Alright, who pissed off IFI?
We all know that Compile Heart and IFI make some amazingly cute JRPGs, some of the fluffiest and most adorable series out there (I'm looking at you, Nep!). But with their most recent Switch release, Death End Re;Quest, the cuteness goes out the window and gets replaced with a heaping helping of grimdark. Considering the game immediately starts with the graphic and disturbing demise of the main character, it's safe to say that this is not a game that can be considered lighthearted. Sure the character designs are typical fare for these companies, but the subject matter certainly is not.
That's not a knock against the game however, as it's quite refreshing to play something this horrifyingly gruesome, and the way that the game approaches the subject matter is quite tactful, the most horrendously grisly scenes are left to your imagination through the viciously detailed descriptions of the carnage occurring in any particular scene. This is definitely a mature story for visual novel/rpg fans that have grown up playing the other games from IFI and want something a fair bit darker.
The gameplay in Death End Re;Quest is all over the place genre-wise, at it's heart it has the same underlying visual novel presentation that Compile Heart/IFI are famous for, but the genre of the battle can shift at any time and that makes it fun. One minute it's a turn based RPG, the next it's a SHMUP. It will definitely keep you on your toes. Though the framerate can lag behind a bit at times, it's never unplayable in either docked or handheld mode, and the graphics hold up decently. All in all it's a really great package, and considering it has all the original DLC, plus it's uncensored to boot, it's definitely worth picking up!
