”
This was very solid. We got a good look into how Brian has been affected by the events of Snare, some excellent Aisha development (especially highlighting how much she genuinely cares about her brother despite their differences), a little bit of Bonesaw, a look at how Brian’s powers appear from his perspective, Brian’s detailed assessment of Taylor’s body and “quirks”, and some sweet relief at the end that really helped sell the ship again. The chapter was low-key, but held a lot of very good stuff.
Next up... the morning after, I suppose? Maybe Taylor will get a chance to go check on her colony then. Other than that, I don’t really have much to go on, I think. Alec and Lisa seem to be handling Victor, so we probably won’t be following that side of things directly.
And hey, for all I know, we might be getting another Interlude 15 next chapter. *checks* Nope, Colony 15.4. Well, I guess I’ll just have to read on and see what happens.
Again, he nodded. What could he say to that? He changed the focus, asking, “The bag?”
“It’s for stuffing you into if I have to take you somewhere.”
“I thought I’d make dinner for the two of us, if you wanted. You can say no.”
Ooh, that sounds nice. And kinda romantic... ;)
“Okay. Sure.”
He moved out of the way to let her inside, then shut and locked the door.
Not that a lock would do anything against the kinds of people who haunted his nightmares. It was the uglier side of dealing with capes, knowing that there was no measure of security that would ever stand up to all of the bad guys.
Do you hear that, Dragon?
This line right here is the strongest evidence yet for my “Birdcage will break” theory, besides the thing about Endbringers targeting it from Interlude 7. It very much feels like foreshadowing.
There would always be people like the Nine, like Leviathan and Behemoth.
Two of which have been explicitly stated to target the Birdcage!
Forces as inevitable and unstoppable as a natural disaster. The best analogy he could come up with was the Cold War, the sense that bombs could start dropping at a moment’s notice, and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.
He might have to say something about that. If that was her using her power to assess her surroundings and keep an eye out for trouble, she should avoid doing it when she was in civilian wear.
That’s a good point.
I’m not sure Taylor really remembers that the two identities are separate, anymore.
She stopped a short distance away, holding grocery bags in one hand and tucking her hair back into place with the other. She wore a black tank top, jeans and rubber boots, with a sweatshirt tied around her waist. That last article of clothing would be to conceal weapons, he guessed.
She’s been known to do that with her costume, too.
Her glasses caught the light from the sun to the west, turning almost opaque in the glare as she looked his way.
Conveniently robbing us of seeing the expression in her eyes. I’m not sure this is a pleasant visit.
“Decided to check in on me?”
“Imp asked me to,” she said. Her stare was uncomfortable, analyzing him.
Yep. Favor confirmed, probably.
Maybe.
He nodded. Imp’s earlier behavior made some more sense in light of that fact. She’d wanted to keep him here so he wouldn’t miss Taylor’s arrival.
Ahh, yeah, that makes sense.
He felt self-conscious of the wounds on his hands. She’d seen them, but she hadn’t commented.
You know she’s thought quite a bit about them already, though.
