Death End re:Quest is a series from Compile Heart about survival. If you make one wrong step in any of the previous games, you reach a death end that requires you to return to your last save and find a new way to victory. Death End re:Quest: Code Z is the newest title in the franchise, and it focuses on a more roguelike system with randomized dungeons.
Game Name: Death End re;Quest: Code Z
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PS5 (Reviewed)
Developer(s): Compile Heart
Publisher(s): Idea Factory International
Release Date: May 13th, 2025
Price: $49.99
Death End re:Quest: Code Z had you in the shoes of Sayaka Hiwatari. She is what is known as a Luden, a program with AI that is pretty close to a human. She constantly gets thrown into Strain areas to go looking for characters from the Death End re:Quest series. After you find them, you have to go backwards in the dungeon to get out with you and the character intact.
The Good
This is a genius concept for a Death End re;Quest game. Having the ability to traverse dungeons with a variety of enemies and traps around, and then dying to them to get a Death End, was phenomenal. I actively went around the game trying to die to enemies on Normal until I decided that it might be better just to do an expert run since it would be far easier to get Death Ends. This is a game that makes it more thrilling, but also worthwhile to do on Expert difficulty.
Traversing dungeons feels similar to Shiren the Wanderer, with each movement you take and action you take being essentially an action. Each action makes an enemy take an action, whether that’s moving, attacking, or even activating abilities. You can get items and abilities randomized around the dungeon. You can add abilities to your weapon or even passive stat boosts.
Each time you reach a unique Death End, you get a special skill point you can use to make Sayaka stronger. You can increase her base stats like ATK, DEF, or HP early on with single skill points. Constantly getting a stronger base helps a lot, even when you can level up.
The balance of random items can be annoying at times, especially when trying to get a good amount of Ether code items. Luckily, they have an item shop where you can purchase consumable items that reset each time you get back from a dungeon.
The Bad
Death End re:Quest: Code Z has a pretty simple story of bringing a brand new face to the cast of the Death End re:Quest series, then letting them figure out the world themselves. That said, they take a while to give very basic answers to Sayaka’s questions because they don’t want to reveal too much, and it can feel like they are dodging every question. Someone familiar with the lore, like myself, felt a little annoyed that they dodge so many questions that are already apparent from the earlier games. Simple lore like who Ludens are and what makes them special doesn’t get revealed til several chapters into the game, even though Sayaka keeps asking about them.
The item inventory capacity is annoying. I mentioned earlier that Ether Code items are important for the Sanity mechanic. With such a small capacity limit, though, it is pretty annoying trying to hold on to items you might need to use consistently. I usually wait to use an Ether Code when I find a new one in the dungeon, but I don’t always have that luxury.
There are a lot of drawn CG scenes in this game, which is great; however, not a lot of them were for Death Ends. A good chunk of the Death End scenes are reused with just different flavor text or effects over the art.
The Verdict
Death End re;Quest: Code Z is a great design for the series with a few flaws in its execution. The capacity limit could be reworked, and there could be added stats to the skill tree, but overall, I had an enjoyable time with the game, and exploring the larger dungeons after the first few dungeons was extremely satisfying and difficult. I wouldn’t mind recommending this game if you want to try it, but I do think the story of the first game worked better with the premise than this one does.
Death end re;Quest: Code Z, will be launching worldwide on Steam in 2025! The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game will launch physically and digitally in North America and digitally in Europe on May 13, 2025. The game will launch physically in Europe on June 27th, 2025.
Review Disclosure Statement: Death End re;Quest: Code Z was provided to us by Idea Factory International for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.
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Summary
Death End re;Quest: Code Z is a fun and difficult roguelike dungeon crawler that rewards you for finding the Death Ends. It does have its flaws in execution, but it is a fun core to flesh out.
Pros
- Getting Death Ends is rewarding
- Nicely rendered brutal CG Scenes
- Great difficulty with the Expert difficulty
Cons
- Not a lot of variety in the Death End CG Art
- Item capacity is annoying
- RNG can screw you over with Ether Code items
- The story takes a long time to catch you up to speed.
