History YMMV / DeathEndReQuest

* ContestedSequel: ''Death end re;Quest 2'' has garnered sharply-contrasting opinions. Those who favor the game feel as though the game excised a lot of mechanics bloat, has a much more reasonable scope for a Compile Heart game, and has a story that is much more cohesive and carefully-plotted, creating a game that ultimately feels like a stronger package than its predecessor. However, detractors feel that the game's plot is too detached from that of the first, the visual-novel segments should have been given more priority over the RPG gameplay, and that its roughly 20-hour playtime is way too short for an RPG in 2020, resulting in a disappointing affair that is not faithful to its predecessor.

* GeniusBonus:
** In computing, 65,535 is the largest that a 16-bit number can get; adding 1 to that number causes the number to loop back to zero and generally wreaks havoc on the program in question. [[spoiler:So naturally, Arata degrading the world to its 65,53'''6'''th iteration causes the process to break and leaves the world as a hodgepodge of Arata's world and World's Odyssey.]]
** Knowing about the demons in Literature/ArsGoetia will give away the fact that [[spoiler: El Strain and the often mentioned Barbas/Marbas are in fact the same "god" when you compare the El Strain cross with the Sigil of Marbas well before the cult makes the connection clear themselves.]]
** In the English version Liliana's name for her pet whip spider qualifies. Mr. Piggy has nothing to do with pigs, but rather comes from Ambly'''pygi''', the name of the order of arachnids known as whip spiders.

* {{Narm}}:
** Celica's sword colliding with metal in cutscenes is a cartoonish "CLANG", likely ruining the mood of serious cutscenes, such as [[spoiler:her being mind controlled and fighting Clea in her Glitched State after killing all the other party members except Shina in Chapter 10]]. The sound effect returns in the sequel, particularly during [[spoiler:Leesha Nolan's execution]], and is still jarring when it is heard.
** [[spoiler: Midra's]] transformation into Shadow Matter is in the middle of a bloody massacre. Her voice will likely serve as NightmareRetardant for the scene as she sounds like she just inhaled a ton of helium.
* PanderingToTheBase: In response to fan outrage over the changes to the returning characters' Glitch designs in ''Death end re;Quest 2'' Idea Factory International opened up a poll to find out which designs players would prefer for the Steam release, as that version would not need to be subjected to Sony's standards.
* PortingDisaster: The Steam version of ''Death end re;Quest 2'' has a nasty GameBreakingBug that glitches a variety of menus (include the equipment and tri-action menus), leaves artifacts of other menus on the screen, and forces mouse controls until the game is fully closed out. The glitch is often - but not exclusively - triggered by the shop menu, and is frequent enough to happen at least once almost every chapter.

* SoBadItWasBetter: There are a small number of fans who don't mind and, in some cases, actually ''prefer'' the "censored" Glitch Mode character designs in ''Death end re;Quest 2'' and would have appreciated the ability to toggle the costumes in the Steam release.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While the first game wasn't ''hated'' per say, there were still a lot of problems that came with it. ''Death end re;Quest 2'' meanwhile fixes most of the issues from the first game, both in terms of gameplay and story:
** After the first game had what many regarded as a trainwreck of an ending due to the unevenly-telegraphed rapid-fire reveals, ''Death end re;Quest 2'' contains a smaller-scale story that neatly ties up almost all of its plotlines during the first playthrough or on NewGamePlus. Additionally, it has a bonus ending devoted entirely to addressing one of the first game's many dangling plot threads. [[spoiler:Though not without leaving a SequelHook of its own.]]
** Similarly the individual character endings of the first game are addressed in the second. Each character is given a scene that continue on from the "It's you!" moment they all ended on, explaining how they struck up a friendship with Arata after that.
** The number of Death Ends in the second game is considerably cut down compared to the first, helping to avoid TooBleakStoppedCaring once again. For the players that enjoyed that aspect, the game does include numerous optional deaths of side characters.
** Nearly every battle mechanic that involves Arata is done away with. Most of them either had niche use or were minigames that wore thin after the first few times.
** The [=risk/reward=] ratio for stepping on bugs (or "curses" as they're referred to in ''[=DerQ2=]'') is heavily tilted in the player's favor in the second game. As a result, they now serve as a finite resource for the player to manage instead of being a borderline ScrappyMechanic that could - at its worst - disable your character(s) for an entire turn.
** Neither game has a large amount of map variety, but while the first game tries to [[FakeLongevity artificially]] inflate it with blatant backtracking and pace-breaking visual novel segments, the second game builds the game around a smaller-scale setting and embraces its status as a 15-25 hour game. ''[=DerQ2=]'' also incentivizes a NewGamePlus run with new scenes, including the aforementioned bonus ending; the first game's NewGamePlus "bonus" is the ability to choose endings, something that most thought should have been available in the first playthrough.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** In general, the first game feels like it ran afoul of Compile Heart's infamously-tight budgets. It's telling that it is flat-out stated InUniverse that clearing World's Odyssey should take 50 hours, but it takes 10-20 hours less on a reasonably-sized run. Some also felt that resolving the game by involving [[spoiler:the fourth wall and a DeusExMachina]], while interesting in its own right, was a bit of a cop-out instead of a satisfying conclusion.
** ''Death end re;Quest 2'' offers a twist on this trope in that a few fans felt that the game's biggest sin story-wise is being connected to the first ''Death end re;Quest'', given that there is a notable stylistic shift and that the elements that connect the two are among the weakest. For example, the EvilPlan of [[spoiler:murdering 666 children to awaken Marbas, and then sacrificing one of his descendants]] is a bit of a stretch in a setting that was heavily hinted (and effectively confirmed in NewGamePlus) to be [[spoiler:virtual from outside of the perspective of its denizens]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The two DLC areas seem to be designed to address some possible shortcomings of the main story. ''Godot Ruins, the Phantom Abyss'' serves to give Clea a short story arc beyond her introduction in place of the Glitch arcs the other characters received as she was quickly tacked on to the last of those without one of her own. ''Landor Cave, the Uncharted Lands'' is just a lighthearted and goofy treasure hunt for a rumored legendary sword lead by Al, granting a short break from the constant suffering in the main story.
** After the first game had what many regarded as a trainwreck of an ending due to the unevenly-telegraphed rapid-fire reveals, ''Death end re;Quest 2'' contains a smaller-scale story that neatly ties up almost all of its plotlines during the first playthrough or on NewGamePlus. Additionally, it has a bonus ending devoted entirely to addressing one of the first game's many dangling plot threads. [[spoiler:Though not without leaving a SequelHook of its own.]]
** Similarly the individual character endings of the first game are addressed in the second. Each character is given a scene that continue on from the "It's you!" moment they all ended on, explaining how they struck up a friendship with Arata after that.
** The number of Death Ends in the second game is considerably cut down compared to the first, helping to avoid TooBleakStoppedCaring once again. For the players that enjoyed that aspect, the game does include numerous optional deaths of side characters.
** ''Death end re;Quest 2'' features several gameplay changes in an attempt to create a better-playing, albeit shorter, game:
*** Nearly every battle mechanic that involves Arata is done away with. Most of them either had niche use or were minigames that wore thin after the first few times.
*** The [=risk/reward=] ratio for stepping on bugs (or "curses" as they're referred to in ''[=DerQ2=]'') is heavily tilted in the player's favor in the second game. As a result, they now serve as a finite resource for the player to manage instead of being a borderline ScrappyMechanic that could - at its worst - disable your character(s) for an entire turn.
*** Neither game has a large amount of map variety, but while the first game tries to [[FakeLongevity artificially]] inflate it with blatant backtracking and pace-breaking visual novel segments, the second game builds the game around a smaller-scale setting and embraces its status as a 15-25 hour game. ''[=DerQ2=]'' also incentivizes a NewGamePlus run with new scenes, including the aforementioned bonus ending; the first game's NewGamePlus "bonus" is the ability to choose endings, something that most thought should have been available in the first playthrough.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The sheer number of bad endings, paired up with rewards for seeing them, and the complete and utter lack of closure to any character ending that isn't Shina's leaves the game feeling closer to TorturePorn than a journey to save the people trapped in the game.

** ''Death end re;Quest 2'' offers a twist on this trope in that a few fans felt that the game's biggest sin story-wise is being connected to the first ''Death end re;Quest'', given that there is a notable stylistic shift and that the elements that connect the two are among the weakest. For example, the EvilPlan of [[spoiler:murdering 666 children to awaken Marbas, and then sacrificing one of his descendants]] is a bit of a stretch in a setting that was heavily hinted (and effectively confirmed in NewGamePlus) to be [[spoiler:virtual from outside of the perspective of its denizens]].

** This sets in when you realize that the VendorTrash Beast Clan items [[spoiler:are possibly the leftover belongings of now-deceased Beastmen. You're profiting off of them the same way that their killers did.]]

** The number of Death Ends in the second game is considerably cut down compared to the first, helping to avoid DarknessInducedAudienceApathy once again. For the players that enjoyed that aspect, the game does include numerous optional deaths of side characters.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The sheer number of bad endings, paired up with rewards for seeing them, and the complete and utter lack of closure to any character ending that isn't Shina's leaves the game feeling closer to TorturePorn than a journey to save the people trapped in the game.

** The mysteries surrounding Werner Glock aren't fully explored, either. [[spoiler:He's likely an [[BrainUploading uploaded brain]], sure, but how exactly does he have a daughter? Has he been around for ages, or did he only become that way recently? Even then, how did he know about Lydia's powers and degrade?]]

** Some feel that resolving the game by involving [[spoiler:the fourth wall and a DeusExMachina]], while interesting in its own right, is a bit of a cop-out instead of a satisfying conclusion.
** In general, the game feels like it ran afoul of Compile Heart's infamously-tight budgets. It's telling that it is flat-out stated InUniverse that clearing World's Odyssey should take 50 hours, but it takes 10-20 hours less on a reasonably-sized run.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: The takeaway from the battle with [[spoiler:Lucil]] and aftermath seems to be that "It's perfectly normal and okay to hold grudges and wish bad things, up to and including death, on people who don't treat you well." Which flies in the face of a number of more traditional Aesops like TurnTheOtherCheek. In fairness, the message was probably supposed to be that nobody's perfect, but in the context of the particular scenario, it's still an interesting take.

** Celica's sword colliding with metal in cutscenes is a cartoonish "CLANG", likely ruining the mood of serious cutscenes, such as [[spoiler:her being mind controlled and fighting Clea in her Glitched State after killing all the other party members except Shina in Chapter 10]]. The sound effect returns in the sequel and is still jarring when it is heard.

*** The [=risk/reward=] ratio for stepping on bugs (or "curses" as their referred to in ''[=DerQ2=]'') is heavily tilted in the player's favor in the second game. As a result, they now serve as a finite resource for the player to manage instead of being a borderline ScrappyMechanic that could - at its worst - disable your character(s) for an entire turn.