DELTARUNE Chapters 3 & 4

     Hey! It will come as no secret to those who read through most of my blog or who know me personally, but for those unaware, I am a really, really big fan of the game DELTARUNE. In the four years that had passed since the release of Chapter 2, I had fallen in and out of love with the game a few times, and I had developed just as many thoughts, predictions, and opinions on it as the community had. The excitement of not one, but two installments releasing simultaneously was super exciting, and when an official release date had been confirmed (June 4th, 2025) I had gathered enough junk food and snacks to last me a few days, ensured that all of my obligations were in order, and said goodbye to the outside world for the next few days. After four years of anticipation, DELTARUNE had my full, undivided attention.

    Unfortunately, there's no way of describing my behavior on that day that doesn't end in me looking like a huge nerd. As I sat in my desk, staring at a countdown timer finally tick off digit by digit, I could feel the comparison between myself and nerds in the 1970s camping outside theaters for the next Star Wars movies, or the preteens queuing in front of bookstores at 4 AM for the release of the next Harry Potter books. At least those guys were socializing. Here I was, all by myself, practically vibrating with excitement and smiling like an idiot as I read through all of the texts and messages from friends who knew how much this meant to me. 

    It's not a feeling I was ever prepared for, but there was a really deep sensation evoked within me on the day that the release date was announced, but not because it marked the ending for a four year wait; instead it was all of the texts and calls I received from my friends who saw the announcement and immediately thought of me. Friends that I hadn't spoken to in weeks, months, or even years started flooding my phone's notifications with celebrations and congratulations for me, and it was probably one of the greatest feelings ever. To be loved is to be known, and for so many people to affirm that they do know me, and that they want to let me know that they thought of me when seeing something I like... it's a little corny, but I hadn't felt that loved in a while.

    Anyways... When I finally booted up the game, a few thoughts went through my head. After four years, there had been a lot of theories and predictions made by the fan community, and with the amount of teasers that had been released prior to the game drop, there were plenty of expectations that were set. What would the main antagonist of Chapter 3 look like? What would the secret boss be like? What would be the theming of the next dark world? Swirling thoughts cluttered my mind, and I am so, so happy to say that within a few minutes of starting the chapter, all of my thoughts on how I thought this chapter would go were completely destroyed, and I was completely caught off guard by all of the decisions made in the story. The best part? I was recording my playthrough for the first time ever, so I would be capturing all of my raw reactions, my struggles, and my commentary on what would happen next. I had never tried playing a game like this, but it turned out to be really fun!

    Prior to the release of Chapter 3, there had been a lot of fan speculation and theorizing about a teased character named "Tenna," who most people assumed would take the role of primary antagonist for the chapter in the same way that the King and the Queen had been the main villains of the first two chapters. However, this time the fans had a source from within the game that gave hints about the nature of this new character, which allowed for fans to create unofficial interpretations and theories about a character that hadn't even been released yet. He was described as a criminal game show host, promising to be quite possibly the most vile, evil villain that DELTARUNE has made us face yet... But there was one issue. All of this information came from Spamton, who is an unreliable narrator at best, and a manipulative liar at worst.

    So, when we finally were able to meet Tenna after the four year wait, everyone was expecting some evil, powerful TV-headed character. I'm not sure why everyone decided to take Spamton's word as fact in this situation, but we were all pleasantly surprised to find that Tenna was a bombastic, super positive game show host that didn't resemble the twisted perception we had prior to the chapter's release. I instantly fell in love with his character, his music, his humor, and the visual gags that came from him being a 3D- modeled character (which made him extremely visually distinct from the rest of the 2D characters). He's just a silly guy! But when his eventual (and predictable) reveal as an antagonist was revealed, the motivation for his antagonism was very different to what I had expected.

    Tenna is a character that is reflective of a family that had gone through divorce. While hints and glimpses of the Dreemurr household's fracturing had been implied through dialogue in the first two chapters, Chapter 3 and Tenna put this familial conflict on full display, allowing for the player to gain a better understanding of the protagonist, Kris. Above all else, Tenna wants attention, which has a double significance as a television that no one uses (since TV is a dying medium) but also as a child of divorce, whom are often overlooked or have some sort of attachment/abandonment issues. The tactics that Tenna uses to keep the player entertained is also reflective of his being a TV, he is meant to represent the escapism of constant stimulation to distract oneself from the problems of the real world. As a whole, I thought that these concepts turned Tenna from a memorable, fun antagonist to a deeper representation of the attachment issues and unseen ramifications that a divorce can have on a child, who might turn to overstimulation and escapism to help cope with trauma.

    I could ramble about Tenna and his significance to deeper themes within the story for a long while, but I felt that a quick paragraph to skim over some of the more interesting aspects of his character would do a good job of explaining why I like him as an antagonist. In a less serious sense, I just really, really liked every segment he was in, whether he is keeping up the friendly game-show persona or falling apart at the seams, yelling at his employees. The music is a real gem of this chapter, which was a relief since I wasn't sure how Toby Fox could improve from the now-iconic soundtrack of the first two chapters. I also really connected with Tenna and his desire to keep everyone happy, even if his methods weren't always the best. He felt like an antagonist that I could empathize with, since I have my moments where I feel a little hunger for attention and connection with others as well. 

    The secret boss of Chapter 3 was also something that was heavily anticipated. I've blogged in the past about my own predictions for how I thought the secret boss for Chapter 3 would look like, but like everyone else in the community, I was dead wrong. Instead of the secret boss being a cowboy or another TV-related character, it actually was presented through the medium of in-game secret videogames, where the player controls Kris, who is playing their own videogame controlling a virtual Kris that has to go around arenas killing monsters and "getting stronger" before unlocking the secret boss, ERAM. ERAM was a really unique fight, since it took place in the "game within the game," meaning that the fight mechanics were brand-new instead of using the traditional battle system that the rest of the game uses for enemy encounters.

    In some ways, this felt a little underwhelming, especially after so much hype and speculation about the boss only for it to turn out to be a relatively short fight with very little dialogue to analyze. I think a lot of the fanbase was expecting another Spamton NEO fight, and felt let-down once they realized that their hopes were pretty unrealistic. However, any disappointment from ERAM's fight evaporated when it was revealed that there was a second "secret" boss. I say "secret" because the community is still debating whether this fight qualifies as one, since the Roaring Knight isn't technically a secret, since it's a required encounter after you defeat Tenna, but the game treats the fight as a scripted loss, meaning that the game treats this fight as one you are meant to lose. The real "secret" is that you can reload your save file after this scripted loss to try the fight again, and though it may seem impossible at first, it is possible to "win". I'm not sure if this is something to really be proud of, but I can say that after 4.5 hours of repeated attempts, I was one of the first people in the world to beat the Roaring Knight without health hacks.

    Overall, I think Chapter 3 of DELTARUNE is my favorite (at time of writing) chapter from the whole game! It has strong music, an iconic antagonist that is equal parts threatening and entertaining, fun twists on the gameplay formula, and a decent amount of story/lore relevance. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't biased toward Chapter 3 as a result of my instant connection with Tenna, but in reality, a lot of the controversial parts of this chapter that parts of the community hated (the focus on BOARDs rather than new sections of the dark world, an unconventional secret boss, and a scripted loss final boss) are all qualities that elevate the chapter in my opinion! In the four years between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, the community had accepted Chapter 2's plot structure and features as what was assumed to be the formula every subsequent chapter would follow. I'm really happy that this wasn't the case, and Toby Fox immediately established that there is no formula when it comes to DELTARUNE's chapters. Decisions like these, albeit controversial, are what distinguish Toby's official work from inspired fan-works. 

    Having said all of this, if Chapter 3 was Toby Fox's way of showing that DELTARUNE has no formulas, Chapter 4 was his signal that the game is becoming more serious and story-driven. While Chapter 3 takes place in the colorful, sensory-overload bombastic TV World with goofy Tenna as the main antagonist, Chapter 4 is darker, having us follow the gang through a gloomy, ethereal dark world based on church and religious iconography, with the Roaring Knight finally taking their rightful place as the main antagonist for both the chapter and overarching game. Essentially, this chapter is telling us: Fun is over, time for things to get real.

    Before we enter the ominous church dark world, we get some more worldbuilding based on the light world, allowing us to experience a Sunday sermon and immerse ourselves in the culture and religion of this game's world, as well as exploring the Mayor's mansion, where we get our first direct conflict between Kris and the SOUL (well, technically Chapter 1's cliffhanger ending is the first one, but that was a few seconds long so I'm not counting it). This entire section had CRAZY story implications, since it finally outright acknowledged the conflict and distinction between ourselves and the character we play as. I've written a blog before regarding DELTARUNE's metanarrative about determinism and control, but for the most part this aspect of the game has always been subtext. With the separation of our SOUL from Kris' body during the Holiday Manor section of the game, we were finally treated to an overt display of conflict between our goals and the motivations of Kris, who we control. It was really cool to see this conflict be brought to center stage, and it forces the player to acknowledge our influence and intrusion on the world of the game, which I think will be the true story that DELTARUNE is trying to tell.

    Once we enter the dark world in the church, the vibes are immediately different from the dark worlds we've explored in the past. The gloomier environment, the choir music, and the general epic feel of the scenery separates it from the past chapters in tone and gravity. Here, there is no whimsical chapter-specific antagonist- you are directly facing the Roaring Knight as they continually evade you and hinder your progress. The lack of an omni-present villain is made up for by the looming inevitability of the Prophecy throughout this chapter, as screens foretelling the inevitable future seem to further hammer in the core idea of this game: that your choices don't matter. This change in tone and stakes is further reflected in the battle music for this chapter, abandoning the iconic Rude Buster song that would play in every enemy encounter for a stranger and brand-new alternative song, From Now On (and it slaps!)

    Of course, the lack of an antagonist doesn't mean we are left alone to wander the halls of this church dark world. Instead, we are accompanied by the Old Man (though really, everyone knows this his real name is Gerson) who takes on a whimsical mentor figure that gently guides the gang in the right direction while teaching Susie to believe in herself, reject destiny, and push her into forging her own path in the world. The Old Man brings a tinge of humor to an otherwise serious chapter, focused mostly on confronting destiny and the Prophecy while providing some serious character-building moments. Kris distinguishes themselves from the SOUL's control momentarily, Susie is pushed into believing in herself and being more confident, and Ralsei grapples with the burden of knowing how the Prophecy ends, forcing him to become more of an individual in the process.

    The secret boss of this chapter is extremely fun and is essentially fan-service: you get to spar against Gerson, the Hammer of Justice, as Susie on a one-on-one battle where Gerson makes references to the future of the game, Undertale, and motivates Susie to push herself harder than before to become a true Hero of the prophecy. The music is banging, the attacks are fun, and in a much-welcome twist, this fight uniquely introduces a new SOUL mode: the green SOUL with a shield, just like in Undertale! I still haven't heard anyone have any complaints regarding this fight, which is a noteworthy feat in of itself. The in-battle dialogue also feels genuinely inspiring, since Gerson's entire character revolves around the idea of writing your own story and rejecting the path that was determined for you, and paired with the hype music, feels very engaging! It might be my new favorite secret boss in DELTARUNE!

    The unexpected appearance of one of the Roaring Titans was also a really cool feature of the chapter. Everyone had expected these Titans to show up near the ending of the game, but their sudden summoning at the end of Chapter 4 led to one of the most climactic, intense fights in the entire game! I liked how it was depicted as an unstoppable force that is only defeated through the SOUL's otherworldly power and some help from the Old Man, as it maintains the idea that the Roaring is a threat despite us having defeated one Titan at the halfway point in the game. Seeing Ralsei, the usual pacifist, scream at us to attack and kill something was a highlight moment where it felt like the game itself was telling the player to lock in! Also thought it was cool that the darkness mechanic was introduced by such a silly joke boss like Jackenstein (who could get his own blog post if I'm being honest).

    Having said all of this, I genuinely think that the most memorable moment from both chapters was the post-chapter 4 Mike boss fight. The player has to go through several hoops to unlock this obscure bonus fight, like reloading a save file after beating Chapter 4 and then unlocking a door using a special 4-digit code, but man, is it worth it. This Mike area introduces the MAUS ability, where for the first time ever, you can use your mouse controls to grab items and interact with things that are out of Kris' reach. But what's arguably MORE interesting is the fact that for Mike's fight, you have to use your microphone! Yes, the game asks for your permission to use your computer's microphone as an input, and then makes you rely on screaming into your microphone (or being suddenly quiet) in order to survive the fight. The sheer chaos of having to yell into my microphone and timing each yell to avoid attacks might be the most unique experience I've had in any videogame, ever! The music is one of the best in the game, and the very concept of the fight seems to poke fun at the fan community and their various interpretations and predictions for who the long-teased Mike would be and how he'd look like, only for it to be revealed that none of the Mikes that we fight is the "real" Mike!

    Overall, I could not be happier with the content that was released this year. If I was asked a few months ago whether I thought Toby Fox and his team could deliver on four years of anticipation, I would've given you a nervous but hopeful answer. I can confidently say now, this was worth the wait. In this content drop, we received double the songs we used to have, plenty of really funny and iconic characters, lots of story and lore reveals, and tons of innovative mechanics that I would've never predicted. On top of this, knowing that Chapter 5 will be slated for release in 2026 feels like someone is lighting my nerves on fire, it's exhilarating to know that the wait will be much shorter for the next content drop, and with all of the stuff we got for Chapter 3 and 4, I am SO SO EXCITED!!!