Death end re;Quest Reviews
Death end re;Quest tries to be more than the sum of its parts, yet fails to achieve it. The story could've been interesting with less mystery or at least thrilling if it had a large enough budget to give some of the dead ends/deaths animations/scenes. Sure, several people probably don't want to see a cut girl sliced in half or killed a number of ways but anything is better than just explaining how they die a multitude of times. Combine this with an extremely linear world and relatively bland combat and you have something that just doesn't stand out in any way.
Death end re;Quest is yet another example of interesting concepts poorly executed. The game shows its true potential during certain moments, however, those are the exception, rather than the rule.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
Those looking for a quality RPG are not going to be satisfied, as Death end re;Quest is something that is more geared towards visual novel enthusiasts that happens to effectively masquerade as an RPG from time to time.
For most of us though, the frustrating world traversal, disappointing combat flourishes and all-too-generic gameplay will make it hard to find a reason to stick with Death end; re Quest.
On one hand, the game’s narrative and characters are engaging enough. On the other, the actual RPG elements are hindered by a battle system that, while having some neat ideas, doesn’t really come together.
Death end re;Quest retains Galapagos RPG’s will to innovate with each new game, this time with better execution overall. However, it’s still a budget RPG and the lack of investment holds it back from being the great narrative experience it aims to be. Nevertheless, the good combat system, compelling design, and a scenario that's much deeper and more interesting than usual have the ability to hook the player despite the title's flaws.
Fans of Compile Heart/Idea Factory will find a darker take on the old formula. Death end re;Quest has its best moments when it tells its gripping mystery story during the visual novel segments. The grim tone is undermined by anime tropes and fan service, though. Pacing problems and mediocre JRPG elements drag down the narrative, but at least the billiard-esque combat system is fun.
Death end re;Quest is an interesting mix of Visual Novel, and JRPG which has a decent storyline, art design, and core gameplay mechanics, but despite the good core design, it gets repetitive, boring, and unchallenging after some time. If you can tolerate reading lots of dialogue and enjoy similar titles from Idea Factory, this game can be a good choice for you, but I cannot recommend it to general JRPG fans.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Though Death end’s engaging narrative pushes me to reconsider my skepticism of games whose titles include semicolons, this Switch port’s monotonous combat system, cookie-cutter progression mechanics, and serious technical failings keep me from dumping this aversion altogether. For fans of top-notch visual novels willing to tuck in for the hours of tedium much the rest of the game amounts to, I can wholeheartedly recommend Death end re;Quest — just not on Switch. To all others: steer clear of this one or, if you can’t resist experiencing this odd series for yourself, nab this on PS4 or PC and dodge this technical travesty.
It’s a bit rough around the edges, especially on the Switch. But Death end re;Quest is easily one of the most creative games in Idea Factory’s stable, and if you missed it before there’s plenty of value in checking it out now.
At times spooky, at times brutal or corny, on the whole this rabbit hole is one that casual and hardcore fans alike should feel comfortable diving into.
While it’s daring, it’s fun, and ultimately the darkest entry within the Compile Heart library, I often felt my experience marred by the need to endlessly retrace my steps while wondering around maze-like dungeons for hours on end. However, it will take quite a bit of patience to get where the game itself really stands out as one of their strongest.
Death's End re;Quest has an interesting story to tell, but sometimes struggles with the ways it tries to tell it.
Death End re;Quest combines a well-constructed JRPG with a visual novel that results in an experience of varying quality.
The port performs well, and I'd wager for 90% of users the state of it will be enough. It's just disappointing that it launched in such a barebones state.
As far as new IP’s go, Idea Factory has provided a solid entry and deserve credit for trying something drastically different from their previous works.
Death end Re;Quest is good mix beetween an original J-RPG and a visual novel, with two different heroes.
Review in French | Read full review
Death end re;Quest proves it can tell an engaging and darker story in an RPG/visual novel, even though it doesn't do too much to make it stand out above the rest