Most games with stories worth being told have gameplay flaws

Rule of Rose is most definitely one of them. To preface this let me say that the story present in Rule of Rose was by far one of the most touching and heartwarming stories that I have experienced in quite a while. While some blanks or explanations may be needed, seek the internet's help, it definitely pays off to clarify your queries. I will also admit that it was so painful to have to put up with the battle-system at a particular part of the game but oh was it worth it.

The story is about a girl, Jennifer, and her acid-trip-gone-wrong story accompanied by her faithful dog. Needless to say if you are not down for a story involving a girl's psychological problems, children cruelty to each other, and a dog then this game is not for you. There is a lot to frustrate here, but if you're willing to invest in chugging through it I found the story worth it. Graphics wise I found the game was presented very well. There is a great deal of darkness to add to the absolute surreal nature of the game and on top of that there is a constant grain filter on the screen (I believe the player has some input on the level of graininess if it bothers you). The sound is also pretty good, the musical score is absolutely disturbing. There are mostly strings arrangements throughout, during combat or just the many disturbing cut-scenes they play various pieces that give off the most nervous and unsettling feeling. The atmosphere and feel to the game through graphics, presentation, and music is top notch. The voice acting is also absolutely amazing.

Now to the game-play. I personally did not have a problem with Jennifer's awkward handling of weapons because I felt that it was reasonable that a completely terrified girl would not be a pro at hacking little imps with pairing knives or an ice pick. I also really enjoyed the level of detail in expressions she had (she looks away when she stabs, not wanting to see the actual drawing of blood, as well as taking deep breathes after running for a prolonged period of time once you stop). Major issues arise when collision detection for weapons end up not working in your favor quite often, and of course for the enemies they seem to randomly connect when they honestly should not. This would not have been that large of a problem if health items would have been more readily available but they are most definitely a luxury. What this does cause the player to do is play intelligently, avoid conflicts, and massive resource controlling. This lead me to beat the game relatively without a hitch save for one area near the end which had me pulling my hair out (I was so close, but getting past that part honestly made the end all the more sweet).

There is not much I can say about the game without increasing the risk of me accidentally spoiling the story. I know not that many people played it, probably some that tried gave up after being frustrated. This game honestly reminds me of Jericho, which I recently played the demo of on Xbox Live. While I heard the ending of Jericho is disappointing, Rule of Rose's ending is NOT, I got the sense it's reviewers expected the next Halo in it when it was more atmosphere/immersion based not "ZOMG GUYS LETS PLAY JERICHO AND KNOCK BACK SOME COLD ONES" on the weekend. That being said, Rule of Rose is similar to something like Resident Evil only in the sense that the control of the character is similar...that is about it. For the low price that it has surely obtained by now at your local gamestore it would be a worthwhile investment if you have a good deal of patience, about 8 hours of freetime, and a hunger for an absolutely great story. Looking back I don't see myself ever trying to obtain the various bonus unlockables, but I do potentially see myself giving it another playthrough. This is definitely finding beauty in an abandoned ugly duckling, and man do I love my ugly ducklings.

Bottomline if you didn't catch my drift I think the game is totally worth the frustration.

Also, I hope to try out Clive Barker's: Jericho at some point once it drops more in price. That game's demo was the first time I had truly had such a visceral experience from a first-person-view. Having a slimy-rotting-templar-zombie fall on top of you and while straddling you stabs and bludgeons you and while your character screams (and she sounds very believable) if you fail a pretty rapid series of button pressing in order to parry and block the blows left me in quite a shock. The voice acting was pretty good in the game to boot (I point this out since it is a squad based game and your teammates at least sounded intelligent and realistic). The reason for my sudden interest I think is due to my anger at reviews which hastily compare a game to the genre's standards as opposed to it's own merits especially if it wasn't trying to meet the conventions of the genre in the first place. Most complaints seem to be due to the questionable ally AI (I've only played the demo so far), useless squad commands (when playing it I mainly didn't notice, I just made my own advances and they helped cover my back), and ripping the switching characters mechanic which I found to be very successful. Whatever, now I am just rambling but I honestly am looking forward to trying out the game once it's price goes down some more since I am down with the occult and creepiness. Also I want to know if the story is complete rubbish or not.