Video game review: In 'Crimson Shroud,' the dice are cast

“He who receives a gift sells his liberty.” So begins “Crimson Shroud,” downloadable to your Nintendo 3DS for a cool 8 bucks.

The advent of video games was a gift to fans of role-playing games, who no longer had to roll dice to decide the outcomes of their actions. They could let “the computer” decide how much damage their attacks did, if they were swift enough to avoid an incoming arrow, whether their attempt to bribe a castle guard was successful. But those who gave up traditional role-playing games for video game versions gave up the option to tell their own stories, to spend an evening with some fellow nerds, and, most fundamentally, to roll the dice.