Death end re;Quest 2

A great sequel for the first game, if you enjoyed Death 1 there is no reason to not get this game. new characters, combinations and story make this game a worth get. also we the fans helped raise concern to keep the PC version uncensored unlike the PS4 version, if you are going to get this game, get it here.

Edit: Alright, I've finished the game now and if I am to believe steam achievments I got the "true ending".
It took me 12 hours to finish the game, I spend time grinding once before understanding that it was useless.
It's short but honestly it's not completely a bad thing as it makes the story well paced.
In those 12 hours of playtime I had to alt+f4 the game more times than I could count, everything broke, the combat system, the shop, the UI, I even had a bug where the game told me I saved but when I quit and restarted the game it didn't save the last 20 mn...
In conclusion: play it for the story, however there's a ton of gamebreaking bugs and it's really short so be mindful of that before you buy.
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Original review:
As of today, the game is definitively worth a play but it's really hard to recommend in it's current state, so wait for a patch.
The game in it's structure is really different from the first one, there's less gameplay in the VN sections and less VN in the gameplay sections. So when you're in the middle of a dungeon you won't have 30 min of VN completely messing up the rythm of the game.
The combat system is roughly the same, so it's a lot of fun until you meet a boss. And that's because the game feels really unbalanced.
here's an exemple: I'm exploring a dungeon when the 3rd char finally joins the party, for some reason she's level 20 while my other characters are level 37 (seriously) just after that there's a bossfight, I go in thinking I'm overpowered since I'm 17 levels higher that what the game wants me to be, however the boss kills me in one hit....
So every single turn I have to sacrifice one of my actions to help other party members and it's just a chore.
You still have those horrible choices where you have 50% chance of dying ( there's only ever 2 options one good one bad) .
However in this game you have an option to go back to the last choice when you die instead of losing hours of progress on luck like in the first game.
Save points are more numerous than before, however it's still really easy to die.
When you explore a dungeon there's a chance that a shade will appear, if you touch it it's game over, most of the time it appear when you try to go make a detour to save your game ahah.
It's easy to avoid however I imagine that if you are in a dead end this can result in a game over (It seems scripted though so I don't think this will be an issue).
Story so far is very different than the first one, it's interesting though, and the different main characters are cool.
The game is very buggy right now (some bugs are the same as those in the first game sadly).
So you'll have to deal with a mouse cursor in the middle of the screen at all times and be ready to alt+f4 when you press and command button and everything stops working.
Also the audio mixing is terrible, even with music at 100% and voices at 10% it feels like they are screaming in your hears and you still can't hear the music...
Hopefully those will be adressed soon.
Until then buy at your own risk.
I 'll still leave a positive review though, as I enjoy playing the game even with all those bugs.

The only bugs I encountered in this game are the ones meant to be there!
While the game is broken into chapters, it isn’t entirely clearly cut when a chapter change is going to occur. The story flows seamlessly between the chapters and is broken into two types of delivery. Visual Novel style with a mixture of spoken and text on screen and through little pop up messages while in the field. I can tell you that the hybrid of spoken and text is a little strange at first but it actually works decently well. Some scenes are delivered purely with text on screen for you to read while others have spoken dialogue injected between the pure text screens. If there is spoken dialogue typically it is used when the character is actually speaking and anything the character is thinking is usually just text on screen. It isn’t consistently done though with quite a bit of spoken word being just delivered in a pure text format. While you are inside the orphanage there are usually a number of scenes to witness before you sneak out at night to enjoy the actual gameplay.
The gameplay has a few questionable choices made but they do make sense as to why they were made. Every night you start out as you leave the dormitory. You then have to walk through the creepy streets to get to where you are going that night. This means effectively walking through the same area repeatedly as you progress through the game and that does get very repetitive and dull. It would be nice to have it automatically teleport you to the next starting area, but it does help give it the feel that you are leaving the dorms each night to go on an adventure so of course you will be passing through the same areas each time. Usually once you get to wherever you are going the game quickly wraps up after a boss battle and you are back to the orphanage again. If the town at night was more interesting to look at, it would make a difference but every area you pass through looks very similar to the last. Kind of featureless with a lot of glowing corruption intertwined. Since the town itself isn’t really a prime focus of the game and is more of just a setting for it, it can be forgiven that a lot of time wasn’t spent making all the buildings stand out at night, but it does make for a bit of a dull trek each night. This format changes a bit after while once you progress outside of town. Here everything is much more vibrant and even the corruption has a different colour to it! I won’t spoil anything though so I won’t say too much more on that.
The other kind of questionable choice is the whole monster in the dark theme of it. Every now and then you encounter a special monster that chases you but it doesn’t really move all that fast, you get plenty of warning it is coming and you mostly just have to run a little way away from it before it de-spawns again. The game does make it clear that letting it catch you would be a mistake, but unless I was away from the computer when it showed up, I didn’t really feel like it was much of a threat, especially not early on. If it was a major threat it likely would have been very annoying, but as it is, it is a bit of nuisance but not that big of a deal. I do like the idea of it though and I think it does add something to the otherwise potentially repetitive stroll you are on.
Let’s stop with the negative though because this game has far more positives in its gameplay than negatives to talk about. The combat is very similar to how it was in the first game. You can chain attacks together and depending on various factors you might unlock new abilities that way. Discovering new abilities helps keep the fights interesting as it forces you to try new things each time rather than just relying on the same tried and true abilities every time. You are mostly free to wander about the field to try to find the optimal position to start unleashing your attacks from; however, the bugs in the field are back again too. Touching the bugs (little glowing circles) will cause you to gain corruption and possibly some other effects too. Gaining enough corruption will unlock your powerful corrupted form. Gaining even more of them will kill you so all things in moderation I suppose! As you blast your enemies with your various moves, knockbacks and super knockbacks can occur as well as collisions too. Enemies’ colliding with other enemies hurts them both and potentially will send the other enemy flying too. An enemy colliding with an ally will cause that ally to swing their weapon at the enemy and ricochet it away doing heavy damage in the process. Overkilling an enemy is rewarded so it’s best to try to figure out the best way to inflict maximum damage each time you obliterate your enemies. The somewhat complex battle system for a Visual Novel style game is something that made me want to play Death end re;Quest 2 after having previously enjoyed the original.
Another thing that brought me back to the Death end re;Quest series is the fact that your choices do matter more here than they do in some other games I have played. A wrong choice can get you killed! It actually feels like it takes longer for Death end re;Quest 2 to start giving you these choices in comparison to the original but they are still there. If you are a sucker for punishment, it can be fun to try to figure out which option is the wrong one and going for that instead of trying to choose the best option. I mean sure you will likely end the game with a gruesome game over, but that is what your saved games are for.
One thing that is needed in a Visual Novel style game is a healthy smattering of character tropes and this game has pretty much all of them covered. All of the characters are quite well detailed although primary characters definitely look even fancier than their NPC counterparts. It was quite easy to tell who my third party member was going to be once I met her and sure enough she eventually joined me. With so much focus given to dialogue while inside the orphanage it’s good that there is a variety there to work with. Each one has enough character building to make them feel like they matter and each one of them tends to have a bit of an interesting and checkered past that lead them to be at this mysterious orphanage. The school itself, following a religion unique to the town, possibly being haunted and frequently having strange disappearances that are classed as adoptions is also a bit fascinating to learn about. Since it is hard to talk about a story heavy game, I will refrain from talking more about it and talk more about the technical side of things.
The audio works very well and despite the spoken dialogue being peppered in rather than consistent, it is enough to be enjoyable. The fact they were talking in English for a change was very welcome, it’s been quite a while since I played one of these style of games with an English Language option. I don’t mind non-English audio but usually I prefer it just because I find reading subtitles often makes you miss some of the action. The sound effects are a bit generic but they work well within the game. The atmospheric music and sounds did help set the tone and mood of the game very well. The only thing that got a little tiresome, and honestly, I would never suggest to remove it or omit it from future titles is the repetition of the same dialogue lines before and after combat. Sure, there are a number of different lines said and that really helps, but eventually it plays through them all and it just starts getting tiresome. It does let you skip it though so it isn’t that big of deal.
The controls for the game, at least when using a gamepad, work very well. I found some of the keyboard key layouts a little awkward but it isn’t anything that would be too difficult to figure out plus it can all be rebound anyway.
I have more to say, but I'm at the character limit!

Full review (including score):
Summarized review below!
The rundown:
Pros:
+ Excellent combat
+ Interesting storyline
+ Higher production values compared to first game
+ Decent port
Cons:
- Inconsistent writing quality
- Boring level design
- Some UI issues
I had a lot of fun playing through and reviewing Death end re;Quest 1, more so than usual with most Compile Heart games. So of course I am excited to try out the sequel, one we don't even have to wait for this time. It's arriving on PC a full week before PS4, which might actually be a first for the publisher.
Note: Had to trim review to fit character limit, check video for full version!
Pros:
Excellent combat. One thing I really liked about the first game was its combat. It took the traditional turn-based combat you see in most JRPGs and added this entire movement mechanic on top of it, making positioning a key factor in how the combat actually played out. Well, to the surprise of no one, the sequel continues this style of combat. It's pretty much just a carbon copy, but they didn't really need to change much here. The combat doesn't go overboard with complexity, the different moves are fun to use with all of their varying sizes, elements, and effects, and the knockback feature is still some of the most fun I've had in any Compile Heart game.
Interesting storyline. So the combat may be good and all, but for those that played the first one, you will already know that this is a much more story-focused game. In fact, I would say that about 70% of the game is just visual novel segments. I'm not complaining though, as I mostly enjoyed the story from the first one and was happy to see that continue here with the second.
Now, I'll try to talk about it without spoiling anything. The story basically resets from the first game, with a fresh cast and all. However, as you progress, it becomes increasingly more linked with that first game. Although I didn't like how the first game ended, I liked how this game was able to build on that foundation while also offering something new in the process. The new characters are cool, the twists and turns are plentiful, and the story is weaved into the gameplay in such a manner that it never felt like it was overpowering. Of course it isn't without its problems, but it's a solid effort from Compile Heart and much better than what they usually put out.
Higher production values compared to first game. Compile Heart is no stranger to low production values. Although they usually make decent games, it's usually done with reused assets, unvoiced dialogue, and repetitive level design. While Death end re;Quest 2 doesn't completely avoid these issues, it's a much better overall package than what we got with the first game (or really any Compile Heart game for that matter).
For one, we got a bunch of cool new enemies. Not only are they unique in their designs, but some of them are really, really creepy, like straight-up nightmare fuel. Of course, that perfectly fits the setting here, so I'll give them credit for that. Then you got the English dub, which, as with the first game, is actually not that bad. It doesn't feel overacted, nor does it lack emotion like a lot of other JRPG dubs.
It strikes a nice balance there and even felt expanded compared to recent Compile Heart games. Dragon Star Varnir, for example, had very little dubbed dialogue, but here in Death end re;Quest 2, a significant portion of the game is dubbed. Given that this is a story-heavy game, it's nice to see them put some actual effort into that.
Decent port. This may not be the best-looking game, but they did a pretty good job with the overall port. I never ran into any frame drops, stutters, crashes, or other such issues that usually come with JRPG PC ports. Additionally, the game also performs well on both controller and keyboard and mouse. They are completely rebindable and there's even button prompts for both. And the keyboard and mouse implementation is not lazy either, you're able to use the mouse both for the camera and for navigating menus. Granted, it's not an entirely bug-free experience, but I got to give the game some props for at least having some polish to it.
Cons:
Inconsistent writing quality. Just as with the first game, the story in Death end re;Quest 2 suffers from a number of different writing problems. Perhaps the most major of these would be the various pacing issues. Whether that be a misplaced story development that wasn't given the proper buildup or the sudden push to finish a scene without properly wrapping it up, the writing never quite found a consistent pace there. Then you have the drastic tone shifts that not only are cheaply written, but really take you out of the experience.
You'll have a scene that's progressing at a relatively steady pace and all seems fine, only for the writers to suddenly remember "Oh! Wait, this is supposed to be an edgy game!". What better way to sell that than by describing scenes with human organs and blood everywhere and characters dying in the most brutal way possible. I get that this is supposed to be a darker game like that, but these scenes oftentimes come out of nowhere and some even had me laugh at just how absurd and misplaced they were. I'll give the game some credit for having a more well-written ending compared to the first, but it couldn't completely escape the same writing issues that that first had.
Boring level design. They may have upped the visuals a bit, but the environments are still almost entirely composed of copy-pasted assets, repeating textures, and invisible walls everywhere. The devs have a very clear path they want you to travel and there's no exploration beyond that, even in areas where it looks like you can move around freely.
Additionally, the actual layout of each level is really blocky. You get a bunch of smaller areas connected by long straight paths, similar to what you'd see from old level editors for games like DOOM. It just gets boring exploring these blocky levels and seeing the same copy-pasted building over and over. It's something that Compile Heart is really bad at, so if you've played any of their prior games, you probably already know what to expect here.
Some UI issues. While the overall port was pretty smooth, I did run into some issues with the UI, enough so that it needs to be mentioned. Specifically, I had issues with the UI disappearing at times and not going away at others. This could be in the middle of a battle or somewhere on the field and usually required a game restart to fix. It was a limited issue (happened to me maybe five times total), but should be noted regardless. Hopefully it's an issue we can see patched sometime close to release.
Overall:
Although not quite as good as its predecessor, Death end re;Quest 2 is still a decent sequel all things considered. The combat is fun, the story is interesting (even with its problems), and it's nice to see some higher production values this time. However, it still suffers from the same writing issues as the first and has arguably worse level design. For fans of the first game, it's worth a look, but if you haven't played that one then definitely give it a try before entertaining the sequel.
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"How about going to play billiards with anime girls? ヽ(=´▽`=)ﾉ"
Intro
Death end re;Quest 2. It's an Anime RPG game made by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory International. It is one of Compile Heart's Galapagos RPG Projects for anime gamers. The 2nd episode, which came back, continues the story of the previous episode in a completely different place. Death end re;Quest 1 was set in the game world and Japan, However Death end re;Quest 2 is set in a rural village that is likely to exist somewhere. The main protagonist has also changed to Mai Toyama. As you may know, Corpse Party scenario writer Makoto Kedouin took part in this project. What story and gameplay are waiting for us this time? Let's take a look at it with Nyanco-chan! (ฅ'ω'ฅ)
Game Experience
Due to her traumatic past, Mai Toyama is entrusted to Wordsworth where it is an all-girl’s dormitory situated in the small town known as Le Choara. She was told that her sister Sanae was there, but when she arrived at the dormitory, she couldn't find her sister. What's more, this dormitory has strict rules, and at night the town looks completely different. Then one day, a dormitory colleague is attacked by an unknown monster. She gets to realize that the village and the dormitory are not normal. She decides to escape with her colleagues. There are some parts that can be understood by experiencing the Death end re;Quest 1, so it is recommended to play it first. Moreover, characters from the previous work appear here, including the main character of the first episode, Shina Ninomiya.
The previous game was divided into the in-game world and the real world, but this time the play style changes depending on the day and night. During the day, you can enjoy various events with people in the dormitory or near the dormitory places. Daytime events can be enjoyed casually as if enjoying visual novels. Interesting events that would take place in the female dorm are unfolding. In addition, all the lines of the characters have their own voices, which enhances the sense of immersion. The character CG illustration has 2D Live animations. After 12 o'clock, the night event begins. At night, you can wander around and explore the town. Battles can be played at night. Various gimmicks were added to the top color of the map so that you can find someting fun. In particular, the battle system that received good reviews from the previous work was brought, and the bug pollution was improved. The knockback and overkill system are the key points in the battles.
Pros (+) & Cons (-)
Good PC Porting
Fun Battle System
Anime Character Design
Voice Acting (ENG & JPN)
Some Bugs
Loose Prologue
Boring Dungeon
Inconsistent Writing
Verdict (Score): 8.5/10
Death end re;Quest 2. It is an interesting anime JRPG. This game is full of charming anime girls. The gameplay well keeps the core fun of the JRPG. It takes a second play-through to get true endings and a variety of collectable elements. The gameplay time is about 20-30 hours or more. The main point of this game is to experience various bad endings. It is recommended to save frequently to get them. The game scenario is also interesting, and the charm of the characters makes the player more immersed in the game. If you like JRPGs featuring anime girls, Death end re;Quest 2 is the game for you.
Side Note
Looking for nice anime games? Let's take a look with Nyanco-chan! Follow Nyanco Channel! (ฅ'ω'ฅ)

I loved Death end re;Quest. It was not what I expected to come from Compile Heart but in the end: I got an amazing story, very nice character and a pretty great battle concept. The typical Compile Heart mixture of Visual Novel and JRPG worked amazingly.
Hearing there would be a second part, I've been quite sceptical. How would a second part to a game with a pretty completed story work? Would they do an mk2 on it? As in: pretend everything from the first game didn't happen and start again. Well: In a way... maybe? In another way: maybe not. But well: can't talk about this here because you know - story spoilers. And I wouldn't want to destroy any story relevant parts for you.
Should you play Death end re;Quest before this game? Yes, you should, although it isn't absolutely necessary - while the story is linked, see above, it's independent enough to not require it.
The gameplay concept over the original didn't change overly much - you have visual novel scenes throughout the day in the isolated Eastern European town called Le Caoara - you attend a school called Wordsworth there. And Le Choara turns into a dark evil place at night - which you will be able to explore at night in JRPG style. Enjoy it.
The gameplay challenge is nicely balanced: Easy mode will literally let you enjoy the story as you can just progress from battle to battle - make the necessary battle and you'll advance quickly enough. Medium and Hard modes require you to grind more and experiment with the battle system a bit more. The battle system has a lot of variety so if you seek a challenge: Go ahead - you have Super Knockbacks, you have a decently interesting way to learn attacks, and the characters in the game add to each other rather well.
While we're on it: I really enjoyed the chemistry between the 3 main characters which would be Mai , Rottie and Liliana (spoiler reveals the names of later characters in the game). Or four - if you count a character from the first game. The interactions between other Wordsworth students and Le Choara residents were interesting enough to keep me entertained.
Like the original: the game is quite bloody, sometimes the language can contain swear words - but overall it just fits the general style of the game. There are the typical fan service scenes which Compile Heart cannot refuse to add to any of their games although this game honestly wouldn't need them. But well, they're there. What else would you expect?
On a minor note on that: in Death End re;Quest 1 the characters in the Glitch mode which returns in this game had very revealing outfits. The console version had those adjusted (aka censored) - for the PC version these adjustments were reverted for original characters who returned. Kudos for that, Idea Factory!
All in all: Good game! You liked the first: Play it! You didn't like the first? Don't play it then, it's very similar. You didn't play the first? Well, maybe check out the first one for now but you can just jump into the second.

I don't have a good English but i tried to share my opinion about this game because i really excited to this game and here we go.
So I've played already the first one, and got excited with this sequel.
First of all, i can say that the story is so interesting, a new characters, a new situation, and there's Shina here too as a side character, it's pretty interesting story. But, there's a scene that i want really to see the graphics but it's just black, maybe it's censored? I don't know the ps4 version but it's really ruin the atmosphere i should get.
Combat system is just like a 1st one, there's not much differences. But as the other reviewers said, it's unbalanced. I just battle the monster that appeared in front of me as story goes but I've leveled up too high so when a new played character comes (lvl 20), i already lvl 35+.
The design and animation of glitched characters are so good, but there's some characters which the voice acting is not different with before glitched. Just looking at the expression of glitched Rotten Dollheart with corrupted face and the voice acting is still the same is so weird. And the sfx of ultimate skill when glitched is not good as the usual skill. The animation is really really good but the sfx is not good as the animation does.
Despite of all the negative things, this game is still good in another aspect. Story is so good, the bgm is so damn terrifying especially when the black matter comes. Environment with horror game vibes.
If u already played the 1st one, I will still recommend this sequel because of the story.
Update:
I've already done my 1st playthrough and story become more and more interesting. And finally there's a Gore CG too, YES!
I enjoyed the story so much, but yeah the bug still there so you need to exit game and launch it again.