Rule of Rose

By Rosamond Tsao . September 12, 2006 . 12:49pm

Set in England during the 1930’s, the story follows a teenage orphan girl named Jennifer on a bus ride along with a mysterious boy in the middle of the night.  The boy abruptly runs off into the eerie country side, in which Jennifer chases after him.  She is led to the Rose Garden Orphanage where she meets a group of children calling themselves as the Aristocrats of the Red Crayon. Jennifer is kidnapped by the Aristocrats and placed on an airship.  She becomes the subject to the rules of the rose and is deemed a beggar, the lowest status in the Aristocrat rankings.  Ultimately, with the aid of her dog Brown, Jennifer must find requested gifts for the Prince by the end of the month to avoid punishment.

Purchase at Play-Asia

As far as gameplay goes, much of the control is similar to any basic survival-horror convention minus the special dog commands.  The player is able to command Brown to ‘come’, ’stay’, and ‘track’ key items. Similar to Haunting Ground, the dog is an integral part of the game. Only Brown can sniff out items and make them visible for Jennifer to use. The main focus of the game is mainly searching rooms, collecting items, and solving puzzles rather than engaging in combat. 

Aside from the boss battles, most fights are avoidable. In fact it is encouraged to evade fights rather than initiate fights since Jennifer is so vulnerable. She’s not a fighter, she’s an average girl so when she gets injured she moves slower and can’t fight well without a weapon. To make matters worse, Jennifer is defenseless in the beginning of the game. Once she is able to equip weapons such as kitchen knives, iron pipes and guns she can defend herself. By hitting R1 button Jennifer switches into attack stance and when an enemy grabs her she can shake it off by moving the left analog stick. The enemies (called imps) resemble doll-like undead midgets that alter their appearance with various masks of goats, bunnies, pigs, and rats as the game progresses.  Once an imp gets wounded it dies in an unrealistic blood splatter.

Rule of Rose’s strength is the story behind the game. Rule of Rose’s setting is original with creepy, psychological overtones. The story is presented in outstanding realistic rendered characters and environments. Cutscenes complement the game’s graphics and do most of the story telling. Furthermore, the impressive audio effects sets the chilling atmosphere needed to capture the unsettling pastimes of these sadistic children.

The game is fairly short since it is broken up into chapters that request the player to complete a specific goal.  It’s unlike Silent Hill and Haunting Ground in the sense of blood drenching horror, but the appeal of the story is what makes this game captivating and disturbing.

Version Covered: North America

Release Date: 09.12.06

+ Pros: Great graphics and music, unique storyline

- Cons: Awkward camera angles, poor gameplay

Overall: More of an adventure then a survival-horror game, simple to play, and the themes are primarily psychological.

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