I played the demo and it took me 2 hours to finish it. Had other people helping me through it but ultimately had to cheat. After finishing the demo, went and watched the walthrough.
Knowledge of the original Crimson Room won’t help you much here. There’s some easter egg references though. If you try things that worked in the original game, they simply yield nothing here.
I hunted around the web looking for a synopsis of the lore or for an explanation for the ending. Cuz what the absolute shit!? I did not find one. Would have been nice to at least see all the letters written out somewhere in order at least. I compiled them myself from walkthrough videos. This is the first compilation of all the letters in a neat reading order as far as I know.
Here’s what I could piece together in regards to lore based on watching a walkthrough and reading reviews. I did not buy and complete the game myself. I would suggest either completing the game or watching the walkthrough below for context before reading my synopsis of the lore. Since I have not personally played through the game, take with a grain of salt. Preferably sea salt.
For all the other weirdos who need the closure...Here’s the lore.
We are the grandson of Francois Gordot. Our name is Jean. The shipwreck of La Crimson was recently discovered and exhumed. We were allowed to explore the ship since we are descendent of one of those who died onboard.
While exploring, we find the crimson room that Francois was trapped in. And while in there...something strange happens...it’s as if we have been here. Or even that we have become Francois himself! Maybe we are possesed by his spirit. (This explains not knowing what year it is, we are simultaneously in past and present.) He has a task for us, to set his soul free. The letters talk about how important freedom is after all.
In order to set his soul free, we need to learn the full story of events. We will relive the torment he endured. We relive his madness.
I mean...why the fuck else would the safe be a microwave?! And putting the post card in it turns it into a toy ship?! (Toy ship is at least mentioned in the letters.)This sounds like the thoughts of a mad man who has been trapped in this room for weeks with only occassional pieces of bread and only wine to drink. Drunk and stir crazy. But it explains everything.
The machine in the wall that turns the room? This was the ship rocking in the storm that eventually took the ship down! Not to mention the 4th engine failed as apparent by the lack of smoke in the calendar picture. (I’m not sure how ships work but this is my guess.) I’m not sure what the siginificance of the doodles on the calendar are, especially the scale, but the pocket knife (mentioned in the letters) appearing next to the scales painting in the drawer on scales day was supernatural af. Grandpappy put that there for you.
Anyways as we progress through the puzzle and the room rocks back and forth, literally, eventually the door is busted with a little help and we escape into a cave using more delusional drunk man logic. (It was originally underwater but now is not, which is how the ship was discovered. This explains why putting the boat in the doorway makes the water drain away...?) For whatever reason, drunk delusional logic I guess, we have shrunk and are now about the size of the wine bottles ourselves. Realizing that all hope is lost, we pop open a bottle of wine using our trusty pocket knife and accept our faith. We will die here. Now that Francois’ story has been revealed, his soul can now rest. That is what the end scene is, his soul (represented by the ship) being set free, something that Francois expressed was so important to him.
(I believe that the book that Francois was given was the...Communist Manifesto?)
https://www.heypoorplayer.com/2016/06/21/crimson-room-decade-review/
https://www.keengamer.com/articles/reviews/crimson-room-decade-review/
Relive the experience of people solving this game in real time: https://steamcommunity.com/app/262510/discussions/0/357288572120667654/
https://www.walkthroughking.com/text/crimsonroomdecade.aspx
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=702180850
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