Game:

Rule of Rose (2006)

Duration: 0:00

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Originally recorded: October 17, 2024
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Well, after treading familiar territory with Dawn of Sorrow, I'm heading into my next game relatively blind. I've never really been that big on fifth and sixth-gen era survival horror games, but Rule of Rose is a game that has been raved about as a hidden gem on multiple YouTube channels that I'm subscribed too -- but it's also got a fairly infamous reputation for its gameplay. That last bit is exactly why KI pounced on the nomination and attempted a recruitment drive. The surprising part is its margin of victory was actually fairly close: Silent Hill 2 almost got this spot instead. Though considering that one of my friends was planning on playing both of those games this October (among others), I'm honestly relieved that Rule of Rose won out. I'd hate to be considered a complete rip-off of the other guy... though I did manage to beat him to the punch on DoS.

The opening cutscene for this game was disturbing... and not for the reasons you'd expect from a horror game. KI informed me that all of those clips were essentially taken out of context and apparently, the opening alone was used to prop up a moral panic in some Western country in response. I still stand by my joke about being surprised that this game was allowed on Twitch after watching that though. In retrospect, it probably would've been more entertaining to hear my reactions to watching the whole thing in real time. But chances are that I'll ended up doing that once the game's finished if I have enough time left over.

I only managed to clear two chapters this time out of the 11 that comprise the game. In my defense, I got lost in both segments, considering how I was effectively getting my bearings in two completely different environments and I did wrap things up early, simply because I felt like I didn't enough time left to make any real progress in a third chapter this time after wasting so much time on the first two. I'm hoping I can knock out three chapters a pop in the following streams -- but I supposed that will depend on whether or not the game decides to start throwing any additional gimmicks or brand-new settings at me moving forward.

That being said, my first impressions of the game are actually fairly good. Rule of Rose seems to focus a lot more on building tension than it does on trying to deliver it through battling monsters. Of course, I only experienced combat during the second chapter and it only got out of control once I essentially had the item I needed to finish the chapter. Fortunately, the traditional rule of survival horror games from this period still held true: always try to run like Hell instead of fighting. That being said, it wasn't nearly as awkward as I was warned. That being said, considering how Jennifer was using a pistol prominently during the opening cutscene, I'm assuming that gunplay is going to be this game's Achilles' heel. On the plus side, Brown the dog was an impressively well-programmed companion and I have a feeling he's going to end up being a highlight of the game.

By the way, it turns out the dog from Haunting Ground was named Hewie, not Browning. No idea what game I'm actually thinking of. Jennifer does share her first name with the protagonist of the original Clock Tower, though.