Deltarune: The Fate of the "Genocide Route"

Disclaimer: This post will have heavy Undertale and Deltarune (Episode 1) spoilers. 

When Deltarune came out, I speculated on some of the future events that might happen in later episodes. Today, I'd like to present a theory about the design of Deltarune itself, and why Toby Fox killed the genocide route.

The Start of Genocide

When Undertale came out in 2015, it was deservedly praised for the many ways you could play it, and the many combinations of characters that could either live or die by the end. But by committing entirely to a pacifist or destructive approach, you could reach an ending entirely distinct from any of the 'neutral' ones. These routes are often referred to as the Pacifist and Genocide routes.

Undertale makes no secret of it; the Pacifist route is the "true" route. It is the only route that lasts beyond just a few lines of dialogue and has a full credits sequence. It's the only ending that offers closure for most (sorry, Asriel) characters. The game's trailer even made a point of emphasizing that you don't have to kill anyone.

On the other hand, the Genocide route is distinctly the "wrong" way to play. When you clear an area of monsters, the music becomes unsettling and slowed down. You are required to take increasingly malicious decisions, like attacking Papyrus when he instantly spares you. Characters like Sans berate you for your decisions and you miss out on a lot of charming dialogues and battles. And if you complete it, you can never get the true Pacifist ending again. All in all, the Genocide route is designed to feel distinctly unrewarding.

But it's not. The Genocide route actually has many rewards in store - it hides the two hardest boss battles in the game, Undyne the Undying and Sans, both of which have their own music track and dialogue. Additionally, you get to see dialogue and character interactions you don't on any other route, including backstory about Flowey. To see everything Undertale has to offer, you actually have to complete a Pacifist and Genocide route. The reason why I'm saying all this is because I think it sheds a new light on how Deltarune goes about its choices.

The End of Genocide

In October 2018, Toby Fox finally released the first episode of Deltarune. There is still some speculation as to where the game fits in compared to Undertale, but it's been confirmed that it is set in an alternate universe.

Just like Undertale, Deltarune's combat allows for either violent or diplomatic resolutions. However, you can't kill anyone in Deltarune even if you want to. If you reduce an enemy's HP to 0, they will simply fly off screen or run away. You never gain any EXP. Toby Fox has even revealed that Deltarune will not have multiple endings.

At a glance, one might thus believe that Deltarune is less committed to the idea of pacifism and resolving conflict without violence. One of the defining lines to hammer this home comes from Susie very near the end:

But I think that's only partially true. The game is clearly more 'lenient' on FIGHTing enemies, but it has removed your ability to kill them altogether. As a result, the "Genocide" route no longer exists. There is neither a reward nor a punishment for defeating every enemy. But there is still a reward for pacifism, and Ralsei repeatedly promotes the idea. Make it through Deltarune without hurting anyone, and you can speak to all the Darkners before moving on to the ending. You can choose to be pacifist or not, but you can't choose to be a murderer.

Conclusion

Undertale and Deltarune both offer, and even promote, finding nonviolent solutions to conflict. 

Undertale makes genocide an option, but makes it tedious, difficult and occasionally disturbing to get through. However, players choosing this route are still rewarded with unique battles and lore. 

In Deltarune, perhaps as a consequence of Undertale's genocide route, Toby Fox "killed" the genocide route altogether. It's no longer a valid, planned way to play the game. Only pacifism is rewarded with additional dialogue and character interactions.

It's hard to say which of these is the better solution - there are arguments for and against both. Undertale's genocide route having unique rewards might send a mixed signal, but the fact that killing enemies is an option makes the commitment to sparing them more meaningful.

Deltarune not allowing you to kill enemies and only rewarding pacifism might be more consistent, but it hardly makes a difference for the game's story.

I'd love you hear your thoughts on how each game approaches the "pacifism/genocide" choice. Please leave a comment or send me a message. Thank you for reading! 

Deltarune

We've finally had our first look at the successor to Undertale, Deltarune. I played through the first 'episode.' It'll take some time for me to form coherent opinions, so here's some ranting and wild speculation. I'll update this post as more thoughts and facts come up. I'm also going to include unmarked, HEAVY SPOILERS for Undertale and episode one of Deltarune. Beware!

Timeline Woes
Due to the characters involved and their relationship(s), this game cannot exist in the same "timeline" as Undertale. There are monsters living on the surface, yet our protagonist Kris seems to be the only human. To complicate matters further, his facial features and skin tone are reminiscent of Frisk (also note the name similarity), but his shirt and position in the timeline (recognizes both Toriel and Asgore as parental figures, has a sibling type relationship with Asriel) adds up more for Chara.

My current speculation is that we are in an alternate universe where humans were forced underground and the monsters stayed up above. Kris seems to be the only human around, a fact that is further emphasized by the fact that Susie initially keeps calling him freak.

To make matters even more complicated, there's our adorable and peace-loving companion throughout this adventure. Ralsei is a self-proclaimed PRINCE FROM THE DARK, explicitly establishing himself as separate from the Humans and Monsters in the prophecy, and yet...
... he's Asriel. it makes sense in a way, because he was also the prince of the underground in Undertale... and yet! This makes matters even stranger because Asriel is explicitly known to the world above and is supposedly enrolled in a university elsewhere. I speculate that Ralsei is Asriel from a different timeline, since this entire game seems to be playing with the idea of an alternate universe. It's still very strange that Kris doesn't really react, while Susie actually seems shocked. If my theory is true, that leaves two possibilities: Either Kris knew all along, or this Asriel doesn't look like his brother, the 'other' Asriel.

Every time I dig into the game, things seem to raise more questions than they answer, but I'm very excited to see where this is going.

One more thing, the game distinguishes the creatures from the underground as a separate 'class' of beings, referring to both monsters and humans as Lighteners. This sets the game's theme as being a typical light vs dark story, though it's up to the player whether they want to conquer dark (by being violent) or recovering the balance (by being peaceful).

Or is it? One more thing the game emphasized is that your choices don't matter. It says this several times, especially near the start. It makes me wonder if the outcome of the story will vary as much as it could in Undertale, or if it won't; Toby Fox likes to play with the conventions of the genre, so perhaps this is a play on the illusion of choice? I actually wrote an article about the way Undertale handles choices if you're interested, you can read it if you click here.

UPDATE 2-11-18: Toby Fox posted a Q&A, which you can check here:

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

He answered quite a few questions. Among other things, he confirmed that Delta Rune exists in a separate "universe" from Undertale and seems to imply one does not impact the other. I'm sceptical, though, because it is my belief that Kris and Susie entered another world or timeline through the closet in their school. Being a "separate" universe or timeline does not actually separate it from the story in Undertale.

Furthermore, and this puzzles me even more, he says the ending will be the same regardless of your choices. Undertale, I feel, had something profound to say about finding peaceful resolutions; it seems Delta Rune's outcome is ultimately always the same. I find it strange that Ralsei clearly states the contrary, however. It makes me wonder if this is a bit of deception on Toby's part. Perhaps the outcome will be the same in some ways, and not in others? We'll have to wait and see.
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UPDATE 2-11-18: After reviewing some gameplay footage, I have a few thoughts about the Lightners and Darkners.

After the adventure Kris and Susie wake up in an abandoned room in the school surrounded by many things they encountered on their adventure (poker cards, etc). It could all have been a dream, but both Kris and Susie remember the adventure and Susie still has her injury from the final battle.

All this got me thinking about what the Darkners really are.

Seam describes the Lightners as being Gods, but not just that - the Lightners are specifically named as the creators of Darkners and those who gave them purpose. And all the Darkners are based on manmade objects; the shopkeeper above is a plushy toy, Rudin and Hathy are poker cards, there are statues and poker chips, Lancer is a spade... It got me thinking that perhaps, the underground in Delta Rune is a place of lost toys.

Gameplay Joys
The battle system is basically an evolution of its predecessor, removing random encounters and introducing multiple party members. The interface buttons are a little small, though, which might be troublesome for people with impaired vision. I have little to say about it, beyond that I think it's great. Any excuse to hear more of Toby's musical talent is fine with me, and the added animations and in-battle dialogues add even more flavour.

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Also,

That is all.

I'll share more thoughts as more gets revealed and I take more time to do research.