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A good horror game , but not for slasher fans.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is pretty addictive. If you can play horror games without throwing the remote and screaming, you'll really like this game. But while it's compared to Resident Evil, it's more like Silent Hill in the fact that the monsters come at certain times, and that there are a lot of mysteries to solve. The clues and mysteries take up the majority of the game. This game isn't for slasher fans. Her weapons are small, and the main character has bad aim, so be prepared to run. It's a good title if you like the clock tower series. It's really about the creepy-factor of the story, and not about the gore. It's supposed to be creepy, and not SCARY!! PS you get a dog as a companion and it makes the game a lot of fun.

Worth your time if...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Rule of Rose is a great game if you are into symbolism. The combat is very limited and is not the mail focus of the game (as made clear by the poor choice of weapons). You are given items such as a fork and small knife to fight initially, so really you are merely meant to explore and survive rather than track down monsters and be a slayer (except of course during boss battles).
What's great about this game is the mystery. Each level is separated into two parts basically: exploration time and escape/fight time. During exploration time, little to no monsters are present and your character is free to check all of the accessible rooms and read clues as to what is going on. It's very hard to get lost and its usually pretty obvious what you have to do, thanks to Brown -the dog.
If you play through it once, you probably will not understand everything that happened (especially if you achieve the game over ending).
What I liked most about this game was reading about the children and analyzing them and Jennifer. The complex characters and mystery of just what is going on makes this game great.
To put simply what I should have started out saying, if you're into a lot of action and killing, this may not be your type of game. If you prefer to run from monsters and focus on plot and characters (and you don't mind lesbians, cruelty and animal violence) then this game you may find suitable for your taste.
The game's theme of the cruelty of children from an adult's perspective is really rather thought provoking and just plain awesome.

Such a sad, unlucky girl...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

What an oddity 'Rule of Rose' is! Why would anyone choose to play a game in which the main character is a nervous, awkward teenage girl and the story the game tells could best be described as disturbing? And yet, there's lots of good answers to this question. How about, just for starters: beautiful graphics, unique gameplay, and a compelling and rich plotline?

The graphics of 'Rule of Rose' are one of the things that sold me on the game almost immediately. Just watch the game's opening trailer to get a taste of what you'll see -- visually lush and beautiful animations, expressive characters, and a style perfectly suited to the game's story. Like the 'Silent Hill' series, 'Rule of Rose' takes a simple real-world environment and wraps it in darkness and just a slight tinge of surrealism to keep you off-guard. As gorgeous as the backdrop is, the creatures and dark edges of the story are rendered just as lovingly, products of a twisted imagination. In some scenes, sun streams through huge windows and bathes the world in a golden glow, while later the same windows are darkened except for occasional flashes of lightning, illuminating shuffling figures and featureless masks for faces. The visual style of 'Rule of Rose' is breathtaking, both terrible and beautiful.

Playing through 'Rule of Rose' can be frustrating at times. Jennifer, the main character of the game, is awkward, kind of slow, and clumsy with weapons. She is no fighter and is easily overpowered. This makes sense for the way the game's story is told, but can still make the experience difficult sometimes. This is more than offset, though, by the added dynamic of Jennifer's faithful friend, Brown the dog. Once you find and befriend him (early on in the game), Brown becomes your indispensible companion. He will help you find everything from restorative items (scones and lollipops for Jennifer, bacon and bones for Brown) to the next item needed to progress the story (everything from keys to teddy bears) and more. Brown also helps Jennifer in combat by frightening some enemies and giving Jennifer a better chance to strike or run away. Jennifer by herself may have made for a somewhat weak and frustrating experience overall, but playing 'Rule of Rose' with Jennifer and Brown is considerably more interesting.

Which all leads to the story. Told mainly through a series of crudely-drawn storybooks Jennifer finds and assembles along the way, 'Rule of Rose' is like a modern-day Grimm's fairytale gone horribly wrong. Thematically, the nearest comparison I can think of is William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies,' as 'Rule of Rose' is another story is which children are left to discover a society all of their own making (the mysterious Aristocrats of the Red Crayon), and the result is seldom pretty to look at. The children in 'Rule of Rose' are cruel and malicious to one another, as conniving and manipulative as any adults, and as selfish. Even so, 'Rule of Rose' is hard to turn away from, once begun. The storybook motif and the way the stories translate to Jennifer's reality are compelling, and in their own twisted way, beautiful too. Discovering the fate of the Aristocrats and the identity of the mysterious Stray Dog kept me playing to the bitter end.

Add in a surprisingly touching music score by Yutaka Minobe, consisting mainly of string arrangements that are positively haunting, and chillingly effective voice acting for each character, and 'Rule of Rose' comes together as an occasionally frustrating but overall compelling game.

Mind you, 'Rule of Rose' is not for everyone. The story features cruel behavior among children, and hints at physical and sexual abuse and cruelty to animals. There is very little that is overtly shown, but the undercurrent of dread and the implications of the story will frighten some and downright offend others. On the other end of the spectrum, those who like action games packed with blood and mayhem are likely to be disappointed by the slow pace of the story and the limited combat moves of the the teenage heroine. For those, however, who can appreciate a dark fairy tale, who can see beauty even in terror, who believe that even the story of a sad, unlucky, lonely girl has merit, 'Rule of Rose' is a game well worth the playing.

Not worth it . . .

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: October 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I should have listened to the warnings.

This game was so uninteresting from the beginning that I couldn't play it. Ultimately, I gave the game away.

You want great games? Try "Dragonquest VIII" or "Shadowhearts (from The New World)". Even "Magna Carta (Tears of Blood)" is better. Stay away from "Rule of Rose", it's not worth the price.

Animal Abuse Hell

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 12
Date: March 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you love animals stay away. Brilliant in many area horrendous in others the ending does not allow for anything but anger and misery IMO

Graphics are the only thing to look forward to.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game had little to no story line and a defective battle system. The main character was easily killed and the endings were poor and did not help explain the story at all. This should be a rental only. You should not buy this game. It is a waste of money.

Great Game for Horror Fantics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is a great game... Especially if you like twisty storylines and freaky horror.
The movies are awesome, i totally palyed this game for the storyline, which is confusing, but amazing if you look up every detail.
The fights are a little bit hard to control, but you don't have to fight all of the enemies, only boss fights.

Creepy fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game is enjoyable in a fun/creepy way. The combination of masochistic children and a deeper chilling backstory makes for an engaging if sometimes puzzling time. Actually I found there were quite a few humorous moments as well.

The one major drawback, I felt, was that as the game progresses, so do combat sequences, in which the game does not excel. The controls are for combat are clunky and imprecise. This tended to get frustrating more than challenging.

Overall, I enjoyed the odd game for its idiocyncracies- I've never played another like it, but I admit it did drag on a bit and required lots of hunting each chapter/quest for items and clues over the same ground as previous ones.

Should Have Been a Movie...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I admit, I haven't played a lot of survival horror. I rented this game because I thought it would be a good intro to the genre without the need to worry about twitch shooting and ammo counts. Plus, the story sounded interesting.

Things didn't turn out that way. The game is SLOOOOWWWW. Action? What action? You spend your time running around through the same areas, looking for items. Sometimes you end up in combat. Mostly you run around.

I use the word "run" loosely, since Jennifer does not seem capable of fast movement. Imagine running with your legs tied together - that's her speed. (To add insult to injury, if you make her move too much, she bends over and pants once you stop her...)

On the other hand, graphics and audio are very well done.

If Only The Story Made More Sense...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: February 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Gist Of The Game: A young woman by the name of Jennifer rides a bus through the eerie night. Then, an unkwown child hands her a written story book and asks Jennifer to finish it. Before the girl knew it, the bus stops and the child runs off into the darkened woods. Stupidly though, Jennifer gets off and goes after the child. Little does she know that she just took her first steps into the growing nightmare. Now she must follow the rules of the misguided children to get out of it.
Horrible monsters, devilish children with cruel intentions, and even a mysterious man that seems to be stalking Jennifer... One question lingers in her mind: what did she do to deserve such torture?

Gameplay: You assume the role of Jennifer, who uses the loyal dog Brown for support. Even though you acquire many different weapon types as the game goes by, both Jennifer and Brown are fairly weak in battles, and it is best to just run away at times (unless forced to fight; you'll know by the "notifications" you get). While Jennifer is mostly good for just attacking when needed to, Brown is best for sniffing out any items or clues that you get throughout the story.

My Opinion On Game: I have to admit the creepy atmosphere and music really flow with each other, which does make the game "horrific" I guess the word is, but the game does lack in many other things though. For starters, the main character can really annoy you alot. It makes you wonder why she won't stand up for herself when it comes to the children. How can she let them push her around like that? Also, Brown is no good, except for sniffing out the items you need, otherwise, he sucks in battles -- I mean, barking? It doesn't really do much for you.
I think the biggest of the "lackings" would have to be the storyline; it doesn't make much sense at all. Why is Jennifer there, why is there a creepy man who seems to keep calling Jennifer "Joshua", and the monsters...just what does it all mean?
Oh yes, the battle system could be redone. Attacking the monsters is quite hard, and even avoiding/running from them can be extremely tricky! The game would be a bit easier if they toned down the number of monsters just a tad; and besides that, a better aiming system for Jennifer: she's rather slow swinging/shooting.

One Last Note: If you still intend on buying this game, I just have to let you know that there is ABSOLUTELY NO PLAYERS GUIDE FOR THIS GAME! If you need help/hints/advice, then you better start browsing game websites and see what you can find.
Even though there is no player's guide, I'll still give a little advice/hints that you won't be able to find in the instruction booklet:
1. Always Expect The Unexpected: you never know where/when those monsters will show up, so be on the lookout (you can usually tell they're in the same room as you by the whispers, grunts, etc.).
2. Try To Find As Many Health Items As Possible: I have mentioned before that Jennifer and Brown are weak and can take quite a beating from the monsters/bosses that they encounter, so (before you assume you'll see a monster/boss) try to make Brown find as many health items as possible. You'll regret it if you dont'!
3. Be Aware Of What You Do In The Game: What you do in the game can affect the outcome of how the story will end. I can't tell you what you should or should not do, but just becarful at what you do.

Even though this isn't the best horror game I've seen, but it's unique/original story does make you want to play more and see how it ends. Although I really do suggest you think it over before buying this game, it's best just to rent it first and see how you like it. If you DO like this game, then the other games I suggest playing also (and much better and make more sense) are the Clock Tower series, Haunting Ground, and the Fatal Frame series.

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