Deltarune theories/review ♠️

Ok…I know Toby Fox said this and I believe him.

I will say that basically, what you’re seeing here is not the world of UNDERTALE. UNDERTALE’s world and ending are the same as however you left them. If everyone was happy in your ending, the people in the UNDERTALE world will still be happy. So, please don’t worry about those characters, and that world. It will remain untouched. To rephrase that, DELTARUNE’s world is a different one. With different characters, that have lived different lives. A whole new story will happen… I don’t know what you call this kind of game. It’s just a game you can play after you complete UNDERTALE, if you want to. That’s all.

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqn3p9

But I’m gonna tell you about the theories I had while playing this anyway because it’s fun.

Going into this, I knew nothing about it and I had no expectations. All I knew was Deltarune was made by the same guy who made Undertale.

How could it possibly be bad? I am so happy I didn’t just watch someone’s playthrough of it like I did with Undertale because it is incredibly fun to be in control for a change. Going around, collecting information, and getting used to all the mechanics was very exciting. I love these games so much. I love how they’re different and I love the similarities between the two. There are a lot of aspects of Deltarune that are interesting improvements which no doubt make the game more difficult to create. Props to you, Toby. I really admire you.

Right away, this game surprised me. I knew there would be twists and creepy stuff but I was still shocked when my precious vessel (I will never forget you, Thibsud) was rejected and I had to play as Kris. That doesn’t make sense, I thought to myself. This seems to take place after Undertale but why am I not “Frisk” or even “Chara”? Am I just trying out different names that are sort of anagrams for Frisk (because there seem to be a lot of anagrams here)?

Did we erase Kris’ soul in order to make room for our own? That sounds strange but it connects to something Goner Kid, a Gaster follower had said:

Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same…

Except you don’t exist?

Everything functions perfectly without you…

Maybe the world is functioning the perfectly without Kris there. Will the vessel I created and named ever make an appearance again? Why are people talking about my brother Asriel in college? Is he even going to college? Are we just saying that to cope with him not being here? Is that why I get a free I-pity-this-kid-hot-chocolate later in the game? Is it more about breaking the fourth wall by implying that he’s just away but the player knows better?

Of course, none of these questions would be answered right away. In fact, they’re still not answered. But that’s why I like this game. And that’s why I’m here!

Like I said, at first glance, this seems like an Undertale sequel post-pacifist route. Toriel and Asgore aren’t together, it doesn’t make sense how Asriel could be there but he’s definitely older if he is, and the town we live in could be where the monsters decided to settle after escaping the Underground. Then when our adventure starts to come to a close, this happens and I lose it.

His name is an anagram for Asriel and now it makes sense why

Is he Asriel’s doppelganger? The Dark World could also be a separate dimension. He could be this world’s Asriel in disguise -being a literal prince from the dark- but I suppose then Kris probably would have recognized him.

Then we get to explore our hometown and talk to everyone we know and love. But things are different. Like how the title is an anagram for Undertale, the world is basically the same, just a bit mixed up.

Sans is there but the Papyrus we know isn’t. Apparently, Sans has a younger brother. We’ve never met Sans before ; ) so he has no idea ; ) how you know him ; ) because he’s new in town ; ) and totally not still aware of how to manipulate space-time ;))) The amalgamates may never have been created but they seem to have gravestones anyway. Bratty and Catty do not get along. Some of the kids we go to school with remind me of characters we’ve met before in Undertale so it’s possible they could be their relatives or older versions of them. It doesn’t seem as if they ever lived below the surface and no one mentions any other humans aside from the player. One character alludes to something terrible happening in the past (possibly the human/monster war) but they don’t elaborate.

There is a locked door to the south of town that appears to lead underground, though. Maybe that’s where the monsters came from. Or maybe the humans were driven underground in this timeline instead. Maybe Chara and Asriel (or Asgore) ended up defeating most of the humans and decided keeping them away in the Underground was the safest thing to do. If that’s the case, what the heck is the Dark World we traveled to if not the Underground? Were the creatures living there not monsters?

Mettaton can’t be seen but we hear him in a house that looks like Napstablook’s (where is my favorite ghost??? Does he work at the police station?). I guess he never met Alphys or got his robot body in this universe. And don’t even get me started on our dad’s Flower Shop! Alphys prefers Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 over the original for some reason. But the worst difference, the worst one of all… UNDYNE DOESN’T KNOW ALPHYS. That means no ship, no anime, no nothing. Undyne’s a cop now, though, and that’s cool but I’m still heartbroken!

That raises other questions. Is Kris actually Chara? How would they know to ask Undyne about Alphys unless they were aware of that alternate timeline where they like each other? If Deltarune was post-pacifist route, why does Kris rip out their soul and throw it in the cage at the very end? Could this be the next “world” Chara goes to after the genocide route?

I wondered if it could be a prequel. The song that plays when you finish the first chapter of Deltarune is called “Don’t forget”. If you don’t remember, there’s a drawn picture of three smiling people with “don’t forget” written under it in Undertale. By drawing this picture, was Sans trying to remember something from a previous timeline, specifically the heroes in the Deltarune timeline? Is this actually a prequel that gives us a happy ending with the monsters escaping the Underground only to be loaded by someone, forcing Sans to relive everything again and again in Undertale?

He may have been trying to “go back” to the world we see in Deltarune

Undyne has both of her eyes in Deltarune so it could be a prequel chronologically speaking but was Toriel a teacher before they escaped the Underground too? Why isn’t Asgore in charge if it was a prequel?

So it isn’t a sequel; it’s a separate timeline. Gaster and Sans and Chara knew all about those. That’s what worries me. If let’s say, Mr. Fox is purposefully misleading us, telling us to consider this as a separate entity from Undertale, I can see this being the story of how Chara decided to find a new vessel (Kris) to try ruining everything again. Or maybe Kris could have taken their soul out at the end of the game to stop the conflict between the positive, determined nature of the player and their corrupted vessel that has been exposed to the fountain of darkness.

It could be another fourth wall breaking moment. Maybe Kris is trying to protect the world from us, the player, but locking away their soul, the only thing we truly use to interact with everyone. That’s why they stare directly at us with a crazy look on their eye. Because previously, we decided to commit genocide in Undertale. Who’s to say that won’t happen again?

Chara might not even exist in this dimension. Kris might have just taken out a knife in the middle of the night, looking straight at us to be creepy. By the way, how long did they have that knife on them?!

When you finally leave the Dark World, “you feel something weird” and then you’re home. And as satisfying as it was, our mission wasn’t close to being done. We were supposed to prevent the world from being overrun with darkness but did we do that? Did beating the king really fix anything? It’s a good thing Susie wants to go back the next day, though. They can continue to sort things out in their own little Narnia/Wonderland.

There are so many things we don’t know about Deltarune and that makes me excited. Such as: Why is it impossible to kill (not that I want to)? The enemies always run away. Is this being controlled by someone like Chara or is this the game’s way of showing how little we can impact this world in a unique way? This is what I love so much about being in the Undertale fandom. It’s interesting to think about this stuff. And I’ll never stop being amazed at how cool the story and characters are.

At one point, Susie threatens Lancer’s father by saying “everybody bleeds.” Which is interesting. Considering in the Undertale universe, monsters can’t bleed. They turn to dust. This is still supported by the kid who asks us if it hurts to be made of blood. But maybe monsters are made differently in this dimension. The different laws of physics of this world could have allowed the monsters to overpower the humans.

If it’s an alternate timeline, why are Toriel and Asgore not together? Does that mean Asgore never killed those humans to free his people from the Underground? Why does Toriel dislike him in this reality?

I’ve also wondered if Lancer is a younger version of Sans but I hardly have anything to back that up. It’s just speculation based on character design and personality.

Who is the mysterious knight they kept mentioning? Another Undyne?

Chara still seems to be the narrator. If they even exist. When and how could they have possessed Kris?

I learned this from the internet, not experience but I’ll include it ‘cause it’s funny… Naming your vessel Gaster reloads the game. Naming yourself Gaster causes the game to close.

I still don’t know much about Jevil but I’m working on that.

Deltarune is so great. I adore Ralsei. I love the Fun Gang. I can’t wait to see more of Susie and Kris. Everything is so clever and carefully thought out. I’m grateful we have this chapter. There are hilarious tropes and charm galore and the writing is delightful.

There’s only one ending to this game apparently, but the choices we make still feel like they matter. It feels good knowing you spared everyone you encountered. It feels bad knowing you beat everyone up no matter what. But our choices technically don’t amount to anything.

Sounds familiar.

I’m not a game developer or a hardcore gamer so I have no idea how I would critique something like this. I have no complaints. I’m just going to happily and patiently wait until there’s more. Bottom line is I’m very glad I have an excuse to be obsessed with Toby Fox’s brilliant creations once again.

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I haven’t posted anything here for a while so HELLO. A few weeks ago, I was planning on writing something about the Gerudo in Breath of the Wild but I lost my creativity halfway through. If you guys want me to finish that up, I can 😀

The “Don’t Like, Don’t Watch” Argument and its Flaws

“Don’t like, don’t watch/read” is an argument that is used often when people can’t agree on something. It’s used sometimes to tell someone to stop complaining about things they don’t like. Because why are you putting so much effort into talking about something you hate? Here I will discuss some uses of said phrase and whether or not it is valid.

This is a possible situation that might be able to use “don’t like, don’t watch” in a good way. Let’s say two friends watch a movie together one night. One person loves it and knows there’s a consistent quality to the film. The other watches half an hour and disagrees with everything. (In this situation, there is no wrong person. Opinions can’t all be the same, so if this happens to you, calm your little fanboy/girl heart.) But if the one who loves the movie said to their friend “If you don’t like it so far, you don’t have to watch the rest” it makes enough sense. Nothing is forcing them to watch this movie he hates.

Judging by their friend’s reaction to everything so far, they can guess that since the whole movie has basically the same tone, message, themes, etc. their friend won’t enjoy the rest. And yes, the reply I wrote in the paragraph above is a nicer and more detailed version of DL,DW, but that’s the point. If DL,DW was actually “don’t like, don’t watch the rest“, in situations like these, it could be valid. Emphasis on could. This could be wrong.

Let’s use DL,DW (the rest) in another scenario. Someone saw the Adventure Time pilot when it aired and he is not a fan. If someone were to use DL,DWTR in this case, would it make sense? No. Because how is he suppose to know the rest of Adventure Time will be the same quality as the pilot? How is Sam suppose to judge the entire show by only watching one episode he didn’t like? I mean, he could, but that would be an unfair judgment. (Side note: It totally is because Adventure Time becomes more awesome later on, but that’s my opinion…)

Sometimes it sounds like users of DL,DW are saying either “unwatch the thing you dislike” or “I don’t like your opinion, so stop voicing it.” I’m not saying the first one is true in any situation, that’s just how it reads sometimes to me. And the latter is most likely the way it is used most of the time. They just don’t explicitly say all that.

DL,DW can be used as a conversation stopper. It can be used when a debate has gotten to the point where Person A disagrees with Person B and they can’t find anything in common. Person A just says “DL,DW” because Person A doesn’t appreciate Person B’s thoughts on the subject and wishes to end the discussion. It also probably won’t work because people don’t like to be shut up and they’re not gonna stop just because you typed a few words.

And another thing!
How am I suppose to know I don’t like something before I even read or watch it?

Let’s say there was a fan fiction written about a homosexual relationship (Let’s say a Johnlock fanfic…just off the top of my head ’cause I’m currently obsessed with that show!) that had “don’t like, don’t read” in its description. Now, in other situations, this argument wouldn’t make sense. How am I suppose to know if I enjoy your story or not from the two sentences you gave me that describe the plot?

But when I see “don’t like, don’t read” in this kind of scenario, I understand what it means. It’s basically a shorter way of saying “If you’re a bigot, don’t read this story to just write hate comments about the main couple and not address my writing skills or anything that actually deserves critique.” And that’s too lengthy, so using “don’t like, don’t read” gives out that message a lot quicker.

 

Some of my main points are:

This argument is a form of censorship, and censorship is a whole ‘nother discussion, so I won’t go into detail here.

Don’t complain about something just for the sake of complaining about it. Do it because you actually care about the improvement of the thing you don’t like, or the improvement of anything related to it.

“If you don’t like it, then stop” should be used sometimes. But then you get replies like “Don’t tell me what to do!” so I dunno what to say…

Usually, people who say DL,DW are the ones voicing their popular opinions and they don’t want any negativity given to the thing they’re a fan of. But this is not always the case.

Everything can get better over time. It’s not an overnight change. And sometimes change may never happen. You never know what the future of something is for sure. The only thing you can do is give it a chance. But if it comes to the point where you have decided to drop a show or a book, that is entirely up to you. And if you want to continue watching or reading something you don’t like, that is also your choice but I hope you have good reasons.

If someone uses DL,DW too much, they may resort to just accepting problems in media without addressing them. When this happens, the people who consume media and are DL,DW users will not be as helpful. Without some constructive criticism, all of those things you used to complain about will have a hard time improving.

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(On a related note, there are times when valid points are being made by an audience and the creators/writers/whoever is in charge just does not listen. They’re stuck in their ways and that sucks.)

Now, in circumstances that take place in chat rooms and the like, I don’t think this phrase should be used at all. If anything, it should be replaced with “I don’t like that you feel this way, but I respect your opinion. I hope we can agree to disagree.” But the world will never become so polite.

This post was inspired by PIEGUYRULZ’s video on this very subject, and I recommend you check out his video and his YouTube channel. He makes a lot of good stuff.

What do you guys think? Leave your comments below and feel free to talk to me on social media.

TLoZ: Twilight Princess Review

 

 

I spent close to 60 hours playing this game. And it was my first Zelda game ever! I finished it a while ago, so I’ll try remembering some of my thoughts as best I can. Oh, and spoiler alert. FWI, just in case other versions are slightly different, I played this on the Wii. Let’s start with my dislikes so we can end on a high note.

 

 

Dislikes:

Zant. I like his story. I kinda like his design. But when he was first introduced he seemed so calm, intimidating, and in control. When he takes off his mask near the end is when it started to go downhill. He moved and spoke in a very strange way and basically threw temper tantrums like Kylo Ren a baby during his fight. Why was he even here? He was replaced by Ganon anyway!

Our little Ooccoo friend. I can’t think of any reason for him to be in every dungeon other than to set up his peoples’ story. He’s completely useless. I mean, I’m sure he can do things, but I never used him. Plus, look at this face!

NIGHTMARES. This thing stares into your soul, man! I think they kinda look like a combination of Baby Voldemort in HP: Goblet of Fire and a chicken/goose/duck/thing. What were they thinking while designing these things?!!?!11?!

 += Ooccoo

The dungeons are a big part of this game. But I guess it just wasn’t my thing. I preferred wandering around, doing things for random people to getting lost in a dungeon (maze, more like it), trying to figure out what room I haven’t been to yet and how to get there. I ended up using a walkthrough for most of this game, and that kinda sucked some of the fun out of it. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to figure stuff out myself. Maybe I’m just not skilled enough for this kind of game. I don’t know. I just want direction!

While I like Link’s design, he seems pretty emotionless. Even when he’s happy it looks strange. I could hardly relate to him except for maybe a few scenes. It could have to do with the fact he doesn’t speak too!

 

^ This cut scene! What was up with this scene?! With all the Ilias floating/falling upside down! That was weird! Nintendo, you trying to be dark? ‘Cause this was just odd. Interesting idea. Seemed like a cool way to tell the story, but nah.

Epona doesn’t get much screen time. I wanted to get a good feel for Link’s bond with his horse, but we didn’t really get that. Not a lot of scenes with Epona near the end. And during some cutscenes, the dialogue goes at its own speed. I couldn’t control it so sometimes I worried about reading too slow.

The people living in Castle Town seem completely oblivious to the fact the castle is encased in some sort of glowing diamond! Rhombus? Octahedron. Whatever. They should be freaking out, not just going about their day like this is normal!

The Cave or Ordeals was kind of fun, but I ended up doing it after finishing the game, so all the rewards I got from it were kinda pointless. The side quests seemed fun, but like the Cave of Ordeals, I waited to do them. They weren’t too enticing to me. Collect all these bugs? Fine. I’ll look up a map of where they all are. But now that I’m done, why do I need this bag to carry more money? (And what is up with that girl? Making up poems about all the bugs I give her?) Collect all these Poe souls to get your soul back? Sure, buddy, I’d love to help. Gets 20 souls Here you go! … Excuse me? 60?! But but but but. Sigh

After the credits, I thought I’d be able to walk around, explore, and visit the village after everything got better. When I went back in, I was in front of the castle before the final battle. I didn’t really get to enjoy the victory. There were scenes in between the credits which I appreciated, but I wanted to talk to everyone! I understand that before the final boss was the last time we really had Midna with us, so I get why it didn’t allow that. She was a huge part of the story. The portals were pretty important too. Without her, it would’ve been strange. But at least give me an option, please. “Do you want to go back, or visit with your friends, Hero?” Going back to before I even won made it kind of anticlimactic and disappointing. I don’t know.

Learning new attacks is optional. What if I decided to completely ignore the golden wolf? I’d be a terrible swordsman! And the enemies get harder and harder as the game goes on. I get that a big part of this game is the exploration, but fighting is essential to this story progressing. I probably learned a little over half of the attacks because I couldn’t find all those…things. I don’t remember the name. The things Link had to howl into! Those! Am I a bad explorer? Probably. I didn’t find all the heart pieces either.

 

Likes:

Midna was the best. Like I said, Epona didn’t get a lot of attention, but riding a horse everywhere would’ve taken forever. Her portals were really helpful, she was a cool and mysterious character to have around. I liked her backstory, her design, her powers, and even the little “talking” noises she made. One of my favorite parts was when she was unable to do anything and Link was stuck as a wolf with Midna lying on his back. It was a good way to make us realize we care about her, and in that moment all I wanted to do was help her. Good job.

Zelda wasn’t around a lot, sadly. But when she is she’s super helpful! Her story was great too. The arrows she used in (one of) the final battle(s) were great because there was no way I was going to be able to do that! It would’ve been like saving Ilia from a flaming carriage all over again! STRESSFUL.

I like the kids from the village. I liked Ilia, Malo was hilarious, Colin was great, Talo and Beth were okay I guess. Their side of Link’s quest Link is not really focused on. That makes sense, seeing as there are other more dangerous things in the world to deal with. But after taking a break from playing it (since Winter vacation was over) I had completely forgotten about Ilia’s memory loss and the kids in Kakariko Village. All I remembered was collecting/killing bugs. Lots of bugs. And a lot of spirits.

I know this game was released in 2006. I know there are better-animated things out there. But I haven’t played as many games as others. My standards might be kinda low. You tell me whether or not that’s a good thing. But this game looked fantastic! I really liked how this game looks.

Preeeettyyyy….

The first part of this game was fun for me. Before he even met Midna or the kids got kidnapped. I liked doing little things for everyone. But that being said, how could this town function without Link?! Sure, I’ll do your job for you, lazy. Herd these goats? Fine. Rusl was the only helpful one out of all of the people in the village.

The scene where they say goodbye to Midna was fantastic. Like I said, the scenes we saw during the credits were good! Everyone went back home and I felt really happy with how the story came to a close.

The biggest reason I’d want to pick up any other LoZ game would be the story. The story in this game was fantastic. I had hardly any prior knowledge of the Zelda universe before playing this, so for all I know this could be the worst game in the franchise and the story just butchers the original. Whatever. I don’t know. All I know is the Twilight Realm, the Fused Shadow, Link’s Triforce birthmark, and him turning into a wolf (which was unexpected! I didn’t really look at the box art I guess) were all really cool!

My favorite items were the double clawshot and the spinner. My favorite areas were Zora’s domain and the Faron Province.

So overall I do think I have more complaints about this game than things I loved, but that won’t stop me from trying another LoZ game in the future! It seems worth it. This might not have been my kind of game, but who knows? I could warm up to it. I did like the characters (for the most part) and the story. The mechanics were simple enough.

 

So how did you guys like the game? Feel free to comment and tell me. 🙂 ‘Til next we speak!