Deltarune is a spiritual successor to Undertale and the game’s webpage strongly recommends playing Undertale before this title. Many of the Undertale characters make an appearance in Deltarune, so make sure you follow the developer’s advice to get the most enjoyment out of this free chapter. Other than the foul language, my only complaint with this entry is that there’s no word on when or if the second installment will come.

You play as an androgynous character named Kris. In class, Kris gets tasked with fetching chalk from the school supply closet with a classmate named Susie. Kris is quiet and doesn’t say much while Susie is quite strong and speaks with her fists. Upon entering the supply closet, the door closes behind them and they enter into another world that needs their help to restore peace and balance. In order for Kris and Susie to return home, they’ll have to assist their newfound friend, prince Ralsei.

Ralsei is a pacifist who wants to settle all battles peacefully while Susie wishes to beat enemies into submission. After learning my lesson in Undertale, I opted to play peacefully though Susie didn’t always follow my orders.

In battle, you can attack, act (issue an order for your friends), consume an item, use an ability, defend, or spare an enemy. Once an enemy is in a weakened state, you can spare them to end the battle. On the enemy’s turn, you take control of your heart and must dodge their attacks Shoot ‘em up style. By allowing the attacks to get close you’ll accumulate TP which is needed to use abilities/magic.

The levels are riddled with puzzles and obstacles that require good timing to bypass them without injury. If you go off of the beaten path, you may be rewarded with treasure chests of nicer weapons and armor to equip. The weapons shouldn’t be needed if you’re a pacifist though!

Be sure to talk to all of the NPCs. The dialogue in this game is hilarious, but often is riddled with curse words or blaspheming. You can expect to see words like hell, piss, d*mn, dumb*ss, and bad*ss. Though there is some violence, most of it is avoidable.

The pixel art style is very similar to Undertale’s. There’s a good amount of variety in level and character design to keep things interesting.

Toby Fox has composed another masterpiece. The 40-track digital album is available on BandCamp.com for a reasonable $7. String Player Gamer’s 14-track rendition is available for the same price on BandCamp.com as well.

If you enjoyed Undertale, Deltarune is worth looking into if you don’t mind some foul language. This game is relatively short, but since it's free, I can't complain. I hope the story gets resumed soon as it ends in a shocking cliffhanger.