An RPG That will move you, Death End re;Quest Releases to PS4

By: GeekyGamerGirl87

Next to spending my time creating content, playing video games and writing game reviews. I am a huge avid anime watcher. I have been watching anime since I was a child. So, when I can play video games with an anime like setting; I am completely sold on the idea. Therefore, when I was asked to review Death End re;Quest for PS4 for thedailygamepad.com, I was overly excited because this was going to combine two of my favorite pastimes. If you are a fan of animes such as .hack//sign, Sword Art Online, and Log Horizon, then you will more than likely find interest in this game. However, before I fully begin my review, I would like to thank both Compile Hearts and Idea Factory International for providing thedailygamepad.com with a free review copy of the game to play.

As always as a sign of respect to the developers/publishers, I try to keep my reviews spoiler free. Therefore, when it comes to the story I try to remain as vague as possible.

In this game, you take on the role of two different main characters in two different worlds. You play as Shina Ninomiya, once the head programmer for the online game World Odyssey or (W.O.D.) who has been missing for one year and has now found out that she is trapped in the very same world she helped create. The other is Arata Mizunashi, the other programmer who helped program W.O.D.

After Shina disappeared, Aggle Inc. the company who was funding World Odyssey halted the project and shut down the servers to W.O.D.  They put the blame of the game being halted due to Shina being inexperienced and not being able to handle such a big gaming project. They accused her of running away from the project and this( in their eyes) is why she has gone missing.

As I like to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible, this is all I will reveal about the story of the game.  There is so much more that goes on with the story, but you’ll have to play it to see it.

When it comes to gameplay the game has a combat system when you are in W.O.D. and all the traditional workings of a traditional RPG. However, when you are playing as Arata Mizunashi it takes on more of a role of a visual novel. I love how the game combines both RPG play elements as well as Visual Novel and it doesn’t favor one over the other. The combat is straight forward and is turn-based, with you being able to move the characters freely around the battle area. Although you can call upon Arata Mizunashi’s help during your combat in W.O.D. as he can rewrite the game’s coding to your advantage.

When it comes to the visual novel aspect of the game, the game takes the visual novel aspect and gives it more of a gameplay element to it. Instead of just reading a story like most traditional novels, it allows for you to trigger events in the real world, like the major event that happens in Chapter 1 (Sorry not going to spill the beans but let me tell you the event is juicy.) One of the things that I thought was amazing was the fact that if there are people near Arata he can target those people to have a conversation with them, and I really like that feature in his world. I also liked the fact that it has a map that Arata can use to visit the other places in the real world, that also help to push the story along.

When it came to the controls for the game the visual novel controls were straight forward. However, it did take a little getting used to the controls as far as the combat goes. I love the whole being able to move freely amongst the battlefield. Some of the issues I had with the controls was getting my character to aim at the target I wanted them to attack. It looks like if it is melee if they are within the attack cone, they will hit the target. However, with range characters, it is a little difficult to aim with them in the case you want to hit a target. One of the things that are good is that if you are not targeting anything it will not use your turn as far as an attack goes. I just wish I could lightly tap my analog stick to do a more précised aiming.

One of the other things I liked with combat is as you level up, you’re just not giving moves to perform in the game. You do have to discover combat techniques and moves to build your characters move repertoire.  I also like that each character comes with a sort of a companion, that can provide a possible attack. This is done at random as far as I could see which makes the game more interesting. Also, the characters do have the opportunity to go into Glitch Mode, which serves as their special attack. The gauge fills up by collecting Field Bugs on the field or being attacked by an opponent.

Overall, I will say that Death end re;Quest is a game that even with some of the issues with controls, is worth the money and I do highly recommend the game. Especially if you are a fan of shows like .hack//sign, Sword Art Online, and Log Horizon. Again, If you are someone who likes a story driven game this is a great game with a great story.  For those who are Trophy Hunters, the game has approximately 30+ trophies (I did count them but was unsure if my final total was 39 or 40.) Depending on what level you play the game on, it could be relatively easy to collect the trophies. In the context of how long the game is. The game consists of the prologue and eleven chapters. It took me about 2-3 hours to get through the prologue and chapter 1. So, the game is lengthy and is worth the price in my opinion.  If you would like to purchase Death End re;Quest for yourself, you can purchase the game via the PlayStation Store. Death End re;Quest Standard Edition is $59.99 and Death End re;Quest Deluxe Edition is $74.99 USD.