Classic old-school JRPGs, made with RPG Maker (MV), are right up my alley. "Sorrows End" is a good game of mid-sized proportion, and since it can be played for free, it's all the more reason to check it out.
The game's strongest point is undoubtedly its heart-wrenching tale of loss and redemption, combined with likable/relatable characters and many competently written dialogues that strike a balance between serious/sad and funny moments. Despite all the provided backstory (see the story premise here on this game's Steam shop page), though, the actual plot revolves around stopping the Demon Lord, which, evaluated in its own right, is rather generic.
Mapping and dungeon design are serviceable at best and easily make for the game's greatest weak point. A lack of used/available resources is one of the reasons, but not the only reason why many locations feel rather bland. Still, the game offers sufficient visual variety for those players who don't care that much about outer appearances.
The turn-based battle system gets its job done. While it's far from being revolutionary, it offers a wide variety of interesting skills while providing each of the four party members with useful roles. The same can be said about equipment composition, all the more so since some equipment pieces grant the usage of exclusive skills. I think balance and difficulty are a major factor in deciding if someone plays and enjoys this game past its beginning segments. Battles can be brutal at the beginning with a party of only two, though they get progressively easier (for a while) after the third (a mage) and fourth (an excellent damage dealer) members have joined the party. Yet there's an even more important factor at play: How soon (if at all) does the player manage to discover the four major hidden "items" in this game? Finding them provides the player with ridiculously overpowered items that can be used an indefinite number of times either inside or outside of battle. Obtaining these items is practically the difference between "easy mode" and "hard mode". At least there's a late-game NPC that reveals the locations of these "items" (if she's paid an insane amount of money), but I'm afraid some players won't make it that far. The battles can be rather easy if you know exactly what you're doing, but it's a fine line between not working up a sweat and the gush of your party members' blood.
Two features remind me of Wolfs Moon Studios' games (a developer that has published ten RPG Maker MV JRPGs at this point). Firstly, skills can be leveled up through usage in battle, though the higher damage output after leveling up a skill is rather negligible due to the RNG's (Random Number Generator's/God's) influence. It takes forever to level up skills, and the game isn't long enough to facilitate high skill levels, so the system can't really live up to its potential. Secondly, party members gain special points at level-ups that can be spend to permanently increase stats, and most importantly, it's possible to respec by paying a small amount of money. It's easy to make party members overpowered through this system, though I'm not sure how much influence a certain bug - on which I capitalized - had, which caused the endless duplication of a one-of-a-kind accessory.
Furthermore, party members can equip "Charms" that provide (additional) stat gains upon level-up. I hate this system with passion, because it punishes players who grind (too) early, but it's there for you to experiment. There's also a mechanic that awards the player with "rare boss kill points", yet it's a rather wasted effort, since these points can only be used to buy the aforementioned "Charms".
A lot of optional content/quests/dungeons can be enjoyed along the way, like a dungeon with randomized floor layouts or fighting in the arena. Unfortunately, some of the optional elements make an unfinished impression, most prominently the missing higher tier arena fights.
Despite the aforementioned weak points, I highly recommend this game, especially for its story and characters, since the cost-benefit ratio is excellent as long as this game is available for free.
