Undertale was both wholesome and horrifying, and the same can be said about its counterpart Deltarune. While it's not yet clear exactly how the two games are connected, when Chapter 2 released, investigative players found that a version of Undertale's Genocide Route exists in Deltarune as well, which likely means it leads to different outcomes and can permanently affect save files in the same way.
Following Undertale's Genocide Route, also called a No Mercy Route, is as sinister as it sounds. It requires walking through every area and not just killing every monster the player characters encounters, but actively seeking them out and running down a kill count to zero. Players will know if they're successfully on a Genocide path by the music's eerie tone change and the kill counter at each SAVE point. If players are successfully able to beat the notoriously difficult Sans and Undyne the Undying, they'll be met with an ending that is not only spine-chilling but builds on the game's lore as well. Even worse: it can permanently alter the SAVE files of future games so the player can never take back the crimes they've committed.
It's currently unknown if future Deltarune chapters will include some form of Genocide Route, but the one present in Chapter 2, also known as the Snowgrave or Weird Route, is spooky enough for those craving some Halloween horrors.
Deltarune's Snowgrave Route
Unfortunately, there's no option to impart genocide in Deltarune Chapter 1. Many players have tried, but monsters will circumvent dying often by running away or stopping the fight before it reaches that point. But in Deltarune Chapter 2, players found that, after Noelle joins their party, they can start killing creatures using her IceShock magic ability.
Doing this freezes the enemies solid, and though it doesn't initially imply that they're dead and it might seem harmless, later conversations tell otherwise. While chats between Kris and Noelle are previously comforting as the childhood friends reconnect with one another, during the Snowgrave route, they become much darker. At some point, Kris and Noelle will have the opportunity to get an item that would make Noelle more powerful, and despite her clear discomfort, Kris pushes her to freeze the enemy solid. Her saying "Did I just..." afterward signifies that she's harming the creatures beyond just freezing them.
Deltarune's Snowgrave also follows Undertale's Genocide in another interesting way. Just like the player would no longer have to solve puzzles, seemingly because monsters were running away from them in terror, Kris will force Noelle to solve them by freezing their mechanisms just as they've been commanding her to freeze enemies solid. For this same reason, the car puzzles in Cyberworld will also no longer block Kris' path.
Also following Undertale's suit, the music will no longer be the cheery, expertly composed version but rather slowed and distorted. Some objects will also note how many more enemies need to be eliminated in the area.
The fight with Berdly, the obnoxious nerd who's in love with Noelle, is the point of no return, and the results are unexpectedly horrifying. After finishing this fight with the new skill Snowgrave, the route cannot be aborted. Even though they won't be returning to a normal run of the game, this is where Kris reunites with Susie and Ralsei, but the dialogue will be permanently altered, and instead of fighting Queen as the final boss, it's another mercilessly difficult fight, this time with Spamton NEO.
Once arriving back in Hometown, players will notice even worse consequences due to Noelle's Snowgrave spell, and they can explore the town for more unsettling tidbits. Though Deltarune looks like a simply fun and colorful RPG on the surface, there's plenty of content here to provide some spooks for Halloween gamers.
Deltarune is out now for PC, PS4, and Switch.