The SuperDQP Weekly - July 7, 2025
I recognize that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is the new hotness right now, and I will have thoughts on it later this year when I finish it (more on that after the main body of the newsletter). But, to be honest, Deltarune beat Hideo Kojima to the punch when it came to ruining my life this summer (complimentary) with the power of video games.
If you liked Deltarune/Undertale, this wishlist rec is for you
Playing with the idea of the fourth wall and deconstructing the idea of a blank slate protagonist is nothing new in video games, which you should know intimately if you’re even remotely invested in Deltarune. (Or if you just read my newsletters and are familiar with my tastes in video games.)
Toby Fox is far from the only games writer to toy with these ideas, and an exciting up and comer in this department is DOWNHILL.
DOWNHILL is very far from release and needs a lot of polish if the demo is anything to go by, but I think it shows a lot of promise. It places you not only in control of the main character, Fade, but also in something of a relationship with her as the eldritch godlike being that has possessed her. The player is a character in and of themselves, and Fade can poke and prod at you for questions and advice, or beg you not to force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.
It doesn’t feel messed up for messed up’s sake, though, and I’m very excited to see where the premise goes and what DOWNHILL does with it. Just… don’t be a sadist. The game will make you feel bad about it.
DOWNHILL is currently slated for release on Windows PC via Steam, and it will aim to be Steam Deck verified.
With hope crossed on her heart
Deltarune has proven to be a fascinating turn from Toby Fox.
Undertale, his previous game, released almost ten years ago to wide critical and commercial acclaim, including myself – it remains one of my favorite games of all time. It’s a fourth-wall-shattering exploration of the ways we interact with video games, what they can mean to us, and conversely, what we can mean to them. And it did so with equal parts charming humor, terrifying emotional darkness, and just enough unanswered questions to turn fans obsessive for years.
If you’re somehow unfamiliar, just google “W.D. Gaster” for an idea of how unfathomably deep this rabbit hole goes. Toby trusts his fans to an almost unhealthy degree.
(I will write a more focused newsletter on Undertale when the 10th anniversary actually occurs later in September, so I’ll leave it there and move on to Deltarune.)
Deltarune feels like it deliberately built on this level of obsession by going episodic. It wasn’t clear that that was the direction the project was going to take when Chapter One shadowdropped in 2018; back then, my impression was that it was either a demo or an early sales pitch for a broader, Paper Mario-structured game. But with each new episodic release – Chapter Two in 2021, and Chapters Three and Four a month and change ago – Deltarune has settled into a semi-comfortable groove, with Toby building each Chapter with cliffhangers and foreshadowing hints meant to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Anyone familiar with J.J. Abrams will recognize this “mystery box” style of storytelling from the last moments of Chapter One on. Even now, past the game’s halfway point, there are tantalizing secrets that have yet to be fully explored.
And, as anyone familiar with J.J. Abrams will tell you, this “mystery box” writing style runs the massive risk of disappointing the devoted audience and leave them feeling led on. We’ve been burned by Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker before, after all.
But, having caught up on Chapter Four, I think Toby’s been doing a good enough job of building Deltarune with enough heart and thematic intention to make the journey worth it, whatever the ending brings. So to explore that, I wanted to focus this newsletter on the game’s three leads: Kris, Ralsei, and Susie. The $!$? Squad.
That team name is canon. I will not hear others.
The remainder of this newsletter contains spoilers for Deltarune: Chapter Four.
Deltarune opens by telling the player that, in contrast with Undertale, their choices will not matter.
This isn’t entirely true. The Weird Route (commonly called the “Snowgrave Route” by fans) deviates significantly from the main route of the game if players know how to initiate it, and on the other end of the spectrum, recruiting enemies rather than defeating them has tangible impacts on the way chapters 1 and 4 shake out. But through Kris, the player character, the game is still trying to play with this idea.
Spamton, the superboss of Chapter Two, constantly references the state of being a “puppet,” out of his own control. And this shakes Kris; a reaction that is mostly out of the player’s hands.
In a literal sense, Kris is being puppeted by the player for most of the game. There are moments where their true self breaks out and they reassume control for themself, signified clearly whenever they rip their own soul out of their body.
And these moments are terrifying because without the player’s control, Kris is a menace. Their first “real” appearance at the end of Chapter One is evocative of the violent being that the player character sells their soul to in the No Mercy route of Undertale. Without player input, they slash the family car’s tires, violently open a portal to the Dark World, steal their neighbor’s food, and take direct orders from the game’s ultimate antagonist (at this point strongly implied to be the Holiday family matriarch Carol).
But, statistically speaking (at least, if Mass Effect’s Paragon/Renegade statistics are anything to go by), most players are going to act against Kris’s interests by, well, doing the right thing. Most players will spare enemies where Kris would attack (or worse, indirectly freeze) them, and act warmly around fellow $!$? Squad members Susie and Ralsei instead of being cold.
This makes Kris something of a tortured antagonist; only ever puppeteered by the forces of good (probably) or the forces of evil, and rarely acting for themself. And this is why they have such a visceral reaction when Spamton directly calls them out on this.
Let’s leave Kris behind for the time being. Sorry, Kris.
Ralsei embodies this instinct towards compassion that most players will statistically have, to an almost annoying degree. He occupies this “fluffy boy” (game’s words) space shared by goody-goody anime and Saturday morning cartoon characters.
Chapters 3+4 work really hard to beat this poor fluffy boy down. To begin with, he reveals that he and the rest of the Darkners aren’t even real; just shadows on the wall of the proverbial cave that is the game’s real world. Chapter 4 goes further, showing that Ralsei has been hiding even darker information from the team, not the least of which being the end of the prophecy implying that not everyone in the party is going to make it out of this adventure alive.
Ralsei is haunted by the unreality of his existence, and while he does his best to hide it and try and selflessly make everyone happy, he does so at his own detriment. While he immaculately decorates Kris and Susie’s Dark World rooms, he leaves his own cold and desolate. After all, he doesn’t exist. Why should he deserve the same dignity as his Lightner friends?
I find Ralsei interesting because of his implied connection to Kris’s real adopted brother Asriel, and how very unlike Undertale’s version of Asriel Ralsei is. Undertale’s Asriel (nee Flowey) is bitter and hateful, only changing at the end of the game’s pacifist route after a show of spectacular, determined compassion from the player character.
But there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding Ralsei yet, and besides, I wanted to end this newsletter on the $!$? Squad’s final member and namer, Susie.
Susie’s four-chapter growth from stereotypical Calvin and Hobbes bully to Kris and Ralsei’s biggest advocate is, when you put it into words, a pretty archetypical redemption arc, but it’s executed so well that Susie has become my favorite character between both Undertale and Deltarune.
Susie is enamored by the Dark World, and she is transformed by it. Ralsei and Kris’s (or, more specifically, the player’s) compassion and patience are really the first she’s felt from anyone. Even post-redemption, as she follows Kris around her hometown, they’re warned by their peers that Susie is dangerous and untrustworthy. But the Dark World gives her a chance to be important; to stand up for what she thinks is right.
Come Chapters 3+4, if there is anyone on the $!$? Squad who is active and motivated in doing what’s needed, it’s Susie. Whether it’s closing fountains, rescuing Toriel and Undyne from peril, or trying to get Noelle some reprieve from her abusive mother, Susie is the one who shows initiative, picks up her axe (metaphorical or otherwise), and starts making demands.
It’s paradoxically the Dark World where Susie’s true self comes out; where her wants and needs are made manifest. That affects her in the real world and helps her open up to the people she ends up caring about.
Susie’s opening coldness comes from a place of instability. Her’s is a story that countless children of my generation knew intimately: constant household moves, stunted emotional growth brought on by hostile adults in her life, implied learning disabilities, and all sorts of confluences coming together to form the terrifying bully that threatens the player in Deltarune’s opening moments.
By the end of Chapter Four, she has learned and grown so much. Like Ralsei and Toriel, she’s become compassionate, but she still holds just enough stubborn conviction to force the $!$? Squad into action.
And when she learns the end of the prophecy, the $!$? Squad’s ultimate tragic fate, whatever it may be, she’s the only one who shatters the glass and says “no.” Because she will do everything in her power to both save the world, and save the precious connections who have saved her.
Susie’s story isn’t really my story, but I’ve seen so, so many people connect with her over her academic and social difficulties, and the turn towards compassion that she’s worked hard to earn.
That’s ultimately what’s keeping me so glued to Deltarune’s continued development. Ralsei is wrapped up in mysterious intrigue, and Kris is a tragic powderkeg that could potentially blow any time they wrestle control away from the player. But Susie is the game’s thrashing, beating heart. For lack of a better phrase, she fills me with determination.
I cannot wait until the next time she has a chance to do so.
Anyway…
I’m going to be taking a two-month hiatus from writing newsletters after I send this one.
Both work and personal life have been extremely stressful, and that stress is only going to build until later this month, so I am giving myself as much of a break as I can to rest, catch up on Death Stranding 2, and generally try not to let life grind me down.
I’ll plan on my next newsletter being sent on September 18, only just a little too late to ring in Undertale’s 10th anniversary.
See you then, and have a great summer!