Will always be pretty special to me. I guess it is depressing, but I wouldn't call it heart-wrenching. It is a little silly in its concept, but the guilt quests and the connections you make are fun. I think it's always somber when you remember beneath all the fun is just a made-up scenario without much merit beyond what's happening to Russell. It is really grind-y which is annoying. It's an RPGMaker game so if you enjoy those you'll probably like End Roll and I think for all the content and love put into it, it's often overlooked as far as these kinds of games go.
they made everything either annoying or fucking boring gameplay-wise to deliver a middle-schooler tier story
also the music fucking sucks LOL seriously this might be one of the worst soundtracks ive heard this doesn't sound sad it just sounds like shit
also the music fucking sucks LOL seriously this might be one of the worst soundtracks ive heard this doesn't sound sad it just sounds like shit
Grating music, generic rpg mechanics with grinding, genuinely hilarious attempts at horror, nihilistic and vacuous mental health commentary, boring characters, RPGmaker UI limitations, storytelling marred by what feels like a disconnect between author and translator.
Visually passable, though not remarkable. There is some attention to detail in its environments if you take the time to interact with things. The side content was also nice to find— even if the content itself is often more awkward attempts at delivering backstory, with more standard rpg battling.
Visually passable, though not remarkable. There is some attention to detail in its environments if you take the time to interact with things. The side content was also nice to find— even if the content itself is often more awkward attempts at delivering backstory, with more standard rpg battling.
End Roll feels like the epitome of a RPG Maker game. Cute, fairly simple, has a couple of parts that (understandably enough) feel amateurish--but kept in a tailwind by the sense of breeziness to the whole experience. Each area and dungeon is a nice 20 minute diversion, the combat is never terribly demanding, and there's a good deal of side content throughout that held my attention well, even if some of it is fairly superfluous.
Otherwise, there's not really much to say. It doesn't do anything particularly special in any department, but neither does it falter anywhere. The characters and story were interesting, even if I never grew any strong attachment to any of it, which is perfectly fine! I played it over the course of a day, enjoyed it all the way, and probably won't think too much more about it. Sometimes that's all a game needs to be.
Otherwise, there's not really much to say. It doesn't do anything particularly special in any department, but neither does it falter anywhere. The characters and story were interesting, even if I never grew any strong attachment to any of it, which is perfectly fine! I played it over the course of a day, enjoyed it all the way, and probably won't think too much more about it. Sometimes that's all a game needs to be.
Very influential RPG Maker classic, but does it hold up, especially with games that straight up copied ideas from it such as OMORI?
Not really, much of the writing comes off as corny and edgy, with the stock RPG Maker combat being tedious (while party members spice things up, it gets boring quickly anyways)
Great art and the premise is still interesting enough to keep you hooked though.
Not really, much of the writing comes off as corny and edgy, with the stock RPG Maker combat being tedious (while party members spice things up, it gets boring quickly anyways)
Great art and the premise is still interesting enough to keep you hooked though.
end roll purified my water supply, revived my crops, cured my depression, and brought a genuine spark of joy into my life. that is probably the most misleading statement to make in relation to the mood and story of this game, but i mean it completely unironically. it gave me meaning. i just found this site. i registered because of end roll
i played it a few months ago via a recommendation to omori fans (an amazing game which i'd also recently gotten into) and BOY could i have never seen the sheer mental impact of this game coming. end roll is the definition of 'hurts so good' imo. it weighs on your heart, makes you wish things were better and would become better despite knowing that it won't, and yet there's a distance to it that can actually distract from one's own pain in favor of just... feeling for russell and all the pain in those surrounding him, in my experience at least—it probably varies from person to person, of course. i would die for russell. i would go to hell for him. i would gladly step into the lion's mouth and let myself be eaten for the mere illusion of him. i would also do the same for chris, who is possibly the most lovable and underrated barely present side character i can imagine. i would live for them
amazing art, amazing story, amazing soundtrack, amazing characters, amazing game. it's an entire experience created by a single person, and you can play it entirely for free
i played it a few months ago via a recommendation to omori fans (an amazing game which i'd also recently gotten into) and BOY could i have never seen the sheer mental impact of this game coming. end roll is the definition of 'hurts so good' imo. it weighs on your heart, makes you wish things were better and would become better despite knowing that it won't, and yet there's a distance to it that can actually distract from one's own pain in favor of just... feeling for russell and all the pain in those surrounding him, in my experience at least—it probably varies from person to person, of course. i would die for russell. i would go to hell for him. i would gladly step into the lion's mouth and let myself be eaten for the mere illusion of him. i would also do the same for chris, who is possibly the most lovable and underrated barely present side character i can imagine. i would live for them
amazing art, amazing story, amazing soundtrack, amazing characters, amazing game. it's an entire experience created by a single person, and you can play it entirely for free
This review contains spoilers
One of the most impactful video games i've ever played. Getting to know each character and the never-ending regret running through Russel's mind as i made sure to get every event and get the "best" ending left me in total awe as someone who would otherwise be completely and utterly unredeemable is given humanity and the ability to sympathize towards.
Unfortunately, there is no "good" ending. Russel's story was already over before the game even started, the events in the game prolonging the inevitable. The people he'd killed were already dead, and even in the experiment's success... his life was still done. There's no coming back from such things, and he didn't have a life to come back to either; his parents were dead, and his extended family despised him.
So, despite all of this being obvious throughout the game, I was still deeply affected by the ending. Even knowing everything that had happened, and the impossibility of any amount of redemption for the "deranged maniac", part of me was hoping (and honestly partially dreading) that the game would end on a cheery note: he succeeds in the experiment, is freed and starts a new life.
Unfortunately this is not the case. In either of the three endings, Russel's fate is the same. Whether it be from him not gaining any remorse from his actions, finding the prospect of leaving his ideal "Happy Dream" world too troubling and choosing to stay in the delusion until his mind caved in or accepting what he did and atoning it by taking his life in the name of bringing peace to the souls he'd destroyed, Russel ends up dead; once by his own doing, twice from his failure at the experiment.
In a more idealist game, made perhaps with a less jaded perspective and a perhaps too optimistic angle, the game could've had that "good note" ending. Whether it be that it was somehow a dream, that the experiments could change the fate of those who died and thus bringing them back to life in some weird faux-science plot device that definitely would've ruined the story, or Russel being let off the hook like nothing ever happened.
But this isn't that; this game serves the uncomfortable truth on a silver platter: not everyone can be saved, some crimes are unforgivable, some minds unrepairable, some fates unchangeable. It's a cruel but necessary fact of life that, even if we could take a liking or sympathize with someone who's caused such pain, even if we, as outsiders, could look past that and see someone who (perhaps) deserved better, that doesn't dismiss what they did.
Russel is a character that becomes someone that you grow to care about, root for (that is, if you play the game as to send him on the path of redemption), as the games progresses... but that doesn't matter. Even as much as how we see him, a troubled child who was never given the space to grow a conscience until it was too late, it doesn't erase what he did, and doesn't absolve him of it either. It makes the true ending all the more heartbreaking, because you wish as much as Russel himself does that there were a way to take it all back, so get to know the people he killed and undo all the hurt he caused.
End Roll is a game about grief, guilt, redemption, repentance, tragedy and a cautionary tale of how circumstances can lead to creating a monster out of a caring soul. It shows that even the most cruel of people have a story, their own demons, their own humanity, and that (many times) their cruelty is something they are taught. It's easier to stray from a good path into a dark one that one can think; from one moment to another, your innocence, your sense of morality can be taken from you and in rarer cases, you gain it back after it's too late.
End Roll is the epilogue to a tragedy; you're not participating in the development of a story, simply the aftermath of it. It was all over before you pressed the start button.
10/10
Unfortunately, there is no "good" ending. Russel's story was already over before the game even started, the events in the game prolonging the inevitable. The people he'd killed were already dead, and even in the experiment's success... his life was still done. There's no coming back from such things, and he didn't have a life to come back to either; his parents were dead, and his extended family despised him.
So, despite all of this being obvious throughout the game, I was still deeply affected by the ending. Even knowing everything that had happened, and the impossibility of any amount of redemption for the "deranged maniac", part of me was hoping (and honestly partially dreading) that the game would end on a cheery note: he succeeds in the experiment, is freed and starts a new life.
Unfortunately this is not the case. In either of the three endings, Russel's fate is the same. Whether it be from him not gaining any remorse from his actions, finding the prospect of leaving his ideal "Happy Dream" world too troubling and choosing to stay in the delusion until his mind caved in or accepting what he did and atoning it by taking his life in the name of bringing peace to the souls he'd destroyed, Russel ends up dead; once by his own doing, twice from his failure at the experiment.
In a more idealist game, made perhaps with a less jaded perspective and a perhaps too optimistic angle, the game could've had that "good note" ending. Whether it be that it was somehow a dream, that the experiments could change the fate of those who died and thus bringing them back to life in some weird faux-science plot device that definitely would've ruined the story, or Russel being let off the hook like nothing ever happened.
But this isn't that; this game serves the uncomfortable truth on a silver platter: not everyone can be saved, some crimes are unforgivable, some minds unrepairable, some fates unchangeable. It's a cruel but necessary fact of life that, even if we could take a liking or sympathize with someone who's caused such pain, even if we, as outsiders, could look past that and see someone who (perhaps) deserved better, that doesn't dismiss what they did.
Russel is a character that becomes someone that you grow to care about, root for (that is, if you play the game as to send him on the path of redemption), as the games progresses... but that doesn't matter. Even as much as how we see him, a troubled child who was never given the space to grow a conscience until it was too late, it doesn't erase what he did, and doesn't absolve him of it either. It makes the true ending all the more heartbreaking, because you wish as much as Russel himself does that there were a way to take it all back, so get to know the people he killed and undo all the hurt he caused.
End Roll is a game about grief, guilt, redemption, repentance, tragedy and a cautionary tale of how circumstances can lead to creating a monster out of a caring soul. It shows that even the most cruel of people have a story, their own demons, their own humanity, and that (many times) their cruelty is something they are taught. It's easier to stray from a good path into a dark one that one can think; from one moment to another, your innocence, your sense of morality can be taken from you and in rarer cases, you gain it back after it's too late.
End Roll is the epilogue to a tragedy; you're not participating in the development of a story, simply the aftermath of it. It was all over before you pressed the start button.
10/10
literally why would you pay money for omori when you can download and play end roll for free and have a much better experience with it. full rpg combat system on top of a really good story that leans into the horror aspects the further you go. lot of trigger warnings but if you can stomach them this game is sooo fucking good