DEATH END RE;QUEST 2
Experience points soaked in blood
Within minutes of starting our protagonist Mai Toyama has killed her father in self-defence after years of domestic abuse, and the game doesn’t really stray from the tone this sets. After arriving at an orphanage to search for her missing sister, events play out like a low-budget JRPG version of Suspiria, any charming anime-style tropes undercut by a sense of dread as you become sure terrible things will happen to the school’s damaged orphans. 1 Narrative branches can result in some grisly CG artwork, but more often the most upsetting things are implied through text or voice acting, which is even scarier.
The entire town of La Choara worships El Strain. It’s a mysterious and unique religion. 2 Residents don’t go out after midnight because the town changes, giving way to strange AR interference and monsters. Where in the day you talk to other characters in the school, at night things are more traditionally JRPG as you explore the town looking for answers, fighting monsters, and levelling up. There’s a focus on using magic, with a rock-paperscissors style elemental weakness system. End with a Knockback attack and enemies can collide into each other, pinballing between your characters to rack up extra damage.
Sadly, many monsters end up feeling repetitive, and the environments are bland. You only have three true party members too (characters from the first game become usable, but to all intents and purposes aren’t an actual presence in your squad). As enthralling as the horrors in
La Choara may be, it can be a slog to reach credits even when the game’s only 17 hours or so long. Oscar Taylor-Kent