VN - Ren'Py - Zero End [v0.2.5c] [Stolen Rose]

While story is pretty good, i just hated how passive the MC is and how its all about one main ex-girlfriend that left MC and everything MC does is about her and saving her and shit like that, hes also powerless even though he acts like a tuff guy but never does anything not even when he has the chance, first he play nice and accepts to work for people the trow innocent kids in danger as bait for the cult, one that also wanted to kill him and still does, in another spot he had the chance to kill a vamp that was trying to kill him and hes friends but he wont since he dont kill....hes not a tuff guy hes not a nice guy hes a brainless MC that only thinks of a girl that left him.....

This is also supposed to be an adult novel right? but yet theres close to nothing and in my case there turely was nothing what so ever, you pretty much only have 2 maybe 3 LIs where one is a whore and other one is a BI girl that i just dident like or trust and same goes for mage girl whos boss wants to kill MC, there are a few side girls to but i dont really count them as anything.

I went for Alice and you gain points with her but she has 0 adult content so yeah huge let down and a waste of time to play.
so yeah great game.....how its rated to high i have no clue.
So thats 3 years of development with 0 content for the girl i went for and theres not much adult content with the others either.

The so called RPG element with skills and such is rarely used and when it is it dosent really matter.

Then theres the virgin MC, yep virgin i mean thats fine but when he tells that to hes friends they now want to tell everyone and get him laid? alot of it just make any sense, mostly due to lack of backstory and lore.

The sandbox/freeroam was pretty pointless and boring but atleast its somewhat fast but it dosent add a thing to the game.

As for sex scenes they are animated and decent, but theres not many of them and mostly only with ennemies which i never pick since i dont play games like fuckfest but for what suits the story.

I give this 2 stars only due to a somehwat decent story but with alot of holes and lacking backstory.

Version Reviewed: 0.2.5

Overall Rating: 10/10 - Must Play ASAP

A heavily story driven AVN with outstanding writing and some of the most believable characters I’ve seen in the genre. It’s a bit of a hidden gem and I’m genuinely glad I stumbled upon it. My first playthrough took around 12 hours, and given how much the choices affect the story, it needs multiple replays, so there is a lot of content as well.

Detailed Review

Story: 10/10
Easily one of the best stories I’ve experienced in an AVN, one that truly stays with you long after you’ve finished playing. The premise grabs your attention, the pacing keeps you immersed, and there’s not a single dull moment. It’s the kind of story that makes you think about it even after you close the game.

Writing: 10/10
This has the best writing of all AVNs on this site. Every line of dialogue serves a purpose, and the tone perfectly matches the MC’s edgy and complex personality, something that’s surprisingly rare in AVNs. The quality of the writing alone sets this one apart from the crowd.

Choices & Playability: 10/10
This is where the game really flexes its depth. Your choices actually matter. Even small ones influence which major decisions you can make later, leading to drastically different outcomes. It’s the kind of branching narrative that makes replaying not just optional, but essential.
There are a few light sandbox-style investigation segments, but they’re short, interesting, and skippable on repeat runs.

Characters: 9/10
This is one of the few visual novels where the characters actually feel real. Each has their own backstory, personality, and motivation, they’re not just there for the MC to sleep with. The designs are also distinct and don’t look like generic DAZ models.

Renders and Animations: 8/10
The visuals and animations do a solid job supporting the story. They may not be mind-blowing, but they never feel out of place either. The dev has mentioned a switch to Blender, so there’s we can expect noticeable improvement in future updates.

H-Scenes: 6/10
Not the strong suite of this AVN. The H-scenes feel more like a formality than a focus, but they’re still better than what you’ll find in many other AVNs. Some proper animations instead of static image rotations would take them to the next level.

I happened on this title randomly only to find it to be possibly one of the best stories out there. Well written, and executed. I love the dark tone to the story. It is the genre I've been searching for, for a long time. Several titles caught my attention in these regards before, but none held up that tone throughout (well, none other I've found so far). So well done stolen rose! Very well done!

Sure the assets are perhaps not the most 'beautiful'. But once you're drawn into this magical universe, you won't care. Characters are well fleshed out, the environments well constructed, and scenes well presented with a touch of abstract to boot.

I've just finished the current version as of this date (V0.2.5c), so I'm still on a high from the adventures. I absolutely want more of this. %100 I am buying this title. This creator deserves the support. This level of effort and writing ability should not go unnoticed. Shit, I even found the puzzles fun to tackle even though it took quite a bit of digging to solve one of them. How is this title not more popular is beyond my comprehension.

Absolute Banger of a game!

Excellent story and lore, very concentrated writing without filler that fledges out the characters while it also constantly keeps things moving forward.

The visuals fit the mood well and the music is also well done. 5/5

Honestly, the quality of writing in this game is on another level. It is pretty clear that the author knows how to write a gripping story and develop each character well and not leave any character feeling like an archetype. the plot is almost always intriguing, with one not knowing where it will take them next but enjoying the ride nonetheless. The words used in the story show a high level of both English knowledge and occult/legends knowledge.

An interesting aspect in which this game differs in a major way from the average VN here is that you play as someone with a pre-defined personality, instead of the usual "Blank-slate Protagonist". However, this was handled well, with a nice balance between their pre-existing personality and allowing you to have some agency in the story.

The art style is pretty good and pretty distinctive. The characters both look good and look interesting. Pretty far from the cookie cutter art style found in many western Visual Novels. It is clear that the developer spent a lot of time and effort on the scenes.

The music used is pretty good and very much fits each scene it is played in, same with the sound effects.

Overall, this is a very good game that is highly recommended to anyone that enjoys quality stories in their games .

This gripping fantasy offers a surprisingly strong and informed exploration of trauma's potential impacts. Yes, there's sex and (greatly accelerated) romance, humour, fighting, intrigue, and magic in fair measure. But its ultimately an emotionally messy game about people who have been hurt.

This includes a lot of stuff that could legitimately trigger players with trauma of their own. The characters here are all looking for some kind of happiness, but they've each been through rough circumstances. Going forward, there isn't a purely happy path for any of them, even in the best case.

That also means this isn't the sort of AVN where you, the player, have your every whim catered to. The author is exploring a complex theme through branched storytelling, and you can decide to go along for that journey if you like.

If you are in the right headspace, and go in knowing the game gets serious, then I think you might get a lot out of it. I certainly did.

Subject matter aside (the game feels like it was made by an angsty teenager) I just didn't find the game that enjoyable. The UI can be confusing as it switches between different modalities (particularly in one section where the player is navigating through a house). The renders are all right. If you're going to include a puzzle in the game you should include everything necessary to solve it in the game. I looked around and found no mention of the cipher whatsoever (perhaps I missed it). If you don't include it the immersion is broken.

As of v0.2.5c
----------------
This is one of the best games on the site. It has everything: nice artwork, a great story and a good update schedule. You could argue that it's fairly vanilla in terms of erotic content, but that's not the main focus of this AVN. it's main selling point is the story. I totally recommend it.

Enjoyable until the last update (v0.2.5c)

The traumatic event and its aftermath were handled poorly. It's very hard to imagine victims of such trauma acting as portrayed in this VN.

The worst thing you can do as a writer is to make your character inconsistent in terms of their behavior/ideals. 'Past Marie' felt inconsistent both during and after the event. It wouldn't have been that big of an issue if that wasn't the most important event in the VN (causing untold amounts of grief for everyone involved)

Normally, I try to understand the characters' POVs, but in this case, it's all over the place in terms of making any sense. It's not worth the headache.

I'm done with this.

Been a fan of the World of Darkness for a few years now (and of Hellblazer as well) so I when I saw a game that had those as some of its inspirations I couldn't download it fast enough and well, I thought it was pretty fucking good.

It's not perfect by any means (relationship with the girls starts way too fast, the sex scenes could be a bit longer and some of the codex entries sound like were written by AI are some issues if I were to be nitpicky about things), but it's one of those cases where the positives outweight the negatives thus I am giving it five stars due to how much I enjoyed it.

People say it's edgy and while that is indeed true, I don't think it feels cringe and overall it fits with the overall vibe of the game. The soundtrack helps quite a lot with that and it's a shame there isn't a playlist anywhere with Zero End's soundtrack.

You know, I think the game would've worked even without the porn stuff but boy I'm glad we have it here. The girls are quite pretty (with Rayne being my personal favorite) and while I like 'em thicc it's good that there is variety between body types. Still on the topic of girls, it's pretty fucking cool to see a homage to the legendary Jeanette Voerman in the form of Swansong, fuck, I think she might even be hotter the og.

While I personally not that into sandbox in VNs (though I also don't hate them as much as people in this site do so I'm in a bit of a middle fround) I don't feel like the free roam sections of Zero End detract from the overall experience and I can't help but wonder if we'll see more of them in the future. Personally I wouldn't mind that.

Well, I'd probably say something else but I forgot what was it so I'll be finishing up the review here. Can't wait to see what the future holds for this game.

You are "the EDGE Lord" a MC you cannot rename and learn the backstory only when the Dev needs a "OOOOHHH wow moment" in a world where magical tropes where misunderstood and thrown into it.

To clarify MC never left the edgy teenager phase, gets accepted to a collage he did not apply to, thinks that mystery must be solved and smokes one to three cigarettes' a day to think.

Day one:
- See potential Ex-Lover...
- Meet "psychic" girl, she knows your name und you have never met.
- Meet braindead roommate, destined to be your best friend. Aka asshole that needs a harsh beating and a way deep into the forest. Who tells you he is looking for his sister who is probably blowing someone.
- Meet the sister who offers you a blowjob and then falls in love with MC.


Scene: Dorm room: Roommate offers you a beer, because day drinking? Collage? And has forgotten MCs name.

Scene: Entrance ceremony: The Dean tells them that as per tradition the top-scoring student is to give a speech, which is our MC, good thing we knew this since we play the MC. So we have to pull a speech out of our ass...

Scene: School Hallway: Ex-Lover and Meathead walk their way, enter stupid roommate "nice ass", meathead explodes roommates sister intervenes gets shoved and meatheads arms beginn to glow, what might that mean? He is a magician! How do we know that? MC is a magician "OH WOW".

Scene: Outside: Girl confronts MC, because she is pissed she is not top of the school and demands a fight, not full contact... only kicks and punches (laughing my ass off). So we learn MC is also a fighter, please clap for that reveal.

After that you can interact with psychic girl, not yet met magic girl or fight girl. If you go with fight girl you see some dialogue some rolling on the floor and some that girl needs to get herself off because she felt MCs dick through his pants...

After that some here some there and you get to know that the Dev played Vampire the Maskerade and replicated a character visually.

At some point MC was dumb enough and told two braincell roommate that he is a virgin so roommate becomes the worlds most insufferable wingman. Telling every girl that MC is a virgin and that they should have sex with him or gives one your number and that scene ends with a blowjob. Oh and one of his dating tips is "spread the rumor of MC having a huge dick so he can drown is pussy". - I can't, this guy needs a beating so badly. -

Somewhere along the way we learn that roommates sister has a split personality:
One side sweet girl
One side succubus... yes the night demon, the seduction demon, the life essence sucking demon is reduced to a "personality".

We get to see a scene with Ex-Lover, that tells us she underwent a ritual (to do what exactly?), now calls some twink her master and is ordered by said twink to keep an eye on MC.

Next day or so we get the chance to stand up to a teacher because, he again singles the MC out for being so smart.
And we learn that our great MC knows and recognizes a truth spell the dean uses on him, but doesn't call her out for it.


Now for the other aspects of the game. The renders are Ok, but many of the female eyes are just strange and look "not right" hard to describe. H-Scenes are... animated.

As for the story the idea is good, a school on a portal to another realm, but... the students don't know that. There are some rules in place like stay indoors during the night, and young adults are known for keeping to rules. If you don't explain why these rules are in place, why follow them.

There is also the rule of being on time for class, as the doors gets locked. On day two the students in the classroom hear knocking on the door and tell the teacher that there is a student late for class, teacher just tells them that tardiness is not accepted. I'm sorry what the fuck? Who would accept that sentence without questioning it.

If a school like that would exist, within the first weeks 50% of the students would end up missing or dead...

And last point, from what I've seen in the first half of chapter one, the fantasy/mystical elements are just "oh I've heard of that, let me implement that without reading deeper into it." They feel half backed and more set dressing, even if it comes to characters.

TL: DR
Edge lord MC whos traits you learn when it is convenient or there is a "wow"-factor.
Insufferable roommate/best friend.
Fantasy/mystical setting as a half backed thin coat of paint.
And a few love interests that for no reason instantly fall in love with the MC.
Cannot recommend which is sad because I like the idea for the setting very much, just not the execution.
Oh and not being able to rename the MC keeps you just that tiny bit more away from him. The only times where it makes sense that he has a static name are the "Roommate Vision" scenes, where you see "Name: C... (MC name is Caleb)", just to hammer the point home that he can't remember names. "How quirky..."

Basically, this game works as a supernatural mystery. You’re meant to feel lost, but the extent will vary depending on your previous experience.

It uses the World of Darkness tabletop RPG as a backbone. There are Lovecraftian influences, as some people mentioned, but they’re not that prominent. Vampires, sorcerers, Lilith and Caine, angels working as living equations—if you know the WoD lore, a lot of things will come easier. Another backbone is the genre. While it is not a college AVN (despite the fact that most of it takes place in a remote academy with dorms and classes), knowing the tropes will give you some context. Finally, if you’ve ever dated a Wiccan girl (or dreamed of dating one), or if you’ve read weird fiction, you’ll catch more things here.

But—nevertheless—you’re supposed to feel lost, and it’s highlighted time and again. You’re thrown right into the thick of the story. As a rule, the main character knows more than you. There are story branches, some of which depend on your chosen love interest, but they hardly provide a totally different experience. Instead, each contains some tidbits of information, so you unravel things piece by piece—and everything you learn may or may not already be known to your character. In the final episode (I’m writing this based on version 0.25c), this narrative ambiguity is put in the spotlight. A gambit played by the character depends on him losing some memories—however—it’s not a blank slate for him or you, but a methodical exploration of what his plan was and why it’s the way it is.

What was all that for? To tell an edgy but genuinely personal story. When I say "edgy," I don’t mean meaningless trash. I mean it deals with dark themes that will resonate with an angsty teen. If you are one, you may find something interesting. If you aren’t, well, remember that part of media literacy is walking in other people’s shoes and trying to find personal meaning in it.

Does it work? Not always. I have to say—sometimes this thick, foggy, mysterious presentation does little good. I’ve replayed this game with an unofficial walkthrough mod, tampered with scripts to see different branches, and saw some meaningful story scaffolding that was off during the actual experience.

Next, the use of familiar tropes does not always help you navigate the story, and sometimes even damaging to the experience. I have zero fucking idea why it’s all set in a school. I’m pretty sure that at first, the college was meant to be a more prominent part of the game. On the same note, some pacing changes throughout the game are jarring, and I think I understand why.

This may be a lot of reading into the developer’s thought process, but I do feel there’s a dedicated person who realized they bit off more than they could chew and had to improvise along the way. Hence, for instance, the fact that the initial day-by-day, hour-by-hour flow of the story was interrupted in the last episode.

Basically, the game isn’t perfect in many of the things it tries to do – or maybe it’s not perfect in everything it does, when you judge it using the big labels such as «plot», «characters», «pacing», etc.

Does it matter? For me—not really. Hear me out. I like perfect games as much as the next guy. It’s easy to give them five stars, but some features are born from constraints, and, well, AVNs are passion projects. And there’s passion behind this that makes it all work. It’s painfully clear that the developer is improving. But even if they weren’t—fuck that, this game slaps! There is brilliance to it.

Now, let me mention various things I liked without elaborating too much:

- The prose is great for the vibe this game pulls off. "We dance, like lovers in the heat of the moment" is used to describe a fight scene. Corny but perfect. Next, the punchy Breakfast Club-style one-liners are silly, but they’re effective and serve a purpose.
- The atmosphere is slick.
- Jeannette Voerman looks sexier here than in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.
- Some scenes are simply perfect in their direction, rendering, staging, and writing.
- Thematic consistency is very strong and does hold the narrative together.
- People in the New England or whatever drink the cheap Russian "Арсенал" beer (btw, it tastes like piss in the real life - that's why we love it).

Kudos to the developer of one of the best games we have in the genre! I love what you do, and If I were a bored primordial deity, I'll tag along to help you throughout. But I'm just a coomer and do what coomers do.

Pretty decent writing, its not something groundbreaking, but some cool mix of Abrahamic and Lovecraftian mythology. Pagan mythology aspect mixed with son of Adam is a bit too much stuff thrown together story-wise, but the way it affects gameplay is fine. Some cool gameplay ideas to create a break between the reading parts from time to time. Decent to good looking models and designs. Game definitely has some small problems in terms of bugs (references being out of place and highlighting words its not meant to) and story, but its way closer to 5 than it is to 4.

Writing is really good. It does carry the complex story really well and does make characters feel authentic, complex and believable. Even when the plot gets confusing, the writing keeps MCs actions and thought process fun to follow.

Story is good, BUT... it is little too "artistic" for my taste. Story starts with good amount of questions to solve in this school mystery, but later it feels less about finding answers and more about just enjoying the trippy ride.
At the beginning there is a good amount of character building to make you really care about some characters. But later, the focus shifts more toward confusing story and its attempts to make you care about—or at least understand—some of the more controversial or morally ambiguous characters. Leaving main interests behind, and sadly also the sex scenes.

Sex scenes were good. Game just have so serious tone, that they only work as building feelings for the characters. Not really for wanking. Sexuality is not the main theme in this game.

Peak absolute cinema, MY FAV No 1 AVN as of now. though a bit dark themed but fitting real life people. Every imp character has a depth and the mystery story telling is what I love here the most. Good number of twists. Even as of 0.25c it has got some endings. It has sex scenes but not much, but the story just carries it and there's good amount of teasing.

Beyond its innovative premise, this novel is also exceptionally well-written. The prose is fluid and engaging, making for a smooth and enjoyable reading experience. The descriptions are vivid without being overly verbose, painting clear pictures in the mind's eye. Character development is handled with skill, making the protagonists and antagonists feel genuinely human and relatable, even within such an unusual environment. The pacing is expertly managed, building suspense and emotion effectively, ensuring that each chapter pulls you further into the unfolding events. For anyone seeking a narrative that breaks new ground while maintaining high literary quality, this is an absolute must-read.

Terrible, simply terrible. Let's take it one step at a time:

- When did it become fashionable for virtual novels to have to start with the player unaware of his character's background, his abilities, the world he live in, the plot he's immersed in...? I can understand this being done in movies, since we're merely spectators in them, but not in a game where, in theory, player intervention is required to influence the course of events. How am I going to immerse myself in the story and make those decisions if I don't even know what happened to the protagonist in the past or what he's capable of?

- And speaking of the protagonist: he's a pathetic loser. At first, he's presented as a reserved, rude, and powerful person with a tragic past, and then it turns out everyone either abuses him or laughs at him: the dean, the singer, the waitress, the vampire, his so-called «friends»... Oh, and not to mention that anyone can hug, kiss, and even touch his genitals without the player having any say in the matter.

- In virtual novels, minigames should be challenges to the player's skill or intellect, not tests in which he have to enter information he doesn't know in the real world. Do I really have to look up the end of a song verse on the internet, or else I can't continue playing the game? Come on...

- The way the sex scenes are presented is completely absurd. Let's take an example: There's a love interest who's a shy and sensitive girl who's been bullied in the past. Well, at a certain point, this girl sends us a message inviting us to meet up with her, and the game offers us the option to accept or decline her offer. At that moment, next to the option to accept the offer, the letters NSFW appear.

In other words, we don't have to decide once we've met her, but beforehand. And how is the protagonist supposed to know there'll be sex on the date? Is he a fortune teller? Indeed, it turns out that, if we go on the date, the girl turns out to be a cheap whore who gives the protagonist a blowjob (who can't refuse at any point) in exchange for protection from her abusers.

What's the point of this? Can't I just go on the date without knowing what I'm going to find, and then, when the whore makes the offer, refuse? Can't I see her reaction or continue with a normal date? In any game that follows any logic, the NSFW warning would indicate that this route leads to a POSSIBLE sexual scene, subject to the player's prior consent. But not here. Here, the player is told: I'm telling you upfront that if you go to meet her, you'll be forced to have sex with her. If you don't want to, don't go. But I'm also not offering you any options other than to ignore her.

The point is, if we don't go on the date, we don't abandon this love interest either. We continue to see her, knowing as players, but not as the protagonist, that she's a whore. In other words, utter nonsense.

- There's no coherence between the characters' relationships. Right at the start of the game, a love interest approaches the protagonist in a thuggish manner and challenges him to a fight. We could tell her to go to hell, but it turns out we're meeting her that same night for a private party, where we talk as if we've been friends since we were kids. There's even an internal monologue from the protagonist saying that, of all the people he's met since arriving, she's the one he feels most affinity with. What the fuck?

Anyway, I'm sure I'm leaving something else out, but I think that's enough. I hope this review helps others get a more accurate picture of what this game offers, and can avoid the hassle of downloading it.

Definitely a must-play.

First of all i recommend playing this game on pc. Some scenes are kinda dark and you'd want to adjust your monitor's settings.
Also i recommend playing at night.

Story is 10/10
There is no unnecessary dialogues and this game has an immersive story.
MC is not a typical "hey I'm a chill guy who wants to bang all the hot chics in the town." dude. He has his own personality and i loved that.

Renders are fine.

However even tho' I loved how our choices affect the story, I think it's a bit too complicated. I only did one play thru' and started again, played 10 mins, chose a different patron. I can say it changes a lot in scenes.

My advice is there can be 3 patrons and all the charasteristics can be deployed equally. Or something like one major upgrade and two minor upgrades. With this you can reduce the work and it is less complex.

Story: 9/10
Renders: 8/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 10/10
Characters: 9/10

This game is very unique I've never played anything like this before with this kind of story. The best part about this is its story. In my first playthrough, I literally skipped all the lewd scenes because I was too invested in the story. The main character is really well written, and man, it has the most banger music out there that blends with the whole theme so well; that was probably my favorite part. I am looking forward to more of this. If I compare it with top AVNs, I would say the animations and renders need more work, but I guess these kinds of things gradually improve after every update. Overall, it's a must-play game.

Zero End surprised me, sometimes I get so into the story that I completely forget about the erotic parts. The mystery is super engaging, cant wait to get to know about the past of MC, and i love the dark atmosphere.
The romantic interests are all very different and attractive in their own ways.
+1 for that jumpscare
Hoping to see more of this unique avn, and of course, sorry for my bad english