Far from the cutesy and laidback girls at the Neptunia multiverse, Compile Heart’s Death End re;Quest 2 is what you’d consider the dark and horror-filled theme park that builds up an intense and gruelling experience for its fans. The new IP is something that isn’t really afraid to show the gruesome murders in its dark themes which is a huge contrast to what my favourite series from the same developers is all about. And having reviewed and played through the first entry, I was expecting a lot from the sequel with a bit of scepticism about how it’ll perform on the Nintendo Switch. And just like the game’s theme, that scepticism is met with an equally horrific outcome. So let’s talk about it.
Similar to most Compile Heart-developed games, Death End re;Quest 2 follows a similar structure to how Neptunia or even Fairy Fencer games are played out. These are games that follow visual novel-like storytelling with some great or fairly decent backdrops along with some 2D sprites of characters with some form of movement to keep them life-like—a nice touch overall if I do say so myself. Meanwhile, the other half of its gameplay is through its battle system and map navigation which is where they really dropped the ball on that one but more on that later.
Death End re;Quest 2’s narrative, being dark and horrific, is an expectedly satisfying experience right from the get-go. Here, Mai Toyama, the main character, is introduced as an abused kid by his father after their parents got divorced. Not long after, she ends up murdering her father as an act of self-defence and is now trying to find her sister which was sent to a women’s dormitory after their mother passed away. This setup is messy yet it gives me immense compassion for the main character which really captures my attention to see how it plays out. The selfless acts of saving the world from an evil threat are one thing but sometimes it’s a breath of fresh air to follow a story that starts out simple even if it could potentially end up on a scale that is world-ending.
Being a Switch port, my expectation is fairly low when it comes to its performance and quality, something that is made clear from previous ports of their games. And sadly those expectations are shoved into reality as the game does feel blurry and lacks the quality of what the console version is like. That in itself is still understandable considering the processing power of a console versus a handheld. But what makes this really disappointing though is that it feels like a cloud version of a game with its slight delays on input making map navigation, especially when you want to slip by from unnecessary encounters, extremely frustrating. This is really disappointing since its battle system really does a good job at making fun and interactive encounters as well as some amazingly satisfying pinball-like mechanics similar to the first entry of the series.
But let’s talk more about its battle system. Now, if you’ve played the more mainline Neptunia titles or say Fairy Fencer then you’ve pretty much know how it plays out. The turn-based RPG of Death End re;Quest 2 puts your team of cutesy preteen girls into a playable map as you come in contact with the monsters roaming around and being able to strike them first allows you to be on the preemptive strike while just simply coming into contact with one would play out normally but getting touched from behind (which is as dirty as it sounds) puts you into a bad encounter where your team is cornered from all angles. Similar to most modern turn-based RPGs, characters are lined up on a timeline where the faster character takes its turn first and it plays out from there. The main difference though is how Death End re;Quest 2 adds in those extra elements to keep it fun and unique. The knockback system that was introduced in its previous entry is still a major feature that allows your attacks to create a knockback effect after a combo which sends enemies flying all over the circular playing field. It’s an addictively satisfying experience especially as you knock them back to other monsters which makes them feel like billiard balls getting frantically tossed around.
Though it is a bit unfortunate that an otherwise great game can get axed due to its lack of overall performance and optimization issues when Death End re;Quest 2 definitely shines with its dark theme and satisfying battle system but only if you can look past its faults. The console version is still the more definitive version if you’re looking for an overall pleasing experience without the option of being portable but if it’s portability, then you’d have to trade in the smoother gaming experience which is not exactly the end of the world for some players. But is Death End re;Quest 2 worth it? That in a way is a bit more subjective to what people are after so this is something you’d have to weigh in on your own.
Developers: Compile Heart, Idea Factory
Publishers: Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Justdan International
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Switch
Reviews on Nintendo Switch, you can purchase it here direct from the Nintendo eShop or any good online or retail outlet.
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