With a name like that, this couldn’t possibly end well. This short visual novel introduces us to four characters, all of which are led to an untimely demise due to the precarious situations they find themselves in. That, and the decisions made by yourself along the way. Featuring an 18+ age rating, the colourful cast ends up being burned alive, devoured, and left slain in numerous ways. The chunky pixel art used throughout doesn’t allow for particularly graphic detail, but the theme is unwavering – all four of these characters are going to face a messy death.
Cast assemble! There’s a plucky hero out to seek fame and the hand of a maiden by overthrowing a demonic overlord. Said maiden is sweet and innocent, believing it’s her destiny to be captured by demons; so much so that she both welcomes and beckons this fate. The overlord lives an easy life in her fortress with her minions at her beck and call, blessed with powers so almighty that nobody dares challenge her. Then finally there’s a scruffy haired demon underling, who’s sick of being bullied and wishes to overthrow the overlord to prove their worth.
As you have doubtlessly guessed, the paths of all four are very closely intertwined. You’re able to choose a character and before long are presented with 3-4 optional choices that’ll forge their destiny, with each character having around ten endings to unlock. Epic sagas these are not; no story lasts longer than a few minutes, and as any pre-read text can be skipped, many endings are reachable in under a minute. To unlock every ending takes around 2 hours, with a flow chart of outcomes helping to obtain a 100% completion.
BAD END THEATER isn’t merely about making decisions, however. In an innovative twist, each character can be given a trait before starting out, greatly ballooning the number of outcomes. Select examples include making the hero diplomatic or trusting, while the maiden can be either polite or obedient, and the underling made loyal, disobedient, or…hungry. This leads to a mixture of results, with some more surprising than others. A diplomatic hero will always try to talk their way out of situations, as you’d expect, while an obedient maiden will always follow other’s instructions – even if that lands her in trouble. Which it will. As for the hungry underling, let’s just say that they’re inclined to bite.
These personality traits unlock gradually, and you’re going to need to lean heavily into experimenting by mixing and matching, discovering just as many repeated endings as new ones while trying to unlock all 40+ endings.
The pixel art uses distinct colour schemes for each character, and there’s a vast amount of still images that change after every couple of sentences. Dialogue is cheery despite the central theme, and often quite descriptive, detailing your chosen character’s surroundings and such. A few ‘f-bombs’ are present, and as they’re used sparingly, it’s to good effect. The retro-infused chiptune-style soundtrack meanwhile is akin to a ‘Greatest Hits’ of Game Over music, largely comprising of downbeat melodies. There are a few exceptions though, such as a gallant theme for the hero, and a credit roll with synthesized vocals.
While accumulating a stockpile of endings, you’re going to be left wondering if there is perhaps a way to save everyone. All I’m willing to say (in fear of spoilers) is that the halfway point sees a slight change of pace that impacts things going forward.
If you’ve reached this point of this review and are intrigued by BAD END THEATRE’s morbid sounding premise, then you should definitely seek it out. It presents a clever idea that’s well executed, with the only caveat being that it’s over very quickly. It’s perhaps a little cheesy in places too; while it has a mature age rating, it’s likely going to be today’s teenagers that connect with the characters the most – especially the floppy haired underling.
NomnomNami’s BAD END THEATER is out now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One and Switch. It first released on PC in 2021. Published by Serenity Forge.