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Right then, let’s talk about DELTARUNE’s Snowgrave Weird Route.
When we asked what topics you’d like us to cover for this video,
we honestly weren’t expecting quite so many of you to say the same thing.
Now that DELTARUNE Chapter 2 has been out for a while it seems that the most popular conversation
of topic is the hidden path in the game where you get to be really mean to your friend.
This discovery initially took many fans by surprise. They had been under the
impression that developer Toby Fox had explicitly stated that DELTARUNE didn’t
have an equivalent to the Genocide Route. The truth is…well. The truth is that Toby
was vague at best with his comments, and that you can’t always take his words at face value.
When the first chapter of DELTARUNE first released in 2018, Toby said of the game:
“No matter what you do the ending will be the same.
“(Honestly most games are like that, but for some reason it feels really oppressive to say here...)”
Some people think that Toby might only have been talking about DELTARUNE Chapter 1 when he said
this, and that is a possibility, but Toby has also stated that he has a very clear image in
his head of how DELTARUNE will end. He said: “In 2011, when I was away at school,
I got very sick. I ended up having a terrible fever and couldn’t get any medicine for it,
and while I was sleeping I had a vivid dream about the ending to a game.
Since then… I felt like I had to make the game with that ending.
… “I have to make
what I saw in my dream. I don’t even know if it’s particularly good, but I have to do it…”
So Toby has a specific end point in mind for DELTARUNE, but if that’s the case,
how does Snowgrave fit into that end point? Before we explore Toby’s goals with Noelle,
Spamton, and the rest of this alternate route…let’s talk about Squarespace.
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off your first purchase of a website or domain, using the link squarespace.com/videogamestory,
or the offer code VIDEOGAMESTORY. Now then, why does DELTARUNE Chapter 2
have a secret, evil path, if the game is building towards a singular ending?
First off, it’s worth noting that we can’t actually trust Toby to
be telling the truth about DELTARUNE’s ending. He is deliberately evasive about multiple paths
within his games, preferring to let people figure things out for themselves. When asked
whether there was a secret ending to the original UNDERTALE demo that nobody had found yet, he said:
“This is a great example of something I’ll never tell you.”
It’s entirely possible that, no matter what big, emotive ending DELTARUNE is building to,
Toby is going to pepper in additional side routes along the way. The ending might stay the same,
but the journey will depend on the player. …Or, Toby could be messing with us.
So what’s the point of Snowgrave? While it’s often compared to the infamous Genocide Route in
UNDERTALE, it’s actually more akin to the Pacifist Route in terms of the structure of the game.
The whole point of UNDERTALE is to make the player rethink the way they approach video games.
Fighting and killing opponents feels natural and comfortable – it’s what we’re used to.
It’s only towards the end of a typical first playthrough that the player realises that they
face unusual consequences for their violence. The Pacifist Route, then, is something that
must be actively sought out by the player. You have to choose to ignore your RPG instincts,
breaking the established rules of the genre, in order to find something new.
As opposed to the Genocide Route which is essentially the 100%
completion bonus for taking the standard RPG path of fighting monsters.
When asked about why pacifism is even an option in UNDERTALE, Toby said:
“Because it’s way more complex to include it as a potential option.
Also, hurting things is normalized and has loads of established ways to make it feel fun.
You really can’t just do it.” DELTARUNE is different. The entire
first chapter of the game is designed to teach the player to follow the non-violent path of
friendship and teamwork. Susie’s entire character arc in this chapter lends itself to this lesson.
The second chapter of the game then introduces more nuance to this discussion
of compassion versus cruelty, and the piece de resistance is the hidden Snowgrave route,
which a particularly determined player must seek out for themselves if they so choose.
Determination is, by the way, very definitely the name of the game here. DELTARUNE builds on
the concept as expressed in UNDERTALE. Toby said of his first game:
“What I want to get across is that although determination is a necessary part of life,
it's not always a good thing, you know? If someone is TOO determined, if their will is too firm,
they could end up impacting the future of the entire world, all by themselves. And there's no
telling whether that could end up good or bad...” It’s worth noting that the goal, with DELTARUNE
as with UNDERTALE, is to emulate some of the complex themes found in the Mother
or Earthbound series. Said Toby: “The Mother series, especially Mother 3,
hits a spectacular balance between humor and seriousness... In the less-serious parts,
it really feels like you've become friends with the game somehow. And that makes it all
the more painful when you get to the sad parts.” This, perhaps, then, is the point of DELTARUNE’s
Snowgrave Weird Route. It brings a hidden, sinister extra level of sadness to the game.
This is triggered entirely by the player’s choice. You have to choose to bring out the worst in your
friends, and in so doing, see a side of the world that would otherwise be out of reach.
The moral of the story: You might not be able to choose everything
about your circumstances, but you can choose whether to be kind, or cruel, to those around you.
While it may not always seem like this decision makes a big difference to your
journey through life, the consequences can often be greater than you initially realise.