The Collection: Rule of Rose
A mysterious, unthinkable, filthy tale.
Rule of Rose for the PS2. Developed by Punchline, published by Atlus. Rated M for Mature.
Jennifer, an orphan and amnesiac, awakes on an unfamiliar bus heading toward an unknown destination. She's asked to read a storybook by a small boy who promptly runs off the vehicle, heading towards a dilapidated building. Entering an increasingly surreal world, Jennifer finds herself at the mercy of the Red Crayon Aristocrats; an abusive hierarchy ruled by vicious girls who claim that Jennifer has been horrible in her past and demand tribute.
Oh, dear.
In what is fundamentally similar to Resident Evil, RoR offers exploration, backtracking, item hunting, and minimized combat in a labyrinth of metaphorical corridors and locations: an orphanage run by masked children, a giant flying fish which doubles as a zeppelin, unreasonable demands by illogical children to gain favor in the horrid aristocratic 'society', and twisted toddler-sized malevolent imps set the tone for a game that prefers tension and psychological horror over survival horror. It's a dark, dark game. Not just thematically, but also graphically.
Poor, unlucky Jennifer cowers her way through shadowy passages alone for the first two hours, but eventually stumbles upon Brown, a pathetic dog also abused by the Aristocracy, who serves as both companion and crucial item hunting mechanic. Most items in the game can be used by Brown to sniff out a related item, yielding important plot items and ever-needed restorative goods, speeding up the unavoidable resource hunt and fetch quests in the game. For example, using the Find command with a biscuit orders Brown to hunt down otherwise invisible restorative items (chocolate, candy, bones, etc.) that Jennifer couldn't have found on her own.
Combat in the game is pretty much a non-issue, not because it's easy but rather because it's nearly impossible. Jennifer, being scared senseless, is almost incapable of attacking, weakly lashing out with weapons like a dessert fork, kitchen knife, and eventually swords she can hardly hold. It's intentionally futile, mind you, as the fantastic monsters appear in swarms, forcing her to quickly seek refuge by progressing the plot.
If there's a flaw in the game, it's the slow pacing. Jennifer's meandering speed coupled with plenty of backtracking and item hunting would put action oriented gamers to sleep. The audio track, while completely instrumental and haunting, attempts to keep the tension up but eventually falls to the intolerable, time consuming exploration in the unlit halls. You could speed things up by liberally using Brown to locate only the critical items, however.
An interesting note, this game caused a good amount of controversy due to its content. In fact, the title was banned in several countries due to "implied underage lesbianism" and "violence against children." The violence against children claim is true, but realistically children are often horrible to each other quite frequently and this game places children in a fantasy world where adults are almost completely absent. As for the lesbianism, well, that's a complex issue wrapped up in the plot and not nearly as straight-forward as the censors claimed it was.
For you collectors out there, be aware that the limited release drives up the price of even used copies. Amazon offers $40 for a used copy, charging up to $129 for new!
Is it worth playing now? Though it has a slower pace, the surreal setting and shocking events are certain to draw in a patient gamer. Yes, play it, but don't fork out a ton of cash to do so.
Rule of Rose for the PS2. Developed by Punchline, published by Atlus. Rated M for Mature.
Jennifer, an orphan and amnesiac, awakes on an unfamiliar bus heading toward an unknown destination. She's asked to read a storybook by a small boy who promptly runs off the vehicle, heading towards a dilapidated building. Entering an increasingly surreal world, Jennifer finds herself at the mercy of the Red Crayon Aristocrats; an abusive hierarchy ruled by vicious girls who claim that Jennifer has been horrible in her past and demand tribute.
Oh, dear.
In what is fundamentally similar to Resident Evil, RoR offers exploration, backtracking, item hunting, and minimized combat in a labyrinth of metaphorical corridors and locations: an orphanage run by masked children, a giant flying fish which doubles as a zeppelin, unreasonable demands by illogical children to gain favor in the horrid aristocratic 'society', and twisted toddler-sized malevolent imps set the tone for a game that prefers tension and psychological horror over survival horror. It's a dark, dark game. Not just thematically, but also graphically.
Poor, unlucky Jennifer cowers her way through shadowy passages alone for the first two hours, but eventually stumbles upon Brown, a pathetic dog also abused by the Aristocracy, who serves as both companion and crucial item hunting mechanic. Most items in the game can be used by Brown to sniff out a related item, yielding important plot items and ever-needed restorative goods, speeding up the unavoidable resource hunt and fetch quests in the game. For example, using the Find command with a biscuit orders Brown to hunt down otherwise invisible restorative items (chocolate, candy, bones, etc.) that Jennifer couldn't have found on her own.
Combat in the game is pretty much a non-issue, not because it's easy but rather because it's nearly impossible. Jennifer, being scared senseless, is almost incapable of attacking, weakly lashing out with weapons like a dessert fork, kitchen knife, and eventually swords she can hardly hold. It's intentionally futile, mind you, as the fantastic monsters appear in swarms, forcing her to quickly seek refuge by progressing the plot.
If there's a flaw in the game, it's the slow pacing. Jennifer's meandering speed coupled with plenty of backtracking and item hunting would put action oriented gamers to sleep. The audio track, while completely instrumental and haunting, attempts to keep the tension up but eventually falls to the intolerable, time consuming exploration in the unlit halls. You could speed things up by liberally using Brown to locate only the critical items, however.
An interesting note, this game caused a good amount of controversy due to its content. In fact, the title was banned in several countries due to "implied underage lesbianism" and "violence against children." The violence against children claim is true, but realistically children are often horrible to each other quite frequently and this game places children in a fantasy world where adults are almost completely absent. As for the lesbianism, well, that's a complex issue wrapped up in the plot and not nearly as straight-forward as the censors claimed it was.
For you collectors out there, be aware that the limited release drives up the price of even used copies. Amazon offers $40 for a used copy, charging up to $129 for new!
Is it worth playing now? Though it has a slower pace, the surreal setting and shocking events are certain to draw in a patient gamer. Yes, play it, but don't fork out a ton of cash to do so.