Platforming
Platforming is a gameplay mechanic introduced in Chapter 5 of Deltarune, where it is featured in Flower Kingdom. It is unlocked when the Petal Feather is obtained in the later end of the Garden.
Upon activation, the camera changes from the typical top-down perspective to a side-scrolling platformer, enabling the party to explore exclusive areas, with some having chests. Platforming can be swapped on and off by interacting with or attacking the platswap statues.
In this state, the party has an animated idle. Objects such as doors are visible but cannot be interacted with, and SAVE points do not appear in platforming segments.
Character talksprites and dialogue are in a unique text box instead of the typical Dark World-bordered one, with the talksprites having a black background, and the dialogue space being slightly transparent.
When platforming is active, it is not possible to walk. The inventory, equipment, stats, or Config menus can only be accessed from the blue wardrobe.
Flowery Dollars can be earned from the real-time encounters, or destroying objects such as grass and hanging bells.
If the party falls off a cliff, they take no damage. Without any objects below, they get pushed back by the wind's gust, which sends them back to their last ground position.
All party members have unique ACTs while platforming is active. Interactable objects can indicate which party member can perform one with a glowing circle over it: cyan for Kris, purple for Susie, and light green for Ralsei.
Susie and Ralsei primarily follow Kris. On a long platforming segment in Top of Castle, Susie and Ralsei automatically perform their respective Actions based on Kris's movements, as it requires Actions to be chained together faster than Kris can command. This is the only time where Susie and Ralsei perform platformer Actions on their own and prevent Kris from using ACTs.
CONFIRM button[note 1] - Kris attacks with their sword, letting them attack anything in the sword's swipe range or interact with objects such as flowers and vines.
On the ground, Kris performs up to three ground slashes by holding CONFIRM, or one slash per successive button tap. The third attack has slightly more range. While performing a ground attack, Kris cannot move.
In the air, Kris performs a spinning wide slash, which damages anything around them. Up to two spinning slashes can be done in a single high jump.
CANCEL button[note 1] - Kris jumps. The height of their jump is based on how long the button was held. Kris can jump up to three tiles high.
There is generous coyote time after leaving the ground without jumping where jumping is possible. This applies to any method of leaving the ground without jumping normally, including having Ralsei move to another platform and bouncing off a bounce flower.
MENU button - Kris ACTs and issues commands to Susie or Ralsei, or select any nearby interactable objects from the ACT menu. When ACT is active, the SOUL becomes visible, Kris gets a cyan outline, and an ACT can be selected with the movement keys. The ACT menu slows down timers for timed-events, but does not stop them, such as Hopschef's challenge. It is also the only way to interact with blue wardrobes to access the menu while platforming is enabled.
S-Action - Susie casts a homing Rude Buster that goes through walls and can damage enemies. It has a 4-second cooldown between uses.
- Ralsei Fall - releases Ralsei from the object he is currently hanging on.
- StunBuster - makes enemies become stunned for a few seconds.
- BellBuster - destroys hanging bells that drop Flowery Dollars. It cannot be used on pink bells that drop Pink Coins.
- FlowerBuster - activates closed booster flowers, allowing Kris to attack them and launch off of them.
- Spin Left/Right - spins pinwheels in the specified direction, changing the direction of wind.
R-Action - Ralsei wraps his scarf around an object and himself, letting him act as a platform. When hanging from objects suspended in the air, his weight causes it to drop down, allowing easier access to other objects or to expose a weak point. If Ralsei falls off a hookable object and there is visible ground underneath him, Ralsei goes splat, which has a 4-second cooldown. If Ralsei is offscreen or far enough from Kris, he reappears in the party.
- Hook - hook onto vines. As this occurs, his head follows Kris's position.
- HookFlower - hook onto the stems of the flowers near the Netskie area.
- Hang (Umbrella) - Ralsei to hangs off the sticks of the umbrellas.
- Glasses - Ralsei hooks onto Seth's Bullet Pattern glasses.
- Dog - The Annoying Dog hooks onto the second-to-last hook in the platforming section leading to bromide-drawing-room in the Top of Castle area. This ACT disappears after the Annoying Dog has been jumped on once.
The battle system is instead in real-time versus the Bullet Patterns, where moving, jumping, and attacking must be done to avoid damage. For the remainder of the fight, the camera gets locked in a fixed position with a bullet board encompassing the combat area, with the typical black vignette in the background. Similar to overworld gameplay, the SOUL becomes visible and Kris gains a red outline around them, with a checkered diamond background overlapping their sprite. If the SOUL gets hit, the entire party receives damage.
Regular enemies such as Leafling still trigger a normal turn-based encounter instead.
- Vine: blocks the path, but the party can stand on uncut parts. It can be cut with Kris's sword. A vine eventually regrows on its own.
- Boost flower: launches the entire party in a direction depending on the flower. Blue flowers with arrows launch the party at a set direction, while yellow ones with a target launch in the direction they they were attacked from.
- Giant yellow flowers: Ralsei can hook onto them and bring it lower. The wind gust can move the flower's position.
- Blue roses: the red pulsing spikes around it damages the party. Often stacked in a line, though Kris's ground attack can destroy two of them, and an air attack can destroy three. It respawns after exiting the room it appears in.
Throughout the Flower Kingdom, platswap statues can be found to change the gameplay back to regular or platforming. These "mysterious statues" are initially inactive until the Petal Feather has been obtained. When active, it resembles the Delta Rune emblem.
| Area | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Garden | ||
| Hopschef's room | Path goes to first dash path and Tropical Starwalker Bird |  |
| First dash path | Reachable by going south of the Ideal Diner. Path goes to Hopchef's room and Tropical Starwalker Bird's room. |  |
| First dash path | Only reachable by platforming, leads to Tropical Starwalker Bird's room. |  |
| Way Home | North of the SAVE point, requires climbing to get to. Path goes to the Shrine. |  |
| Way Home | In the room east of the SAVE point. Beanstalk path goes to the Cliffs. |  |
| Shrine | Appears after collecting the Petal Feather, path goes to Way Home. |  |
| Cliffs | ||
| Beginning | Reachable by platforming from Way Home, climbing from the Beginning's SAVE point. Path goes both ways. |  |
| Flower Castle | ||
Kris's idle animation
Susie's idle animation
Ralsei's idle animation
Kris's running animation
Susie's running animation
Ralsei's running animation
Platswap statue while inactive, wings folded
Concept art of Kris's platforming moveset by Temmie Chang
