Rule of Rose

"Great Story, Bad Everything Else"

Pardon me in advance if I come off as incredibly dorky in the following sentences. In the years that I have frequented this board, I have always been baffled by a few things here (which is putting it mildly). For one, I've noticed a few posters who always prattle on and on about how story is more important than gameplay. I've seen a few of these posters question, "why do you even bother playing the game if it doesn't have a worthwhile story?" I can certainly understand one's craving for a truly engrossing story among a sea of games with predictable premises. However, I have always believed that a game should concentrate on providing a more engaging gameplay experience. I can't speak for anyone else, but that's the reason why I play video games. I can always forgive a bad story if the gameplay is great, but not vice versa.

If you're one of those gamers who feels a good story should take precedence over good gameplay, then Rule of Rose is what you've been looking for. It's easy to summarize RoR in a just a few words. Rule of Rose features a great story, but terrible gameplay. If you're looking for a thought provoking plot, this game is for you. If you're looking for a game that recycles atrocious survival horror mechanics that seem like it was ripped directly out of 1996, then RoR is also a game for you.

The game has you playing as a young orphan named Jennifer, who has had a troubling and traumatic past. She is sent to Rose Orphanage where she was forced to join a cult like society called the Aristocrat Club. The society is comprised of a group of orphaned females who subject Jennifer to humiliating and disgusting chores. The point of these chores is to eventually earn a modicum of respect within the society. Jennifer (who is often referred as "the unlucky girl") is treated pretty poorly amongst these snotty children. Her only friend is a dog named Brown. Together they need to figure out what exactly happened in Jennifer's past.

Before we get into the obligatory Haunting Ground similarities, you should know that RoR has little similarities to Haunting Ground. Brown is incredibly useful and useless at the same time. You would get absolutely nowhere in this game without Brown. For instance, when you are given an important item, you can use the "find" command in the menu, and Brown will automatically lead you to another key item. Once you pick up that item, you're going to have Brown "find" the item he just found. You rinse and repeat this for pretty much the entire game. On the other hand, Brown is incredibly useless in combat. Unlike Haunting Ground's mutt, Brown does not help you fight enemies at all. He'll just stand in one spot and bark maniacally at the enemies. This will scare some of the enemies, which will allow you to get a few free hits in. Other than that, some of the dog commands are similar to Haunting Ground's. You can call Brown to your side, or tell him to stay. A personal gripe of mine is that Brown is a little boring. In Haunting Ground, you grew a deep appreciation for the dog and you really enjoyed his company (or when he saved your life). In RoR, Brown is pretty much a game mechanic. Until a certain scene near the end of the game, you don't really care for Brown much. It's unfortunate that Atlus didn't use Brown to his full potential.

Now, lets move on to the potential deal breaker for most people, the combat. It's likely that this part of the will frustrate you. It's so bad that it almost makes the game unplayable. Jennifer generally brawls against impish child like enemies that have pig, goat, rat, and fish masks. Jennifer is equipped with a small variety of melee weapons. However, the combat is so rigid, cumbersome, and broken, that it'll make you want to quit playing this game. I know that Jennifer is a mild and timid girl. But that didn't have to translate into the combat. Jennifer makes half hearted swings at enemies while she covers her face with her other hand. While the combat sequences are bad, you'll probably trudge on just for the compelling story. It's worth noting that the collision detection in RoR is terrible. There will be many times where an attack will miss entirely even when you make a direct hit. Sometimes the hit detection seems random at times. The combat is slow as molasses on top of everything. Enemies generally come in large packs and swarm Jennifer. Trying to fight that many enemies is an overly difficult feat because of the poor melee fighting. You'll end up taking more damage than it's worth. It's sometimes more convenient to just avoid combat altogether. However, there are few parts where combat is mandatory. Some imps must be defeated to proceed, and there are three boss battles that are mandatory. It's almost a guarantee that these boss battles will test your patience immensely. Bosses require a lot of blows to bring down. But it becomes an even more annoying experience when the boss can send you flying to the floor with one attack. The poor collision detection and archaic combat only makes it worse. In one instance, I managed to get behind the first boss to set myself up to bludgeon him to death. However, the boss took a swing that still hit me even though he swung his stick in front of him. There are several problems like this that will make you want to break your controller.

As bad as the gameplay is, what will make you want to see this game through to the end is the wonderfully crafted plot. The story manages to be cryptic, mysterious, and interesting all at the same time. The game's CG scenes are not only incredibly odd, but well made. Each scene only reveals a little bit of information as to what's transpiring in the game. It's worth noting that some of the subject matter is indeed mature and might even offend some. However, a lot of the bad publicity that this game received is incredibly overblown. The themes and darker overtones in the game are handled well. For fear of giving too much away, I won't divulge anymore information. You should just experience this for yourself. You'll think that there's no way that the game can tie up all the loose ends by its conclusion. While the game might have you scratching your head at the end, it leaves a lot up to the imagination. The game is so seemingly complex, that there are sites dedicated to discussing possible theories and plausible explanations to some of the frequently asked questions. No survival horror game has been able to do this since Silent Hill 2.

As for the rest, the game is your typical survival horror experience. It contains all the trappings of an archaic genre. RoR is a game that further proves that the survival horror genre is fossil that seems to lack any innovation or interesting new mechanics. The camera angles can be altered with the R1/R2 buttons. Yet, when the angle abruptly changes, Jennifer will be inverted in the opposite direction she was going. Jennifer has a limited inventory system, and extra items need to be put in a "dust bin" which works similarly to Resident Evil's item boxes. She'll also have to find food to replenish health. Like I said before, this game looks like it was ripped directly from 1996. It's a little scary to think the game was actually released 10 years later. If you're a survival horror nut, you'll also notice that this game is far from scary too. A lot of the game just ends up being weird.

Graphically, RoR's in-game visuals are a little dull and bland. The level design is uninspired and repetitive. You spend about 70% of your time on a rather empty airship. The game's CG scenes are where this game truly shines. It's apparent that the most amount of attention was spent on these CG scenes. The sound effects are what you would typically expect from a survival horror game (creepy ambient noises, average voice acting, creepy enemy noises, etc). What's most noticeable is the soundtrack. There are plenty of string and violin instrumentals that make up the soundtrack. Fast paced and screeching violins accompany enemy counters, while more soothing and serene instrumentals cue in when you are simply exploring. However, the repetitive instrumental can become grating during down time and elongated enemy encounters.

So, have you decided if RoR is for you yet? It's really simple. If you thoroughly enjoy a well done story or are a survival horror nut, then this game is for you. It's pretty hard to recommend RoR to anyone else. Your average player will not have the patience to deal with the archaic gameplay design.

Pros: Great story, well made CG scenes, and a thought provoking tale that will have you thinking after you beat the game.
Cons: Nearly everything else. Terrible combat, somewhat troublesome camera, average graphics/sound effects, the game consists of you just following brown for the entire game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/08

Game Release: Rule of Rose (US, 09/12/06)