One little piece of the plot always seems to get by people: You wanna know how drastically unlucky Jennifer is? After surviving two disasters and coming to terms with her traumatic memories, she confidently goes off to her life as a young adult... in London in the early 1940s.
Okay! Finally a place for my obscure Rule of Rose knowledge! The combat system is SO VERY BAD for a great reason! Those hordes of enemies? Were placeholders. Literally, that's why combat is game shatteringly bad, the devs told the publisher that the game couldn't be released because it wasn't finished, that they didn't even have enemies? And the publisher said whelp you can't have any more time, and pushed it out the door unfinished, broken, empty except for the main storyline and devoid of real enemies. Rule of Rose is a great example of a small, inexperienced team taking on a very ambitious project then not being given the resources to actually finish it. Great to see someone covering this weird piece of horror game history!
I could see Atlus pick it up again They've always been pretty willing for some controversy and experimental shit. I mean just look at Catherine or basically the entirety of the Kamoshida arc in P5 (also even on nintendo games they haven't given up on full frontal nudity for accuracy to mythological figures.)
-cough fortnite jiggles jiggles apology cough- -cough people say link is gay cause sjw think he is cause in orcorina of time he isnt with a chick cough-
What are you babbling about? Your "examples aren't even comparable to RoR which has literal animal and child abuse in it not to mention the crazy guy who murders an orphanage full of kids and then himself. The fortnite "controversy" is an example of a dev forgeting that titties do bounce and begging for forgiveness from the far left witch hunt and the thing with link is that isn't even "baggage". That's just what a bunch of stupid people think.
I've e-mailed Atlus about is the could sell the soundtrack of the game. They just were the official distributors in America, the persons behind RoR are a long-gone japanese company named Punchline. After Atlus signed a contract of not publishing anything related to the game ever again. So, yeah ;_;
I always assumed Jennifer is still asleep on that bus throughout the whole game. Just a bad dream dealing with a lot of trauma she went through as a child.
I think she just had a hallucination so she might even still be collapsed inside the orphanage. With the boarding ticket and stuffs so i assumed she went through the back entrance
Bus isn't real, neither is the dead boy Joshua who hands you his book. It's a metaphor of her going into her own repressed memories trying to unlock what she buried in her psyche
For me that story is sad more than anything. It feels like a tragedy. This girl stuck in an enviroment where she is completely unable to keep her promises and where she had put her trust in evil people.
actually in the ending chapter, where u play as young jennefer and read the letters , most of the people were not evil to begin with, such as hoffman was not a sexual predator especially towards clara who was the most hardworking compare to the others, in the diary it even said when clara was 16 she wanted to stay in the orphanage and contribute by doing chores which make hoffman wanted to discuss it with martha, it was all her imagination. u can find letters that shows the lores of each characters before freeing brown
It's especially a tragedy when they kill her dog. But it becomes a comedy when all the rotten little monsters who killed her dog get killed themselves.
Willie Hawaii - As an American who travelled to England, the scones are nothing like American scones, at least if they’re made right. Soft, warm, buttery... with a browned bottom and a golden top. Delightful!
Rule of rose was a game that marked me A LOT when I was younger, especially at a period where I getting bullied pretty hard. It's a shame the gameplay is so bad, because the story is really emotional and well told.
If they wanted to convey how helpless, shy and weak child - Jennifer was, then congratulations, they get that point across really good.. ^^ But it just feels extra awkward because you play as 19 year old grown-ass Jennifer XD it feels like an insult playing as such an awkwardly moving weak "adult"...
I took it as Jennifer was actually a child during the whole game, it was her mental image of herself as mature that caused her to look older and only when she confronts the club does reality assert itself.
Rule of Rose also has a lot of subtext about being bullied as well. Kids can be damn awful and damn cruel. And it's a shame Rule of Rose wouldn't be able to be remastered in this era because we somehow have denied the reality of how cruel kids can be as bullies. When I was young this game resonated with me because I was tooormented by kids at school. They threw my contents of my backpack out the bus window. One time a group of kids surrounded me so one kid could fight me and beat me up. It's a damn near shame we live in a world, where kids cannot be harmed or cannot be the ones committing the crimes in games.
I wouldn’t say it’s a shame that they can’t be harmed, but I would agree there are kids who need care, love, and proper discipline but are not getting any.
jacoblgames maybe not in a game like gta, having and being able to harm kids would just seem in poor taste and be pretty weird. But in horror games like this that can use the imagery for more than just shock value and actually have some subtext then it should be fine.
Probably not. There's also that part with the sexually forward oldest girl (the one that pulls up her dress really high in the opening) that got touchy-feely with the old teacher, or the teacher with her, very cringy and probably not many ppl want to see that part ^^; yikes. I think the painfully strapped down teacher boss is an allegory to his feelings relating that stuff, too.
Games are not permitted to tell mature stories, and gamers don't want them to. It would be a depressingly futile attempt to even try to remake it. The only real possibility would be a PC remaster released on Steam, but whoever did it would get such an assault from the gaming community that it probably wouldn't last long. If they couldn't even handle Hatred, something like this has absolutely no hope.
@@DustinRodriguez1_0 What are you talking about. If games are not permitted to touch upon mature topics then why do we have so many games about mature topics? Gamers do want mature games. Look I like games like Pokemon, but it doesn't mean I want all of my games to be as cutsey as it. Let's look at Detroit Become Human, it touches upon certain themes in a similar vein as this one, and that game sold amazingly well.
You missed a lot of the character part in the last chapter. Like the girl with the bird in the cage. All the nice, heartbreaking words she had to tell about the girls, who bullied her. And the mermaid boss is linked to a pedophile incident. The mermaid had a scar on the hip, like she had an abortion. Legs were tied up. Why do you think so? She is vomiting, why do you think so? Actually it's the girl in the nursery. The one who was always quiet. You can unlock a cutscene, where she was called inside (I think) the bedroom of the headmaster, where she was on her knees in front of him, scrubbing the floor. And his voice was so creepy "there's some dust... Over here. Give it a wipe.". This game has so much great about it, except the combat, but I never bothered with that.
Yeah you’re on the one with this, the same headmaster character had some cut audio from the game as well which could definitely imply rape or grunts for an unused combat sequence
That ties in with other characters too, it's implied that Diana was abused by him as punishment for his Koi fish incident, and she blames Jeniffer for that happening. Also her relationship with Growing Up and with her body going through puberty, as she hates how he looks at her now
"And this is the final boss; Gregory, the stray dog." God, that gave me goosebumps. What a story. And a great video displaying the pros and cons of the game. It seems like such an interesting story, but I don't know if I could fight through the gameplay to see it.
This is the kind of game that deserves a remake. A fascinating, thoughtful, disturbing story and good visuals hald back by poor gameplay and a limited release.
CarozQH My thoughts exactly. Although the game is a bit too controversial to get one, I think that something that brilliantly unsettling that's not afraid to hurt children to get across its point is something that deserves love.
@@wanderingoryx3710 In Fallout 1 and 2 you can violently slaughter children. Burn them to death, obliterate the upper half of their body, fill them full of holes, beat them to death with knuckles.
Deserved? Absolutely. Chance of Happening? Almost impossible. Atlus nowadays is different than the old atlus. Nowadays straight up milking a game to the point where it's completely dry (Persona Series, feel bad for Persona 1 & 2), and also straight up giving us fake hope like SMT V. Afterall, this game flopped quickly and had faced a lot of controversy. That's a big nope
One of my best friends growing up desperately wanted this game, having found out about it about a year after it met it's fate over in the UK. By some sheer display of luck, I managed to find a copy... A PAL one no less! Only cost me £20 for just the disc. Got it, it was legit. I don't think I'm ever gonna forget the cheer of joy she let out (damn near deafened me!). I was then kidnapped for a weekend (was only supposed to be staying over for the one night originally) so we could go through it together. Horrors not my thing and neither was this game, but it made her happy so for that it's a good game. And if by some bizarre act of fate you happen upon this comment hun; "Red crayons and brown bread."
An absolute moment of pure luck on ebay! Dude claimed he got his copy early before the ban, but didn't want it anymore. I'm inclined to believe him, seeming as it worked without a hitch and this was before I learned about "magic memory cards"
The whole game was just Jennifer 10 years later remembering her childhood as she had repressed the memories of mistreatment and abuse. The ending was her making a new promise to never forget the more happier memories of both Brown and Wendy instead of when she last saw the two. You also missed the meaning behind the adults as the orphans headmaster and maid they were the caretakers but were also cruel to the children from what’s going on. Like the mermaid chapter was another repressed memory Jennifer had when she witnessed the headmaster sexually harassing the girls. Theories are that the girl who was the mermaid was his main victim and that her sudden leave was either she left because of the abuse or that she was pregnant and that girl was the oldest of the children at the orphanage, somewhere in her mid teens.
well like I said, I had a difficult time piecing it all together so I'm sure there's some things that got left out. I'm just one person after all. But I discussed everything I wanted to and got all of my points across.
Nitro Rad Oh I know like I seriously had to dig more about the game after going through it the first time since it’s very confusing at some points. I think there was great replay potential when it came to understanding the story next to the extra. But again there’s was no way to replay it since it’s such a frustrating game.
It's really hard to figure out entire story by yourself. Narration in this game isn't as polished as in Silent Hill 2 and many things are hard to spot.
videogamerka000 I was so confused at first cause I’m thinking “Why the hell is a 19 year old getting pushed around by bratty ass kids?” The reveal however made things a little clearer while looking it up more on the internet actually clarified everything. Again replay potential was squandered because of shitty combat system
The aesthetic, story, horror, characters, bosses, music, design- everything about this game other than the gameplay is ace. I love this game, but I can NOT with the gameplay. It's too frustrating.
I never found it frustrating because jennifer is not supposed to fight (she is scared and insicure when she hits somebody) so it matches perfectly with the character :)
@@johnnydecomposizione3106 To me and others: there is a difference between the meant-to clunkiness of Harry Mason in Silent Hill 1.... compared to a broken combat system in ROR that is really horrible and that everyone hates because it is truly unfair (broken)...... I played this when I was little and the horrible 'combat' is what I still remember: it ruined the experience. There is such a thing as being inexperienced with weapons/combat to give a sense of being a rookie: and something that is BROKEN to begin with.
If a game ever deserved a remaster it's this one. Beautiful atmosphere and creativity marred by horrible combat and the fact that no one can buy it for less than 200 dollars anymore.
@LynnGryphon Pretty much... I remember seeing it for like $90 a few years back and naively thinking that I could find it for cheaper, but I haven't seen any offers set below $150 in ages.
if I recall correctly, one of the devs said that it was time constraints and budget that made the game pretty rough around the edges like for example the shit hitboxes in the game. Your explanation of the story seems perfect. Also, have you seen the unused content? Pretty interesting stuff.
Also, I got a japanese copy of this game for like $119 on ebay. The seller put in in a double layer of bubble wrap and marked it as a fragile package. It works and despite paying a high price, it was lower than most copies sold for. Also there's a digital re-release of the soundtrack on the jp version of Amazon, but it doesn't have every song from the game.
I don't really have anything against Let's Plays in general, but it hurts my soul when so many people are ready to write off a horror game just because it's not filled with cheap jump scares for people to overreact to.
Child abuse "trigger warning", or whatever : I think you missed a couple darker elements in the story when you explained it, and another reason of speculation as to why it was banned in so many places. 1. A point that's overlooked is the possibility that Gregory/Stray Dog actually was a cannibal. In his story about the "peas" or whatever in the chapter where you're taken by him to his home he whispers a story in a loop. He talks about taking the "pea" as it "kicks and screams", then proceeding to "grind it up" to make soup. I believe he called Jennifer a "pea" once as well, maybe hinting to actual cannibalism and how he views children as food. The child disappearances in the newspapers hint to it as well.. 2. Literally cryptic and hidden child sexual abuse by Mr.Hoffman and how he speaks to Diana and Clara. He's the reason Clara is even a boss fight as the mermaid, her legs bound shut to keep them closed? The gynecology table with blood stains in the room she stays in with Mr.Hoffman and when he takes her into the boss fight room to a *bed*, alone? Even when you're in the Hoffman boss fight he tackles you really suggestively sometimes (in some player's eyes) and its just plain creepy, vile and disgusting, literally a nightmare. Jennifer will tell the player "No!" if you tell her to open a drawer that Clara shuts again more than once, Jennifer is suppressing a traumatic memory of something and literally not allowing you to discover any further. Albeit heartbreaking reasons, the game has so much to tell, a lot of it is hidden and its worth investigating every corner and every dialogue. Either way you got the MAIN part of the story right in my opinion and I enjoyed your perspective on it! Very entertaining take on it, one of my favorite underground games, I'm subbed. If you want to learn some more interesting easter eggs people have found about the game through MANY years, I recommend checking out "Rule Of Rose Mysteries" a youtube channel and blog, if you are curious to hear more theories!
To be fair, it was already a half-hour long video. I think he cut some stuff out for time. But I would have enjoyed him talking about it at least a little, i agree.
@@prezidenttrump5171 he talked about it so much because it doesnt work in a variety of ways. He also probably wanted to save some stuff in case we wanted to play it afterwards, and pointing out the biggest flaws would be important. That's my take on it anyway. Havent watched the video in a while, so the pacing and length of segments are not fresh in my mind.
Gregory: "Once upon a time, there was a precious little girl." That scared the CRAP outta me when I first encountered it. Heck, it STILL freaks me out!
It's heavily implied that the guy running the orphanage was molesting one of the girls too. I actually bought this game when it came out and still have my copy. It plays like shit but I was able to power through it.
actually hoffman never sexually asssaulted clara. Because in the ending chapter, where you play as young jennefer to free brown, if you go into hoffman office, and read his diary, he never sexually assaulted anyone, especially clara who was the most hardworking one among the others, even in the diary, when clara was 16 she even offered to stay in the orphanage and help with the chores. which led to hoffman wanting to discuss her stay with marta. it was all her imagination
@@PDIcomics actually hoffman never sexually asssaulted clara. Because in the ending chapter, where you play as young jennefer to free brown, if you go into hoffman office, and read his diary, he never sexually assaulted anyone, especially clara who was the most hardworking one among the others, even in the diary, when clara was 16 she even offered to stay in the orphanage and help with the chores. which led to hoffman wanting to discuss her stay with marta. it was all her imagination ps. u can read the reason of the fallout between wendy and jennefer in the sickbay when playing as young jennefer before saving brown
This game needs a remake, not only to make it a fairly good game, but to actually have a cheap way to legally play it, as well as letting this niche game reach a wider demographic
When I said wider demographic I just meant reach more people. I should have worded that better. I really don’t want it to be a normie horror game, I just want it to be better known and have better gameplay. Sorry for the confusion
I used to own this game. The combat was god-awful but the soundtrack, story, and atmosphere is what made it all worth playing. No words could describe the mix of absolute frustration as well as inspiring beauty... Also that "mermaid" boss made me want to give up. FUUUUUUCK THAT BOSS FIGHT. I blame it on ATLUS's inexperience with Survival Horror genre since this was their first actual attempt outside of Hell Night which wasn't really a free-roam.
Grod Gaming Whoops! My bad! Though if it wasn't marketed poorly and other countries got their panties in a bunch which ruined it. If more time was placed in the combat, this game could've been a horror classic, in my opinion. The combat doesn't look that bad in the gameplay, but it's so hard to describe how clumsy it all is. It really destroyed it.
I still own my copy. I remember getting it off the shelf for like $15 because nobody wanted it at the time. But yeah, agreed. Fuck that mermaid boss lol. Honestly, I remember even Hoffman's fight being absolute bull because of the ridiculous hit boxes. Seriously, though, if they just fixed that terrible, buggy combat, I feel like it could have been a great horror classic.
This is a very fair review! It is true that Rule of Rose can be a tough game to love, because the gameplay does kinda suck, and even the narrative, as much as I like it, can be too confusing and slow to get people really invested in it. I know of quite a few people that quit playing it mostly because they couldn't stand to see Jennifer, as an adult woman, being meekly bullied by a bunch of children half her size, which... is not really what's happening in the story, but it is also an integral part of the structure of the plot, and revealing the truth behind it would spoil a good chunk of it, so. Yeah. Still, I think this game is definitely worth a play, because the plot is genuinely great and very unique. If anything, it's worth it for that ending... there's different ways to interpret all of it, of course, but as I see it, Rule of Rose is all about coming to terms with the past, the good and the bad, which is why there's so much focus in the 'promises' Jennifer made as a child. The whole game itself is basically Jennifer unpacking all of her repressed memories, and in it, we see things the way her child self experienced it, a jumbled distressing mess wrapped in a romanticized fairytale-ish view. But in the true ending, we see Jennifer actually analyzing all that happened in that orphanage with a cool head, as an adult, and ultimately making the decision to look at the whole situation somewhat kindly. She mentions that once she was found, all everyone focused on was that she was the survivor of the airship crash, so the massacre in the orphanage was pretty much forgotten by the world, and everyone in the orphanage, alone as they were, were forgotten as well, almost as if they never existed. In that final chapter, she looks with pity at the children, despite everything they done, and chooses to remember them, because they deserve at least to be remembered, in spite of it all. And especially Brown, of course. After all, he was her one true source of happiness while in that orphanage, and he just a poor baby stray that had no one else in the world but her, so if she doesn't remember him, who will? Anyway, this is one game that does deserve a remake, as unlikely as that is to happen. I'm usually not a fan of horror stories with these edgy taboo themes to it because they usually tend to be treated for shock value aesthetic alone, but Rule of Rose dealt with it way more tactfully than that negative marketing would suggest. It had something to say about trauma, about moving on, and it ended up being more bittersweet than I could ever imagine.
Tragedy being forgotten as a bigger noise [tragedy] overshadowed the previous one. That is a concept that sadly still exists, and we forget. That is powerful storytelling this game has told. I love that.
@@yumewomiyou90 Yup! I did PR for them way back in 2007. It's an amazing little studio, or at least it was when I worked there. The company heads listened to everyone's input before making a decision, right down to the game testers. Most companies don't give a shit for QA staff, but Atlus treated them with the same respect as they did the senior executives. Really great place, I miss it 💜
@@theshadyscarecrow3481 I was the PR rep, the only thing I ever had sway over was a few lines of locatalization text. Although I did successfully convince the heads in Japan that Trauma Center 3 shouldn't have a meek, simpering black woman be the underling to a domineering white German man. They seriously didn't see why that might touch a few raw nerves with the US audience 🤣
Wobbles and Bean I would like to see a remastered version of this game on PS4. Great history, soundtrack and symbolism, such an underrated piece of industry
I am so relieved I never sold Rule Of Rose 🌹 my Ex kept trying to convince me to sell all of my old games when we were together and I laughed in his face when he said that because No one can come in-between me and my beloved video games.
Good for you. Though if I were you I probably *would* sell Rule of Rose. Then again... there are some games I cling to despite being more valuable than when I first bought them.
Glad he is now your ex! I have a collection of Silent Hill games which I managed to get cheap a few years back somehow and the Silent Hill 3 soundtrack (which is prob the dumbest purchase I've ever made since I don't even own a CD player lmao) I could probably sell them all for a couple hundred if I wanted to but I never will!
Thank you. Okay، I'm gonna be honest here. That part about film school... Actually made me sad. I'm not going to say "I understand" because I don't. I'm not you, but I think I know what it feels like to be rejected by the society, living in an Islamic country as a none-Muslim. (My life is great, though. I love it. Not trying to be dramatic). As for the game... I actually think the cover looks pretty damn good. The sense of mystery and confusion the shadow of the girl gives you and how she's "stuck" in a rose. _Rule of Rose_ shows how children, contray to popular belief, can be cruel and violent. A lot of children are unable to feel empathy due to their lack of being lectured on the concept of morality and also their selfishness and immaturity. I firmly believe that humans are _taught_ humanity rather than born with it. These kids had no one to teach them how to behave, mix that with their tragic backstories and the trauma and abuse they had to face and horrible role models that forced them to commit nothing but cruel acts and you are likely to get little monsters. The gameplay sucks, but I like how the bosses, just like _Silent Hill,_ have a lot of nodes to the backstory and emotions of the person they represent. Especially The Mermaid and how it's a twisted vision Clara. Her legs are "tied" (The inability to escape), she vomits (morning sickness?), Laughs and screams uncontrollably (emotional instability because of sexual abuse), etc. Your theory as to what is going on is very likely true. It makes the most sense. I honestly believe Rule of Rose NEEDS to be remade, but... Considering how unpopular horror games have become. Maybe it's better off getting turned into a short animated series? Possibly made by Netflix? I honestly think animation is a better choice than live action. Anyways, thanks again. Have fun.
I don't think this game will ever get an adaptation. Maybe a fan-made short movie at best. Honestly, this kind of story would be too hard to watch without any gameplay segments to take your mind off of it
Guys, I think my comment wasn't as clear as I thought and I'm sorry for that. I didn't intend to say "kids never show compassion and adults never do cruel things because kids NEVER feel empathy and adults feel it all the time". I just wanted to say kids are _usually_ less empathetic especially if they don't have good parental figures/ role models. Most humans gain empathy throughout their entire life and not in the matter of a few years. Yes, _some_ children are very kind even at a very young age, I accept that. It is true that a ton of them show signs of compassion even at a very young age, *BUT* their sense of empathy is not as developed as that of an adult. As a result, a child might feel empathy for their sibling, and yet abuse animals like it's nothing. Look at how common bullying is among children. If a child is even _slightly_ different (a bit overweight, disabled, etc), they're definitely going to get bullied by a bunch of other kids at their school and neighborhood. Guaranteed. Of course, a lot of adults are COMPLETE monsters who kill, rape and torture and enjoy it. Also, adults bully each other too. However, they do it in more subtle ways, such as talking behind each others' backs. Moreover, their choice of victim and methods of bullying are mostly tamer. Adults don't circle around a kid who wears a hearing aid calling him/her deaf while shoving him/her.
i felt for the film school story too. i'm glad nitro rad can still make stuff with youtube tho. idk about a remake, but what may be possible is someone prying open the game data and making some simple modifications. i could think of a few that, while not eliminating all the problems, would certainly help. stuff like making the revolver more powerful, lowering the HP of bosses, speeding up the player's attack and stagger animations, all of these might be as simple as changing the right numbers if one knew where to look. the end product would only be playable on emulators or a hacked ps2, but it's something i guess.
The ending of this game. It's so hard to describe. The sadness of loss but the satisfaction of acceptance. The struggle of recalling the happy memories over the devastating ones, and the nostalgia thereafter. And, of course, little pupperoni :^( It's always the pupperoni :^(
Man, this game is quite a trip indeed. Killer children, and so much other taboo subjects being tackled here. I was lucky enough to get this game when I did, but is this game a hidden gem? More like a cursed gem. Sure it's beautiful to look at and admire, but handling it comes with some bad discrepancies.
i think id get very frustrated with the game if i had to play it so im glad lets plays are a thing, i remember watching cryaotics back in 2013 and liking the story so much :)
It's a hidden gem not for it's quality, but just because it's *so rare!* This game was banned in the UK which severely limited copies in circulation and I think they stopped printing the game only a year or two after launch, making it one of the rarest games for PS2. Combine that with the forgettable box art and bad reviews at the time and you get a very gorgeous but incredibly flawed "art game" that had a very labored launch and a short lifespan, leaving only us internet nerds to discuss an almost 20 year old game that nobody remembers :P
Omg I am so glad you covered this game! I am sad the blog that hosted the biggest community about it closed. It had so many extra bits people found overtime that made understanding it a lot easier. A small thing about your interpretation: In the last chapter, there is a newspaper clipping that tells you what really happened in the end. Jennifer never encountered Gregory. She hid in a... I think was a grandfathers clock. And a similar thing with her encounter with Wendy. Never actually happened that way. Jenny blocked a lot of her memories and they aren't shown quite like they happened. Same with most of what she remembers about Clara. But no one wants to think about that. Poor soul. Overall, I am over the moon you decided to actually track and play this game. It is a dark jewel of a story. One I do hope no one touches. A remake would probably come with censorship of the less pretty parts of the story. And a new sound track and no one needs that. This is the only game that managed to unnerve me with it's music. More survivals need to go for the string quartet thing.
@@mintkit1064 Rule of Rose Mysteries. It was an amazing blog and the people there were really cool too. I think some people managed to salvage some of the posts he did there.
I'm not so sure a remake would be censored, these days video game censorship is far less of an issue than when Rule of Rose came out. It's possible things could get watered down to appeal to a wider audience, but that's not exactly censorship, just a choice in development (one that could work out bad or good depending on the level of care and attention paid to the narrative).
Rule of Rose definitely needs a remake.. I didn't even mind the gameplay much myself.. except for the bosses they got tedious but I never died that often. It had such a beautiful tragic story told so well. I remember the commercial for it too. It always made me wanna play it.. and I was young and didn't like horror. But it always just interested me because it wasn't like zombies or scary creatures.. it was just children harassing an older girl. After playing it I just love it. Despite the combat and map.. I could only imagine how it would be on newer systems.
Atlus built their reputation as a publisher who publishes weird, niche games. I'd have to imagine their profit comes more from the amount of merchandise they tend to produce for their games
I'm extremely happy to see you covered this ♡ Rule of Rose has been one of my favorite games despite the fatal flaws it has. I never knew it was so closely tied to Chulip as well, another one of my favorites. I think that would be interesting to see you cover since many of the things you need to do can be so specific, and very interesting.
HeistGhoul It's pretty sad, there are probably a lot of people who never got to see how good the story gets because the game couldn't hold them in with the gameplay until then, not even sure if i would have finished it without using emulator savestates after like every hit on the mermaid. Maybe watching a let's play is actually the way to go here, but i wouldn't feel comfortable calling a game my favourite if i didn't even play it myself to be honest.
I wouldn't mind this getting a remaster. Perhaps give a light touch to the game play making it less tedious, like making the hitboxes more fair. I love the theme of the game. Giving everything a childlike vibe from how the title looks to the menus, gave it a unique identity. Anyways, another great video from Nitrorad.
Honestly I love this game so much. When I watch this it's like watching my own childhood( which... wasn't anything like this game, but somehow makes me feel like I'm looking at childhood memories that haunt me) What I love the most about it( besides it's aesthetic) is the fact that it doesn't tell it's story in flashbacks. The way her past is told is so strange and surreal, it really feels like broken memories from traumatic experiences. It requires re-playing to really grasp a lot of the subtle details. It really captures the feeling of vulnerability you feel as a child and how people, even other kids, will take advantage of your pain and manipulate you to make you feel like everything is your fault, because they don't know who else to blame for all the pain they've experienced themselves. Ultimately it's a game about how a few things can go wrong and everything will fall apart because of it. A few bad adults, some misinformation, a flight on an airship... it can ruin someone's life completely, and it will haunt them forever.
I actually have this game and found it dark yet beautiful. It isn't like most horror games today, it feels rather quaint relic of horror games of its time. It is subtle, twisted, foreboding, yet intriguing. The very music, voice acting, changing atmosphere can be very disquieting as you unravel Jennifer's psychological journey.
This is why I like following people like you James, you like to review hidden games that.. sometimes are good, or sometimes only have little things good, but the point is that some of this reaaally deserve to be played, like this one, maybe it has one or two mechanics bad designed but the history, the way that twist at the end is a really well done plot, and you review games in a very constructive way, even if you don´t like at all what you´re playing, you point that things that can be good like an idea, and not ignoring it because you "hate" that game. You are one of my favourites reviewers and I really hope your channel can grow because this is quality content and more people should know about it. (sorry if I didn´t express myself correctly, english isn´t my native language)
Back when I played 'Rule of Rose', I remember thinking the sane exact thing - this game is begging to get a remake. All the elements for a great survival horror are there. It's the gameplay & game design that ruins an otherwise solid entry in the genre. Kudos for reviewing this one.
Please please PLEASE review The Witch's house next! I see you've done reviews for Ib and Mad Father, The Witch's House is in the same vein but with a tragic story if you unlock the true ending. I'd love to see your thoughts and analysis of it along with the novel Diary of Ellen that leads up to the events of the game!
I remember getting my hands on this game, then it getting ruined because of bad storage. It was probably one of the best examples of story and atmosphere overcoming bad game design. It wasn’t all that fun to play but certainly fun to figure out and poke around in, managing to be creepy and disturbing without wandering into shock value for the sake of it. I don’t think it could be made today without a similar sort of reaction given when it was released; Rule of Rose does go into territory that most don’t like, giving us a cast of child characters who are all part of Jennifer’s bullying and issues no one wants to talk about. Lord of the Files was one thing, but having the children shown actively killing/harming their careers (even if justified) and a dog doesn’t help, neither do the other implications (Mermaid Princess). I think dogs were used in this game and Haunting Ground because they give players an ai partner that can help them, without having to be too helpful. Dogs can fetch items and made help with combat a little but not be expected to use weapons or figure out puzzles, so you don’t end up with a human character who looks like an idiot during gameplay. Also you probably don’t have to write dogs as being likeable, you’d have to write them to be unlikeable.
Overall i WISH this game was remade. I played this on my PS2 and pre-ordered it after I saw the extensive trailers. It was also one of the first Horror games i beat on my own. I had to replay it twice in order to understand the story because I didn't know this was a game you needed to search for the story. One thing this game got exceptionally right was it's mystery and how the game is presented. Not once did I ever feel safe in this game, the atmosphere is dripping with eerie sounds like the Creaking of the Hull in the airship, or the disturbed laughter of children in the distance in the Orphanage. The music in this game adds to the atmosphere so well and blends well with the events and just walking around. The Aristocrat Club members are so devious and devilishly charming the more you learn about them and their tragedies. However I do wish the combat was a little smoother, i mean I know they wanted to convey the helplessness of a young woman in early 20th century but come on they made Jennifer too weak. Overall this game has a great narrative but sadly it was covered in misinformed controversy and poor sales. I think Atlus would have a great hit if this was remade for the PS4, written a little better and the voice acting was done a bit better.
You cannot really understand the story because it has an inconsistent and incomplete narrative. Everyone who thinks they understand more than a silhouette of it, is wrong. The story is not written well enough for that.
I just pulled an all nighter and finished the game. I had to go somewhere related to the game, so I went here. Other than the combat and pretty long stretches of nothing I loved every part of the game. Truly a work of art!
I bought this game used from Gamestop when I was like 11. I ended up taking it back partly because that's usually what I did, play a game until I beat it or got bored and then returned it before the warranty is up so I could get my money back and buy another game, and partly because I got frustrated with it and it scared me. It didn't help that when I first put it in it was night and I was home alone, lol. The story and the characters stuck with me, though. I wish it would be remade or that they would make a movie or something out of it. If I had known it was gonna become this super infamous, rare game that sells for like hundreds of dollars online I would have kept it. I wanna play it now that I'm 'grown up' and know what it is.
Thanks Nitro Rad! I am a "gameplay over everything" person and started this game 2 days before you uploaded this review. So thanks for giving me the story and saving me the clunky gameplay experience.
Rules of the Rose is a very rare game in my opinion. I love that the whole interpretation of it was all symbolism and based on a different perspective (child and adult Jennifer). It sucks the developers had a low budget for a game that was suppose to be big, and I think they had little time too from when they started making it to when they were to release it. Just imagine if they had a bigger budget and more time this game would have been amazing. However they still did a “decent” job for what they have despite the gameplay being bad and some fights much harder than they have to be. I think what’s best appreciated of the game is the story and how it was interpreted.
I'm honestly amazed. Two days ago, I replayed some parts of Rule of Rose. And like any other person interested in the subject, I looked up some RUclips videos on the game but ended finding nothing except for walkthroughs. Literally a day after that, you post a video about Rule of Rose. This coincidence has just gained you a subscriber :D
I first learned of Rule of Rose through a forum on a musician's website. The forum was very extensive and despite being focused on and run by this musician and her team it had sections for numerous topics including video games. I forget exactly what the thread's topic was but Rule of Rose was brought up by a user along with the mermaid boss fight. I've never had the chance to play it but the story seems so interesting and this video only broadly covers it.
So yeah, I found this on the Rule of Rose wiki.... "The following code works in PCSX2 for the North American UTSC version: Hold L1, L2 and L3 and it will appear in the top left corner in the inventory, and pressing the buttons again will reset it to 99 ammo. This can, however, make playing the game easier due to having infinite bullets for the Revolver." I hope having infinite ammo for the revolver makes playing the game easier guys.
Damn, what a story. It'd make for a solid visual novel, though. Disturbing themes, characters with messed up motives, all you need for a dark work. I like it.
Rule of Rose is a unique, good game. Like a dark, creepy fairytale from the Brothers Grimm. There's a method to beating the first boss, Mr. Hoffman. First, let him chase you until he falls down. Second, get behind him. Third, the very second he finishes standing up, strike him once then run away. It takes some practice, but once you get it down, you'll defeat him easily.
I never really thought about this till I read some of the other comments: Jennifer appearing older during most of the game, only to appear younger towards the end, could be a visual metaphor for how we can carry trauma long after the event. Years, even decades after a traumatic event, the memories can stay, no matter how badly we want to forget them
Indeed. Hell, the main theme (A Love Suicide) has David Bowie lyrics in it, taken straight from "All The Madmen". So i'm kind of inclined to think it's the greatest thing ever lol.
Hey Nitro rad I don't know if you still read your old comments on your old videos but this is probably like my 15th time watching this video one of my favorites
While not a direct correlation, there was a movie in 2007 that comes remarkably close to it called The Orphanage. It's in Spanish, so you'll have to deal with subtitles, but if you're curious it's got an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.
@@KantankerouslyK Apart from some very basic similarities in setting and tone, I would argue that it's not really all that comparable when it comes to story. Almost more of a cross between The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth, with the aspects of children witnessing and experiencing terrible cruelty and using fantastical elements to attempt to cope with it being more in line with the latter. I do think Del Toro would be a perfect choice to turn this into a movie, though.
Hey, Alpha, I know you probably won't see this because of the other 500 comments, but I'm so damn glad I found your channel, your knowledge of how to go really in depth with your reviews makes them some of the best I've seen on RUclips, I love how they get so much of the message across but still have elements of comedy (although I find some bits to hit or miss, but that's all subjective). I also love how you find out behind the scenes information as well (like in your Rascal review), because that makes me see games I shrugged at and forgot about in a whole new light. (Shamless game review request below) There's a game called Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, made by Eidos, it's an old Tomb Raider style game, being a puzzle/platformer/action/adventure... and vampires. The PSN store sells it at £8 which I think is $10 in America.
Love Ya Nitro Rad! A dude that truly love VideoGames and actually finish em and play em deeply before make a review. Wish all youtubers was like ya! ITSNOUSE!!!!
Rule of Rose is so well thought out, you realize the status and personal issues of the different girls just by paying attention to how they do their curtsy in the opening movie. The game has issues, but it's tightly written and animated.
It’s always a treat to see someone talk about this game. What I thought the grown up a Jennifer was, was the kid Jenifer imagining herself as an adult, as if “above all these kids” even as she got tortured and bullied, but the game is kinda vague so it can also be seen as “her reliving these memories later, and just warping fully back to the moment she was younger after her friend’s death”. Also as horrible as the mermaid boss is, the actual background of the girl who WAS the mermaid, with all the touching and sexual abuse from the adult actually made me feel incredibly sick. If only the combat wasn’t so horrible, I’d happily buy it for myself instead of seeing other people funnily suffer through it because it explores some really dark moments I wish more games did.
I remember this game! I absolutely loved the story and actually came up with my own theory. While I agree that she was definitely reliving that time at the orphanage, I also believed that the reason she was experiencing it all as a young adult was because she thought of herself as being more mature than the other girls at that time. Like, all of the trauma and the things she went through before hand made her feel that everyone was more childish than she was.
I think this was your finest review yet, my dude. I always had an interest in Rule of Rose, if nothing more than it being for the sake of curiosity. The trailers alone fill you with that sense of dread you can only get from late 90s/early 2000s horror game visuals. But I think the idea of the controversy surrounding it, coupled with not actually knowing the story or background behind any of it just exacerbated that unsettling vibe surrounding it. Like they say, sometimes the unknown is far scarier than what you actually get to experience, and seeing creepy looking orphan girls commit horrific acts without context fits that unknown too well. The story you described here is most definitely unnerving and incredibly fucked-up based on subject matter alone. Though I think seeing it all laid out gave me a bit of closure. I knew I'd never dish out the cash for my own copy, and despite still finding it disturbing, it's kind of cool to be able to close the book on being unnerved by not knowing the narrative or context. Great job explaining this one, Nitro! Looking forward to the next video.
Wow. Great video! The story for this game kicked my ass. Poor Brown..and to include a final chapter as a young girl and meeting puppy Brown just ties everything together perfectly
Why? Why am I still here? Why am I constantly rewatching this video? Never has a game’s story left me this spellbound and unnerved quite like this one does.
Hey Rad, newcomer to you channel and just wanted to stop by and wish you the best towards your mention of your film work. Got a friend of mine who is going through that very same change with their life and to say the least its really hurting to see someone lose themselves when before they were always such a happy and wonderful person. Want to extend some hopes to you Rad, just as much as I try and keep to my dear friend that they shouldn't give up on their dream but also its not fair either to be forced to changed in such a horribly hurtful way like you had mentioned. In some ways, you still are a film maker and making these RUclips videos and drawing in such a big audience is wonderful. Its not what you might have expected, but in the very least its a silver lining you should acknowledge and always keep true to yourself. Sorry I can't relate better to that time in your life, but I wish you the best in what you're making now and the fans around you that will help you continue with your creativity in one way or another. Spooky videos or otherwise. ^o^
I’ve never seen your channel before, but saw a Rule of Rose video pop up which is so rare :’) And also noticed your Umineko and Higurashi collection... good taste. Got a subscriber. It’s such a beautiful rich story, with deep disturbing characters and monsters. Shame about the deplorable gameplay. Good to see someone cover it!
I remember coming across the first Clock Tower stuff through a site called vgmusuem YEARS ago, but that's what put me on a horror-game kick when I was younger. This was one of the ones I was told to look at along with Haunting Grounds, and while I never got to play it myself or see a playthrough of it years later, I really felt it had a charm to it all. Glad you did a piece on this. Always loved the musical score on it too.
I vaguely remember hearing something about this game years ago due to physical copies being rare and pretty pricey. Then in 2016, I stumbled across this game again accidentally by typing the phrase "mermaid room" into the RUclips search bar. I didn't find what I was originally looking for, but one of the first two results was footage of that boss fight. I watched it, and I got kind of obsessed. I was constantly researching it online, watching any video I could find about it, and there really weren't many analyzing or discussing the game. I eventually started playing it on an emulator since a copy was like $200 at the time I was looking. The combat is incredibly difficult and hit detection is way off, but man is that one hell of a game. I still haven't finished it myself, because of frustration at the controls. I'll get to it eventually, because the story is so fascinating and the atmosphere is so eerie. Thank you for this video!
This is soooo good! I really love your commentary a lot! It's so funny and cool, and you have a very smooth voice that makes it very easy listening to the whole video! 😍😍😍😍 Also, I wanted to know if you'll do videos on the old resident evil games as well at some point???? 😍😍😍😍😍
Rule of Rose is an example of how you can have a brilliantly plotted and atmospheric story and setting that caved if your gameplay is bad. That’s one thing about games: whatever artistic merits your game may possess if it’s not fun to play for 20 or so hours it’s killer
At an anime convention one time I won the original sound track of this game. It was beautiful. It piqued my interest and I really can say it’s a good game.
One little piece of the plot always seems to get by people: You wanna know how drastically unlucky Jennifer is? After surviving two disasters and coming to terms with her traumatic memories, she confidently goes off to her life as a young adult... in London in the early 1940s.
Oof, the blitz krieg
oh shit, wait
wow...
Holy shit....
Poor Jennifer never had a chance...
Wow jesus poor girl
Him showing his copy of the game after saying how expensive and rare it is, is probably the biggest and best flex I've ever seen.
Looks like he’s back to being 30K in debt lol
@@mondobe or found someone who didn't know how expensive and rare it is
Like how my mom got a blanket that was expensive at a yard sale for real cheap
Like $800 dollars last time I checked.
@badass taco can I buy one from you ?
@@kaparaomer7751 for $700 I bet, he knows what he has
To quote a wise man, “There’s nothing more pure and cruel as a child.” That’s the best way I can summarize this game.
Well said
Who? Weird Al?
Architect of Gods
to quote another wise man
“Kids are are cruel jack! And I’m very in touch with my inner child!”
“ I’M FUCKIN INVINCIBLE”
*Memes!*
@BROmeliad1
Oh gawd, flashing back to that episode: The Mad Pierrot Le Fou... *shudder*
Okay! Finally a place for my obscure Rule of Rose knowledge! The combat system is SO VERY BAD for a great reason! Those hordes of enemies? Were placeholders. Literally, that's why combat is game shatteringly bad, the devs told the publisher that the game couldn't be released because it wasn't finished, that they didn't even have enemies? And the publisher said whelp you can't have any more time, and pushed it out the door unfinished, broken, empty except for the main storyline and devoid of real enemies. Rule of Rose is a great example of a small, inexperienced team taking on a very ambitious project then not being given the resources to actually finish it. Great to see someone covering this weird piece of horror game history!
It's literally that "we shipped the game 5 days ago" meme
Is there anything about what they wanted for the combat system and/or enemies?
It's such a shame! The game has so much going for it but the gameplay is a chore
Love learning "behind the scenes" info like this
Like Blood 2: The Chosen?
If this game were to get a remake, it would definitely be a fan project because no studio of any kind is gonna touch this with all the baggage on it.
I could see Atlus pick it up again
They've always been pretty willing for some controversy and experimental shit. I mean just look at Catherine or basically the entirety of the Kamoshida arc in P5 (also even on nintendo games they haven't given up on full frontal nudity for accuracy to mythological figures.)
They picked up games like Demon's Souls even tho they were told that the game was a complete failure.
-cough fortnite jiggles jiggles apology cough- -cough people say link is gay cause sjw think he is cause in orcorina of time he isnt with a chick cough-
What are you babbling about? Your "examples aren't even comparable to RoR which has literal animal and child abuse in it not to mention the crazy guy who murders an orphanage full of kids and then himself. The fortnite "controversy" is an example of a dev forgeting that titties do bounce and begging for forgiveness from the far left witch hunt and the thing with link is that isn't even "baggage". That's just what a bunch of stupid people think.
I've e-mailed Atlus about is the could sell the soundtrack of the game.
They just were the official distributors in America, the persons behind RoR are a long-gone japanese company named Punchline.
After Atlus signed a contract of not publishing anything related to the game ever again.
So, yeah ;_;
I always assumed Jennifer is still asleep on that bus throughout the whole game. Just a bad dream dealing with a lot of trauma she went through as a child.
I think she just had a hallucination so she might even still be collapsed inside the orphanage. With the boarding ticket and stuffs so i assumed she went through the back entrance
Bus isn't real, neither is the dead boy Joshua who hands you his book. It's a metaphor of her going into her own repressed memories trying to unlock what she buried in her psyche
It is a dream, that's why she is an adult but still afraid of young kids. Because in the dream she is just a kid.
I think she actually went back to the orphanage, but got caught up in her own trauma and imagined this whole thing.
For me, I assume she was in therapy and having to remember her past as she tells it.
"Kids can be cruel Jack and I'm very in touch with my inner child!"
>This game summed up.
King Rhys I'm fucking invincible! Lol
M E M E S J A C K
where have I heard this from?
"I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE"
Most of the boss battles
Sundowner (the guy who uttered that quote), actually said "Kids are cool, Jack! And I'm very in touch with my inner child!"
Damn, the game suddenly became utmost interesting when you started tackling the plot. The plot deserves a better gameplay.
I thought this game had until dawn like gameplay when i saw the trailer
It would have been a great visual novel.
@@emmawonderlandia1084 exactly
It needs a bloody resident evil 2 style remake.
@@emmawonderlandia1084 anyone interested in translating this game into renpy?
For me that story is sad more than anything. It feels like a tragedy. This girl stuck in an enviroment where she is completely unable to keep her promises and where she had put her trust in evil people.
actually in the ending chapter, where u play as young jennefer and read the letters , most of the people were not evil to begin with, such as hoffman was not a sexual predator especially towards clara who was the most hardworking compare to the others, in the diary it even said when clara was 16 she wanted to stay in the orphanage and contribute by doing chores which make hoffman wanted to discuss it with martha, it was all her imagination. u can find letters that shows the lores of each characters before freeing brown
It's especially a tragedy when they kill her dog. But it becomes a comedy when all the rotten little monsters who killed her dog get killed themselves.
As a brit, can confirm we eat scones for health.
Can't get enough of them.
NHS runs off them.
Walk in, get a scone thrown at you, broken arm fixed.
Are they normally hard as American scones?
I can confirm. Add chocolate chips/spread for extra stamina boost.
Willie Hawaii - As an American who travelled to England, the scones are nothing like American scones, at least if they’re made right. Soft, warm, buttery... with a browned bottom and a golden top. Delightful!
Scottish people are British people with their skill trees maxed out
So scones seem to be this sort of super food for those in London.
Rule of rose was a game that marked me A LOT when I was younger, especially at a period where I getting bullied pretty hard. It's a shame the gameplay is so bad, because the story is really emotional and well told.
@Jordan Little Yes, it is.
Jordan Little Sorry but no. The Gameplay is terrible.
Agreed
If they wanted to convey how helpless, shy and weak child - Jennifer was, then congratulations, they get that point across really good.. ^^ But it just feels extra awkward because you play as 19 year old grown-ass Jennifer XD it feels like an insult playing as such an awkwardly moving weak "adult"...
I took it as Jennifer was actually a child during the whole game, it was her mental image of herself as mature that caused her to look older and only when she confronts the club does reality assert itself.
Rule of Rose also has a lot of subtext about being bullied as well. Kids can be damn awful and damn cruel. And it's a shame Rule of Rose wouldn't be able to be remastered in this era because we somehow have denied the reality of how cruel kids can be as bullies. When I was young this game resonated with me because I was tooormented by kids at school. They threw my contents of my backpack out the bus window. One time a group of kids surrounded me so one kid could fight me and beat me up. It's a damn near shame we live in a world, where kids cannot be harmed or cannot be the ones committing the crimes in games.
I wouldn’t say it’s a shame that they can’t be harmed, but I would agree there are kids who need care, love, and proper discipline but are not getting any.
RADIOSOAP I think you need to use a different word than abuse. Or rather, what are you thinking of when you say that?
"Rule of Rose also has a lot of subtext about being bullied as well" Well, I mean, yeah? That's pretty much half the game.
jacoblgames maybe not in a game like gta, having and being able to harm kids would just seem in poor taste and be pretty weird. But in horror games like this that can use the imagery for more than just shock value and actually have some subtext then it should be fine.
Shit man, that's awful.
That is one hell of a story, this game needs a remake
Starkiller926 with serious combat overhaul and fixing that drop off mechanic.
@@AmaryInkawult and the title is catchy too. Children are like flowers (roses) but every rose has its thorns.
Probably not. There's also that part with the sexually forward oldest girl (the one that pulls up her dress really high in the opening) that got touchy-feely with the old teacher, or the teacher with her, very cringy and probably not many ppl want to see that part ^^; yikes.
I think the painfully strapped down teacher boss is an allegory to his feelings relating that stuff, too.
Games are not permitted to tell mature stories, and gamers don't want them to. It would be a depressingly futile attempt to even try to remake it. The only real possibility would be a PC remaster released on Steam, but whoever did it would get such an assault from the gaming community that it probably wouldn't last long. If they couldn't even handle Hatred, something like this has absolutely no hope.
@@DustinRodriguez1_0 What are you talking about. If games are not permitted to touch upon mature topics then why do we have so many games about mature topics? Gamers do want mature games. Look I like games like Pokemon, but it doesn't mean I want all of my games to be as cutsey as it. Let's look at Detroit Become Human, it touches upon certain themes in a similar vein as this one, and that game sold amazingly well.
You missed a lot of the character part in the last chapter. Like the girl with the bird in the cage. All the nice, heartbreaking words she had to tell about the girls, who bullied her. And the mermaid boss is linked to a pedophile incident. The mermaid had a scar on the hip, like she had an abortion. Legs were tied up. Why do you think so? She is vomiting, why do you think so? Actually it's the girl in the nursery. The one who was always quiet. You can unlock a cutscene, where she was called inside (I think) the bedroom of the headmaster, where she was on her knees in front of him, scrubbing the floor. And his voice was so creepy "there's some dust... Over here. Give it a wipe.". This game has so much great about it, except the combat, but I never bothered with that.
@@SirBlackReeds Read the wiki, I think they said the exact same thing. That's just a hilarious coincidence to me.
oh. fuck no.
Yeah you’re on the one with this, the same headmaster character had some cut audio from the game as well which could definitely imply rape or grunts for an unused combat sequence
Oh. Oh no.
That ties in with other characters too, it's implied that Diana was abused by him as punishment for his Koi fish incident, and she blames Jeniffer for that happening. Also her relationship with Growing Up and with her body going through puberty, as she hates how he looks at her now
"That's terrible... and what do you call that game?"
"The Aristocrats!"
"And this is the final boss; Gregory, the stray dog." God, that gave me goosebumps. What a story. And a great video displaying the pros and cons of the game.
It seems like such an interesting story, but I don't know if I could fight through the gameplay to see it.
This is the kind of game that deserves a remake. A fascinating, thoughtful, disturbing story and good visuals hald back by poor gameplay and a limited release.
im pretty sure that a remake would be a fan project, because of the themes in it
CarozQH My thoughts exactly. Although the game is a bit too controversial to get one, I think that something that brilliantly unsettling that's not afraid to hurt children to get across its point is something that deserves love.
@@wanderingoryx3710
In Fallout 1 and 2 you can violently slaughter children. Burn them to death, obliterate the upper half of their body, fill them full of holes, beat them to death with knuckles.
Deserved? Absolutely. Chance of Happening? Almost impossible.
Atlus nowadays is different than the old atlus. Nowadays straight up milking a game to the point where it's completely dry (Persona Series, feel bad for Persona 1 & 2), and also straight up giving us fake hope like SMT V.
Afterall, this game flopped quickly and had faced a lot of controversy. That's a big nope
@@noyoucantnoicantnowecantsostop But SMT V came out. Unless im not understanding what you mean?
One of my best friends growing up desperately wanted this game, having found out about it about a year after it met it's fate over in the UK. By some sheer display of luck, I managed to find a copy... A PAL one no less! Only cost me £20 for just the disc. Got it, it was legit. I don't think I'm ever gonna forget the cheer of joy she let out (damn near deafened me!). I was then kidnapped for a weekend (was only supposed to be staying over for the one night originally) so we could go through it together.
Horrors not my thing and neither was this game, but it made her happy so for that it's a good game. And if by some bizarre act of fate you happen upon this comment hun; "Red crayons and brown bread."
An absolute moment of pure luck on ebay! Dude claimed he got his copy early before the ban, but didn't want it anymore. I'm inclined to believe him, seeming as it worked without a hitch and this was before I learned about "magic memory cards"
The last dudes comment makes me lose faith in non-interest friendship more
@@prezidenttrump5171 Do I give a damn about you while one of the most important monument is burning down?
@@flyingstonemon3564 Yes.
@@prezidenttrump5171Wrong! I wasn't :) and now won't answer anymore since there is no need too
The whole game was just Jennifer 10 years later remembering her childhood as she had repressed the memories of mistreatment and abuse. The ending was her making a new promise to never forget the more happier memories of both Brown and Wendy instead of when she last saw the two.
You also missed the meaning behind the adults as the orphans headmaster and maid they were the caretakers but were also cruel to the children from what’s going on. Like the mermaid chapter was another repressed memory Jennifer had when she witnessed the headmaster sexually harassing the girls. Theories are that the girl who was the mermaid was his main victim and that her sudden leave was either she left because of the abuse or that she was pregnant and that girl was the oldest of the children at the orphanage, somewhere in her mid teens.
well like I said, I had a difficult time piecing it all together so I'm sure there's some things that got left out. I'm just one person after all. But I discussed everything I wanted to and got all of my points across.
Nitro Rad Oh I know like I seriously had to dig more about the game after going through it the first time since it’s very confusing at some points. I think there was great replay potential when it came to understanding the story next to the extra. But again there’s was no way to replay it since it’s such a frustrating game.
It's really hard to figure out entire story by yourself. Narration in this game isn't as polished as in Silent Hill 2 and many things are hard to spot.
videogamerka000 I was so confused at first cause I’m thinking “Why the hell is a 19 year old getting pushed around by bratty ass kids?” The reveal however made things a little clearer while looking it up more on the internet actually clarified everything. Again replay potential was squandered because of shitty combat system
@@PrincessAnime172 This game was probably meant to finish few times but it turn out to be too bad.
The aesthetic, story, horror, characters, bosses, music, design- everything about this game other than the gameplay is ace. I love this game, but I can NOT with the gameplay. It's too frustrating.
That's the experience I had too when I borrowed the game from a friend years ago.
I never found it frustrating because jennifer is not supposed to fight (she is scared and insicure when she hits somebody) so it matches perfectly with the character :)
Johnny Decomposizione I felt the same. I really wasn’t that bothered by the clunky combat since it wasn’t what I was there for at all.
@@johnnydecomposizione3106
To me and others: there is a difference between the meant-to clunkiness of Harry Mason in Silent Hill 1.... compared to a broken combat system in ROR that is really horrible and that everyone hates because it is truly unfair (broken)......
I played this when I was little and the horrible 'combat' is what I still remember: it ruined the experience.
There is such a thing as being inexperienced with weapons/combat to give a sense of being a rookie: and something that is BROKEN to begin with.
I wish they could remake this game so bad
It would most definitely lose it’s quality that way
A lot of games need remakes/sequels arguably. :p
Too many underrated gems... sometimes their the only games I like with a few exceptions. XD
If a game ever deserved a remaster it's this one. Beautiful atmosphere and creativity marred by horrible combat and the fact that no one can buy it for less than 200 dollars anymore.
@@YorkJonhson I got mine for 50 off Amazon just a couple years ago. Has the price really jumped that much??
@LynnGryphon Pretty much... I remember seeing it for like $90 a few years back and naively thinking that I could find it for cheaper, but I haven't seen any offers set below $150 in ages.
if I recall correctly, one of the devs said that it was time constraints and budget that made the game pretty rough around the edges like for example the shit hitboxes in the game. Your explanation of the story seems perfect. Also, have you seen the unused content? Pretty interesting stuff.
Also, I got a japanese copy of this game for like $119 on ebay. The seller put in in a double layer of bubble wrap and marked it as a fragile package. It works and despite paying a high price, it was lower than most copies sold for. Also there's a digital re-release of the soundtrack on the jp version of Amazon, but it doesn't have every song from the game.
Unused content? Tell me more.
@@nightlypiano41 Should be on the cutting room floor. It's been a while since I last looked at this game, so I could be wrong.
@@RandomAtribute20k what do you mean by "on the cutting board floor"?
@@nightlypiano41 the cutting room floor... the website the cutting room floor. My hand eye coordination is not working.
"Long before let's plays were around to repopularize the genre amongst tweens who want cheap thrills"
Ooo, someone's feeling sassy! :P
I don't really have anything against Let's Plays in general, but it hurts my soul when so many people are ready to write off a horror game just because it's not filled with cheap jump scares for people to overreact to.
Ahh... The joys of subtlety are truly underappreciated.
Nitrorad not getting the irony
Why does this comment have 249 likes?
Because fuck you and everything you stand for.
Child abuse "trigger warning", or whatever :
I think you missed a couple darker elements in the story when you explained it, and another reason of speculation as to why it was banned in so many places.
1. A point that's overlooked is the possibility that Gregory/Stray Dog actually was a cannibal. In his story about the "peas" or whatever in the chapter where you're taken by him to his home he whispers a story in a loop. He talks about taking the "pea" as it "kicks and screams", then proceeding to "grind it up" to make soup. I believe he called Jennifer a "pea" once as well, maybe hinting to actual cannibalism and how he views children as food. The child disappearances in the newspapers hint to it as well..
2. Literally cryptic and hidden child sexual abuse by Mr.Hoffman and how he speaks to Diana and Clara. He's the reason Clara is even a boss fight as the mermaid, her legs bound shut to keep them closed? The gynecology table with blood stains in the room she stays in with Mr.Hoffman and when he takes her into the boss fight room to a *bed*, alone? Even when you're in the Hoffman boss fight he tackles you really suggestively sometimes (in some player's eyes) and its just plain creepy, vile and disgusting, literally a nightmare. Jennifer will tell the player "No!" if you tell her to open a drawer that Clara shuts again more than once, Jennifer is suppressing a traumatic memory of something and literally not allowing you to discover any further. Albeit heartbreaking reasons, the game has so much to tell, a lot of it is hidden and its worth investigating every corner and every dialogue.
Either way you got the MAIN part of the story right in my opinion and I enjoyed your perspective on it! Very entertaining take on it, one of my favorite underground games, I'm subbed. If you want to learn some more interesting easter eggs people have found about the game through MANY years, I recommend checking out "Rule Of Rose Mysteries" a youtube channel and blog, if you are curious to hear more theories!
To be fair, it was already a half-hour long video. I think he cut some stuff out for time. But I would have enjoyed him talking about it at least a little, i agree.
there's also a guy made a video explained this game for 1 hour long
@@nimbus997 He spent the time he could have spent explaing more, bitching about the combat.
@@prezidenttrump5171 he talked about it so much because it doesnt work in a variety of ways. He also probably wanted to save some stuff in case we wanted to play it afterwards, and pointing out the biggest flaws would be important. That's my take on it anyway. Havent watched the video in a while, so the pacing and length of segments are not fresh in my mind.
If you want a more in depth analysis on this game watch Ragnarox.
Nitro Rad? 30 minutes?
*Sign me up!*
I was thinking the same thing when I saw the length!
Gregory: "Once upon a time, there was a precious little girl."
That scared the CRAP outta me when I first encountered it. Heck, it STILL freaks me out!
This game would probably make a fantastic film/OVA
It's heavily implied that the guy running the orphanage was molesting one of the girls too. I actually bought this game when it came out and still have my copy. It plays like shit but I was able to power through it.
*two , Diana too was a victim
I think the mermaid boss was one of his victims
Heavily implied? It was outright shown.
actually hoffman never sexually asssaulted clara. Because in the ending chapter, where you play as young jennefer to free brown, if you go into hoffman office, and read his diary, he never sexually assaulted anyone, especially clara who was the most hardworking one among the others, even in the diary, when clara was 16 she even offered to stay in the orphanage and help with the chores. which led to hoffman wanting to discuss her stay with marta. it was all her imagination
@@PDIcomics actually hoffman never sexually asssaulted clara. Because in the ending chapter, where you play as young jennefer to free brown, if you go into hoffman office, and read his diary, he never sexually assaulted anyone, especially clara who was the most hardworking one among the others, even in the diary, when clara was 16 she even offered to stay in the orphanage and help with the chores. which led to hoffman wanting to discuss her stay with marta. it was all her imagination
ps. u can read the reason of the fallout between wendy and jennefer in the sickbay when playing as young jennefer before saving brown
This game needs a remake, not only to make it a fairly good game, but to actually have a cheap way to legally play it, as well as letting this niche game reach a wider demographic
*wider demographic*
Yeah no with this game's way of telling its' story I don't think anyone would want that
When I said wider demographic I just meant reach more people. I should have worded that better. I really don’t want it to be a normie horror game, I just want it to be better known and have better gameplay. Sorry for the confusion
AltNova if it did appeal to a wider demographic then governments would yeet it off the face of the earth more than it was when it was first released
13:18 *Tommy Wiseau voice* He did not hit me! He did not!
That was my initial thought. Well played.
lol oh hi mark
Lisa, Lisa, you're tearing me apart
oh hey, johnny.
NAHT
I used to own this game. The combat was god-awful but the soundtrack, story, and atmosphere is what made it all worth playing. No words could describe the mix of absolute frustration as well as inspiring beauty... Also that "mermaid" boss made me want to give up. FUUUUUUCK THAT BOSS FIGHT.
I blame it on ATLUS's inexperience with Survival Horror genre since this was their first actual attempt outside of Hell Night which wasn't really a free-roam.
atlus didn't make the game, they just published it
Grod Gaming
Whoops! My bad! Though if it wasn't marketed poorly and other countries got their panties in a bunch which ruined it. If more time was placed in the combat, this game could've been a horror classic, in my opinion. The combat doesn't look that bad in the gameplay, but it's so hard to describe how clumsy it all is. It really destroyed it.
The "mermaid" pissed me off...but nothing, NOTHING angered me more than...
GOAT MAN.
FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU
I still own my copy. I remember getting it off the shelf for like $15 because nobody wanted it at the time. But yeah, agreed. Fuck that mermaid boss lol. Honestly, I remember even Hoffman's fight being absolute bull because of the ridiculous hit boxes.
Seriously, though, if they just fixed that terrible, buggy combat, I feel like it could have been a great horror classic.
@woooudo That was Fox which made all the controversies though. CNN is innocent in this part.
This is a very fair review! It is true that Rule of Rose can be a tough game to love, because the gameplay does kinda suck, and even the narrative, as much as I like it, can be too confusing and slow to get people really invested in it. I know of quite a few people that quit playing it mostly because they couldn't stand to see Jennifer, as an adult woman, being meekly bullied by a bunch of children half her size, which... is not really what's happening in the story, but it is also an integral part of the structure of the plot, and revealing the truth behind it would spoil a good chunk of it, so. Yeah.
Still, I think this game is definitely worth a play, because the plot is genuinely great and very unique. If anything, it's worth it for that ending... there's different ways to interpret all of it, of course, but as I see it, Rule of Rose is all about coming to terms with the past, the good and the bad, which is why there's so much focus in the 'promises' Jennifer made as a child. The whole game itself is basically Jennifer unpacking all of her repressed memories, and in it, we see things the way her child self experienced it, a jumbled distressing mess wrapped in a romanticized fairytale-ish view. But in the true ending, we see Jennifer actually analyzing all that happened in that orphanage with a cool head, as an adult, and ultimately making the decision to look at the whole situation somewhat kindly. She mentions that once she was found, all everyone focused on was that she was the survivor of the airship crash, so the massacre in the orphanage was pretty much forgotten by the world, and everyone in the orphanage, alone as they were, were forgotten as well, almost as if they never existed. In that final chapter, she looks with pity at the children, despite everything they done, and chooses to remember them, because they deserve at least to be remembered, in spite of it all. And especially Brown, of course. After all, he was her one true source of happiness while in that orphanage, and he just a poor baby stray that had no one else in the world but her, so if she doesn't remember him, who will?
Anyway, this is one game that does deserve a remake, as unlikely as that is to happen. I'm usually not a fan of horror stories with these edgy taboo themes to it because they usually tend to be treated for shock value aesthetic alone, but Rule of Rose dealt with it way more tactfully than that negative marketing would suggest. It had something to say about trauma, about moving on, and it ended up being more bittersweet than I could ever imagine.
Tragedy being forgotten as a bigger noise [tragedy] overshadowed the previous one. That is a concept that sadly still exists, and we forget. That is powerful storytelling this game has told. I love that.
Is it really “worth a play” though? Should anyone really pay some greasy reselling lowlife $800+ to play Rule of Rose. Me thinks not.
@@leeartlee915 I'd never buy the original game, even if I had the money for that. The price is kind of insulting. I just emulate it instead 🤷♀
@@the-ice-castle Okay then, we are on the same page :-)
This was the last game I ever worked on at Atlus. Ah, memories...💜
@@yumewomiyou90 Yup! I did PR for them way back in 2007. It's an amazing little studio, or at least it was when I worked there. The company heads listened to everyone's input before making a decision, right down to the game testers. Most companies don't give a shit for QA staff, but Atlus treated them with the same respect as they did the senior executives. Really great place, I miss it 💜
Wobbles and Bean u shouldve made the gameplay a bit better😂
@@theshadyscarecrow3481 I was the PR rep, the only thing I ever had sway over was a few lines of locatalization text. Although I did successfully convince the heads in Japan that Trauma Center 3 shouldn't have a meek, simpering black woman be the underling to a domineering white German man. They seriously didn't see why that might touch a few raw nerves with the US audience 🤣
Wobbles and Bean
I would like to see a remastered version of this game on PS4.
Great history, soundtrack and symbolism, such an underrated piece of industry
@@cooleroconnor1718 It is! I'm really kicking myself, I got a free copy, but I lost it. I coulda used that money lol
I am so relieved I never sold Rule Of Rose 🌹 my Ex kept trying to convince me to sell all of my old games when we were together and I laughed in his face when he said that because No one can come in-between me and my beloved video games.
Good for you. Though if I were you I probably *would* sell Rule of Rose. Then again... there are some games I cling to despite being more valuable than when I first bought them.
Honestly, if i were you, and the game is in good conditions, i would sell it for sure, i mean, it's 300 bucks for a game that i've played before.
Same I’m glad i Still have this game
Glad he is now your ex! I have a collection of Silent Hill games which I managed to get cheap a few years back somehow and the Silent Hill 3 soundtrack (which is prob the dumbest purchase I've ever made since I don't even own a CD player lmao) I could probably sell them all for a couple hundred if I wanted to but I never will!
Thank you.
Okay، I'm gonna be honest here. That part about film school... Actually made me sad. I'm not going to say "I understand" because I don't. I'm not you, but I think I know what it feels like to be rejected by the society, living in an Islamic country as a none-Muslim. (My life is great, though. I love it. Not trying to be dramatic).
As for the game... I actually think the cover looks pretty damn good. The sense of mystery and confusion the shadow of the girl gives you and how she's "stuck" in a rose.
_Rule of Rose_ shows how children, contray to popular belief, can be cruel and violent. A lot of children are unable to feel empathy due to their lack of being lectured on the concept of morality and also their selfishness and immaturity. I firmly believe that humans are _taught_ humanity rather than born with it. These kids had no one to teach them how to behave, mix that with their tragic backstories and the trauma and abuse they had to face and horrible role models that forced them to commit nothing but cruel acts and you are likely to get little monsters.
The gameplay sucks, but I like how the bosses, just like _Silent Hill,_ have a lot of nodes to the backstory and emotions of the person they represent. Especially The Mermaid and how it's a twisted vision Clara. Her legs are "tied" (The inability to escape), she vomits (morning sickness?), Laughs and screams uncontrollably (emotional instability because of sexual abuse), etc.
Your theory as to what is going on is very likely true. It makes the most sense.
I honestly believe Rule of Rose NEEDS to be remade, but... Considering how unpopular horror games have become. Maybe it's better off getting turned into a short animated series? Possibly made by Netflix? I honestly think animation is a better choice than live action.
Anyways, thanks again. Have fun.
I don't think this game will ever get an adaptation. Maybe a fan-made short movie at best. Honestly, this kind of story would be too hard to watch without any gameplay segments to take your mind off of it
Guys, I think my comment wasn't as clear as I thought and I'm sorry for that. I didn't intend to say "kids never show compassion and adults never do cruel things because kids NEVER feel empathy and adults feel it all the time". I just wanted to say kids are _usually_ less empathetic especially if they don't have good parental figures/ role models. Most humans gain empathy throughout their entire life and not in the matter of a few years. Yes, _some_ children are very kind even at a very young age, I accept that. It is true that a ton of them show signs of compassion even at a very young age, *BUT* their sense of empathy is not as developed as that of an adult. As a result, a child might feel empathy for their sibling, and yet abuse animals like it's nothing. Look at how common bullying is among children. If a child is even _slightly_ different (a bit overweight, disabled, etc), they're definitely going to get bullied by a bunch of other kids at their school and neighborhood. Guaranteed.
Of course, a lot of adults are COMPLETE monsters who kill, rape and torture and enjoy it. Also, adults bully each other too. However, they do it in more subtle ways, such as talking behind each others' backs. Moreover, their choice of victim and methods of bullying are mostly tamer. Adults don't circle around a kid who wears a hearing aid calling him/her deaf while shoving him/her.
@@TheBrazilRules
Finally someone fights back the stupid "People aren't born with humanity"
@Vazazell
The reason you never had empathy is because you're a jackass.
i felt for the film school story too. i'm glad nitro rad can still make stuff with youtube tho.
idk about a remake, but what may be possible is someone prying open the game data and making some simple modifications. i could think of a few that, while not eliminating all the problems, would certainly help. stuff like making the revolver more powerful, lowering the HP of bosses, speeding up the player's attack and stagger animations, all of these might be as simple as changing the right numbers if one knew where to look. the end product would only be playable on emulators or a hacked ps2, but it's something i guess.
The ending of this game. It's so hard to describe. The sadness of loss but the satisfaction of acceptance. The struggle of recalling the happy memories over the devastating ones, and the nostalgia thereafter. And, of course, little pupperoni :^( It's always the pupperoni :^(
Man, this game is quite a trip indeed. Killer children, and so much other taboo subjects being tackled here. I was lucky enough to get this game when I did, but is this game a hidden gem? More like a cursed gem. Sure it's beautiful to look at and admire, but handling it comes with some bad discrepancies.
i think id get very frustrated with the game if i had to play it so im glad lets plays are a thing, i remember watching cryaotics back in 2013 and liking the story so much :)
It's a hidden gem not for it's quality, but just because it's *so rare!* This game was banned in the UK which severely limited copies in circulation and I think they stopped printing the game only a year or two after launch, making it one of the rarest games for PS2. Combine that with the forgettable box art and bad reviews at the time and you get a very gorgeous but incredibly flawed "art game" that had a very labored launch and a short lifespan, leaving only us internet nerds to discuss an almost 20 year old game that nobody remembers :P
Shadow Giratina's Evil Clone 2006 was 20 years ago!?!
the Best Friends Zaibatsu specifically refers to these children as 'shit kids'
Ah yes, Law of Lilac, my favorite oldie horror game.
Decree of Daffodil, so underrated
Principle of Poppy, such a good story.
Sermon of Sunflower
code of chrysanthemum
Pact of Pansy
Omg I am so glad you covered this game!
I am sad the blog that hosted the biggest community about it closed. It had so many extra bits people found overtime that made understanding it a lot easier.
A small thing about your interpretation: In the last chapter, there is a newspaper clipping that tells you what really happened in the end. Jennifer never encountered Gregory. She hid in a... I think was a grandfathers clock. And a similar thing with her encounter with Wendy. Never actually happened that way. Jenny blocked a lot of her memories and they aren't shown quite like they happened. Same with most of what she remembers about Clara. But no one wants to think about that. Poor soul.
Overall, I am over the moon you decided to actually track and play this game. It is a dark jewel of a story. One I do hope no one touches. A remake would probably come with censorship of the less pretty parts of the story. And a new sound track and no one needs that. This is the only game that managed to unnerve me with it's music. More survivals need to go for the string quartet thing.
@@mintkit1064 Rule of Rose Mysteries. It was an amazing blog and the people there were really cool too.
I think some people managed to salvage some of the posts he did there.
I'm not so sure a remake would be censored, these days video game censorship is far less of an issue than when Rule of Rose came out. It's possible things could get watered down to appeal to a wider audience, but that's not exactly censorship, just a choice in development (one that could work out bad or good depending on the level of care and attention paid to the narrative).
Rule of Rose definitely needs a remake.. I didn't even mind the gameplay much myself.. except for the bosses they got tedious but I never died that often. It had such a beautiful tragic story told so well.
I remember the commercial for it too. It always made me wanna play it.. and I was young and didn't like horror. But it always just interested me because it wasn't like zombies or scary creatures.. it was just children harassing an older girl.
After playing it I just love it. Despite the combat and map.. I could only imagine how it would be on newer systems.
man, atlus really has a habit of publishing obscure games in america. not that i have a problem with it, i just wonder if it even is that profitable.
Atlus built their reputation as a publisher who publishes weird, niche games. I'd have to imagine their profit comes more from the amount of merchandise they tend to produce for their games
They're supported by all that persona cash they're making
They don't need to worry about profit with the obscure ones they rake in mad cash with every persona and to a lesser extent smt
Grod Gaming Does anyone remember Kartia around here? Now THATS a niche Atlus game.
They published "My Disney Kitchen" on PS1. Clearly, their ultimate goal is to stick their hand in EVERY genre of game imaginable.
This is not a game, it's art, pure art.
i mean it can still be pure art and a video game at the same time
It can be both a game and art. Shadow of The Colossus is both a game and art. Breath of The Wild is both a game and art.
I'm extremely happy to see you covered this ♡ Rule of Rose has been one of my favorite games despite the fatal flaws it has. I never knew it was so closely tied to Chulip as well, another one of my favorites. I think that would be interesting to see you cover since many of the things you need to do can be so specific, and very interesting.
Glad to see anyone else commiting to it as a favourite game, seems like all other comments count it as more of a guilty pleasure.
I'm noticing that too! It seems to have scarred a few people in the comments.
HeistGhoul It's pretty sad, there are probably a lot of people who never got to see how good the story gets because the game couldn't hold them in with the gameplay until then, not even sure if i would have finished it without using emulator savestates after like every hit on the mermaid.
Maybe watching a let's play is actually the way to go here, but i wouldn't feel comfortable calling a game my favourite if i didn't even play it myself to be honest.
Where did you manage to get it? I've seen it online for hundreds of dollars which I can't afford
18:45 "there is 1 kid who is actually kind to her". Oh no.. she's going to be the worst of the bunch isn't she?
I wouldn't mind this getting a remaster. Perhaps give a light touch to the game play making it less tedious, like making the hitboxes more fair. I love the theme of the game. Giving everything a childlike vibe from how the title looks to the menus, gave it a unique identity. Anyways, another great video from Nitrorad.
Honestly I love this game so much. When I watch this it's like watching my own childhood( which... wasn't anything like this game, but somehow makes me feel like I'm looking at childhood memories that haunt me)
What I love the most about it( besides it's aesthetic) is the fact that it doesn't tell it's story in flashbacks. The way her past is told is so strange and surreal, it really feels like broken memories from traumatic experiences. It requires re-playing to really grasp a lot of the subtle details. It really captures the feeling of vulnerability you feel as a child and how people, even other kids, will take advantage of your pain and manipulate you to make you feel like everything is your fault, because they don't know who else to blame for all the pain they've experienced themselves.
Ultimately it's a game about how a few things can go wrong and everything will fall apart because of it. A few bad adults, some misinformation, a flight on an airship... it can ruin someone's life completely, and it will haunt them forever.
"Love Suicide" is such a good song, I always find myself singing it at times
I actually have this game and found it dark yet beautiful. It isn't like most horror games today, it feels rather quaint relic of horror games of its time. It is subtle, twisted, foreboding, yet intriguing. The very music, voice acting, changing atmosphere can be very disquieting as you unravel Jennifer's psychological journey.
This is why I like following people like you James, you like to review hidden games that.. sometimes are good, or sometimes only have little things good, but the point is that some of this reaaally deserve to be played, like this one, maybe it has one or two mechanics bad designed but the history, the way that twist at the end is a really well done plot, and you review games in a very constructive way, even if you don´t like at all what you´re playing, you point that things that can be good like an idea, and not ignoring it because you "hate" that game.
You are one of my favourites reviewers and I really hope your channel can grow because this is quality content and more people should know about it. (sorry if I didn´t express myself correctly, english isn´t my native language)
Back when I played 'Rule of Rose', I remember thinking the sane exact thing - this game is begging to get a remake. All the elements for a great survival horror are there. It's the gameplay & game design that ruins an otherwise solid entry in the genre. Kudos for reviewing this one.
Please please PLEASE review The Witch's house next! I see you've done reviews for Ib and Mad Father, The Witch's House is in the same vein but with a tragic story if you unlock the true ending. I'd love to see your thoughts and analysis of it along with the novel Diary of Ellen that leads up to the events of the game!
I legit thought that fake Wendy’s ad was real
I laughed at the irony but then I realized it was part of video
Still funny
*WaNdYs 4 FoR 4!*
(i know im late reeeee)
I remember getting my hands on this game, then it getting ruined because of bad storage.
It was probably one of the best examples of story and atmosphere overcoming bad game design. It wasn’t all that fun to play but certainly fun to figure out and poke around in, managing to be creepy and disturbing without wandering into shock value for the sake of it. I don’t think it could be made today without a similar sort of reaction given when it was released; Rule of Rose does go into territory that most don’t like, giving us a cast of child characters who are all part of Jennifer’s bullying and issues no one wants to talk about. Lord of the Files was one thing, but having the children shown actively killing/harming their careers (even if justified) and a dog doesn’t help, neither do the other implications (Mermaid Princess).
I think dogs were used in this game and Haunting Ground because they give players an ai partner that can help them, without having to be too helpful. Dogs can fetch items and made help with combat a little but not be expected to use weapons or figure out puzzles, so you don’t end up with a human character who looks like an idiot during gameplay. Also you probably don’t have to write dogs as being likeable, you’d have to write them to be unlikeable.
“Their is only one thing worse then a rapist- BOOM”
Jennifer: “A Child.”
“No.”
Overall i WISH this game was remade. I played this on my PS2 and pre-ordered it after I saw the extensive trailers. It was also one of the first Horror games i beat on my own. I had to replay it twice in order to understand the story because I didn't know this was a game you needed to search for the story. One thing this game got exceptionally right was it's mystery and how the game is presented. Not once did I ever feel safe in this game, the atmosphere is dripping with eerie sounds like the Creaking of the Hull in the airship, or the disturbed laughter of children in the distance in the Orphanage. The music in this game adds to the atmosphere so well and blends well with the events and just walking around. The Aristocrat Club members are so devious and devilishly charming the more you learn about them and their tragedies. However I do wish the combat was a little smoother, i mean I know they wanted to convey the helplessness of a young woman in early 20th century but come on they made Jennifer too weak. Overall this game has a great narrative but sadly it was covered in misinformed controversy and poor sales. I think Atlus would have a great hit if this was remade for the PS4, written a little better and the voice acting was done a bit better.
You cannot really understand the story because it has an inconsistent and incomplete narrative. Everyone who thinks they understand more than a silhouette of it, is wrong. The story is not written well enough for that.
I just pulled an all nighter and finished the game. I had to go somewhere related to the game, so I went here. Other than the combat and pretty long stretches of nothing I loved every part of the game. Truly a work of art!
I bought this game used from Gamestop when I was like 11. I ended up taking it back partly because that's usually what I did, play a game until I beat it or got bored and then returned it before the warranty is up so I could get my money back and buy another game, and partly because I got frustrated with it and it scared me. It didn't help that when I first put it in it was night and I was home alone, lol. The story and the characters stuck with me, though. I wish it would be remade or that they would make a movie or something out of it. If I had known it was gonna become this super infamous, rare game that sells for like hundreds of dollars online I would have kept it. I wanna play it now that I'm 'grown up' and know what it is.
Thanks Nitro Rad! I am a "gameplay over everything" person and started this game 2 days before you uploaded this review. So thanks for giving me the story and saving me the clunky gameplay experience.
Rules of the Rose is a very rare game in my opinion. I love that the whole interpretation of it was all symbolism and based on a different perspective (child and adult Jennifer). It sucks the developers had a low budget for a game that was suppose to be big, and I think they had little time too from when they started making it to when they were to release it. Just imagine if they had a bigger budget and more time this game would have been amazing. However they still did a “decent” job for what they have despite the gameplay being bad and some fights much harder than they have to be. I think what’s best appreciated of the game is the story and how it was interpreted.
I'm honestly amazed. Two days ago, I replayed some parts of Rule of Rose. And like any other person interested in the subject, I looked up some RUclips videos on the game but ended finding nothing except for walkthroughs. Literally a day after that, you post a video about Rule of Rose. This coincidence has just gained you a subscriber :D
30:07 So that's how he uses his Patreon money
Seeing puppy brown when you know what happens to him breaks my heart
I first learned of Rule of Rose through a forum on a musician's website. The forum was very extensive and despite being focused on and run by this musician and her team it had sections for numerous topics including video games. I forget exactly what the thread's topic was but Rule of Rose was brought up by a user along with the mermaid boss fight. I've never had the chance to play it but the story seems so interesting and this video only broadly covers it.
So yeah, I found this on the Rule of Rose wiki....
"The following code works in PCSX2 for the North American UTSC version: Hold L1, L2 and L3 and it will appear in the top left corner in the inventory, and pressing the buttons again will reset it to 99 ammo. This can, however, make playing the game easier due to having infinite bullets for the Revolver."
I hope having infinite ammo for the revolver makes playing the game easier guys.
I can't thank you enough for making a video about this incredibly beautiful and underrated game
The PS2 era was the golden age of survival horror games...I miss this time
Aw geez ;//w//; that's rough
Sounds like this game made you pretty
Nitro *Sad*
Damn, what a story. It'd make for a solid visual novel, though. Disturbing themes, characters with messed up motives, all you need for a dark work. I like it.
Rule of Rose is a unique, good game. Like a dark, creepy fairytale from the Brothers Grimm. There's a method to beating the first boss, Mr. Hoffman. First, let him chase you until he falls down. Second, get behind him. Third, the very second he finishes standing up, strike him once then run away. It takes some practice, but once you get it down, you'll defeat him easily.
I never really thought about this till I read some of the other comments: Jennifer appearing older during most of the game, only to appear younger towards the end, could be a visual metaphor for how we can carry trauma long after the event. Years, even decades after a traumatic event, the memories can stay, no matter how badly we want to forget them
The soundtrack of this game is lovely
Agreed! I'd love to own a copy of the soundtrack if it didn't cost half of what this game usually sells for!
Indeed. Hell, the main theme (A Love Suicide) has David Bowie lyrics in it, taken straight from "All The Madmen". So i'm kind of inclined to think it's the greatest thing ever lol.
Hey Nitro rad I don't know if you still read your old comments on your old videos but this is probably like my 15th time watching this video one of my favorites
I feel like that Rule of Rose would make a great movie (if it was given the correct amount of time and commitment)
While not a direct correlation, there was a movie in 2007 that comes remarkably close to it called The Orphanage. It's in Spanish, so you'll have to deal with subtitles, but if you're curious it's got an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.
@@KantankerouslyK Apart from some very basic similarities in setting and tone, I would argue that it's not really all that comparable when it comes to story. Almost more of a cross between The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth, with the aspects of children witnessing and experiencing terrible cruelty and using fantastical elements to attempt to cope with it being more in line with the latter. I do think Del Toro would be a perfect choice to turn this into a movie, though.
Hey, Alpha, I know you probably won't see this because of the other 500 comments, but I'm so damn glad I found your channel, your knowledge of how to go really in depth with your reviews makes them some of the best I've seen on RUclips, I love how they get so much of the message across but still have elements of comedy (although I find some bits to hit or miss, but that's all subjective).
I also love how you find out behind the scenes information as well (like in your Rascal review), because that makes me see games I shrugged at and forgot about in a whole new light.
(Shamless game review request below)
There's a game called Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, made by Eidos, it's an old Tomb Raider style game, being a puzzle/platformer/action/adventure... and vampires. The PSN store sells it at £8 which I think is $10 in America.
Love Ya Nitro Rad! A dude that truly love VideoGames and actually finish em and play em deeply before make a review.
Wish all youtubers was like ya!
ITSNOUSE!!!!
this nightmare of a game makes lord of the flies look like swiss family robinson
Rule of Rose is so well thought out, you realize the status and personal issues of the different girls just by paying attention to how they do their curtsy in the opening movie. The game has issues, but it's tightly written and animated.
It’s always a treat to see someone talk about this game. What I thought the grown up a Jennifer was, was the kid Jenifer imagining herself as an adult, as if “above all these kids” even as she got tortured and bullied, but the game is kinda vague so it can also be seen as “her reliving these memories later, and just warping fully back to the moment she was younger after her friend’s death”.
Also as horrible as the mermaid boss is, the actual background of the girl who WAS the mermaid, with all the touching and sexual abuse from the adult actually made me feel incredibly sick. If only the combat wasn’t so horrible, I’d happily buy it for myself instead of seeing other people funnily suffer through it because it explores some really dark moments I wish more games did.
amazing story and atmosphere, for some reason the aliased low res textures and lighting of the ps2 are perfect for horror games, no remaster needed
Except for the gameplay
I remember this game! I absolutely loved the story and actually came up with my own theory. While I agree that she was definitely reliving that time at the orphanage, I also believed that the reason she was experiencing it all as a young adult was because she thought of herself as being more mature than the other girls at that time. Like, all of the trauma and the things she went through before hand made her feel that everyone was more childish than she was.
I think this was your finest review yet, my dude. I always had an interest in Rule of Rose, if nothing more than it being for the sake of curiosity. The trailers alone fill you with that sense of dread you can only get from late 90s/early 2000s horror game visuals. But I think the idea of the controversy surrounding it, coupled with not actually knowing the story or background behind any of it just exacerbated that unsettling vibe surrounding it. Like they say, sometimes the unknown is far scarier than what you actually get to experience, and seeing creepy looking orphan girls commit horrific acts without context fits that unknown too well.
The story you described here is most definitely unnerving and incredibly fucked-up based on subject matter alone. Though I think seeing it all laid out gave me a bit of closure. I knew I'd never dish out the cash for my own copy, and despite still finding it disturbing, it's kind of cool to be able to close the book on being unnerved by not knowing the narrative or context.
Great job explaining this one, Nitro! Looking forward to the next video.
Wow. Great video!
The story for this game kicked my ass.
Poor Brown..and to include a final chapter as a young girl and meeting puppy Brown just ties everything together perfectly
Rule of Rose is one of my favorite games of all time. Such a shame that it's so unappreciated.
Why? Why am I still here? Why am I constantly rewatching this video?
Never has a game’s story left me this spellbound and unnerved quite like this one does.
Well time to grab some popcorn, this is gonna be good
Hey Rad, newcomer to you channel and just wanted to stop by and wish you the best towards your mention of your film work. Got a friend of mine who is going through that very same change with their life and to say the least its really hurting to see someone lose themselves when before they were always such a happy and wonderful person. Want to extend some hopes to you Rad, just as much as I try and keep to my dear friend that they shouldn't give up on their dream but also its not fair either to be forced to changed in such a horribly hurtful way like you had mentioned.
In some ways, you still are a film maker and making these RUclips videos and drawing in such a big audience is wonderful. Its not what you might have expected, but in the very least its a silver lining you should acknowledge and always keep true to yourself.
Sorry I can't relate better to that time in your life, but I wish you the best in what you're making now and the fans around you that will help you continue with your creativity in one way or another. Spooky videos or otherwise. ^o^
I’ve never seen your channel before, but saw a Rule of Rose video pop up which is so rare :’)
And also noticed your Umineko and Higurashi collection... good taste. Got a subscriber.
It’s such a beautiful rich story, with deep disturbing characters and monsters. Shame about the deplorable gameplay.
Good to see someone cover it!
I remember coming across the first Clock Tower stuff through a site called vgmusuem YEARS ago, but that's what put me on a horror-game kick when I was younger. This was one of the ones I was told to look at along with Haunting Grounds, and while I never got to play it myself or see a playthrough of it years later, I really felt it had a charm to it all. Glad you did a piece on this. Always loved the musical score on it too.
Brown: good boy or best boy?
BEST BOY
Best boy
@@Skullkan6 dead boy
Yes
@@Alex_Barbosa :(
I vaguely remember hearing something about this game years ago due to physical copies being rare and pretty pricey. Then in 2016, I stumbled across this game again accidentally by typing the phrase "mermaid room" into the RUclips search bar. I didn't find what I was originally looking for, but one of the first two results was footage of that boss fight. I watched it, and I got kind of obsessed. I was constantly researching it online, watching any video I could find about it, and there really weren't many analyzing or discussing the game. I eventually started playing it on an emulator since a copy was like $200 at the time I was looking. The combat is incredibly difficult and hit detection is way off, but man is that one hell of a game. I still haven't finished it myself, because of frustration at the controls. I'll get to it eventually, because the story is so fascinating and the atmosphere is so eerie. Thank you for this video!
Oh, boy! My favorite PS2 game. But that's weird, NitroRad never reviewed a wrestling game, especially one with that much fanser-
Oh... My bad.
This is soooo good! I really love your commentary a lot! It's so funny and cool, and you have a very smooth voice that makes it very easy listening to the whole video! 😍😍😍😍 Also, I wanted to know if you'll do videos on the old resident evil games as well at some point???? 😍😍😍😍😍
I wish people talked about this game more it’s an amazing game that deserves a remake not to mention the story is creepy and very disturbing
Rule of Rose is an example of how you can have a brilliantly plotted and atmospheric story and setting that caved if your gameplay is bad.
That’s one thing about games: whatever artistic merits your game may possess if it’s not fun to play for 20 or so hours it’s killer
YESSSSS this game looks so cool!!
edit: i stand corrected
edit 2: the story is pretty cool though
This is honest to god probably one of my favorite videos from you.
"If the only legal way of playing is by paying hundreds of dollars, that's just unfair"
Action 52: I feel targeted here...
This is the only coverage I've ever seen of this hidden gem. Thanks for giving it time to shine!
At an anime convention one time I won the original sound track of this game. It was beautiful. It piqued my interest and I really can say it’s a good game.
I still own my original copy and I’m so proud.