3.5/5 ★ – Gibbs's review of Deltarune: Chapter 3.

It’s still Deltarune so it’s still funny and good and innovative. However, probably my least favourite chapter so far. It’s full of great ideas, and is so exciting when you start. The Legend Of Zelda and WarioWare inspired games (among others) are really cool at first. But doing them for basically the entire chapter did make them wear a little thin. I’d enjoy them all in a vacuum, but by the end I was kind of just missing regular Deltarune. The lore sprinkled in was cool, I do like Tenna, and the aesthetic and ideas are great. But ultimately, it felt strangely too self-referential while also being extraneously presented. Some of the stuff is super cool - Guitar Hero, Zelda secrets, Tenna’s character etc., but by the end I just really missed the feel of exploring through a Deltarune world regularly, I missed Noelle and Berdly and more room for character growth, and I missed the regular combat. I only really felt like I was back in my element with the super boss, both writing and gameplay wise. To me, it feels like Toby was accounting for the big gap in release between chapter 2 and 3, and he’s implemented his worries about this into the game design itself. That’s why chapter 3 is so different gameplay wise, to spice things up and not be more of the same after a long wait. It’s why it seems to reference itself constantly, in how Tenna feels very much like Spamton and is even involved with him. It’s why the jokes feel less natural in the context of the game, and more like jokes written for a dedicated fanbase who have been waiting for this release. But when I’ve just replayed Chapter 2 a week ago, it doesn’t work quite as well. I always really enjoy myself with this series, and definitely did with Chapter 3! But ultimately, if this didn’t release alongside Chapter 4 (which I am very much looking forward to!), it would feel like transitive padding for time and be a bit disappointing. It has a fantastic start and end, but the middle didn’t keep me as engaged as this series usually would.