Game: Death end re;Quest
Genre: Visual Novel RPG
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam and PS4)
Developers | Publishers: Compile Heart | Idea Factory
Age Rating: US M | EU 16+
Price: US $29.99 | UK £26.99 | EU € 29,99
Release Date: April 27, 2021
Review code used, with thanks to Reef Entertainment
In the past, I have found that the age rating in the United States can feel a bit off: games where there’s so much as a bottle of wine involved, get a high rating. Games with violence in it, get a lower rating. Games with any kind of sexual innuendo a high rating. And most of the times, this isn’t mirrored by the European rating. This is why we tend to follow the European rating here on the site, allowing PEGI rated 16+ games, but draw the line at 18+. Which is why Death end re;Quest made it into this review. The idea of combining a visual novel with turn-based RPG gameplay sounded very intriguing to me. After having played part of it though I can only conclude that it is the European rating that is off this time. So a warning this time before you read on!
Waking Up in the House of Beginnings
The opening sequence of the game was a brutal wake-up call right away. We are witness to the way Shina Ninomiya is brutally murdered by a massive monster while Arata Mizunashi can only watch in horror and anguish. The emphasis should be on the word brutally…You know, we play more video games that have death in them, but that doesn’t mean that I want to watch all the gore and blood that accompanies it.
With this over, we see Shina waking up in a remote village without any memories. She remembers her name but nothing of what happened before, she decides to step outside. A lovely colourful meadow greets her, and it triggers a memory: she is an adventurer journeying to the mystical sky capital Odyssia.
She knows that once every two thousand years the Gate to Odyssey, the mystical Sky capital, open up to adventurers that are pure of heart. People who visit Odyssia are said to discover riches and happiness beyond their wildest dreams. And Shina wants to bring her mother, who she does remember, all the happiness she needs.
As a city in the Sky wouldn’t be exactly easy to find, she leaves the House of Beginnings and sets off for Heartis, the military kingdom, to find more information. After only a short journey, the lush meadow makes way to a landscape that isn’t nearly as inviting.
The Entoma Scourge
She saves Rook from monsters and he fills her in on what happened to Odyssia. Rook recounts the story about the Entoma Scourge: a curse from the gods, brought to life by the despicable sins committed by the people of Odyssia. Greed, corruption, thievery and violence had become commonplace in the world, and the gap between the poor and rich people became bigger and bigger. It was then that the Scourge ripped the heavens apart, flattened the mountain ranges, ruined forests and seas. The people saw the Beast as Heaven’s Messenger, God punished the people because of their disregard for life.
In 10 days time the Beast destroyed Heartis and the surrounding kingdoms then suddenly the monster’s body suddenly froze and shattered into pieces. Its shattered fragments rained down upon the world. But that was not the end of it, there were odd occurrences with people taking their own life, seemingly for no reason, as if they were martyrs. It turned out that the people who took their own life have the Mark of Entoma, like the spidery legs around Shina’s own leg. Corrupting its prey while slowly over time. The souls of these martyrs learned how to inhabit the bodies of monsters, which began attacking innocent people. Those are the beasts roaming around called martyrs.
Not good news about the Mark of Entoma for Shina, but she decides to go to Heartis anyway to find a job as the King’s guard. So far so good. It’s when she enters the castle that Death end re;Quest that I began seeing things I couldn’t explain. The walls shimmered here and there and showed coding and all of a sudden, there was a voice that guided Shina from her predicament.
Connection Between the Game and the Real World
The mysterious voice introduced itself as Arata Mizunashi, and reveals that Shina’s real name is Shina Ninomiya. Things start falling into place, it seems that Arata and Shina developed a Virtual Reality MMORPG named “World’s Odyssey” in the real world. Shina, the director of the project, disappeared roughly a year ago. That and the extremely difficult glitches emerging, Aggle Inc. froze their funding for the project, causing it to be cancelled. Arata hasn’t been able to let it go though, and when he finds out that there is an active played called Shina is currently playing World’s Odyssey when it should be shut down, he connects with her. This triggers Shina’s memory, and from there on they soon realise Shina has to find a good ending in the game to be able to get out.
I know the background story I’ve depicted is on the long side in this review. But it is what makes Death end re;Quest special: the idea of merging the real world and the game world, of merging the visual novel and RPG part. The visual novel part looks good. The fighting is decent too with some nice ideas. Battles take place in a circular arena where your party takes on the Martyrs, each character plans three battle actions per turn. The best way to beat the monsters is to send them flying because they will receive additional damage by colliding with the field boundaries and field bugs.
The mystery presented in the visual novel part is intriguing and made me want to play on. But the horrors in the game didn’t sit well with me. Make a wrong choice and you will get a bad ending, and you can’t escape the sounds and visuals presented even if you wanted to. The Entoma Bug follows Shina around eating her enemies.
All of that reminded me of a book series I read years ago, fantasy novels about a mercenary group called the Raven by James Barclay. I loved the story, couldn’t put the books down. I cared for the characters and wanted them to be victorious. But the things happening were disturbing to me, stayed with me even now. And in books it’s just reading about it: Death end re;Quest presents it in all its details as if the developers get pleasure out of it. It’s all too realistic, I don’t want that, I don’t need that and it dampens the wonder of playing the game for me.
Another part of the game that I didn’t like was the way the female characters are depicted as overly sexualised when they go in Overdrive mode in battle. All I could think was: “come on, who would go into battle nearly naked”. And I know the game is already censored in the West, still too much for my taste.
Conclusion
By bringing Death end re;Quest to the Nintendo Switch with all DLC included I’m pretty sure this is the ultimate package. The game, in my opinion, is foremost a Visual Novel with an intriguing storyline and many hours of gameplay.
Be prepared for lots of reading and some interesting ideas when it comes to battle but also, you’ll have to stomach the violence. To me, that’s where the game failed. Yes, good stories come with horrible plots and they can still engage. But I don’t want to be witness to blood spattering, crunching bones and prolonged suffering. Though the story kept me hooked, I can’t overlook that.
Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure 