Death end re;Quest

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 60
  3. Negative: 9 out of 60
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  1. Joestar
    Feb 27, 2019
    10
    Fantastic RPG, great gameplay, music, story, and characters. Can't recommend this enough.
  2. bthaxton1990
    Mar 5, 2019
    9
    A mixture of visual novel and RPG with some interesting characters, good voice acting, beautiful art, and sub-par graphics. The visual novel segments are not that bad as 75% the story is pretty interesting and you actually start to care for your players. The battle and RPG segments are also enjoyable as you traverse a broken video game world (its suppose to be like that), full of monstersA mixture of visual novel and RPG with some interesting characters, good voice acting, beautiful art, and sub-par graphics. The visual novel segments are not that bad as 75% the story is pretty interesting and you actually start to care for your players. The battle and RPG segments are also enjoyable as you traverse a broken video game world (its suppose to be like that), full of monsters that are actually fun to fight. The combat is turn based and allows you to move freely on the battle field to set up thoughtful combos. The best part of the combat is the chance to unlocking a new skill by mixing and matching other skills in combos, making trying new things rewarding. Also it should be mentioned that this game is not a game about cute girls traveling a video game world, but a game about life or death decisions with horror and thriller aspects, making this game stand out. The only misstep this game makes is the fact that the visual novel parts are way too long sometimes, even when talking about pointless subjects.… Expand
  3. vahn
    Mar 12, 2019
    8
    They said this was one of the biggest projects of the company, and I can see why: there was a lot of detail and effort put into this game and from the way it tries to tell a different, more dark-themed story can be seen from the very start.

    The game has two aspects attached to it: The RPG and the VN, both required to play through the game. -In the RPG part, you play the role of    They said this was one of the biggest projects of the company, and I can see why: there was a lot of detail and effort put into this game and from the way it tries to tell a different, more dark-themed story can be seen from the very start.

    The game has two aspects attached to it: The RPG and the VN, both required to play through the game.

    -In the RPG part, you play the role of Shina, a girl with amnesia who seeks to find her memory by literally reaching the endgame and trigger the credit roll. While I won't spoil anything about it, there's a huge sense of tension throughout the game and lots of violence in it, with blood splatter and all that goodness appearing - or at least it would if they bothered to show more pictures of it happening. But there are tons of fan service pictures at least!
    The combat is very intuitive: each character has a set amount of skills you can learn via experimentation with the 3 skill slots and it's really fun to see if there's a new spell popping. I haven't seen this kind of system since, maybe, legend of legaia on the ps1.
    There is also a lack of hubs, at least at the start of the game, which means you'll be traveling from point A to point B for a majority of the time which is a nice change. No cities though which is a shame.

    - The VN parts, as for every VN ever, consists in lots of text - usually without voices, unless you play with Japanese voices - and the occasional choice you must do that will either halt your progress or lead to a new point in the story. In this side, you play as Arata, a Game Programmer who knew Shina and finds out she's still in the game: his job is to lead her to the endgame by any means necessary.
    Despite the fact it's kind of light on the VN aspect - there are usually 2 choices, with only one time giving you 3 - I honestly enjoyed the VN parts far more than I anticipated: there's a constant sense of tension, far more than in the RPG part, and you get hooked really quickly to see what's going to happen with your choice, which will lead you to either a new path or into many of the dead ends - or should I say, "Death Ends"?.

    With those two major points out of the way, I want to say that despite the large amounts of effort put into this game, there were some huge issues that not only were annoying but definitely frustrated me to no end. Starting with the Death Ends.

    Being a hybrid game, both parts have choices that can lead you to a death end - basically a game over - and the problem with this is that you have no way to know which option is the right one, resulting in having your first game over in the first hours of the game. VN games let you save anytime and this is true for the VN sections, but in the RPG sections you can only save on save points for the most part with the OCCASIONAL possibility to save during dialogues - and even then it's not guaranteed: be ready to reload!
    This is SO FRUSTRATING, especially with the really vague choices you can get that are not exactly easy to figure out: running away was a bad decision and helping calming down a girl was worse than letting her rant. I don't get this!

    In addition, and forgive me for my lack of VN experience, but don't they usually let you choose paths? Why it's only one path and the other is always a death end? There's also a huge lack of imagery throughout the game BUT I assume it's because of the Pegi, as the game will often mention decapitation, gore, and blood. Or maybe they were lazy.

    And lastly but not least, the RPG aspect has quite a lot of nuisances too, starting with limiting your characters with only 16 skills (3 assigned to Attack, Guard and Items) despite each character has only 20 to 30 skills (Celica has the most, with 32 I think). The hacking mode allows you to use different stuff, from changing a genre to summoning monsters, however, I barely used them at all: fighting genre was the best option and I must have used a summon or a debug once or twice in total - which makes upgrading them a total waste too. I also never understood how countering works and the endings are supposed to be gained by talking to the girls at the camp...or finishing the game twice so that you can choose right before the end.
    And can anyone tell me why the girls have to pant every time they run? It's uncomfortable, to say the least! Is this a fetish that I'm not aware of?!

    Overall, do I recommend it? Honestly, yeah, it's very good, the story was well written (except when it wasn't) and the RPG parts were fun (except when it wasn't). The game is also slightly longer than usual - I finished in about 35 hours - 38 for getting all endings - and the game doesn't really have a proper good ending either, making for a pretty interesting sequel bait.
    Give it a shot, but I recommend a price cut if you're not sure about it.    … Expand
  4. DangerRap
    May 1, 2019
    9
    This game is definitely on a budget, and rough around the edges (mostly in terms of graphics, reused assets, and lack of towns fields to interact with between dungeons. Regardless of that, the story is fantastic and paced really well. I haven't met a character I didn't get invested with. The VN portions are a perfect length and break up the dungeons well ( and vice versa). The combat isThis game is definitely on a budget, and rough around the edges (mostly in terms of graphics, reused assets, and lack of towns fields to interact with between dungeons. Regardless of that, the story is fantastic and paced really well. I haven't met a character I didn't get invested with. The VN portions are a perfect length and break up the dungeons well ( and vice versa). The combat is addictive and rewarding. All in all, I've really fallen in love with this game. After the first two hours, I put it down and didn't think I'd come back to it (the first dungeon is real rough looking, and honestly probably the ugliest one in the game) and the story starts out a little too by the numbers. I couldn't keep it out of my mind though, something about the darker tone, horror elements, and great characters, made me come back and give it a second chance, and I'm so so glad I did.… Expand
  5. valizy
    Feb 22, 2019
    10
    This is the best compile heart game i've played so far. The story is a mixture of horror, mystery and tragedy, which is first time i've seen for JRPG.
    Story: first time you see this game, you would expect some classic JRPG compile heart story with classic isekai VRMMO. But after played a while, i realize the story is very exciting, with many mystery possibility untold until you reach    This is the best compile heart game i've played so far. The story is a mixture of horror, mystery and tragedy, which is first time i've seen for JRPG.
    Story: first time you see this game, you would expect some classic JRPG compile heart story with classic isekai VRMMO. But after played a while, i realize the story is very exciting, with many mystery possibility untold until you reach endgame. There's many possibilities for bad ending and character ending. You can trigger bad ending midgame, so you must pay attention for your choice througout the game!
    Gameplay and graphic; gameplay is very good, i can enjoy it, but this game isn't focus on gameplay, but story and conversation of VN. Conversation can be very long, they explain each description of surrounding and what protagonist thinking at that time (you can see this type of explanation if you've played horror VN before like corpse party). Graphic is super good for JRPG, but the pro's is sometimes the character and movement glitchy (idk if this is on purpose or not, cz this game is about glitch and bug after all
    Music: this is what i like in this game, music is very maching every event, especialy for horror event (yeah i love horror)
    Overall: this game is very good, i hope iffy and compile heart would make game this kind of game again. Sadly there isn't much people know this game, because lack of promotion. sorry for my typo because of my trash keyboard :)    … Expand
  6. Gunzenburu
    Feb 22, 2019
    10
    Best compile heart game i've played.
    This blend of visual novel, JRPG, science fiction, thriller, horror. tragedy which is very good,
    Reccomended to anyone love JRPG and VN with thriller story.
  7. death12123
    Apr 22, 2019
    8
    I found the interesting much more interesting than the Neptunia games and it's definitely a step up however I feel like it could've been more better.
    The gameplay itself just doesn't feel that good compared to other RPG games. Unlimited movement and taking advantage of the field and bugs. Not my favorite thing. Other than that it's a pretty basic turn based RPG. I do like the skill    I found the interesting much more interesting than the Neptunia games and it's definitely a step up however I feel like it could've been more better.
    The gameplay itself just doesn't feel that good compared to other RPG games. Unlimited movement and taking advantage of the field and bugs. Not my favorite thing. Other than that it's a pretty basic turn based RPG. I do like the skill learning system though.
    The story on the other hand I find myself figuring out what could happen next. It's so much more interesting in the human world and the dialogue however some places it falls short.
    I find myself trying to find every single choice and option and this is where it falls short. There's alot of reading and in English some parts aren't voiced being lazy once again.
    I wish there was more visuals in the story too instead of seeing plain black screens and just a couple of pictures talking to each other. I wanted to see it more rather than hear it on a static screen. I wanted to see especially when they're defining the deaths and see it animated.

    The story captures me at many moments and even has my heart beating especially when it goes dead silent at night. If only I could actually see it more.

    Overall it's a pretty good game to check out but it requires way more reading in Visual Novel style than needed.    … Expand
  8. jcboyer515
    May 31, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Surprisingly well written. Games like this made me realize that the dynamic between characters might be the most compelling thing about video games. The combat is turn based, like 3D SRPG, & it's a bit simple but it's also strangely satisfying to do well. About 25% of the game is cutscenes or dialogue akin to visual novels. My spoiler tag is for wanting to mention that while I do enjoy having choices in games, I thought it was a bit underdeveloped for the majority of the important decisions to basically be wild guesses. Sometimes it's obvious but I'm definitely telling you that several of my gut choices got me killed. But luckily, the game is not overly cruel & gives you an opportunity to save at your choice time, & even had a convenient little check for the diverging choices that carries to new game plus as well for what options you've already chosen since the are several endings. I'm very increasingly more & more impressed with Compile Heart/Idea Factory games. I haven't played the sequel yet but I'm waiting on my copy of the Switch port. Great game, 9/10… Expand
  9. jax-nero
    Feb 19, 2020
    10
    Very fun game I'm so glad that i bought this on a sale its so much fun to play
  10. elitegeek79
    Sep 6, 2019
    9
    I can almost guarantee that If you've heard negative reviews for this game it's because there is a lot of reading ; there is. Now if you are not a philistine and enjoy reading, plus you are a JRPG fan, then you will truly love this game.
    Its a story that switches between real world and an MMORPG gone horribly wrong. I know, this is a common trend in storytelling, but it manages to stay    I can almost guarantee that If you've heard negative reviews for this game it's because there is a lot of reading ; there is. Now if you are not a philistine and enjoy reading, plus you are a JRPG fan, then you will truly love this game.
    Its a story that switches between real world and an MMORPG gone horribly wrong. I know, this is a common trend in storytelling, but it manages to stay fresh and interesting. I really liked the personalities of the characters and the unique looks they had (please make more costumes compile hearts). You can glitch out for a transformation, use slot machines, shooter mechanics and more. I don't want to spoil the game, but there is some really interesting combat mechanics here. The combat is fun, unique and satisfying.

    The worlds are interesting and fun to explore. I hear people saying how repetitive and boring they are; I just don't see it. The enemies are some of the most unusual you may have seen (one i like to call crapapiller). The music is excellent and so is the voice acting. I could have done without the panting while running and the same one liners, but it's tolerable. The graphics aren't on par with major AAA JRPGs but they do look really cool and have a certain aesthetic that is very appealing to me.

    Complie hearts is so close to being a force to reckon with. With this and Dragon Star Vanir they are on a great path. If they could get more animated cut scenes in their games and better maps, there is no reason why they couldn't get to the level of a Tales or Persona game (I know thats a bold statement, but if they keep improving like this for 3 or 4 years it could happen).    … Expand
  11. TheRealDMac
    Mar 19, 2019
    8
    TL;DR - "That was really cool, but I'm not completely satisfied."

    This is by far the most ambitious Compile Heart game I've seen. While I don't think it fully achieves what it set out to do, which might have earned it instant cult classic status, it comes pretty close; close enough that I enjoyed the ~35 hour experience of getting the "normal" ending and was willing to put in a few more    TL;DR - "That was really cool, but I'm not completely satisfied."

    This is by far the most ambitious Compile Heart game I've seen. While I don't think it fully achieves what it set out to do, which might have earned it instant cult classic status, it comes pretty close; close enough that I enjoyed the ~35 hour experience of getting the "normal" ending and was willing to put in a few more hours to get the "true" end. (An aside: had I not gotten the normal ending first I don't think I'd have appreciated the true one as much, but one of my complaints is that nowhere is it indicated that the fetch quests in the game matter, and apparently they do. Another is that even if you make it past the premature conclusion on your first try, each girl has a separate ending and nobody has figured out how to reliably get the one you want until new game+, requiring a second playthrough to bring the game to a satisfying resolution.)

    The gameplay is in some ways standard JRPG fare that any Compile Heart fan will be familiar with, but it has a unique and fun twist - you pick 3 actions, and if anywhere in those actions you used a "knockback" skill, or you pick "Attack" for all three, the enemy can be sent flying depending on its weight, and will ricochet off walls and other enemies, causing additional damage. Your party members will launch an additional knockback attack if it bumps into them. At its best, this adds an additional layer of billiards-like strategy to the combat, and can allow you to be efficient with your skill usage in the early game. Unfortunately, toward the late game, most enemies tend to be either too heavy or have too much HP to rely on this mechanic, and it becomes something reserved exclusively for tiny and/or flying creatures. This encourages experimentation with the interesting skill system (using certain combinations unlocks new skills, which activate for free the first time), the unique "field bug" risk/reward (hurt yourself for power-ups), and the mini-game-esque "hack" mechanic, but for all its innovations, the combat still devolves into that "everyJRPG" feeling by the end.

    The story is this game's main draw. There's probably an hour of exposition in the first 90 minutes of the game, and a lot of the comically exaggerated negative scores are, if I had to guess, due to this. The story-vs-gameplay pacing can be a bit odd at times, and you have to be prepared to do a lot of reading, hence the "Visual Novel hybrid" description many reviewers have used. The narrative is split between the Director of "World's Odyssey", trapped within her own virtual reality game, and its lead programmer, trying to rescue her from the real world. This isn't a Sword Art clone, though. It's an engaging mystery, and it addresses themes of Artificial Intelligence, religion/the occult, and creative freedom in game design in interesting ways. Occasional derailment via "cute girls doing things" aside, I was genuinely interested in what would happen next and what the root cause of the strange happenings in and outside of the VR game could be, and it kept me playing nothing else for a week straight. It has a bit of a slow start as it introduces the setting, but the "real world" portions toward the middle of the game kept me on the edge of my seat. There are two factors preventing me from giving this game a 9/10 score, however. The first is the game's namesake gimmick. The second is that, unlike the gameplay, which starts to feel rather standard by the last chapter, the story suddenly starts to go off the rails. It does so very much on purpose, and it mostly achieves the effect it's going for, but it results in a few loose ends (some people are already calling them "sequel bait") and a few critical plot points are presented without the gravity they deserved.

    The gimmick here is that many choices, both during gameplay and during the "Visual Novel" portions, can abruptly lead to a brutal "death end," forcing you to restart. (Save often!) This may seem like an inconsequential/torture fetish gimmick, but... it does have its purpose that I don't want to spoil. My complaint here isn't that the ends are frustrating or pointless, but that in-game trophies and rewards for them end up creating an INCENTIVE to die stupidly, whereas you're usually trying to avoid getting the "bad end" in the visual novel genre. (Some of the less predictable death ends are well written, and offer a little more insight into the world or characters, but some of them are obvious or just make you feel silly, requiring losing a fight or picking a clearly bad choice, and providing an incentive to go after them feels equally silly. )

    The graphics aren't quite on par with the latest and greatest AAA titles, but they're better than other games under the Galapagos RPG brand, and the visual design is top-notch.

    The sound effects are... really low-budget and can get repetitive, but the music is pretty great and usually fits the environments/scenes perfectly.    … Expand
  12. shootingstars99
    Sep 20, 2019
    10
    This is one of the best RPG games I have played in a long time. The characters are all likable and memorable, the art is incredible, and the story keeps you hooked until the very end. This is the best game I have played from Compile Heart, and hope that this quality of game from them continues, as I was blown away. The mystery aspect is way better than Persona 4's, and eliminates all ofThis is one of the best RPG games I have played in a long time. The characters are all likable and memorable, the art is incredible, and the story keeps you hooked until the very end. This is the best game I have played from Compile Heart, and hope that this quality of game from them continues, as I was blown away. The mystery aspect is way better than Persona 4's, and eliminates all of the teenage angst filler that game was plagued with in favor of a mystery of a game program that has gone awry and has a dark secret behind why this is. The game is fairly text heavy, but never feels boring or out of place. Each cutscene feels like it drives the story forward and provides some insight you didn't previously have as it what is going in with the overall mystery.

    The combat of the game is more than standard turn-based RPG fare. While it is turn-based, there is free roam on each character's turn in a predefined arena that you can strategically place yourself in to take advantage of the billiards-like combos that exist within the combat engine to maximize damage per turn. Little changes like this that keep turn-based combat engaging are an amazing addition to the combat of any RPG game. The game had kind of a Shadow Hearts vibe to it as well, with the grim tones of the story and oddly designed monsters.

    If you are a fan of RPG games that take some creative risks that pay off, as well as the anime art direction, give this one a try! It will take you for a ride you won't soon forget, I promise!    … Expand
  13. Mystogan2
    Feb 16, 2020
    10
    Such an amazing game, the dungeons can be bit annoying but overall its great story ,very text heavy. I recommend this game.
  14. AkiTsk
    Dec 21, 2019
    10
    Without doubt this is the best game of Compile Heart. The mix between JRPG and VN is very well done with a very unpredictable story with really great plot twist.
    Not going to lie, this game is not for everyone, many people won't be able to understand some concepts used in the game and many references to real life misteries .
  15. SamL01
    May 17, 2022
    10
    I loved this game, just be prepared for the fact that it is quite text heavy but the story is intricate, twisted and brilliant. Really enjoyed the gameplay and I’ve just bought the second one as I want to see where the story goes - if you’re thinking about trying it, do it!

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
67
#67 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 29
  3. Negative: 1 out of 29
  1. GamingTrend
    May 7, 2019
    45
    Death end re;Quest is not a terrible game, but it certainly doesn’t do much to stand out from a crowded and trope friendly glut of JRPG titles. The battle mode plays like a game of pool and has a lot of interesting features, but the writing is tired, the characters are overly sexualized and mentally deficient as always, and the game is set in a bland world with little detail or points of interest. Death end re;Quest is another game for fans of long dialogues leading nowhere.
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  2. Meristation
    Apr 24, 2019
    72
    Death end re;Quest offers an interesting story and characters that developers through its many chapters until the very end of it and keeping interest on both. Also its combat system with plenty of habilities and the Battle Jack makes it pretty addictive to keep fighting enemies to level up. The main flaw the game has resides on the dungeons which are boring and pretty repetitive.
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  3. Gameblog.fr
    Apr 4, 2019
    70
    Death end Re;Quest is good mix between an original J-RPG and a visual novel, with two different heroes.
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