Weird Route/Chapter 2

Getting stronger... how? Kris, what are you doing!?

Berdly, Chapter 2

Chapter 2 features the start of the Weird Route, an alternate story route that significantly changes key aspects of the Chapter. The route in this Chapter mainly involves the player directing Noelle to freeze all enemies in the Cyber World, culminating in her using the otherwise inaccessible SnowGrave spell and changing the Chapter's ending as a result. Completing the Chapter with this route results in small alterations in Chapter 3, and it can later be continued in Chapter 4.

Method

The Weird Route begins after Noelle joins the party in Cyber City.

The conditions to start the route were initially obscure, not being significantly hinted at in-game until the Sword Route in Chapter 3. Afterwards, the player should be able to figure out the rest of the route on their own, since the game immediately alerts the player when the route is aborted.

1. Once Noelle joins the party, the player must defeat every enemy by using Noelle's IceShock to deal the final blow and freeze them, up to the room with the large Ferris Wheel poster. This includes backtracking beyond the point where the party originally landed after falling off the rollercoaster, ignoring Noelle's protests that they are going the wrong way. Encounters unique to the route appear in the Trash Zone; one easy enemy to miss is the Poppup disguised as a traffic cone near the entrance to the city.
   • Backtracking to the Trash Zone is possible at any point prior to obtaining the FreezeRing or completing the forcefield puzzle in the Ferris Wheel poster room, but it is easiest to do so immediately after Noelle joins the party.
   • As long as the game is on the Weird Route, enemies remain frozen on the overworld, even after re-entering an area. Each time all the enemies in an area have been frozen (or a route requirement is fulfilled), snd_ominous plays.
   • Defeating any enemies via melee attacks or sparing them aborts the route. If any route requirement is failed after the route has begun, snd_ominous_cancel plays, and the environment will permanently return to how it was before the Weird Route was initiated.
2. In the room with the large Ferris Wheel poster, the player must interact with the shopkeeper who offers to sell the party shoes near the top-right side of the room, and say "We're something else" when prompted. If all enemies up to this point have been successfully frozen, the shopkeeper will stop the party and try to sell Noelle the FreezeRing. The player must answer "Get it" to all of the prompts. The player must not continue past the shopkeeper and complete the next puzzle until this is done. Equipping the FreezeRing on Noelle is not required for the route, although it is highly recommended, as it gives a sizable Magic increase that should let her freeze any enemy in one hit.
   • The shopkeeper can be talked to without aborting the route, but will only attempt to sell the FreezeRing once all enemies have been frozen, so if the prompt to get the ring does not appear, the player may go back and find all enemies, then return.
   • Answering "We're friends" (regardless of whether all enemies have been frozen yet) or declining the FreezeRing after it is offered aborts the route.
3. From this point onward, whenever the player is presented with two dialogue choices, one of which is "Proceed", they must choose "Proceed".
4. Before the fight with Berdly is initiated, the player must have Noelle freeze all enemies available, then backtrack to the dog dumpster. This is at the bottom left of the room with two long car roads, where Kris would normally encounter the Annoying Dog in a car. If the dumpster is interacted with before freezing all available enemies, the player will be told how many enemies remain to be frozen. If the dumpster is interacted with after freezing all available enemies, the player will be able to purchase a ThornRing and equip it to Noelle. The ThornRing must be equipped before the fight.
5. Noelle should have a new spell, SnowGrave, when the fight starts. The player must command Noelle to cast it before the fight ends. It is impossible to cast if Noelle does not have the ThornRing equipped. She will deny knowing the spell, but the player must continue to select the command until she uses it. The route is aborted if Berdly is defeated in any other way, including violently and by using IceShock.
6. After this point, all route requirements have been met and the run is locked to this route for the rest of Chapter 2. Aborting the Weird Route is not possible until Chapter 4.

• 
  The "Get it" dialogue.
• 
  Spamton telling the party how many enemies are left.
• 
  Berdly's encounter on the Weird Route.

Requirements

• All enemies in all 19 encounters prior to Berdly's second battle must be frozen with Noelle's IceShock spell.
  • Enemies can be damaged with weapon attacks, but Noelle's IceShock must deal the final blow.
  • Defeating an enemy with a weapon attack aborts the route. Sparing an enemy or pacifying one with Noelle's Sleep Mist also aborts the route.
  • Environmental hazards are replaced with enemy encounters as the Weird Route progresses. These enemies must also be frozen.
• When interacting with the Addison who offers the FreezeRing, the answers "We're something else" and "Get it" must be chosen.
• The first forcefield puzzle must not be completed before the FreezeRing is acquired.
• After acquiring the FreezeRing, the "Proceed" dialogue option must be chosen at every opportunity.
• Berdly must be defeated with SnowGrave, which can only be cast by buying the ThornRing and equipping it to Noelle.
  • Before entering Queen's roller coaster ride, Kris must have at least two free slots in their weapons inventory. Otherwise, they cannot carry both rings, which can abort the route as SnowGrave cannot be cast.
  • Three slots are required if the player also wishes to obtain the BounceBlade.

Differences

Story changes

Most NPCs and several background and foreground elements disappear. The Addison that offers to sell the party Dating Shoes also offers to sell Noelle a FreezeRing. When Noelle tries to decline, the Addison calls her an "angel" and tells her she cannot get stronger without better equipment. Kris pressures Noelle into "getting" the FreezeRing until the screen fades to black, the sound effect for IceShock is heard, and the FreezeRing is acquired. Afterwards, the Addison is missing, presumably trapped in the ring. Noelle's battle animations change to reflect her increased power over ice and decreased fear in battle.

Noelle begins contemplating hurting Kris, which alarms her, and Kris begins physically pressuring her to complete puzzles by freezing them solid with her ice magic. At first, she is afraid, but tries to justify their actions by convincing herself that they are just helping her get stronger. She freezes the final puzzle without prompt and starts asking if the party should "go find some more enemies".

Spamton also refers to Noelle as an "[Angel]" and sells her a ThornRing which "MIGHT [Sting]", which allows her to cast ice spells at half their TP cost but causes her to take significant damage in battle. When the party meets Berdly, Noelle initially asks Kris if they want her to freeze "another enemy". Berdly tries to prompt Noelle to recognize him and asks what she is doing, to which she insists that she and Kris are "getting stronger". Berdly tries to fight them to save Noelle, ignoring her warning to run away. The fight ends when the party obtains enough TP to cast SnowGrave, a "fatal" spell. Noelle repeatedly refuses the player's command to use SnowGrave until she snaps and uses it to freeze Berdly solid. Noelle says that she doesn't feel so good and leaves the party, unlocking a faster route to Queen's Mansion through the sewers.

A painting of Spamton from the Weird Route

Susie and Ralsei rejoin the party just outside the mansion's entrance, and the party finds out that the mansion has been taken over by Spamton, causing several differences. Numerous paths are blocked off by forcefields and locked doors, many cutscenes are skipped, and dialogue is altered. Dozens of Pipis have been laid out as traps throughout the mansion: the room with 48 platters is now a maze of Pipis that cause a battle if Kris makes contact with one, the following room requires Kris to avoid exploding Pipis, and the hallway leading up to the shortcut replaces the pottery with Pipis on wheels, which can start a battle on contact with any party member.

Susie quickly leaves Noelle's room as Ralsei is concerned about Kris, Queen's first battle is skipped, and the regular final battle with GIGA Queen is averted as Ralsei explains the Roaring before the battle can begin. Susie insists on checking on Noelle while Ralsei tells Queen about the Castle Town, leaving Kris to seal the Fountain alone.

Spamton NEO confronting Kris at the Fountain, as Deal Gone Wrong plays

Spamton NEO ambushes Kris before they can seal the Fountain, forcing them to fight him as the final boss solo and making the fight considerably harder than it is with Susie and Ralsei. To compensate, Kris gains two new abilities: X-Slash deals massive physical damage for 25% TP, and Fried Pipis heals Kris for 120 HP at the cost of 32% TP. The fight itself is mostly the same until Spamton NEO reaches 10% of his HP. At this point, the music changes, and his AT is greatly lowered but his DF is greatly increased. Kris's damage done by normal attacks is capped at 10 (about 0.2% of his HP), and Spamton NEO's HP cannot be reduced below 6% (about 289) as he will automatically recover HP with Pipis whenever this occurs. However, Spamton exclusively uses a weaker, simpler attack that is much easier to dodge until the end of the fight. The battle can only be concluded by ACTing multiple times: first having Kris call for Ralsei and Susie twice each, which ends in failure each time, then calling for Noelle. Calling Noelle causes the screen to cut to black, after which she presumably appears and deals massive damage to Spamton. Kris seals the Fountain, leaving a few differences to explore in Hometown.

Dark World differences

The sound snd_ominous plays each time a Stage below is completed. The only exception to this is the casting of SnowGrave, which uses its own sound effect.

Stage 1

Requirements: Freeze the first Virovirokun encounter.

• Kris's title changes to "Leader - Commands."
• Frozen enemies remain on screen and do not disappear when the room is re-entered.
• When selecting "I will ride with you" at the Ferris wheel poster, the unique dialogue options "Noelle will ride with me" and "Sorry" become available.
• In the Trash Zone, when moving to the left side of Trashy's room, Noelle asks Kris if they are sure they are not going the wrong way.
• In the Trash Zone, in the room to the left of Trashy's room, 2 new encounters (a Virovirokun and a Werewire) appear.
• SAVE Points no longer display dialogue.

Stage 2

Requirements: Freeze all 3 encounters in the Trash Zone (including the Poppup near the city entrance).

• Trashy and Nubert disappear from the Trash Zone.
• The cars in the background of Cyber City disappear.
• The cars on the roads before Annoying Mouse Room 1 are replaced with 2 new encounters (an Ambyu-Lance and a Tasque).
  • The traffic control buttons disappear.
  • The Werewire NPC on the left of the room disappears.
• When interacting with the first Queen poster, Noelle responds with "..." and a saddened expression.
• Checking Lancer in Key Items from this point onward displays "(Innocent boys are fast asleep.)".

Stage 3

Requirements: Freeze the 2 encounters on the car roads before Annoying Mouse Room 1.

• The Swatchlings sweeping the road disappear.
• The Addisons in the room with two Ambyu-Lances moving in a rectangular pattern disappear. In the room to the north, Ralsei, Susie, the Addison, and the balloons disappear, and the lights in the background no longer display cat patterns. The Addison offering Dating Shoes becomes the only Addison in the area.
• The cars on the roads before the Ferris wheel poster room are replaced with 2 new encounters (a Virovirokun and a Werewire).
  • The traffic control buttons disappear, as the traffic control posts become frozen solid.
  • The Werewire and Plugboy NPCs on the right of the room disappear.
• Icon Man and their friend disappear.

Stage 4

Requirements: Freeze the 2 encounters on the car roads before the room with the Ferris wheel poster, the Ambyu-Lances in the room next to the first Queen poster, and the enemies in the room with the Ferris wheel poster. Speak to the Addison near the Ferris wheel poster and answer their question with "We're something else".

• When stepping into the area a short distance away from the Addison near the Ferris wheel poster, he stops the party and offers to sell them the FreezeRing for 1 D$ more than the party currently has.
  • The background music in Cyber City stops after the offer is made, and does not start playing again until the route is aborted or proceeds to Stage 5.
  • The FreezeRing must be obtained by repeatedly selecting "Get it" to continue the route. Noelle freezes the Addison (who disappears from the overworld) and expresses horror that she did so, but quickly denies that it happened and states that it is "good to get stronger".
    • Note that the requirements do not have to be done in order. If the player has not yet frozen enough enemies, they may still say "We're something else", then backtrack and freeze the remaining enemies, then return to the area to have the Addison offer the FreezeRing.
• After getting the FreezeRing, the first forcefield puzzle's cutscene changes. This changed cutscene must be viewed to stay on the route.
• At the first forcefield puzzle, Noelle stands on the first switch while Kris moves to the second switch.
  • If Kris repeatedly interacts with Noelle instead of moving to the second switch, she wonders why Kris is staring at her instead of finishing the puzzle. She can sense them staring at her from behind.
  • Attempting to leave the room while Noelle is on the switch displays "(Shouldn't leave now.)"
  • When Kris crosses the disabled forcefield, Noelle twitches in place.
  • Once the forcefield is disabled, Noelle chastises herself for considering electrocuting Kris. Kris can respond with either "It's horrible" or "It's natural". Selecting either response shocks Noelle, and she assumes she must have said her thoughts out loud.

Stage 5

Requirements: Get the FreezeRing; complete the first forcefield puzzle; answer Noelle with either "It's horrible" or "It's natural".

• Several changes take place in Cyber City:
  • WELCOME TO THE CITY is replaced with cybercity_alt.
  • Most of the background lights, advertisements, and hazard symbols disappear.
  • The traffic lights on the car roads stop swinging in place.
  • All SAVE point descriptions are replaced with "You and Noelle were filled with power."
  • Overworld enemies run away from the party.
• Noelle gains a new set of encounter animations:
  • When Noelle enters an encounter, she is no longer scared.
  • When Noelle is idle, she looks down.
  • When Noelle gets hit, she closes her left eye in pain.
  • When Noelle attacks, she mimics casting a spell instead of frantically waving her hands.
  • When Noelle defends, she constructs an ice wall instead of covering her eyes with her hands.
  • When Noelle ACTs with "TakeCareX", she does not fall over.
  • Upon victory, Noelle appears to pray, and surrounds herself with a blue, snowglobe-like orb.
• The boxes below the first forcefield puzzle disappear.
• Queen's second interaction (in the room where Berdly's golden statue would normally appear) is replaced by a Tasque encounter.
• Sweet Cap'n Cakes are nowhere to be found in Cyber City, leaving their shop vacant. Up to four CD Bagels can be taken from one of the boxes. The background music does not change upon entering the shop area.
• The Addisons which offer shoe samples, the Mannequin, and the Tea do not appear.
• The cars in the room with two long car roads are replaced with 2 new encounters (an Ambyu-Lance and a Virovirokun).
  • The traffic control buttons are frozen solid.
• The dog dumpster room is changed:
  • When first entering the room, Kris is no longer transported to the room with the Annoying Dog.
  • The room with the Forgotten Man is no longer accessible.
  • Spamton occupies the dumpster. He tells the party they are currently weak, but that he will give the party something when they become stronger. He informs them of how many encounters remain to be frozen.
  • The moss in the corner does not glitter. Interacting with it displays "(It's some moss...)" and the party's titles do not change.
• When the party enters Annoying Mouse Room 2, Noelle asks Kris how they should solve the puzzle. Kris can respond either with "Proceed" or "Let's solve it together!"/"Sorry, I'll do the puzzle". Selecting the latter aborts the route.
  • Repeatedly selecting "Proceed" prompts Kris to push Noelle up against the forcefield, frightening her. She disables the puzzle at the last second by freezing it.
  • The "Annoying Mouse Room 2" background banner is no longer displayed.

Stage 6

Requirements: Force Noelle to "Proceed" through Annoying Mouse Room 2.

• The switch and mouse control buttons in Annoying Mouse Room 2 are frozen solid.
• The cheese maze is replaced with two overworld Maus encounters.
• Noelle freezes the Annoying Mouse Room 3 puzzle on her own when the party encounters it.
  • The "Annoying Mouse Room 3" background banner is no longer displayed.
  • The SAVE Point in this room is absent.
• A second Poppup encounter appears in the room prior to Berdly's battle.
  • The Poppups are visible as soon as the party enters the room instead of revealing themselves as the party approaches.
  • The Poppups do not move on the overworld and hide when the party draws near.
• Once all enemies have been defeated, backtracking to the dog dumpster room allows the party to buy the ThornRing from Spamton for 1997 Kromer.
  • Equipping it to Noelle is required to continue the route.
  • It changes her title to "LV2 Ice Trancer - Receives pain to become stronger."
• Berdly's battle is modified:
  • Noelle does not recognize Berdly at first, seeing him only as an enemy that she offers to freeze.
  • When she recognizes him, she explains that she and Kris were "getting stronger". Berdly realizes that Kris is harming Noelle and threatens them.
  • Berdly's battle theme is replaced by somber, militaristic-sounding drum beats creating a rhythm similar to a heartbeat.
  • After the first round's "Berdly blocks the way!", the fight's flavor text is blank at every turn.
  • ACT options other than "Check" are replaced with "Glare" and "Wake".
    • Glare reduces Berdly's Defense by 5 and fills his mercy meter by +13%.
    • Wake increases Noelle's Magic by 3 and can be done up to 10 times.
  • Checking Berdly prompts the text: "Enemy Weakness: ICE Try your strongest ice spell."
  • Berdly's facial expression in battle is serious instead of smirking.
  • Berdly does not speak in the battle, except to encourage Noelle to abandon Kris when Kris is downed or react to the first "Glare" ACT.
  • Berdly's attacks are much faster and more difficult to dodge. His "Spear Blast" attack creates twice as many spike projectiles.
  • Berdly only targets Kris until Kris is downed at least once.
    • When Kris is DOWNed, Berdly attempts to persuade Noelle to abandon them, but she refuses, stating that she can "still... hear... their voice...".
    • After this, Berdly attacks both Kris and Noelle.
  • If Kris is DOWNed, Berdly does not attack, and Kris gets up immediately after the next round (although he does not prematurely stop an attack that DOWNs Kris).
  • Upon entering the battle, Noelle gains the SnowGrave spell. The spell must be used on Berdly.
    • SnowGrave normally costs 200% TP, but wearing the ThornRing reduces the cost to 100% TP.
    • If ordered to cast SnowGrave, Noelle repeatedly protests that she doesn't know the spell, but eventually casts it anyway.
    • SnowGrave instantly defeats Berdly, encasing him in a prism of ice.

Stage 7

Requirements: Freeze Berdly with Noelle's SnowGrave spell. The route is now locked and can no longer be aborted for the remainder of the Chapter.

• The frozen Berdly remains on the overworld. He does not appear for the rest of the Chapter.
• Noelle leaves the party during the battle screen. She is off-screen for the rest of the Chapter until the player returns to Hometown.
• The paths to the left and right of the Berdly fight area become blocked off by traffic cones, preventing backtracking and exploring the rest of the city.
  • The sequence where Kris dodges traffic does not occur, thus the small car cannot be recruited to Castle Town.
  • Kris's initial meeting with Spamton does not occur. His shop and wares are likewise inaccessible.
  • The scenes where Noelle explains her past to Kris, her meeting with Ralsei, and her encounters with Queen do not occur.
  • Cyber City Heights and its fireworks/puzzles are inaccessible.
• The traffic cones to the north of the frozen Berdly are moved, opening a new path leading to a manhole. The SAVE Point that normally appears here is slightly displaced to the left to make room, and no longer displays dialogue. Using the manhole directly skips to the front of Queen's Mansion, where Kris meets up with Susie and Ralsei.
  • Susie and Ralsei ask if Kris is okay, taking note of their "hurt" facial expression.
  • Once the manhole is used, it closes, rendering Cyber City inaccessible.
• The party enters Queen's Mansion through the front door instead of being imprisoned.
  • The shortcut door cannot be used to return to earlier areas.
  • Rouxls Kaard fully turns to stone and blocks off the entrance to Swatch's shop, trapping Swatch and the Swatchlings in the cafe and preventing the party from buying anything from the shop. This also prompts Ralsei's explanation about Darkners' incompatibility with other Dark Worlds.
  • Checking Lancer in Key Items from this point onward reveals that he has also become a statue.
  • Wig Robot appears near one of the shortcut doors, commenting on a strange force taking over the mansion and all of the Swatchlings and Swatch being trapped inside the cafe.
• Due to Queen's preoccupation with Noelle and her search for Berdly, she is absent from her mansion. This allows Spamton to take control of it.
  • A slowed-down version of Deal Gone Wrong plays throughout the mansion, including during battles.
  • Various advertising symbols appear in the mansion's entrance, and an NPC tells the party that the Swatchlings are all trapped in the cafe, Queen is nowhere to be found and "a strange force has taken over the mansion".
• The normally secret path at the bottom right of the entrance hall is open immediately.
  • The door to the first floor's dining room is locked. The KeyGen barrier to the basement door is removed, but the door is locked as well.
  • Interacting with the basement door causes Spamton to recognize Kris, telling them that he is busy changing forms and "BECOMING [God]" and to "GO PLAY [Minecrap]" instead of bothering him.
    • The design of Queen's face that normally appears on mansion doors is scratched out on the basement door.
• Every SAVE Point normally present in Queen's Mansion is removed except the one in the entrance hall, which no longer displays dialogue.
• Most cutscenes, NPCs, and puzzles in Queen's Mansion are either skipped or completely missing, and numerous paths are blocked with forcefields or locked doors. The minibosses are all encountered in different locations and are noticeably stronger.
  • The ChainMail, Glowshard, ReviveMint, and ReviveDust cannot be obtained.
  • From the entrance hall, the stairs to the left and right are both blocked by forcefields.
    • The rooms with items based on various Hometown residents' search history are no longer accessible.
  • The shortcut to the second floor is open immediately and must be used to progress. After reaching 2F, a forcefield blocks the player from backtracking the "usual" way to 1F.
  • All paintings of Queen are replaced by paintings of Spamton, and none of the paintings emit fire.
  • On the second floor, the door to the kitchen is locked and Mauswheel instead roams the area outside the kitchen. It is now an optional battle.
  • The dining room now contains a maze made up entirely of Pipis, an enemy that never appears as its own fightable opponent outside of this route and otherwise only appears as part of one of Spamton NEO's attacks. Bumping into one triggers a battle.
  • The next two rooms also contain different types of Pipis encounters. The side room with the "throne of the gods" is now blocked by a forcefield and another side room is locked.
  • Tasque Manager appears in the hallway before the lift to the third floor. Her MERCY meter can no longer be filled by correctly answering quiz questions.
  • Kris and Ralsei do not get covered in tea at the end of the teacup ride to the third floor, and Susie does not eat the tea drops.
  • After reaching the third floor, Werewerewire appears in the room to the left (as opposed to the rooftop). The film portraying the creation of a Dark Fountain is no longer present.
  • The battery acid lake cannot be crossed. As a result, the party does not reach the point where they would battle Rouxls Kaard, and the Thrash Machine never makes an appearance.
  • The shortcut from 3F to the entrance hall may be unlocked normally. The shortcut from 3F to the rooftop is open immediately and must be used to progress. A forcefield prevents the player from backtracking the 'usual' way from the rooftop down to 3F.
• The party reaches the door of Noelle's room together instead of Berdly and Susie reaching it off-screen. Susie enters, and when Ralsei asks Kris to "wonder how they are doing", Kris refuses to respond, concerning him. As a result, the scene between Susie and Noelle happens entirely off-screen.
  • When Susie exits, Ralsei begins to protest with "H-huh? What!? W-wait -- wait!? Wait, we were supposed to --", but is cut off.
  • Ralsei requests an explanation of what happened. Susie says that she told Noelle everything was a dream and that now she feels better.
  • She tells Kris that she will explain what happened in more detail later, irritating Ralsei.
  • There is a 1/20 chance that, when Ralsei would ordinarily fall asleep waiting for Susie, his sprite will instead change to the sprite spr_ralsei_dance2. This sprite appears similar to the sprites used for Ralsei's dance in the Sweet Cap'n Cakes encounter, but is not actually used in that animation, and is edited to have slightly longer legs.
• The room where the boss battle against Queen and Berdly normally takes place is completely empty.
• Queen's cutscene before she becomes GIGA Queen contains unique dialogue, explaining how her sensors could not find Berdly anywhere, and that Noelle is in no condition to assist her now.
• When Queen becomes GIGA Queen, Ralsei prematurely explains the Roaring to her, causing her to offer to not stay in the party's way any longer. As a result, Queen never fights the party.
• Susie does not come with Kris to the Dark Fountain, instead offering to check on Noelle before leaving.
• An additional room is added just before the Dark Fountain, containing a SAVE Point and a vending machine which sells "pre-Fountain refreshments" (CD Bagels) for 120 D$ each.
• Spamton NEO fights Kris alone at the fountain, replacing GIGA Queen as the final boss of the route.
  • He cannot be spared.
  • His Defense stat is reduced to -27, causing Kris to deal 81 more damage when selecting FIGHT.
  • The Snap and SnapAll ACT options are replaced with X-Slash, which deals a large amount of damage at the cost of 25% TP, and FriedPipis, which heals Kris for 120 HP at the cost of 32% TP.
  • Upon reaching 10% or less HP, he activates a "[Bluelight Specil]", lowering his Attack and exclusively using the Pipis "exploding heads" attack, which is easier to dodge. However, his HP cannot drop below 6% (about 289) and all weapon damage done by Kris is capped between 5 and 10.
  • Kris's ACTs are limited to calling out for Ralsei and Susie. This has no effect, prompting Spamton to mock them.
  • ACTing for the fifth time has the player ("You") whisper Noelle's name. The screen turns black before she quickly appears and defeats Spamton off-screen with three IceShock spells.
  • Spamton NEO's Shadow Crystal and PuppetScarf are silently obtained; it is impossible to obtain Dealmaker.
• Kris seals the Dark Fountain in silence and with the screen pitch-black.
• In Castle Town, Lancer is in his room if all the Cyber World Darkners were not recruited. Under normal circumstances, Lancer asks Susie to carry him again, since she already did so once at the start of Queen's Mansion; in Chapter 2's Weird Route, this does not happen, so the word "again" is omitted.
• After the cutscene with Noelle and her father in the hospital, the SAVE Point in Castle Town reads "After a long day, you have returned to the castle town. But, you still feel the power in your hands..."

Hometown differences

• Berdly does not wake up and does not leave the computer lab after Kris exits it.
• Noelle's dialogue changes once she wakes up.
  • She describes her "dream" as a nightmare and expresses relief that she woke up.
  • She notices that Berdly has not woken up, but dismisses it as him simply falling asleep from studying too hard.
  • Instead of attempting to look for Susie's tail, she directly asks if Susie has a tail, indicating her increased boldness.
• After Noelle leaves the computer lab, Susie remarks that "it doesn't feel like [they] just saved the world".
• Inspecting the sliding bead toy in the hospital reveals that one of the blue beads is broken and torn off.
• The conversation between Noelle and her father in the hospital has altered dialogue:
  • Noelle refuses to give up control of the game and suggests to use Iceshock instead of Fireshock on the boss she is battling.
  • Noelle notices Kris before Susie right before she leaves her Rudy's hospital room. Susie stays behind when Kris leaves due to Rudy asking to have a conversation in private. This triggers a scene where Noelle is talking to herself about how strange Kris has been acting, both in her "dream" and in the real world, noting that she heard a voice "unlike Kris's" giving her orders. Noelle wonders to herself why Kris keeps coming to the hospital, to which Kris can respond with either "To see you" or "To see your father". In either case, Noelle is shocked by their presence.
  • Noelle asks herself why Kris's voice just sounded so terrifying, recognizing it as the voice that had been commanding her in the Dark World. Kris can respond with either "Because it wasn't a dream" or "...", but Susie interrupts and the game progresses the same regardless of the choice.
    • If Kris has the Silver Watch equipped, Noelle asks in a shaky voice "Why are you wearing... my watch? Wh... when did you..." Kris can instead respond with either "In your dream" or "...", but Susie interrupts as usual.
    • Player control is enabled during this scene. Stepping towards Noelle once cuts the dialogue to the part where Noelle notices Kris's presence. Stepping twice makes Noelle exclaim "S-stop! Don't come any closer!" in a shaky voice. At this point, the message box cannot be dismissed except by stepping towards Noelle a third time.

Aborted route differences

• Selecting "We're fine" when talking to the Addison selling the FreezeRing prompts Noelle to say "Y-Yeah, we don't need anything like that. (Though if Susie bought me a ring...)"
• Selecting "Let's solve it together!" or "Sorry, I'll do the puzzle" at the second Annoying Mouse puzzle prompts Noelle to say "Y... Yeah, you're right, Kris! (I thought Kris was acting strange, but... I guess it was just another joke...?)"
• Selecting "I'm protecting her from you!" before the fight with Berdly results in altered dialogue.
• Sparing Berdly after choosing "Proceed" prompts Noelle to contemplate Kris's behavior after the fight and eventually decide that they must have been trying to prank Berdly.
• Defeating Berdly by FIGHTing or using IceShock after choosing "Proceed" causes the SnowGrave spell to remain as an option in Noelle's Magic menu. As a result, aborting the Weird Route is the only way to see the spell's description from the party menu within Chapter 2.
  • Prior to v1.0.5, the spell would remain even if Berdly was spared.

If the route is aborted at any time:

• A high-pitch sound is played to indicate that the player is no longer on the Weird Route.
• Kris's title changes back to "Tactician" or "Bed Inspector".
• Noelle's title remains, but it can be overridden by finding the moss, changing her description to "Moss Neutral".
• Noelle's encounter animations return to normal.
• All areas return to normal as if the route never happened, and all frozen enemies disappear upon re-entering the area.
  • This allows a player to backtrack and obtain the Mannequin and Kris or Noelle Tea.
  • If the FreezeRing is acquired, the Addison who it was obtained from does not reappear.
• If the ThornRing is in the inventory (not equipped), defeating Spamton by depleting his HP results in altered dialogue.
• The room with the Forgotten Man is once again accessible, including after getting the ThornRing.

Hints

The Weird Route is hinted at multiple times throughout Chapter 2:

• If Lancer is checked in the inventory right after Noelle joins the party, he notices her and asks "Can we make them a bad guy?"
• When winning battles violently while Noelle is in the party, the narration states that specifically "Noelle became stronger" instead of the typical "You became stronger".
• Defeating Spamton violently during the first encounter with him prompts him to point out Kris's cruelty and state "YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE ALL THAT EARLIER! AND BEEN THE FIRST TO OWN MY [Commemorative Ring]".
• It is still possible to force Noelle to "Proceed" through the first Annoying Mouse Puzzle. There is no obstacle blocking the path to the next screen, so Kris can simply walk over the button and command Noelle to do the same.
• The northern exit of the room where Berdly fights Kris and Noelle is visible, albeit blocked off by traffic cones.
• The path that leads to the manhole used in the Weird Route is visible from the easternmost section of the room before the battle against Berdly.
• After fighting Berdly, he will tell Kris to "train [their] strength values" in order to become a worthy rival to him. He then says "Heh! Sometimes I can't believe how cool I am...", alluding to his fate on the Weird Route.

Trivia

• Noelle's Coldness stat increases each time she uses IceShock. It is thus possible to increase her Coldness without freezing enemies, such as Berdly.
• The Weird Route is unlike any other route in Undertale or Deltarune in that it requires the player to backtrack.
  • This leads to a key difference with Undertale's Genocide Route, where the player is deliberately misled about the meaning of EXP and LV, making it possible for players "grinding" enemies to start the route without meaning to.
  • If the player figures out that freezing all enemies with IceShock is required, but does not realize that backtracking is also required, then the route stalls at Stage 1 but also does not abort until the first forcefield puzzle is completed. If the player misses snd_ominous_cancel playing, then there are almost no indicators that the player has broken the route requirements.
    • Kris's description is no longer "Commands.", but the player may have missed this during the route. The player may notice that frozen enemies no longer stay on the overworld after re-entering a room, but this requires backtracking. The next enemy also is not until after the cutscene featuring Queen and the Berdly statue, which is relatively far away from where the player broke the route requirements, which was right after joining up with Noelle and failing to backtrack.
  • Conversely, if the player does successfully backtrack even once, several indicators of the route show up quickly:
    • The player is immediately able to ignore Noelle's protests, hinting at one of the core mechanics of the route.
    • The first Virovirokun changes its location to guarantee the player encounters it first, it is the only enemy to have low enough HP that Noelle's weakest IceShock freezes it instantly, and it is the only enemy to always play snd_ominous when frozen. This means a player deciding to use freeze on their first enemy will immediately witness many of the key mechanics of the route.
    • Several enemies appear in places that do not normally have enemies, and freezing only 3 of these is enough to make NPCs start disappearing, one of the distinctive parts of Undertale's Genocide Route.
• If the player aborts the Weird Route at the last moment by attacking Berdly without casting the SnowGrave spell, snd_ominous_cancel plays immediately after Berdly's HP becomes 0, meaning that Noelle displays her normal end-of-battle animation. It also causes Noelle's idle animation to switch from her Weird Route version (where she looks down) to her normal version (where she looks forwards) for a handful of frames before the end-of-battle animation starts.
  • However, if the player instead spares Berdly, Noelle displays her Weird Route end-of-battle animation, and the sound does not play until after Noelle finishes talking after the battle.
• The first forcefield puzzle has specific cutscenes tied to the Weird Route, but an oversight makes it possible to get the puzzle temporarily "stuck" on the default cutscene.
  • If the player is on the Weird Route, skips the FreezeRing, then goes to the puzzle anyway, then starts it by pressing and walking past the first button, and only then backtracks to obtain the FreezeRing, then returns to the puzzle, the default cutscene will play (which will abort the route if completed) instead of the Weird Route cutscene. The puzzle's cutscene can be "unstuck" by leaving and re-entering the whole room after obtaining the FreezeRing.
• Overworld Tasques do not appear in Cyber City outside of the Weird Route. This guarantees that the Weird Route renders all previously recruited enemies LOST.

Version history

Game edition	Version tag	Changes
Chapter 1&2 Demo	v1.05	Altered the damage numbers inflicted on Spamton NEO to be yellow, matching Noelle's damage numbers, rather than blue.
	v1.12	Fixed a glitch where the cheese maze puzzle is restored upon aborting the Weird Route. As a result, a glitch allowing SnowGrave to be cast on the Maice that spawn from this cheese has been fixed.
Chapter 1&2 LTS Branch	v1.19	The alpha of obj_weirdroute_manipulator was set to 0, fixing a few instances where it was unintentionally visible during normal gameplay.