Deltarune: Movement and Identity

Created by the same studio, Undertale and Deltarune are canonically connected. While the games do not share a universe, characters such as Toriel, and the bullet-hell-esque combat system relate the games strongly. The art style, and Undertale’s remixed music within Deltarune also enforce the connection between the two games. However, where the games differ are in their respective messages of identity. While Undertale identifies with notions of freedom and choice, Deltarune identifies with the lack of choice and does so through movement and environmental storytelling.

In the image of Undertale, the player’s character has just begun their journey through the underground. In this particular point, Toriel, another main character, has tasked the player to run to the end of a hallway. The hallway is long and this advertently allows the player to master the movement controls of the game. One of the most notable features of this hallway is the designated pathing seen in the light purple blocking on the floor. There is no encouragement to walk on the pathway, nor is there any obligation to do so, since the player can roam freely (as depicted) yet it was a design choice. The cognitive impact on a player seeing a designated pathing and yet being able to walk it or not walk it underscores the freedom that Undertale boasts.

In the image of Deltarune, the player’s character has just begun their journey through the Dark World. In this point, the player has lost a friend in the process of falling to the Dark World, which enables the story to push the player to explore. While the player searches for their friend, they are only given a purple-gray walkway to traverse, surrounded by abyssal darkness. Despite having to explore and search for their friend, the pathway is leading them towards one direction. The cognitive impact on a player being unable to freely roam, at least in the beginning, further establishes Deltarune’s lack of choice. As such, because the games are so similar in many other aspects and of visual similarities obvious in the images provided, Deltarune and Undertale’s movement and environment can be analyzed.

In fact, the similarity between the pictures is an example of intertextuality. Deltarune’s curvature of the pathway, the length, and the position at the beginning of the plot do not simply look just like Undertale’s environment: it references it. Deltarune pulls from the reader's knowledge of Undertale to enhance the connection. However, the particularity of movement is what establishes the protagonist’s identity.

Soraya Murray explains the connection between movement and identity in her piece, “Poetics of Form and Politics of Identity; Or, Games as Cultural Palimpsests.” In talking about Assassin Creed: Liberation’s protagonist Aveline, she analyzes the impact switching between assassin, lady, and slave has on movement. She confirms that switching to an assassin reinforces mobility because Aveline can climb buildings and jump roofs. On the other hand, switching to Lady, reinforces grace because of the attire for a regal woman at the time-restricted fast and large movements.

Deltarune’s lack of mobility helps the player identify with Kris, whose narrative is about lacking choice. Even though the game disregards the name you choose, the body you choose, or the favorite color you choose, Deltarune builds Kris’s identity through limited movement. The game does not enable that the player identifies with a character they personalize, like Undertale, but it helps the player identify with, or role-play, a given storyline. By alluding to Undertale’s movement, Deltarune innovates its own role-playing game genre.