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Have you ever dreamed of stepping into a virtual world? Not just playing in VR, but truly inhabiting another reality, where you can live a second life and fulfill your wildest fantasies? Compile Heart, the creators of Hyperdimensional Neptunia, explore this concept in Death end reQuest, a dark and thrilling JRPG that takes players on a captivating journey through the virtual world of World’s Oddysey.

A Programmer’s Dream… and Nightmare

Death end reQuest puts you in the shoes of Arata Mizunashi, a fortunate programmer who lands a job at Enigma, a company filled with talented and attractive female colleagues. He joins a team working on a cutting-edge VRMMO project, World’s Oddysey, a game that allows players to truly “embody” their virtual avatars. This project, however, comes to a screeching halt when the lead programmer, Shina Ninomiya, mysteriously disappears.

The game’s visual novel style enhances the storytelling.

A year later, Arata receives a cryptic email from Shina, trapped within World’s Oddysey. Thus begins a dual narrative, where players control both Arata in the real world and Shina within the game. The story unfolds primarily through a visual novel format, offering player choices that impact the narrative’s direction. Unlike Compile Heart’s typically lighthearted titles, Death end reQuest embraces a darker, horror-inspired tone, complete with unsettling scenes and unexpected plot twists.

Shina, trapped in the virtual world, reaches out to Arata for help.

The game’s compelling narrative, coupled with the well-developed characters and their evolving relationships, keeps players engaged throughout. The mystery surrounding the dark forces behind World’s Oddysey and the struggle to free Shina create a sense of urgency and intrigue.

The gameplay is divided between the real world, where Arata investigates the events surrounding Shina’s disappearance, and the virtual world of World’s Oddysey, where Shina must complete the game to log out. The combat system revolves around exploiting bugs within the game. Battles are turn-based, but players can freely move characters within their turn, positioning being crucial for maximizing damage.

The dark and thrilling narrative sets Death end reQuest apart.

Players can “debug” the game world by moving characters through bugs or knocking enemies into them. Debugging grants SP and special effects but also increases a character’s “error percentage.” Exceeding a certain threshold activates Glitch Mode, transforming characters and unlocking powerful abilities.

The unique combat system revolves around exploiting glitches and bugs.

Furthermore, debugging over 50% of the bugs allows Arata to intervene from the real world, implementing cheats and even changing the game’s genre, offering strategic depth and exciting possibilities.

A Monotonous Odyssey

While the narrative and combat are engaging, exploring World’s Oddysey’s virtual world is less rewarding. Players navigate complex dungeons, searching for specific events to progress. This process quickly becomes repetitive, lacking innovation and hindering the narrative flow. Numerous traps add to the frustration, requiring frequent saving due to the lack of autosaves.

Activating Glitch Mode unlocks powerful abilities and transforms characters.

A Disappointing Switch Port

The Switch version of Death end reQuest suffers from significant technical issues. While the visual novel segments showcase impressive character art, the in-game graphics are severely underwhelming, with blurry visuals, broken character models, and environments reminiscent of PS2-era games. The framerate struggles to maintain a consistent 24fps, often feeling like a slideshow. Long loading times, even between short transitions, further detract from the experience.

Conclusion

Death end reQuest offers a captivating narrative and innovative combat system, but its repetitive dungeon exploration and severe technical shortcomings, particularly on the Switch, hold it back from its full potential. The game’s unique premise and engaging story are worth experiencing, but players should be prepared for a visually and technically compromised adventure.

Arata can influence the game from the real world, adding a strategic layer to combat.

Exploring the dungeons quickly becomes repetitive and monotonous.

The dungeon design hinders the narrative flow and becomes tedious.

The Switch port suffers from poor optimization and technical issues.