Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is a survival horror video game developed by Punchline for the PlayStation 2. Set in England in 1930, the plot revolves around a nineteen year old woman named Jennifer, who becomes trapped in a world ruled by young girls who have established a class hierarchy called the Red Crayon Aristocrats. It was first released in 2006 by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan. After Sony Computer Entertainment's American and European branch did not express interest in localizing the title, it was published later that year by Atlus USA in North America and by 505 Games in Europe. Development on Rule of Rose began after Punchline was asked by Sony Computer Entertainment to make a horror game. Punchline wanted to develop a "new type of horror game" with an emphasis on psychological horror. This decision led to the concept of childhood, specifically the "mysterious and misunderstood" nature of young girls. The team drew inspiration from the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales for the narrative, and the Silent Hill series for graphics and art style. The entire score was produced by studio musicians in order to bring a human element to the game's atmosphere. Rule of Rose was the subject of a moral panic in Europe prior to its publication there, based on rumors of its alleged content. These rumors ranged from erotic themes to obscene brutality. Various European authorities condemned the game and called for its banning. The game was cancelled in the United Kingdom, despite the Video Standards Council calling the complaints "nonsense". Rule of Rose received mixed reviews from critics, with gameplay being criticized the most. The game has been compared to Silent Hill and Haunting Ground, due to the psychological horror elements and the presence of a canine companion for the main character.

Rule of Rose is a survival horror game in which the player guides Jennifer through exploring the game environments and advances the plot by accomplishing tasks while sporadically encountering enemies and bosses. Combat is almost exclusively melee based, with a variety of improvised weapons available, such as kitchen knives and pipes. Jennifer is a timid character: her melee attacks are neither powerful nor long ranged. Brown accompanies her throughout the game and responds to the player's commands. Brown can be ordered to track items by scent, be commanded to 'stay' and be called to Jennifer's side. Brown cannot attack enemies, but will growl to distract some imps and bosses, allowing Jennifer to retreat or attack without fear of retaliation. He can be injured to the point of collapse, causing him to stop distracting enemies or track items. The same system allows the player to find health restoratives and other items which, while not essential to complete the game, can help the player survive enemy encounters. Every item selected this way can be used to find at least one type of item. When tracking items, Brown will lead the player through the game environments, scratching at doors in his way, signaling the player to open the door. Without a leader, the orphans elect Jennifer as their new Princess, but before she can decline, they see Wendy outside and leave to chase her away. Hearing their screams, Jennifer follows them and encounters Wendy, disguised as the Prince and leading Stray Dog. Wendy confesses to having Brown killed out of jealousy, and explains that she manipulated Gregory into becoming Stray Dog by disguising herself as his son, Joshua, and used him to massacre the Aristocrats out of revenge. Wendy gives Jennifer the gun she had stolen earlier in order to stop Stray Dog, and is then killed by Gregory. Recognizing Jennifer as Joshua, Gregory instead asks for the gun and shoots himself out of grief. Jennifer wakes up as her child self and realizes that all the events that have occurred were in fact her distorted memories of her childhood. Before meeting Wendy, Jennifer was kidnapped from an airship wreck by Gregory and made to live as a boy in order to replace his deceased son, the real Joshua. Wendy discovered Jennifer living under the identity of Joshua. Wendy rescued and brought Jennifer to the orphanage for companionship and together they formed the Red Crayon Aristocrats as a means of escapism, with Jennifer, as 'Joshua', being the Prince and Wendy being the Princess. They made a loyalty oath to each other and exchanged Jennifer's bear for Wendy's brooch. Soon after, Jennifer adopted a puppy she named Brown and started to neglect club duties in order to care for him. Having become jealous of Jennifer's love for Brown, Wendy demoted her from the position of Prince, and replaced her with the stuffed bear Joshua. Wendy also ordered the other orphans to torment Jennifer as punishment. Wendy ultimately ordered Brown's death to try and force Jennifer's submission. Within her memories, Jennifer locates Brown inside the shed, gives him the collar bearing his name, and inscribes her oath to Wendy on a chalkboard. Vowing to protect her memories of everyone, she leaves the shed and closes the door behind her.

The company Punchline, which had previously developed the video game Chulip, developed Rule of Rose for the PlayStation 2. This decision led to the concept of "a game surrounding childhood and children," but from both viewpoints to show how children and adults can find the other one terrifying, with a primary focus on the adult's perspective. the developers did not draw inspiration from it, The developers researched the behavior of children, monitoring a group of European and American children, and photographed references for "the game's textures and models"; for the motion capture, the team had Japanese children act. The musical score was composed by Yutaka Minobe, who also co composed the music of Skies of Arcadia and some tracks from the Panzer Dragoon Orta soundtrack. The entire score was produced by studio musicians, including the Hiroshi Murayama Trio, and vocals by Kaori Kondo. According to the game's developers, the music was intended to bring a human element to the atmosphere in the game. Punchline included several themes in Rule of Rose, Another theme is how attachment "to one thing can bring out the worst in people."

In 2021, Tokyo indie game developer Onion Games expressed interest in remastering Rule of Rose. Although they "can't guarantee that any of these initiatives will have more than a 1% chance of happening", they would like to give it a try after remastering a previous title for the Nintendo Switch called Moon. The Onion Games title Black Bird, although the gameplay is completely different, shares common features of both theme and iconography with Rule of Rose and includes several specific references to it.