{
  "id": 392261,
  "title": "Deltarune's 'The Third Sanctuary' is an affront to time signatures, and also one of my favourite songs in a videogame ever",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/deltarunes-the-third-sanctuary-is-an-affront-to-time-signatures-and",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-09T17:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PC Gamer",
    "slug": "pc-gamer",
    "url": "https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/deltarunes-the-third-sanctuary-is-an-affront-to-time-signatures-and-also-one-of-my-favourite-songs-in-a-videogame-ever/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Critical Hit welcomes readers to discuss and analyze video game music and audio design. This week, the focus is on Deltarune's \"The Third Sanctuary,\" praised as one of the best tunes in a video game ever. The song uses unconventional time signatures, such as 9/4, 11/8, 5/4, 12/8, and 11/8, to reflect the uncertain and conflicted emotions of the game's protagonist Susie. These unusual time signatures, which include half-notes, quarter-notes, and even 16th-notes, create a sense of trepidation and strangeness in the music. Despite the complexity of the time signatures, Toby Fox uses them to tell a story, with the melodies in the final bars swelling and growing hopeful, mirroring Susie's determination to confront an uncertain prophecy.",
  "summary": "The drummer will say \"please\" and then \"make it stop\".",
  "key_points": [
    "Deltarune's \"The Third Sanctuary\" uses unconventional time signatures like 9/4 and 11/8.",
    "These complex signatures reflect protagonist Susie's conflicted emotions.",
    "Time signatures build to hopeful final bars mirroring Susie's determination."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}