Introduction, impressions, and strategy notes for "The House of Adabana: Crimson" (a free short death game).

This article is about "Adabana no Yakata: Kurenai," the second installment in the "Adabana no Yakata" series, a short free game dealing with death games.
前作をプレイして、かなり楽しむことが出来たため、次作にあたる今作もプレイしてみることにしました。

Game Overview

The protagonist is the same murderous girl, Kureha, as in the previous work.
With his demon partner, Midori, kidnapped, he single-handedly infiltrates the mastermind's mansion.
Together with a mysterious boy named Mayuzumi whom he meets there, he takes on a game where losing means losing your soul.

The core of this game lies in the intellectual battle aspect of the gameplay, so it's not a problem if you haven't played the previous game.
However, since it's a series, if you play them in order, you'll hear familiar character names, which I think will double the enjoyment.

I think the gameplay itself will be just as enjoyable as the previous game.
When you consider the strategies and tactics within a given game, the number of possible choices narrows considerably.
Naturally, this means that there will be times when you have to take a gamble.
You can enjoy the strategic maneuvering and psychological warfare involved in deciding where to play the game.

Also, just like in the previous game, the enemy's attack patterns are fixed, so if you memorize their actions and load the save file, clearing the game itself is easy.
Therefore, I think the first playthrough is the most enjoyable.

Strategy Notes

Clearing the game itself is very easy; you just need to remember your opponent's actions and try again.
Therefore, in this section, I will simply write down what I thought and felt when I was trying to complete the game.

Four-card poker

When I first heard it, I found it very complicated.
Ultimately, however, the key is deciding when to get the best possible hand: a royal straight flush.
Once your opponent has used up the jokers that could give them a royal straight flush, they're not so scary anymore.
When you're the dealer and want to make a big bet, bet the maximum amount of chips and aim for the strongest possible hand.
When your opponent makes a big bet, you can steadily increase your chips by aiming for a draw or folding.

Military Card

This game is similar to the E-Card game from the manga/anime series "Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji".
Ultimately, this also comes down to a battle of "where to place the landmines?"
Dealing with the landmines early makes the game much easier, but since the opponent is also aware of this, it becomes a game of reading the situation and deciding when to strike.

Angels and Demons

This is a game where you can steadily increase your money risk-free by continuously taking money from the angel's safe and declaring to your opponents that you are an angel.
However, if your opponent turns into a demon at some point, it will be a painful blow.
Whether you choose to stick with a low-risk, low-return approach or pursue a high-risk, high-return strategy may depend on your personality.
Since you get fined for not making a declaration, if I actually played this game, I might just play as an angel and wait for my opponent to make a mistake.

Treasure Chest Game

This was a game whose rules were a little difficult to understand.
My opponent was also employing unconventional tactics that disregarded established strategies, so I wasn't sure how to deal with them.
However, I managed to clear the game on my first playthrough without really understanding the opponent's strategy, which leaves me feeling a bit unsettled.

Fake collection

This is a battle where the 3 million yen difference in funds between us will have a significant impact.
I suspect there's only one winning strategy: aiming for a draw.
The key point is that when your opponent is selling their strongest product, you should offer your cheapest one.
And it's crucial to somehow seize victory when this is your weakest product.

Ending branching

Aside from the game over screen, I think there are three different endings.
Whether or not Mayuzumi survives will drastically change the ending.
There are three possible endings: one where you lose the treasure chest game, one where you win the final battle but Mayuzumi is not there, and one where you win the final battle and Mayuzumi is also there (the true ending).
The final choice in the True Ending doesn't significantly alter the story's progression.

Review (contains spoilers)

Compared to the previous work, where all the characters were abnormal, this one felt like it had more heartwarming stories.
The backgrounds of the first and second opponents were a little sad, and there wasn't really a horror atmosphere.
One slight disappointment was that in the previous game, the opponents were a collection of cunning individuals who would surprise you by exploiting loopholes in the rules, but this time, that kind of element was limited to just the treasure chest game.
Except for my first opponent, losing didn't mean I'd die, so I might have felt less nervous.
I was a little happy when Kurenai mentioned "Kai" from the previous work, even if only by name.
The end of the sea was truly dramatic, so I couldn't help but empathize with it.

By the way, in the ending where you defeat the final boss without Mayuzumi present, it felt a little strange that Asmodeus was killed by Kurenai without putting up much of a fight.
With Mayuzumi present, even after losing, he still tried to bring Kurenai under his control...
With Mayuzumi gone, perhaps the physical vessel itself was also losing its power.

I get the feeling that the final choice in the true ending is probably intended for those who choose not to kill.
In the final scene, which is told from Mayuzumi's perspective, Kureha is recounting memories of Souha, so I got the feeling that she chose not to kill him and instead watched over him until the very end, continuing to talk to him.
Well, considering how she talks back to Kureha's mother in past scenes, there's a possibility she's altering her memories to suit her own purposes...

Many characters who were only mentioned by name in the previous game appear in this one, greatly expanding the world of "The House of the Fleeting Flowers."
There are many characters whose stories are not told, such as the blue blade that speaks like Hisoka from H&H, the Grim Reaper, and the detective group.
I look forward to future sequels.