Deltarune Chapter 4: Almost Ready, But Not Quite There Yet

Toby Fox, the mastermind behind Undertale, recently shared a development update on Deltarune in his latest newsletter. Let's dive into the progress and what he revealed.

Chapter 4: The Home Stretch

Fox confirmed that while Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 are targeting a simultaneous release on PC, Switch, and PS4 (as announced in his Halloween 2023 newsletter), Chapter 4 is nearing completion. However, the release date is still some time away. The game's first two chapters, released in 2018 and 2021, respectively, already showcased the extensive development time involved.

Currently, Chapter 4 is in the polishing phase. All maps are complete, battles are playable, but fine-tuning is still needed. Fox highlighted specific areas requiring attention: minor cutscene improvements, battle balancing and visual enhancements, background additions, and refinements to a couple of battle endings. Despite this, he considers Chapter 4 essentially playable, and initial feedback from three friends who played through the entire chapter has been positive.

The Challenges of Multi-Platform Release

The complexity of releasing across multiple platforms and languages is a significant factor impacting the release timeline. Fox emphasized the added responsibility of ensuring a polished product for their first major paid release since Undertale.

Before the release, several key tasks remain:

• Testing new features
• Finalizing PC and console versions
• Japanese localization
• Thorough bug testing

A Glimpse into the Future (and Chapter 5?)

Chapter 3 development is finished (per Fox's February newsletter). While Chapter 4 is undergoing final adjustments, early work on Chapter 5 has already begun, with some team members creating initial map drafts and working on battle mechanics.

While no release date was announced, the newsletter offered exciting teases: dialogue snippets featuring Ralsei and Rouxls, a character description for Elnina, and a new item, GingerGuard. The three-year gap since Chapter 2 might have initially disappointed fans, but the expanding scope and Fox's statement that Chapters 3 and 4 combined will be longer than Chapters 1 and 2 combined, have kept anticipation high.

Fox remains optimistic about future development, suggesting a smoother release schedule for subsequent chapters once Chapters 3 and 4 are launched.