Deltarune by Toby Fox (fantasy-adventure role-playing video game, 2018-present)

[lb_lee]

Submitted by quailfence! Thank you, quailfence!

"No one can choose who they are in this world."

Blurb: You control Kris, the only human in a town full of monsters. One day, you and the local bully, Susie, are sent to get something from a supply closet, and end up falling into a mysterious other dimension called the Dark World. There they meet the Prince of Darkness, Ralsei, who tells them that the three of them are the "Delta Warriors" of an ancient prophecy and are destined to save the world. As they explore and fight through the dark world, however, they soon begin to question the prophecy and whether following it is the right decision. It also becomes increasingly apparent that Kris is their own person separate from you - and that they do not like what you're doing

Why is it worth your time?: The game explores questions about free will and destiny in a very interesting way, with the tension between Kris and the player being a big highlight of that theme. Also, engaging gameplay, fun and funny characters, lovely pixel art, and a banging soundtrack

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse:low-focus (unless you play the alternate/secret route, which is abuse:high-focus), 1+: otherworld, relationships:enmity, relationships:teamwork, type:possession

Content Warnings: non-lethal violence, minor blood, threatened apocalypse, past character death and resulting grief, you (the player) are controlling someone against their will, bullying, death threats, abuse is mostly implied/referenced but there is a brief scene of verbal/emotional child abuse, brief scene of a parent being drunk, trauma due to parental divorce, self-esteem issues, Christianity-esque religion

The alternate/secret route involves the player forcing two characters into a manipulative, abusive relationship and murder

Accessibility Notes: Available on Switch 1/2, PlayStation 4/5, and PC via Steam. The first two chapters are available as a free demo, the rest is paid. The demo is also available on Itch.io. A Japanese translation is available. All text is on screen but there is no dub; one miniboss fight in ch 4 involves audio and visual cues with the visual cues going away after a while, but the visual cues will stay if you die and retry more than once or tell one of your party members that you can't hear something in the scene prior to the miniboss. Let's Plays exist but I haven't seen any

Misc. Notes (if any): This game is a not-quite-sequel to Undertale, and Toby Fox recommends that you play that game first; however you will still be able to enjoy/understand Deltarune if you haven't played Undertale. Currently, only 4 of a planned 7 chapters are out - chapter 5 will release in 2026, and beyond that the release schedule is unknown