Seems Newgrounds has officially outlived Kongregate (as far as web games are concerned). I wonder which site it'll outlive next? Oh right, I'm reviewing the game.
For the most part, this game lives up to your usual quality. In fact, now that I think about it, you've gotten way better at fixing typos since the early days. (You only really notice the presence of typos, not the absence...) I'll need to remember to add a star for that.
Story-wise, I like it. I could take or leave the brutality, but Ada is always fun, and for whatever reason I especially enjoy these plotlines about high-stakes games (the Invidia arc was another favorite). That's not to say you should immediately do more. They'd lose their charm if they came up more than once in a while.
You have "creepy protagonist" down to an art form at this point, and you're getting good at giving each episode a unique theme/focus, while fitting it into an overall plot. I didn't figure out this episode's theme until the very end, but it really tied everything together at that point. I'd go into more detail about that and other plot points, but, you know... spoilers.
Humor-wise, the sudden appearance of "...LOL!!!" got me. I think it was the exact time and place it appeared: just as the drama was reaching a new high, in the journal (which is expected to be serious), and right underneath that clown's grinning face.
My one gripe is that "assume my gender" jokes are tired, and this one wasn't even necessary to the boss-minion banter going on at the time. A different joke could have added more personality. A joke about the minion dress code, or about how the thugs are actually all named "Thug," or about Richill's attitude/personality. The rest of the conversation would work as-is: "...and who is this, Mr. Thug?" "I told you, call me Dr. Thug. Respect the effort I put into (forging) that doctorate!" "Bold of you to assume I give a damn." "Whatever..."
The gameplay was... fine. The darkness in the escape sequence was a bit annoying, but it's always hard to get that right. (I could have turned up my screen brightness if it was a real issue.) Bit of an underwhelming raft puzzle, even compared to similar puzzles from Medieval Cop, but it went fast and so that was fine. In the future, if you want to expand on the concept, maybe try rock-pushing on ice?
The final portion of the escape actually contains a softlock. While the guard was patrolling, I tried entering the room just behind them, and automatically got caught. That's fine, I'm learning. I'll try the rock next. Oh, wait: the guard stopped patrolling! They're just standing there staring at the wall. I can't leave the room to reset it, there aren't any pieces of paper for me to pick up to re-trigger the patrol pattern, and nothing else seems to have an effect either. I should have tried saving and reloading, but instead I just restarted the escape.
I would say that the mystery section takes a bit too much guesswork. I usually have no problems staying above half health, and I can appreciate an episode with higher difficulty, and most of the game managed higher difficulty without actually killing me. It's just... either I missed way more hints than I usually do, or the mystery actually has enough guesswork that the mandatory damage will finish you off. (I was actually at 1 hp by the time I first encountered the mandatory damage.) It didn't help that every character other than Ada was brand new - knowing barely anything about them, how was I supposed to guess who that one NPC was looking at? (The brand-new characters also meant the scene was less interesting than some of your other mysteries. Not holding it against you, that's just what happens.)
And of course, I continue to enjoy the music. The default/background music is simple enough not to distract, while NEFFEX's far more exciting music comes in at just the right moments. Wish I had the audio experience necessary to give more feedback than that, but I don't so I won't.
Story: +2 stars. It's why we're all here!
Humor: +1 star. In a somber episode, well-placed highlights stand out even more.
Gameplay: +1 star. It may not be the focus, but it's not boring.
Music: +1 star.
Length: +1 star. I prefer these slightly longer episodes.
Total: 6 stars. Wait...
Softlock: -1/2 star.
Tasteless joke: -1/2 star.
Total: 5 stars.
Looking forward to what comes next!