The events of the game take place in ancient Japan. Mysterious creatures known as “ghosts” appear in the villages, rampaging and killing innocent people. The general in charge of a military action against those creatures builds a special units called “Guren”, which means “crimson lotus”. The protagonist of the game, Li Liehuo, is a member of Guren whose task is to find other members (all female) in different villages and to discover the truth behind ghosts’ attacks. But the first girl he encounters, the lovely and brave Tsukikage, is abducted by a horrifying demon…
Guren is an anime-style role-playing game with erotic elements. The player visits villages and their surroundings, fighting randomly appearing monsters in turn-based combat viewed from first-person perspective. Most of the monsters are female, and they disrobe when defeated. Characters don’t gain experience from killing monsters, but from training. Training costs money, which is dropped by enemies or can be gained by doing part-time jobs. Unlike in most Japanese RPGs, the player can choose which attribute (strength, maximum HP, etc.) to raise when training.
The game also contains dating gameplay elements. In the villages, it is possible to interact with the female party members and influence the hero’s relationship with them. The player can decide to give presents to any of them, and choose which ones to take to the battles. Depending on the player’s choices, additional scenes and sub-quests will become available.
