Crimson Gray

Crimson Gray, is another yandere visual novel, that i had occasion to play through.
After quite harsh review of “It gets lonely in here”, it came time for this vision of lovesick character.

This game delivers much better story. The characters are well developed and offer deep backstory.
Their actions make sense and are realistic. The Yandere character is well written and feels like they were created with love. They are not just simply evil, there is much more to them. The game even offer the reason why the Yandere is the way they are and I think, that is really good especially because it makes sense! The protagonist of this story is not generic, boring type, that only is love interest of the Yandere, because they are the protagonist. They are actually well fleshed out and it makes sense, why someone would be interested in them. I really enjoyed the dynamic, that those two had between them. It was very fun and interesting. Outside of those two characters, the game offer intriguing side-plot, that is also well written and advanced. Plot of the story deserves rating 5/5

Visuals of the game are definitely the weakest part of the game. However, it doesn’t mean that they are bad. The sprites of characters are decent quality. Especially, worth attention are the scene graphics. They let the skill of the author shine. This all plays well, with the slightly old school feeling of the VN itself. (Like for example “The way we all go”)Rating 4/5 is fair for graphics.

Audio of the Game takes it to the next level. Background music really gets the reader into the mood of the story. They are fit perfectly to the scenes and work with them perfectly. Sound effects are well done and complement the novel. 5/5

Rating of this Visual novel is 90.

You can think about this game like a yandere dating visual novel, or you can think about it as a story of dealing with chronic mental health issues. If you relate to either of those, certain lines may... hit hard.

Crimson Gray is a visual novel about a high school student with high functioning depression named John. One day he decides to stick up for Lizzie a girl at his school who is deemed a social outcast. Immediately after this John notices Lizzie has become obsessed with him. Depending on your choice for Johns reason to get involved with this girl, he either deserves the ending he gets or doesn't.

Personally I greatly enjoyed my time with Crimson Gray. It was short, but intense. For the record there are nsfw scenes in this game that can be patched in. I didn't do this because I wasn't interested. The only thing I disliked about the story was the subplot with the pharmaceutical company. It felt unnecessary and silly. Buy it on sale if you get the chance!

I recently replayed.

Lizzie is the best yandere girl of all time. Gasai Yuno can go ♥♥♥♥ herself

Short but fun with a good amount of replayability.

Great visual novel. Unsettling, memorable, and thought-provoking.
It follows John, a high school student struggling with high-functioning depression, who meets Lizzie, a deeply disturbed girl obsessed with him. The story itself isn’t particularly complex, but it doesn’t need to be: it leans heavily on character writing and explores themes like psychology, boundaries, dependency, self-worth, morality, and inevitably, a touch of romance.

On a technical level, the production is fairly modest, but the writing is the real draw here. It’s a 3–4 hour experience, best picked up on sale or by anyone who wants to support the author.

Crimson Gray is a visual novel that manages to hit drama, thriller and romance genres at the same time. The story has us in the shoes of a college student named John who is suffering from depression. His life changes when he meets Lizzie, a sweet and quirky girl, but with some hidden obsessive and violent tendencies. In essence this is a yandere-style thriller romance story with choices, and all of these choices have consequences.

The story is fairly short and a single playthrough should take around 2 hours to complete. However, it is quite replayable because of its choice and consequence nature, and hence there are multiple endings which require different decisions from us throughout the game. In fact from what I noticed, even very early choices can have an impact.

There is a very interesting narrative style presented here. Our character John sees the world in grey tones as a side-effect of his medication and depressive state, and only Lizzie and his therapist are seen in colour. This is also complemented with the fact that there are only 3 named characters in this whole story - John, Lizzie, and Mrs Smythe (the therapist). Every other character is unnamed and instead is given tags such as "Classmate 1", "Lab Partner", "Pharmacist" and so on, which is a nice touch as it shows how John is hyperfocused on just those who are close to him and everyone else is unimportant and inconsequential to his life.

As mentioned already, the contrast between fully-coloured characters and grey-tone environments creates a nice visual style that fits the story and our main protagonist's outlook on the world. The art of the characters is brilliant. There are a few fixed poses and emotions, and they regularly change throughout each scene, which is a simple yet effective approach. And again as before, only Lizzie and Mrs Smythe have character artworks, and everyone else who is less important isn't even seen. Music also plays a big part in creating the emotions in each scene. There are only a few tracks really, but they fit each scene perfectly and kick in at the right time for maximum impact.

My only gripe with this VN actually is how ridiculously hard it is to get a true ending. Even though the game has other endings, they mainly come quite abruptly and the story doesn't feel complete with them (like the very first ending I got, albeit it was a very positive ending), which encourages you to want to get to the true ending to properly round up the whole story. But to get this true ending, you must've had done exactly the right decisions from the game's start that the game wanted you to do. I remember altering some of my decisions, which eventually did lead me towards what the game called "the right path", only to then give me a sudden game over. I don't really like it when games with story choices lead you down a drawn-out game over dead end, because it makes you feel like you've wasted your time. Gladly there is a skip feature in the game which you can use when repeating the same parts again. Ultimately I had to consult a walkthrough and follow it to a tee, without deviating at all before I could get this true ending. I would've preferred if there was more leeway in achieving it, and landing onto the right path would've been a sealed deal once you got there. Otherwise a VN with an engaging story such as this one turns more into a puzzle game where you push the story to the back and just begin trying every choice and wondering "what choice shall I change to get what the game wants me to do?"

That little gripe aside, I've enjoyed this story, and especially the character Lizzie. For a manic obsessive with violent tendencies, she's incredibly sweet and loyal like no other, and every interaction and conversation with her is engaging.

Recommending this VN to anyone who likes stories with choices that matter and romance with a character who is simultaneously unstable and alluring.