On April 25, Japanese developer Compile Heart announced that their roguelike RPG Death end re;Quest Code Z will be releasing in Japan on September 19, 2024 for PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Compile Heart dropped a blood-soaked trailer this week, further revealing the upcoming game’s violent content. The announcement accompanied the revelation that the title will receive a CERO Z classification- the highest level on Japan’s CERO age rating system, which is equivalent to an over 18 certification.

Death end re;Quest Code Z is the latest game in the Death end re;Quest series of RPGs. The first title, Death end re;Quest was released back in 2018. The story is set inside a fictional VRMMORPG, which is undergoing serious development issues to say the least. Programmer Arata Mizunashi discovers that his colleague Shina Ninomiya is trapped inside the buggy game. The player must switch between the programmer in the real world and Shina trapped in the virtual world in order to save her. This meta game-within-a-game explored switching genres and navigating fake bugs and glitches. It is currently playable on Steam in English.

Getting even more meta, the upcoming game Death end re;Quest Code Z is set in an “ideal world” copy of the original game, called “DE-1.5 World.” This time the main character is Sayaka Hiwatari, a debugger who finds herself grappling with distortions in the game world that threaten the real world.

It seems that Sayaka will have to fight against enemies in a 3D dungeon called the “Strain Area.” Its structure, terrain and enemies, traps and items change each time you take it on- meaning that the player will likely face many unexpected deaths. This new entry to the series is a roguelike RPG with randomized dungeon crawling.

Previous entries in the series have featured graphic gory scenes and vivid text descriptions of brutal character deaths, however it seems that Death end re;Quest Code Z will greatly ramp up the violent content. The game is set to feature gruesome death scenes involving broken bones, torn flesh and twisted necks, with realistic sound effects. The content has led to the game receiving a CERO Z rating in Japan, making it the first title in the series that has been classified for adults only.

Considering that the game’s title contains the letter “Z,” it might be that the developers realized that its content would push CERO’s rating system. The trailer puts emphasis on the gory content whereas promotions for previous games in the series have focused on its anime character designs, landscape artwork and virtual setting. Even the game’s Japanese website’s age warning asks “Are you a “King of Death” who is over the age of 18?”

Although Death end re;Quest Code Z has only been announced for release in Japan at the time of writing, other games in the series have received English localizations- so this title might also receive the same treatment.

Japan’s CERO age rating has been subject to criticism in the past for its “vague” review process and what some people perceive as a lack of consistency in the games it denies ratings to. This discourse recently kicked off again in relation to Stellar Blade’s uncensored release in Japan.

Death end re;Quest Code Z is scheduled to be released on September 19 2024 on PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Based on the original Japanese article by Keiichi Yokoyama (original article’s publication date: 2024-04-25 13:10 JST)