DELTARUNE - Summer Newsletter 2026
I've been meaning to come back for a while now, but I've been struggling a lot with my usual health issues. I'm so behind in Beyond Canon right now! And I have a lot to say about Chapter 5! If you follow me, you can probably tell I'm definitely a fan. I'd initially meant to let things simmer for a bit, then maybe start posting about it after a week. But that definitely didn't work out.
But I got the pleasant surprise of a newsletter last night, and that's got me back in action. I haven't cracked it open yet, so let's see what Toby has to say!
There's a nostalgic summer vibe to kick things off! One can imagine this as a sight Kris frequently saw growing up in Hometown before things fell apart.
On a separate note, Toby asks if summer can be over. And ain't that a whole mood!
Toby then talks about the reception to Chapter 5. And yeah, while it doesn't have any one moment that lives rent free in my head the way Chapter 4 did with the dark corridor, it definitely hit me in the feels at the end.
For four chapters of Deltarune now, it's never been goodbye. We can bring more than the memories of our adventures back to Castle Town. The Royal Family, the Jigsaws, Sweet Cap'n Cakes, Tasque and her cats, the Pippins, The Weather, the Cuptains and the Mizzles, Jackenstein, and the Trashy Trio all get to stay with us for now. Even Tenna can make a brief appearance in our home away from home. We even get take pieces of Jevil and Spamton with us.
Goodbyes have been strangely few. Mr. Society leaves shortly after we return to Castle Town for the first time, with the possibility of return. Tenna may depart for new viewers, but we know he's loved in Mettaton's care. Besides Ramb's mysterious disappearance, Gerson has really been the only true goodbye we've had.
But Chapter 5 changes that. No matter how much we want to, we can't take the Flowers with us. And even if we could, they're not supposed to live in Darkness. And Flowery might literally be dead. Even Pink says she probably won't come to Castle Town right away. We'll still have our recruits, but the fading of seven brilliant dreams hurts.
At least we have KawKaw. Anything happens to KawKaw and heads will roll!
We start with some of Temmie's lovely art of the sun motif that follows us through the middle third of Chapter 5's Dark World. Toby then talks about how he "wanted Chapter 5 to feel like a mix of nostalgic fun mixed with new, unforeseen concepts."
That was definitely the vibe. Seeing as how so much of the Chapter is caused by how Asgore is stuck in the past, nostalgia is only a natural theme. But it also makes sense since I feel like this is the last time The Fun Gang will get to enjoy an adventure without horrible stakes evident from the beginning. I'm pretty sure Chapter 6 will be the moment the fun and games truly end. We had a taste of it in Chapter 4, and I'm pretty sure that things will get much worse now.
It looks like we can thank Ondydev for the initial implementation of our fun new mechanic for Chapter 5. They and the team did a fantastic job! It was a lot of fun!
I love the little Orange boxing mice from the second prototype demo!
Toby and the team seem to have been well aware of the difficulties and (literal) pitfalls adding this mechanic could bring. And it looks like they took their time making sure that it would be as fun an addition as possible without detracting too much. I personally think they knocked it out of the park!
I loved the Flowers! I think Toby did do a fantastic job of making everyone of them fun and enjoyable in their own unique ways. It doesn't surprise me that so many people have different faves. In case you're wondering, despite how much Blue and Yellow art I share, my favorite is actually Seth.
OMG! I thought Flowery's theme sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it! "Everywhere you look~ Everywhere you go~" There's some more nostalgia for you!
Touko Yatabe really did somehow manage to distill the essence of "that" anime character.
It's funny seeing all of Toby's original designs and seeing what did and didn't translate well to the sprites. Orange was always going to be tricky due to size constraints, while Aqua seems almost completely intact. But it's strange how different the vibes feel for Seth from their sprites to their concept art.
We then get some of the concept art from Nelnal and Hitoshi Ariga who contributed to this Chapter.
One thing I noted while going through the soundtrack was, if Chapter 4 was Toby flexing his own musical muscles, this Chapter seemed to be dedicated to collaboration. I'm super glad we got Carlos Eiene in particular for this Chapter. But rakuichi, itoki hana, and especially Camellia completely knocked it out of the park!
We then get the full art for Pink from Claire, which got the benefit from the full VN treatment.
But of course . . . he had to end it with the ICE-E festival attractions by Matt Cummings . . .
So that's who we can blame for that nightmare fuel.
And Toby just comes out and confirms it, "From Chapter 6 onward, there are no more wacky silly adventures, and you will begin to see the results of the setup that has been made so far."
Gonna definitely need to remember to breathe as Chapter 6 approaches.
"But one thing will be clarified, whether you’re ready or not."
"by the end of Chapter 7 I’m 100% sure you’ll understand why I feel confident about the way I’m telling this story. Don’t worry about the pacing until it’s over!"
Well there's an interesting statement. There are already theories out there that Deltarune might require multiple playthroughs or revisiting Chapters. There's even a theory that you'll have to do three routes to get the games true "one ending". If any of that is true, having the final Chapters be shorter so we can jump into the additional parts of the adventure will be necessary.
Anyway it seems Chapter 6 is on track for a solo 2027 release. Hopefully we won't be waiting the full year, but it won't surprise me if that's just what happens.
Okay this is new! Toby honestly doesn't talk about this aspect much, which I personally think is the correct approach. I always think it's better to let fans enjoy their analysis and that authors should only chip in if there's some genuine confusion. Maybe Toby heard that some people took Motormouth's conspiracy board speech as commentary and wants to clear things up?
Either way, he goes into how we get to experience a truly unique moment in the game's history. Because of the Chapter rollout, we get to plot and theorize in a way we couldn't if the game had just dropped. It's kinda like the joy of upd8 culture at the height of Homestuck's popularity. It's honestly not something we usually get to experience for video games, and Toby is encouraging us to enjoy it.
But he does still point out we're missing pieces and that some of us might be interpreting certain clues in the wrong way or combining unrelated things.
In other words, when Chapter 6 comes out, there's going to be a big reveal, and some of us are going to be wrong. This was always inevitable. Just like so many of us, myself included, were wrong about Kris being the Knight (at least in the way we thought), it's likely only one of the Knight theories will remain correct. There's always the possibility of Ghostface or timeline shenanigans, but some theories were always going to be wrong.
(That post is coming, BTW. Might even do it today while I'm writing.)
So I think he wants us to remember, regardless of the outcome, how much fun we had trying to figure everything out before the reveal.
We end with a few little tidbits. Apparently "My Jarona" got added into the game because Toby's older sibling used to use it. I remember when I was a kid, "My Sharona" was popular and some of us pronounced it Jarona. I wonder if that's where said sibling got it.
The Mikes' cat, Kikky, is Toby's actual cat. Apparently she is as attention demanding as the Kikkys in the Mike battle and games.
We have new merch which I will have to buy if I can ever get more headway. I still don't have my actual Ralsei plush! I definitely want the Seth and Aqua keychains, and that shirt if I can get it in my size.
Honestly there's a lot I want to get from Fangamer if I can get the money.
And, another ominous note for the coming Chapters, apparently Toby told Fangamer the merchandiseable character well is drying up . . .
Just like last time, I'm sure there's stuff I'm not picking up. After all I missed out on the whole Spamton Sweepstakes somehow. Wonder if it was during one of my hospital trips.
For now, it's back to the theory mines!
