Rule of Rose

The player character Jennifer and Brown find themselves surrounded by hostile imps.

Rule of Rose is a survival horror game in which the player guides Jennifer through exploring the game environments and advances the plot by accomplishing tasks while sporadically encountering enemies and bosses.[3] Combat is almost exclusively melee-based, with a variety of improvised weapons available, such as kitchen knives and pipes. Jennifer is a timid character: her melee attacks are neither powerful nor long-ranged.[4] Evasion of enemies is often a more viable strategy instead of fighting. With the exception of a handful of bosses, all enemies in the game are imps—skinny, dolllike creatures the size of small children. Different animal-headed imps appear throughout the game, alongside regular imps.[5]

Early in the game, Jennifer encounters and rescues a dog named Brown.[3] Brown accompanies her throughout the game and responds to the player's commands.[6] Brown can be ordered to track items by scent, be commanded to 'stay' and be called to Jennifer's side. Brown cannot attack enemies, but will growl to distract some imps and bosses, allowing Jennifer to retreat or attack without fear of retaliation.[7] He can be injured to the point of collapse, causing him to stop distracting enemies or track items.[3]

Brown's ability to locate items is an integral part of the game, and is used in every chapter to progress further.[4] The same system allows the player to find health restoratives and other items which, while not essential to complete the game, can help the player survive enemy encounters.[3] Players select an item from the inventory for Brown to locate, which is then connected to the 'find' command until changed or removed.[8] Every item selected this way can be used to find at least one type of item. When tracking items, Brown will lead the player through the game environments, scratching at doors in his way, signaling the player to open the door.[6] Most health restoratives and all tradable items are hidden and must be uncovered by Brown, though the player can choose to avoid searching for these items to progress quickly. Restorative items include snack foods, candy, and chocolate. The different types of restorative items heal varying amounts of health. Bones and other items can be used to restore Brown's health if he becomes injured. Other items such as marbles and ribbons have no immediate use, but may be traded with non-playable characters in order to obtain food, rare items, and weapons.[3]

Described as "essentially an interactive movie" by its director Shuji Ishikawa and associate producer Yuya Takayama, the narrative of Rule of Rose centers on the traumatic childhood memories of Jennifer, "an ordinary, vulnerable girl"; these memories sometimes manifest in exaggerated ways.[9] Set in England, the game opens in 1930, as 19-year-old Jennifer is led to an abandoned orphanage by a boy. She follows him to a grave in the courtyard, where she digs up a coffin with a bloody sack inside it. Four children sneak up on her and pour water on her, before shoving her into the coffin.[10] She awakens in a largely abandoned airship in flight to an unknown destination,[nb 1] ruled by a cruel group of young girls known as the Red Crayon Aristocrats, despite the presence of adults on board. Under the threat of death, Jennifer must appease the Aristocrats by bringing an offering for them each month. Assisting her is Brown, a dog she frees from confinement in the airship, and the chronically sickly Wendy, who is the only child to be friendly to her.[11]

Jennifer eventually regains her memories of being cared for by the farmer Gregory Wilson, after she was orphaned in an unrelated airship crash. There, he was kind to her; though he confused her with his dead son Joshua, dressing her constantly in boy clothes while referring to her as Joshua, reading her his son's favorite stories, kept her prisoner, and periodically slid into melancholy alcoholism. Discovering her one day, Wendy began to exchange letters with Jennifer and eventually convinced her to escape, but not before Wendy stole his gun. The two then renewed their oath of "everlasting, true love," with Jennifer's stuffed bear exchanged for Wendy's brooch.[12] Back on the airship, Jennifer ascends to becoming part of the Red Crayon Aristocrats, after retrieving the stuffed bear for the Princess of the Red Rose, the co-leader of the Aristocrats.[13]

The game's setting then transitions to the now-inhabited orphanage.[nb 2] Bullied by the children, Jennifer is horrified to find that she has become the offering of the month; meeting up with Wendy in the courtyard, she loses Brown and later finds his corpse in the Aristocrats' meeting room, where he had been killed in her place. Wendy then reveals herself as the Princess of the Red Rose. Jennifer, now a child, slaps her and casts aside her brooch, hating the Aristocrats and herself for being too cowardly to oppose them.[14] Afterward, the Aristocrats approach Jennifer, now an adult, in the hopes that she will replace Wendy as their leader, whom they have deposed. Wendy, however, retaliates against the children by mentally conditioning Gregory into assuming the persona of "Stray Dog," a dangerous creature she had invented to assume power over the other children. She then brings Gregory, as Stray Dog, to kill everyone in the orphanage. Only Jennifer escapes the onslaught. Before being killed off-screen, Wendy, now remorseful, confesses her role in it, which had been sparked by her jealousy over Brown. She then gives Jennifer Gregory's gun. Gregory then returns to kill Jennifer, and in a moment of lucidity, he asks "Joshua" to give him back the gun, which Jennifer does. He then kills himself.[15]

Rule of Rose concludes with Jennifer, as a child, waking in the large empty orphanage and reflecting on the events and characters. Jennifer vows to remember the other children, especially because the media coverage of the children's deaths had diminished after it came to light that Jennifer had been the survivor of two horrific events, and meets with Wendy and Gregory. In the final scene, Jennifer visits Brown, now a puppy, in the shed and puts a collar on him. She completes a Bucket Knight nearby, symbolizing that she can always remember and return to her memories of Brown. Promising to protect him for eternity, she then closes the door on him.[16]

For inspiration, Punchline drew on the cruelty found in fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Edward Gorey.[17]

The company Punchline, which had previously developed the video game Chulip, developed Rule of Rose for the PlayStation 2.[2] A group of twenty-five developers, Punchline began the project after being asked by Sony Computer Entertainment to develop a horror video game; not wanting to create a game similar to the survival-horror series Resident Evil, Punchline decided on the goal of developing a "new type of horror game, one which wasn’t the usual zombie, ghost and slasher type," with an emphasis on psychological horror rather than "surprise- and shock-based horror."[2] A proposed early draft by Yoshiro Kimura was a dark fantasy "boy's story" that centered on a boy abducted by "a big man" and his attempts to escape, while encountering the ghosts of previous victims.[18] Keywords included "Kidnapping, imprisonment, children, bullying, dwarfs, airship, escape."[18] This concept was turned down by the publisher on the basis of being "too dangerous a topic," and Kimura turned to the idea of examining the "fear between girls."[18]

This decision led to the concept of "a game surrounding childhood and children," but from both viewpoints to show how children and adults can find the other one terrifying, with a primary focus on the adult's perspective.[2] Though the game has garnered comparisons with William Golding's 1954 allegorical novel Lord of the Flies,[19][20] the developers did not draw inspiration from it,[2] instead focusing on the "mysterious and misunderstood" nature of girls.[17] The story formed through trial and error as the developers figured out how to create a sense of fear, ultimately adding the children's secret society, the Red Crayon Aristocrats.[17] They also included Brown as a way to balance Jennifer's "helpless and unhappy" personality and make the game more enjoyable.[17] Because of budget and time problems, the combat system was left a little rough.[21]

Rule of Rose's graphics are heavily stylized, incorporating a series of visual filters similar to those used in the Silent Hill series.[5] The developers researched the behavior of children, monitoring a group of European and American children, and photographed references for "the game’s textures and models"; for the motion capture, the team had Japanese children act.[2] At the request of the developers, the group of children also expressed through drawings or written words what caused them to be happy or afraid.[2] The company Shirogumi worked on the computer-generated imagery present in Rule of Rose's cutscenes.[22] The musical score was composed by Yutaka Minobe, who also co-composed the music of Skies of Arcadia and some tracks from the Panzer Dragoon Orta soundtrack. The entire score was produced by studio musicians, including the Hiroshi Murayama Trio, and vocals by Kaori Kondo. According to the game's developers, the music was intended to bring a human element to the atmosphere in the game.[23] A 6-track promotional soundtrack CD was produced by Atlus, which was issued to customers from certain retailers when Rule of Rose was pre-ordered.[24]

Punchline included several themes in Rule of Rose,[23] with the primary one being "intimate relationships between all people".[2] A major theme in the game is the difference between a child's and an adult's way of thinking, and how children might treat adults if they were given power over them. Players are helpless to prevent their adult player character from being bullied by the children.[23] Another is how attachment "to one thing can bring out the worst in people."[21]

Prior to its publication, Rule of Rose was the subject of a moral panic in Europe.[25] At E3 2006 Atlus announced that it would be releasing Rule of Rose in the United States,[26] following Sony's decision to pass on an American release, as the game "wasn’t really in sync with their corporate image" and the company had wanted the game to "be a bit tamer, if it were to have the Sony name in the U.S."[2] The developers disagreed with this, saying that "the theme is supposed to be one of intimate familiarity" and that they had intended to portray how children behave "without the filter of guilt or sin."[2] Rumors of violence towards children in the game tied into a larger discussion of morality and violence in video games appeared in the Italian magazine Panorama in November 2006, and were quickly picked up by the British media, which alleged that the game had scenes of "children buried alive underground, in-game sadomasochism, and underage eroticism."[25] These allegations were untrue.[25] At the time, Rule of Rose had already been rated by various video game advisory boards as suitable for an older teenage audience: in Japan, it was rated 15+; in the majority of Europe, 16+; and in North America, 17+.[25]

European Union justice minister Franco Frattini attacked the game as containing "obscene cruelty and brutality." He also called for changes to the PEGI rating system in place across Europe and for government officials to engage in discussions with industry representatives.[27] Frattini received a letter from Viviane Reding, commissioner for the information society and media, who criticized his actions: "It is...very unfortunate that my services were not pre-consulted before your letter to the Ministers of Interior was sent out," reminding him of the commission-backed self-regulating ratings system called PEGI that has operated across the European Union since 2003. The PEGI system of classification, according to Reding's letter, offers "informed adult choice" without censoring content: "This is in line with the Commission's view that measures taken to protect minors and human dignity must be carefully balanced with the fundamental right to freedom of expression as laid down in the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union."[28] On March 7, 2007, a group of Member of the European Parliaments presented a Motion for a European Parliament resolution on a ban on the sale and distribution in Europe of the game and the creation of a 'European Observatory on childhood and minors'.[29] The game was further suggested to be banned for sale in France,[30] and to be kept from the public in Poland.[31] At this time, the game had not yet been released in Europe; the public officials suggesting that Rule of Rose be banned had not played the game, only having read about its alleged content or seen the trailer.[25]

505 Games' Australian distributor, Red-Ant, cancelled the game's Australian and New Zealand release,[32] and 505 Games later cancelled the United Kingdom release as a result of complaints by Frattini and other EU officials, and "largely misleading"[33] commentary from the British press, although review copies had already shipped to video game journalists.[34] It was released in the rest of Europe. The British body which had granted the title its 16+ PEGI rating (the Video Standards Council) responded to the press and Frattini's comments: "I have no idea where the suggestion of in-game sadomasochism has come from, nor children being buried underground. These are things that have been completely made up. [...] We’re not worried about our integrity being called into question, because Mr Frattini’s quotes are nonsense."[27] The Council further noted that "there isn’t any underage eroticism. And the most violent scene does indeed see one of the young girls scare Jennifer with a rat on a stick. But the rat’s actually quite placid towards her and even licks her face.”[27]

The game received mixed reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[35] The reviewer for video game magazine Play wrote: "I think everyone should experience this game, especially horror fans, but in order to do so, you're going to have to suffer through times of sheer agony--just like poor, unlucky Jennifer."[48] According to Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine, the game "[b]lends the stuff of nightmares with stylish sound and graphics. Sadly, the developer should have spent longer on the gameplay."[49] Edge found neither plot nor gameplay appealing: "It’s just a murky brew of meaningless, exploitative dysfunction filling an empty game, and it leaves a bitter taste."[36]

It is generally agreed that the title has an interesting plot, with The A.V. Club observing that "aside from a few deep curtsies and an unlockable Gothic Lolita costume, the characters are more sinister than sexualised".[47] However, the gameplay is widely lambasted as clumsy, archaic,[50] and unrewarding.[6][8] The press was generally divided upon how much the gameplay detracts from one's ability to enjoy the story itself. GamesRadar described Jennifer as "a cringing, passive non-entity" and stated: "There's no denying that Rule of Rose is extremely pretty, atmospheric and disturbing.... but as an adventure game, Rule of Rose just sort of wilts."[51] Acegamez, on the other hand, not only admired the game's plot but also found the gameplay appealing if slow, "a wonderful psychological thriller that will draw you in with its bizarrely compelling narrative, atmospheric presentation and thoughtful story-based gameplay".[7]

In a retrospective article on survival horror games, GamePro's Michael Cherdchupan listed Rule of Rose as one of the classics of the genre, writing that the game was a work of art that lingered long after playing through; he praised it for its delicate handling of its subject matter and Jennifer's journey as she processes her trauma.[52] IGN listed Rule of Rose as one of the worst horror games created after 2000. While enjoying the "refreshingly adult take on sexual awakening and repressed memories that's consistently unsettling without ever resorting to cheap shock tactics," it criticized the game's "totally broken" combat and "thoroughly excruciating" backtracking, controls, and camera angles.[53]

Because of the limited number of copies published, Rule of Rose has garnered a reputation as one of the more expensive video games to buy second-hand.[54]

• Official website