How to get into Undertale/Deltarune
What is UTDR?
UTDR (UnderTale/DeltaRune) is an RPG series originating from the mind of Toby Fox. The series consists of two entries which have seen releases on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.
The series began with the release of Undertale in 2015. But you're not late to the party! Even if you know the general plot of both games, they have a lot of rich experiences and emotions waiting for you.
Where do I start?
I would personally recommend starting with Undertale. Deltarune is not a sequel or prequel to Undertale, and you do not need to have played Undertale to understand the plot of Deltarune, but Deltarune contains many references to Undertale and subverts the expectations set by it in a lot of ways. Deltarune is a great time regardless, but in my personal opinion it is enhanced if you experience it carrying knowledge from Undertale.
That being said... I actually started my UTDR journey with Deltarune and played Undertale after completing the first four chapters of Deltarune. If you like Deltarune, you will almost definitely like Undertale. And if you like Undertale, you will almost definitely like Deltarune.
Where can I find the games?
Undertale is available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch: Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Deltarune is available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. So at the moment, if you only have an Xbox available to you, you will not be able to experience Deltarune.
For PC, Undertale is available on Steam, Humble Bundle, and GOG. Deltarune is only available on Steam, but the free demo is available on Steam and itch.io. Both games are free of DRM/anti-tamper software on all PC platforms.
Which platform is best?
There are more differences between the PC and console versions than there are between the console versions. Here is a list of benefits of PC versus console:
Benefits of PC
- Keyboard input
- Mouse input in sections that optionally use it
- Easier save file manipulation/editing
- Easier modding
- Near-instant load times between Deltarune chapters
Benefits of console
- Dynamic border art
- Nintendo Switch exclusive content (optional rooms and minibosses)
- Joycon support
- Achievements on PlayStation and Xbox
The PC versions of both games can be played with a gamepad, provided that your system supports it.
For input, choose whatever is most comfortable for you. The game only uses directional inputs and 3 buttons; you can rebind your controls in-game, so anything with at least 7 buttons works. I personally prefer gamepad as it's somewhat easier on my wrists.
The story and 99% of the gameplay is the same between every version of both games, anyways. Choose whatever is most convenient for you. If you really can't decide, I would recommend PC since it's unlikely you're reading this page on a console...
If you are able to choose between console versions, I would recommend the Nintendo Switch 2 for Deltarune and any Nintendo Switch system for Undertale. Both of these versions have pretty neat optional minibosses.
The rest of this article will contain mild spoilers for Undertale and Deltarune! Obviously I won't give you the entire story and lore to both games, but out of necessity I will have to describe some overarching plot points and secrets.
How do I play Undertale optimally?
Do what your heart tells you to. No one has to die in this world.
Every save point restores you to full health upon interacting with it, even if you don't actually save. I would recommend saving at every save point you pass, there's no reason not to. I would also recommend managing your weapons and armour well even if you don't intend to fight anyone. Some items confer special bonus effects when you equip them.
If you're like me, you have a habit of saving your healing items "just in case". Use healing items often, especially if you don't intend to fight anyone! The game is very generous with healing and you'll be hard pressed to run out of gold to buy them with.
Undertale doesn't have a lot of side quests or missable content, but I would still recommend exploring the world thoroughly and following any threads you find. A lot of the world's flavour comes from the various little things you can find and people you can meet. Don't just beeline towards the ending, take some time to stop and smell the flowers.
In battle, you can hold "cancel" to move slower in bullet-dodging segments. The game never tells you about this.
What's the deal with Undertale's multiple endings?
Undertale's story changes depending on who you spare and who you kill. There are two major routes: True Pacifist Route, which is achieved by killing no one, and Genocide Route, which is achieved by killing as many people as you can. As you may expect, True Pacifist is a much happier ending than Genocide. If you meet the requirements for neither of these, you get a Neutral ending which changes depending on who you killed.
You cannot get straight to a True Pacifist ending from a fresh start. If you spare Flowey after fighting him, he will give you some advice on what to do to achieve the True Pacifist ending after viewing the Neutral ending. If you have not killed anyone and do not have any EXP/LV, you do not need to reset your save to get the True Pacifist ending! You can just backtrack after loading your save.
The Genocide Route ending can be achieved from a fresh start. Every area of the game has a number of kills that needs to be reached through random encounters. Save points in the game will tell you how many kills are left. You can grind for kills by walking around in circles.
How do I play Deltarune optimally?
Most of the advice from Undertale also applies to Deltarune. Keep in mind that in battle you have multiple party members who do things in sequence; you can do a lot in one turn if you know what each party member's actions do. For example, on one turn you can have one party member perform an ACT that increases the enemy's mercy to max, and another party member spare them on the same turn.
What's the deal with Deltarune's side quests?
The two main side quests in Deltarune are Shadow Crystal bosses and Eggs. Each chapter has one Shadow Crystal boss and one Egg.
Shadow Crystal bosses are optional challenge bosses that reward the player with a Shadow Crystal and gear; the first two Shadow Crystal bosses reward you with a weapon if they were defeated with violence and armour if they were defeated nonviolently. The third and fourth Shadow Crystal bosses can only give you weapons. As of writing only four chapters of the game are available, and it is not known what exactly the Shadow Crystals do. They're probably really important though given they show up on the chapter select screen
Eggs require you to carry out incredibly specific actions in order to obtain them. The Deltarune Wiki has a useful guide on how to obtain the Eggs. As of writing it is not known what the Eggs do. In the game they are described as "not too important, not too unimportant".
Neat trick to duplicate Shadow Crystals
Deltarune gives you three save slots. In each save slot you only need to defeat a Shadow Crystal boss once to earn their drops; on repeat playthroughs in that slot you can collect their drops for free in My Castle Town regardless of whether you fought them in that run.
The Shadow Crystal bosses of the first, second and fourth chapters allow you to save after fighting them. Thus, you can use this to make their rewards available in all three slots after fighting them in one. To do this, save after fighting them and copy that save file to all three slots. Then load the copied save files and save in that slot. The slots you just saved in are now considered as having the Shadow Crystal rewards.
The Shadow Crystal boss rewards can be found in a hole at the bottom of a cliff in the west of My Castle Town. Only rewards from Shadow Crystal bosses of previous chapters can be found here; for example, the rewards from the second Shadow Crystal boss cannot be found here unless you go there in chapter 3 or a later chapter.
Unfortunately, there is no opportunity to save after the third Shadow Crystal boss, so if you want their rewards in all three slots you will have to fight them three times!
How do "completion files" work in Deltarune?
In Deltarune, when you complete a chapter completion data will be generated in the save slot you completed that chapter in. Completion data is used to carry over things like your items, money, and choices made throughout the game to the next chapter. Having completion data for a chapter also alters that chapter on repeat playthroughs, usually allowing you to skip introductory sequences of a chapter.
Upon completing a chapter, the game will ask you if you want to continue to the next chapter or go back to the main menu. Completion data is generated regardless of your choice. To use completion data from the save select menu, select the "Ch X files" button in the bottom left, where "X" is the number of the previous chapter. For example, to use your completion data from Chapter 2 in Chapter 3 you would select "Ch 2 Files" in Chapter 3's save select menu. Completion data cannot be moved between slots.