micheal

First off, let's get the big two questions out of the way

The Preamble, or: Why Are We Even Doing an Aborted Weird Route, Anyway?

Well, there's a few reasons, but the main one is

this little fucker

The recipe for the Twisted Sword has been in the game, taunting us, since chapter 2. It needs the Pure Crystal (another currently unobtainable item, but based on the description it seems like Seam will give it to us after getting all 5 shadow crystals) and the Thorn Ring, which you can only get in the weird route.

The thing is, Noelle has the Thorn Ring right now. She walks off with it after fighting Berdly, and you can't proceed with the weird route without having her equip it again. We might be able to get it back before the end of chapter 5, ooor we might not.

So, the natural solution is to buy the ring, then just not kill Berdly. We get to keep it for later, and Noelle is a bit less traumatized about the whole thing. It's a win-win!

All four Shadow Crystals on every save? What's up with that?

The short answer is that the possible rewards outweigh what we're missing by not having a zero crystal file.

As stated above, the biggest draw of an aborted weird route is the potential of the twisted sword, and the weird route applications of it are intriguing as well, with the as of yet unexplained Trance Down effect.

But of course, the crystals will have an application in the regular route as well. The way Seam's been hyping them up, it seems like they'll be fairly important. And so far, the only thing we're missing by having them is a few alternate lines of dialogue from Seam.

Of course, it's your game. If you prefer to have a save without them, that's ultimately up to you.

With those out of the way, I'll talk about the rest in the rough order it shows up on the checklist. Not everything or we'll be here until Chapter 5 comes out, but just the important/interesting stuff

The Original Starwalker

wdym i can't make the text yellow i want a refund

Starwalker is a good example of something that doesn't lock you out of any interactions....yet. That will probably continue, but it doesn't hurt to have a save without them, especially since we need to split here anyway. However, we'll wait until after defeating Jevil and climbing the castle so we don't have to replay the second half of the chapter

Egg

Unlike the crystals, it seems like there's a reason to not collect the eggs in every chapter. Four of the Playstation achievements are for completing each chapter "WITHOUT ISSUE," so it seems like Gaster considers the eggs an issue. Not collecting them could change something (though the eggs probably won't matter until the very end)

And since we have three saves, we'll also collect just one egg in save slot 3. Might as well see what partial eggs do. I picked chapter 3's egg for that because it seems like the most lore significant.

Secret Bosses

For the first two secret bosses, you get different items if you FIGHT or SPARE them, but the second two don't follow that pattern. Since Spamton's scene in chapter 3 activates either way, I don't think there will really be a difference depending on how you fought them.

If you've already beaten one, you can always collect the items on that same file. The chapter select displays which ones you have on which files in the bottom right corner. Check the wiki for more info

Onion, AKA the Other Main Reason I Decided to do This

For most of the list, I tried to make Save Slot 1 the 'ideal file.' That's the one with Starwalker, all the recruits, the moss, all the eggs, everything I would want on my main file. That's why we're not waiting for Onion on save 1. The scenes with Susie and Kris at the riverside develop the heart of Deltarune, while the esoteric weirdness happening with Onion feels more suited to a weird route playthrough.

The three possibilities here are strange, though. I assumed there would just be two: either you talk to Onion or you don't. But, if the Striped Bird is to be believed, it's important not to wait for Onion in Chapter 4

"Don't wait, don't wait. Especially, the don't."

But....why not? What happens if we do? The simplest answer is Onion just doesn't show up anymore, but why wouldn't they? They're the one who asked to meet today, so why would us coming back scare them off? It's all very strange.

While this could just result in switching back to the Susie and Kris scenes, there could also be different effects. So, that's why I specified two saves with Onion. In #2, you don't wait for them in chapter 4, and in #3, you do.

Money, That's What I Want

It's interesting that there's a limited amount of money you can earn in the Light World. It makes me think there will be something you can only buy if you've collected as much as possible. That's why it's important to not go to the diner with Susie in save 2, since that costs 5$. Along with the 2$ you start with, the max right now is 17$

The reason we're doing this in save slot 2 instead of 1 is the same reason we're talking to Onion in save slot 2. The scenes developing Kris and Susie's friendship feel more important.

Bluebird of Misfortune

When we abort the weird route, we'll do it by FIGHTing Berdly, but without using Snowgrave. IceShock is the fastest way of doing this.

Why are we doing this? It's not because I hate Berdly. It's because it leaves the Snowgrave option in Noelle's menu after the fight, whereas sparing him erases it. (you do need the thorn ring equipped to see it)

This might mean we'll be able to use Snowgrave in a non-weird route, or it might not. But I do think it's safe to say it isn't a bug. In version 1.0.5, it was changed so that sparing Berdly wouldn't keep the spell. (source: the wiki) If the whole thing was a bug, they probably would've removed it back then

This works even if the Thorn Ring isn't equipped in the fight. Unequipping and reequipping it keeps the spell, so us holding onto it between chapters shouldn't cause an issue

The SWORD Route Worries Me

With the way you reenact the weird route in it, along with needing to kill the game versions of Susie and Ralsei, it just feels like something you shouldn't be doing in a "good" playthrough.

This doesn't mean you have to fight the Knight mantleless, since if you've beat it before on save slot 1, you can pick up the items later. Still, if you're looking for a challenge, it's a lot of fun, especially after the sword tunnel attack was rebalanced

Things to Keep in Mind for Chapter 5

It's a bit hard to give a good list for chapter 5, since it's not out yet, but we should keep an eye out for the egg, moss, dog dollar, glowshard, secret boss, pure crystal, and twisted sword

Also we should look for a way to continue the weird route. The ascending tone plays if you abort the weird route, and the descending tone plays if you continue it.

If you've read this far, thanks! If there's anything you think should be added, feel free to reach out and let me know!

With that said,