The Gamer's Quarter

Mister Toups · Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject: rule of rose impressions

I don't know if any of you have been following Rule of Rose or not, but click the link and check out the trailer and tell me that it doesn't look awesome. Just try. You can't.

Anyway, I played the Chinese import with Shaper and Dalenixon the other night, and these are my impressions:

1) This is definitely the most uh, populated survival horror game I've ever played. Though you do occasionally encounter enemies, in the amount of time we played, we encounter about a dozen or so NPC's that are just sort of hanging about. None of them explain anything, of course, and they are generally unfriendly/unpleasant/quite rude. But they aren't introduced with cutscenes or anything; sometimes you'll enter a room and there will be a few people mucking about.

2) It REALLY reminds me of The Room, so much so that I feel like it must share some of that game's development team, and maybe even use that game's engine. The way it handles puzzles is similar, and it seems like it might even have a similar structure. It controls the same way, right down to the camera controls (when you're in a hallway, pressing L2 will flip the camera around the character so you can see the other direction). Beyond that it even seems to have similar atmosphere.

3) The dog character is really well implemented so far. As it is, you can take ANY item in your inventory and give it to him to smell, and he'll try to lead you to find anything related to it. I could see it becoming annoying, but so far it's been useful and intuitive. I'm not sure if he actually participates in combat or not... I'd rather he not, to be honest.

4) It's actually a LOT creepier than I was expecting it to be.

FFDog-esque videos of our playthrough frothcoming!
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seryogin · Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:49 pm Post subject:

I watched the trailer and it doesn't make me want to play it. It looks like a bad horror movie with plenty of lollicon bondage to satisfy Mr. Toups' monstrous appetites.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:10 am Post subject:

i'm pretty curious about this game after seeing the trailer.

scary children are totally the scariest.

and a horror environment that is actually populated sounds pretty interesting!
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seryogin · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:57 am Post subject:

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:08 am Post subject:

your jealousy is so transparent
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:19 am Post subject:

you're so cruel sergei.
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Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

You see, this is what pisses me off with modern games mags. They no longer cover, or preview, or even mention unusual Japanese games like this. Why, I remeber back in the GameFan days, all kinds of crazy Japan only games were covered, almost exclusively to Western tat. Lord knows how many strange oddities I have missed over the years because modern mags aren't covering them. (for the record, I can't buy USA mags easily in Europe, so have to put up with UK ones)

How did you guys find out about this title? I'm curious to know your sources.

Otherwise, that shit looks damn creepy. Disturbing in fact. I honestly don't think it will ever get a Western localisation.

So, what's it actually about?

Mr. Mechanical · Friendly Stranger Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276

Damn, Seryoga, make fun of me next!

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:37 am Post subject:

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

DaleNixon · . Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 179

TheRumblefish · . Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida

It certainly looks like it has some disturbing content. However, almost thing phases me anymore when it comes to Survival Horror, or horror films of any kind. However this game has surprising subject matter, which peaks some interest for originality.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:16 pm Post subject:

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

Mister Toups · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject:

dessgeega · Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:06 pm Post subject:

Faithless · . Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 153

This isn't the thread for it, but someone really needs to deconstruct the whole Lolicon thing (as cultural fad) for me. What. Does. It. Mean. That. It's. So. Out. In. The. Open?
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Mister Toups · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:07 am Post subject:

For all practical purposes, I guess it means "mothers lock up your daughters"?
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Alc · . Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 109 Location: UK

I pointed aout that a scary high proportion of Japanese men have this lolicon thing going on, over at another forum, and someone mentioned some Kent state university research findings. The sample group seems limited to the point of technical statistical insignificance to me, but that doesn't mean it isn't fucked up.

dhex · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:20 am Post subject:

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

I'm thinking I'd probably buy the game too. It sounds like it's more of a psychological thriller kind of thing, which I'm always up for. There's potential for some interesting puzzles with the dog character.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

OtakupunkX · . Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730

This game sounds great. I have a tendency to think a bit too much into things and I have a rather disturbing imagination, so this thing's going to drive me insane.

Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

Dunno if anyone is interested, but there's an import review up at:
http://ntsc-uk.com/review.php?platform=ps2&game=RuleOfRose

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

dessgeega · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

on the other hand, i'm kind of curious about this now.

though possibly just because of the sadistic children.
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Szczepaniak · . Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 770

Just the messenger man, hold the bullets back. Wink

But otherwise it seems that coverage of this game is really thin on the (internet) ground.

dhex · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:13 am Post subject:

according to gamestop, the us release is in september.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

I attended the Annecy Animation Festival last month, and I saw about five minutes of FMV for Rule of Rose which had been edited together and entered as a competition film. On the way back to the campsite, we had the following discussion.

-So that Japanese one, 'The law of the rose' or something...'
-Yeah. That was fucking weird, wasn't it?
-Yeah. What was it, do you think it was for a game or something?
-I don't know...
- It was probably the most paedo thing I've seen in my life.

Discussion continued like this until there was a lull in the conversation, which was broken when someone said:

- at the same time though, I thought it was incredible.

We all agreed.

Kinuko · . Joined: 13 Dec 2005 Posts: 66

This and Dead Rising are the things from E3 I'm most excited for.

I'm thinking of it as Clock Tower and Haunting Ground put together and hopefully done right. I can't wait.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

GilloD · . Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 33

There's been a lot of beating around the bush here, I think. The only thing I knew about this game coming into the thread was that it was "controversial". For the 3 (?) of you who have been playing the game, how is it handled? What is the controversy? Is it blown out or proportion?

Spoil me, if need be.

Harveyjames · the meteor kid Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 3636

dessgeega · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 11:46 am Post subject:

that's pretty much why i'm interested in it.
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Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

There is no topic to really flirt around. If you read that Gamasutra interview you will see that. Honestly it is only sexual in its subliminal items. But, I mean, that makes things like... much more creepy. But it doesn't seem like it enters into the story too much, just in the cutscenese where it is hinted at/suggestive.
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dessgeega · Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject:

so hey, does a north american localization of this exist now?
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simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

September 12th

simplicio · . Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1091

Cross-posty:

Thing is, the combat is lopsided enough that I figure it has to be intentional. My theory so far (which means, stuck at that first lopsided first boss) is that the whole game is out to portray the helplessness of Jennifer. From her inadequacy with weapons to her reliance on Brown to lead the way (and the way that, when injured, she can't even keep up with him) and find things she physically can't see (which ties into the Survival Horror meme of obscured vision/wonky cameras) to the focus on sound to her social standing and interactions. But then, given her position, she's really got no choice but to pick up a knife and have a go of it anyway. So when she swings a pipe straight through someone to no effect, only to have him hit her with his back turned from four feet away, it almost makes sense.

Also: I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to identify with her. Just like all the other frequent characters look down on her (both socially and, in the case of that lounge room and the grownups, physically), so do we, with the raised camera angle. Note that the only things we see from a lowered PoV are the cutscenes. In-game moments where they might have made sense, such as fighting someone taller than her (see Shadow of the Colossus) are all shot from above. Also, panty-lines. You don't show us present-day panty-lines of a young girl, supposedly from the 1930s, who you want us to relate to. We're supposed to objectify her and think of her as filthy like everyone else does.

I think there's a greater than usual emphasis on visuals obfuscation too. Check all the sight references in those cutscenes: Bag masks with no eyeholes, limited views through holes and keyholes and slats, only one eye looking around the corner, Brown's eye bondage, etc. And like Shaper said about her being too scared to open doors when the bag-head kids are behind them, but there are also times when we can't see why the door is closed. We don't know if what or who's shutting the door, whether it's Jennifer herself or something else unseen.

There are some other themes here; I'm getting a Gulliver's Travels reading from a lot of it, obviously, but I don't have enough to go on yet. Still have to beat that first boss.

This may be my first TGQ article in the making. It's certainly the most intriguing game I've played this year. Killer 7 '06?