“A fun and very Japanese rhythm game that quickly gets frustrating as you progress.”

TITLE: ONTAMARAMA (Japanese title: おんたま♪おんぷ島へん/Ontama Onputouhen)

DEVELOPER: Noise Factory

PUBLISHED BY: ATLUS

CONSOLE: Nintendo DS

RATING: E for EVERYONE - Cartoon Violence

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Ontama, Onpu Island’s musical spirits, are being captured! It’s up to you to top, circle and blow enemies away! Can you master the beats and return music to the island?

Groove to rock, hip-hop, jazz and more!

Unlock new songs, new items and new ontama!

Challenge yourself with 3 play modes and multiple difficulty levels!

“Ontamarama” (or Ontama Onputouhen) was released in the US in the Summer of 2007. As interest for past ATLUS games are at an all time high and knowing that print runs are often low for ATLUS games, “Ontamarama” was a game that was immediately in my video game hunt list.

I’ve had my share of purchasing rhythm games in Japan and I learned that when it comes to rhythm games you either play it for the enjoyment, the party game to share with friends and enjoy the music and there are those who just love the sheer challenge because many rhythm games feature ridiculously difficult levels.

“ONTAMARAMA” is a game that features manga-cute characters, voice acting and schlocky music (not licensed songs or J-Pop either) in which someone is capturing “Ontama”, these puffy, almost ghost looking musical spirits. You manage to find one Ontama and as you try to help it and make your way through the island, you come across a variety of challenges from those who want your ontama.

Each of these people you challenged are brainwashed or forced to work for the main bad guy of the game but challenge them and beat them, you get through the map to the next level. If you don’t, you lose.

GAMEPLAY:

The gameplay during competition against rivals features your ontama and your opponents ontama (or musical notes) on the top. On the top is a bar where you see different colored ontamas sliding to the left. On the main screen is you will see ontamas show up primarily in blue, green or orange colors. And you use the directional pad or buttons) to sync to the top sliding bar (the clef) when the otama reaches this big ball.

See a lot of ontamas show up with the same color, you use the stylus to draw a circle around the group.

When there are too many ontamas, during battle, you get to use a blow command that eliminates the ontama. Of course, these are quite limited.

The challenge is to watch the screen and click or circle the ontama or group of ontamas while using your directional pad to sync and play a note.

The difficulty is that too many ontamas can show up on screen (especially if they are different colors and next to other different colored otamas) and you can easily get a screen filled with ontamas and lose a battle.

There are a variety of modes:

STORY: This is the main game where you can play the character of the boy named BEAT or the girl named REST. Advacing through story mode will add new modes and items to the store. And if you clear story mode once, new things happen in the background if you play in hard mode.

After beating a rival/challenge, like most rhythm games, you are given a letter grade and of course, you want the better score for points to use at the shop or if you just love the challenge and enjoy achieving the best score.

TUTORIAL: Standard tutorial on how to play the game.

FREE PLAY: Pick and play songs you cleared in story mode.

CHALLENGE: Play 4 preset songs in a row

SHOP: Buy songs and items with points acquired during the game

CONTROLS:

After you click on the ontama, with your stylus on screen Look at the top bar and when the ontama slides to this ball, you use your direction pad. If it’s a green note you hit right; blue note, you hit down; red note, you hit up and orange note, you hit left.

You can also use the A/B/X/Y buttons instead of the directional pad.

GRAPHICS:

The character designs are anime or manga-like. Cute characters. Colorful setting and since it’s a rhythm game, graphics don’t really come to full play.  If anything, your eyes are on the screen busily trying to convert ontamas to musical notes.

AUDIO:

The music is standard synth or guitar music. There are variety of music that you compete in but the only stage where I found the music to be cool is the goth mode but everything else was ok. No vocals. No J-Pop or licensed music.

Overall, for me, any rhythm game from Japan that is quirky is appealing. I expected rhythm games to be difficult and “ONTAMARAMA” is very difficult and challenging as your progress through the game.

There is an easy level mode that removes a lot of the major challenges of the game and people can easily breeze by and win items and points but those who love rhythm game challenges and the difficulty of it, and like quirky Japanese rhythm games are the ones who will dig it the most.

Especially those who want to receive every item and get perfect rankings.

Otherwise casual gamers who don’t play as much rhythm-based games will probably yank their hair out as they try to play hard mode.

I’ve beaten the normal mode for both characters but once playing hard mode, things get insanely difficult and with so many ontamas thrown into the screen, I swear I think my eye and hand coordination must be off because I’m losing all the time.

I know there are those who thrive on these difficult challenges and this game may be your cup of tea.

In terms of replay value, With so many items that can assist you during your challenges, it definitely helps. Items available at the shop such as increasing the breath command to easily wipe out otamas, increase of performance gauge, stylus line increase, less damage/guard. There are other items that you can purchase that eliminate notes as they approach the clef. By playing a lot and getting the points, it will definitely help you in your quest in beating those difficult levels.

But all in all, to me, the music is not great but as a rhythm game, it is challenging and it is fun. Average game at best for me. Again, it’s very difficult in hard mode but if you are looking for a rhythm game on your Nintendo DS that is challenging and fun, you may want to give “ONTAMARAMA” a try.

+ Enjoyable and very fun to play

+ Interesting concept and utilization of the Nintendo DS via the stylus and breath command.

+ For those looking for a challenging and difficult rhythm game on the Nintendo DS, this game is for you!

+ Replay value. Once beaten in normal mode, for those that want the better score or to get 100% items, you can do that.

- Difficult. Hair-pulling, piss you off, throw your Nintendo DS on the ground difficult in hard mode.

- Music is not that great.

“A Japanese anime-style tactical RPG game with a fun and engaging storyline but with an average at best gameplay. Still, one of the more interesting tactical RPG games on the Nintendo DS”

TITLE: Luminous Arc

DEVELOPER: Marvelous Interactive

PUBLISHED BY: ATLUS

CONSOLE: Nintendo DS

RATING: T for TEEN - Alcohol reference, language, mild fantasy violence, suggestive themes

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Protect the Light, Condemn the Dark!

A millennium of peace is about to be torn asunder by the spread of darkness. A war with the witches 1,000 years ago nearly destroyed the planet and now they have returned. Character designs by Kaito Shibano, music from Yasunori Mitsuda and solid storylines combine to give tactical RPG fans the kind of portable gaming experience they’ve been craving!

I have to admit that ever since playing “Final Fantasy Tactics” and “Disgaea” on the Sony PSP, I’ve been purchasing nearly every Japanese strategy/tactical RPG that has come out for all the consoles and I realize that there some gems and there are some clunkers.

For many years, I avoided the anything tactical or strategy-based RPG to come out. But since playing these games, I’ve been like fanboy-ish and purchasing not just the Japanese games but even going back and purchasing hits on the PC of U.S. games.

l I really love the strategy and the challenge (and thrill) of beating a difficult group of enemies and then enjoying the various systems, may it be weapon or armor-based, financial base… you name, I’ll enjoy it my own way. And balance that with an engaging storyline and I’m all up for it.

With Atlus announcing the second “Luminous Arc” by Marvelous Entertainment to be released in 2008 in the US, I figured that I better kick things into gear with the first game, which I bought when it first came out.

Since its release, I have been level grinding for many, many, many hours (I tend to focus this style of gameplay with RPG’s) before getting into full-story mode.

The main storyline revolves around the Garden Children. A group of orphans trained by the Arc Knight Heath to fight monsters and follow their goal to condemn the witches who have appeared in the world after being sealed for a thousand years.

As the Church prepares battle, the Garden Children prepare to battle with the witches. The Garden Children are:

Alph: The leader of the Garden Children and dedicated to the goals of the Church and follows the footsteps of Heath. Fights with a sword and uses rifle-based skills.

Theo: Alph’s younger brother. A bit naive and a young kid but excellent with a bow and arrow.

Leon: The oldest member, a bit cocky and the guy who gets all the girls, with the exception of Garden Children member, Cecille. Uses a sword but is very powerful and like his father “The Lion King”, has some really cool skills.

Cecille: A priestess dedicated to the church. The healer.

Saki: A ninja who collects intelligence data. Very professional and mature. Uses various magical, skill attacks.

Nikolai: Loves Cecille but infatuated by witches. Gets on the nerves of the Garden Children but joins to offer his knowledge on witches. Has the ability to improve stats of members during battle and able to do long distance attacks.

And of course, these are just a few of the characters that you get to play. As you progress through the game, you meet various characters who you get to control and each have their own cool, special ways of attacking.

So, the many characters involved definitely enhances the game as well.

Each character and witch also opens up a special attack called “Flash Drive”. You have a meter and when a character does a certain action (like increasing tech or speed during battle), your meter goes up and you unleash a powerful attack or cause status ailments to enemies.

Assigned to help the Garden Children is a maid named Lucia who Alph finds out is a witch and encounters with other witches. But what happens when the Garden Children find out that like humans, not all witches are evil? What will happen when the Church forces the group to continue with their goal to eliminate the witches? Will Alph and team follow or will they end up going against the church that raised them?

GAMEPLAY:

Similar to other JRPG tactical games, the battlefield shows enemies and when it’s your turn, using that character you move (as far as that character can go) and plan which direction they are going to go and assign your 5-8 characters to that direction. Have them use an action to battle or use magical skills or to heal.

Throughout the game, there is a storyline which allows you to shop for better weapons, armor and accessories. Or talk with various people and possibly get more items. Also, a library with detail from the witch or church perspective of the battle between the two.

Shown is a map where you can battle in certain areas (aka keep level grinding over and over) and go to the next village for which the next storyline begins.

After each battle, you can talk to a member of the team and build a relationship and get “Philia” points and after each battle is a short story titled “Kopin”. Mysterious creatures that live with witches. Touch the screen and certain things may happen.

Then there is Vitae - Appraisal and Imbuing. Vitae are stones that have the power of the Rune and you can add these stones to weapons or armor to strengthen effects and abilities.

MULTIPLAYER BATTLES: You can do multiplayer battles with another player that has a “Luminous Arc” cartridge and participate in battles with up to eight units. This will open once reaching Chapter 13.

EXTRA DUNGEON: A hidden extra dungeon is available but is not relevant to the storyline.

NEW GAME +: After finishing the game, everything can be carried over to a new game and this is for those who want to get better intermission screens with the characters and earn more Philia points

CONTROLS:

With your stylus, you can assign where your characters go. The only problem that I found is that you can’t rotate the battle screen. You can move up, left, down and right but when monsters and your team are together. Because you can’t rotate, selecting that enemy during battle becomes cumbersome and you may end up selecting your own character that will get the brunt of a hit or magical spell.

So, because of that…. “Save often”.

And of course, selecting the actions, skills, magic, flash drive or using an item during battle.

GRAPHICS:

The anime-style illustrations are pretty cool with character designs by Shibano Kaito. known for his work on PC games and trading cards. Cool to see the animated opening sequence. The cut-scenes are not animated but various illustrated still shots. The in-game battle are fine for a tactical RPG, nothing major. The use of the “flash drive” shows an animated sequence but nothing super.

All in all, I really enjoyed the character designs for “Luminous Arc” and Shibano’s artwork is just beautiful to look at.

AUDIO:

When I first started the game, it was cool to get the J-Pop theme at the beginning and then to find out that many of the cut-scenes include full audio. That was pretty cool!

The audio featured is in English. That would have been cool if the Japanese audio was included but with the amount of dialogue included, not sure if it could all fit in a DS flash card.

OVERALL:

So, far I’m halfway through the game. I think that perhaps I’ve spent too much time level grinding because the enemies are fairly easy for me to beat. One or two-hits and they are dead and really, there is no really strategy like I had in other tactical RPG games.

I just go all-offensive and really never had to use any defensive measures. Hopefully, things change as I further progress but without any real strategy at this time, the game is too easy and cumbersome.

If anything, the storyline and the characters are engaging and so far has kept me in. I really like the storyline and the variety of characters introduced, that will join your team.

All in all, I have been enjoying “Luminous Arc”. It’s not a deep storyline but I like the fact that it has a fun, humorous and lighthearted storyline but as you progress, you can tell things are getting darker.

I like the fact that you get more and more people with their own skills to join your team but I felt so much time was taken to level grinding and I’m a patient man but I feel like my patience of level grinding was starting to wear thin.

If anything, the engaging storyline, the ability to develop relationships (or stronger friendships) with your teammates depending on your answer is pretty cool.

But so far, so good. A bit easy so far but I think things should get a bit more challenging. The controls (of selecting an enemy when it’s populated with a lot of enemies or your own people was the only problem. But very minor.

All in all, the overall gameplay for “Luminous Arc” is enjoyable, not in the same level as “Final Fantasy Tactics” or “Disgaea” but still quite fun.

I will have a more in-depth review after I complete the game.

+ Many cool characters, unique storyline, cool attacks

+ You meet many characters who you can play as the game progresses.

+ Audio during most of the cut-scenes

+ Definitely cool for additional gameplay for multiplayer or after you beat the game

- Minor control issues

- Not much strategy as I would of hoped. The game is fairly easy if you are a level grinder but probably challenging if you don’t put time into level grinding.

- Level grinding is tedious because you literally play the same map, same enemies, same positions each time.

Atlus announced through their newsletter that “Persona 4″ is coming to North America.

It will be in stores THIS holiday season, December 9th, in a deluxe 2-disc release. Each and every copy of Persona 4 will include a soundtrack CD with select music from the game.

Persona 4. December 9th. Only $39.99. Mark your calendars.

Experience a thrilling murder mystery RPG set in the Japanese countryside. A mysterious chain of deaths remains unanswered and only you and your team of gifted supernatural sleuths can uncover the truth.

Develop strong friendships to aid you in battle, take direct control of your party in combat, acquire and fuse Personas, craft weapons, sign up for part-time jobs… You’ll never be short of something to do in Persona 4.

Our Video Game CM Pick of the Day goes to the upcoming Atlus PS2 video game “Persona 4″ to be released in Japan on July 10th.

DISCLAIMER: youtube.com videos are courtesy of youtube and are not on J!-ENT servers

GAME: Arcana Heart

CREATED BY: EXAMU/AQI

PUBLISHED BY: ATLUS

CONSOLE: PlayStation 2

RATED: TEEN - Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

When the announcement of “ARCANA HEART” coming out in Japan last fall, we did a lot of coverage on J!-ENT to promote the game.

The moe-style all-female fighting game that has spawned fighting tournaments in Japan was coming out on the PS2 with both the original arcade version and the patched, fighting balance corrected ARCANA HEART FULL version (FULL also allows for more color schemes for combatants and also the version used in fighting game tournaments in Japan).

As a fighting game junkie, when it came to female fighting games from the import “Sailor Moon S” on the 3DO to my favorite all female fighting game in the 90’s -”Asuka 120%” on the original PlayStation. But here we are more than a decade later with games like “Melty Blood” and “ARCANA HEART” being released in Japan, I never expected this game to come out in the US.

And ATLUS, being the coolest company to publish niche games and distribute in the US, they did it with “ARCANA HEART”. Awesome!

Before, I start let me repeat the ATLUS video game fanboy/fangirl message that many repeat over and over when it comes to ATLUS games: If you see it in the store and have a major interest in the title, buy it because chances are, you’re not going to see it again and if you want it later, you will be paying higher prices on eBay for it.

With that being said, let’s start with the my first glance review.

“ARCANA HEART” is an all-female “moe” (think of the word as a fetish or hard core passion to a certain character or genre/style for characters in a video game, anime or manga - typically I hear it used mostly towards female characters) fighting game.

There are a total of 11 maidens that you start out with such as:

• Heart Aino - Heart believes love can solve problems and a well-rounded, versatile fighter. Good at close combat attacks.
• Tsuzura Aiko - Best friend of Heart and always caring for her safety after she and a friend (Fiona) were swallowed by a dimensional portal. Aiko managed to escape and feels guilty for her friend’s disappearance. Another balanced character and good in close combat attacks.
• Kamui Tokinomiya - The Thousand Year Protector. A girl in a dark school girls outfit with dark boots with her long hair in a ponytail and carries her blad “Tamayorihime”. A character that can be very powerful if you learn her correctly.
• Konoha - Part human and canine. Ninja fighting style, short and fast.
• Lilica Felchenerow - Half human/half demon - All about speed and adaptability.
• Yoriko Yasuzumi - The witch and summoned the demon king ike which she has as a staff. She has a wide variety of attacks but they are not strong.
• Maori Kasuga - Practices rituals and assisting matters in the Elemental World. Great at fighting in a distance and uses her sisters to attack and set up combos.
• Lieselotte Achenbach - Crimson-Eyed Criminal who is cold hearted and wants to eliminate Heart for some reason. Fights with her sister (which is a wooden-marionette type of character missing her legs) Probably the most complicated character to use but once discovered, she can be devastating.
• Mei-Fang - Chinese-made humanoid robot. She is a close-range attack martial arts fighter.
• Kira Daidohji - Arrogant and condescending and rides some elemental blue bubble that can do a lot of damage and attacks.
• Sub-boss: Fiona Mayfield - A friend of Saki who was kidnapped into the Elemental World. Now serves Mildred. Powerful and wields a very strong sword.
• Boss - Mildred Avalon - Head of the Ministry of Elemental Affairs. Has two forms that you must go against. An elemental monster form which you need to use distance attacks. And her archangel/human form which takes a lot of strategy and planning (and losing) to figure out how to beat.

Now what makes this game so different from other fighters is that similar to a fighting game like “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures” which uses their own “STAND” (let’s say an enhanced secondary character you can employ to help you fight), with “ARCANA HEART” you get to select Arcana’s (think of it as a god or goddess that enable special powers for a character) before you fight.

This is what makes the game unique and also where you plot your strategy because you can have 121 fighter combinations and this adds to the replay value of the game because you can play with one character and play through the storymode and arcade mode using an arcana.

The Arcanas are as follows (please note that I have only used two Arcanas so far in this first glance review):

• Arcana of Love: PARTINIAS - Heart’s Arcana - But allows characters to have long range attacks and close range attacks. But great to use for mid-long range attacks. No depletion on the Super Meter.
• Arcana of Lightning: BHANRI - Saki’s Arcana and gives the power of lightning attacks and clash attacks in the air.
• Arcana of Time: ANUTPADA - Kamui’s Arcana, has power over time to stop clock from counting down
• Arcana of Nature: MORIOMOTO - Konoha’s Arcana, health regeneration
• Arcana of Wind: TEMPESTAS - Lilica’s Arcana and allows quad jumps and three air dashes
• Arcana of Death: DIEU MORT - Yoriko’s Arcana and physical attacks poison opponent and defense is increased.
• Arcana of Earth: OHTSUCHI - Maori’s Arcana. You can’t block attacks but defense is greatly increased.
• Arcana of Shadow: GIER - Lieselotte’s Arcana. Special attacks inflict more damage.
• Arcana of Fire: LANG-GONG - Mei-Fang’s Arcana. Homing in the air gives offensive fire shield.
• Arcana of Water: NIPTRA - Kira’s Arcana - No damage while blocking
• Arcana of Metal: ORICHALKOS - Fiona’s Arcana - Strength and defense increased

So, choosing an Arcana will definitely give you a variety of abilities and thus, each time you play that single character with a different arcana, it’s always something new. Definitely gives this game a lot of replay value.

GAME MODES:

This game has a story mode, arcade mode, versus mode, training mode, gallery mode and options

GRAPHICS:

The game is a 2D fighter and similar to 2D games by SNK like “King of Fighters” (recent KOF games), you will see beautifully painted backgrounds and character designs more like anime-style characters. And before anyone asks, no this game does not have fan service. There are no animated video scenes, story is told via text and drawn still shots.

SOUND:

The game has rock music, to tell you the truth, didn’t pay attention to it. Similar to most fighting Japanese fighting video games, the characters talk in Japan before, during and after the game. But story mode is told via text but I do recall some parts with audio when a character you use meets up with a certain character (noticed audio with Kamui talking to Mike after the battle with Yoriko). You can access the music on the special options screen.

SPECIAL OMAKE:

Going to options, you will notice you can access unlockable content such as gallery, music and other things which I still have yet to unlock. There is animation for special move attacks and arcana attacks which are opened during story mode and arcade mode and if you use them during battle.

CONTROLS:

OK, this is where it depends on the person. Many people like the arcade mode style which is A, B, C and Special buttons. I know people who have imported this game and people who bought this game who are hardcore into fighting games and want to be in that tournament mode and use joysticks. I have two joysticks but so far as of my first glance review, only used the PS2 controller.

Buttons go like this:

SQUARE (A BUTTON) - WEAK

TRIANGLE (B BUTTON) - MEDIUM

CIRCLE (C BUTTON) - STRONG

X BUTTON (S BUTTON) - SPECIAL

L1 - Arcana Force - A, B, C together

R1 - A & B Button

R2 - Throw - A & X Button

A lot of people go through fighting button configurations for this game and thus, you may want to change to suit your fighting style.

Part of the strategy of “ARCANA HEART” is utilizing your arcanas and their special moves. Using Homing, this is very important because you can hit a character straight up into the air and if that happens, hitting the X button (Special) will make your character home into that character and you can use your combo or special attacks for major devastation (unless the opponent is great at countering) and then there is Homing Cancel and Guard Cancel.

THE METER:

Similar to most fighting games that use a meter, you have your health meter on the top. But on the bottom, you have a homing meter which is three oblong shaped markers on the bottom. Using a homing ability, guard cancel or homing cancel will eliminate the three bars. But it automatically refills over time.

The second meter is the Super Meter which is indicated by a number. When the homing meter keeps recharging it builds your super meter which allows you to use a maiden or Arcana super attack. Once it’s used, you subtract from the total.

So far, for my first glance review, I will say right now that I love this game.

But what will kill it for many non-hardcore fighting game fans is the character of Mildred. The boss character. She is as cheap as an SNK boss. Lowering the fighting mode level is not going to really make things easier during the boss battles. So, this is a game that you will be playing a lot to figure out which arcana suits your character and strategies to overcome the enemy.

I play a lot of fighting games and so far I have beaten the game once with Heart and using her own Arcana. (using her long distance attacks for Mildred 1 and then sweep kicks and repeating the long-distance attacks but this time at short distance - using the three light ball attack and laser followup of her Arcana, no Arcana special move). And that was after losing 15 or so times.

I then started playing with Kamui and using her Arcana and then using Heart’s Arcana but after a dozen times, still have not found a way to beat Mildred. I did try to use Lieselotte but wow, she is difficult.

But I really do love fighting games that are not too easy and games where you have to work at it. Each character is not the same and button mashing really gets you nowhere (some may get lucky). This game is all about planning your attacks well. Coming up with strategies and knowing their strength and weakness.

Let alone learning how one of the eleven Arcana that you can choose, can benefit your attack and strategy.

All in all, awesome game and if you are a fighting game fanatic, especially hardcore and own several joysticks, then definitely give “ARCANA HEART” a try and hope to see this game considered for fighting game tournaments in the US.

There are few games that I’ve seen where players have been so passionate about a storyline (which is left to a players interpretation) and people are very hardcore to the point that they will go to the extremes on their own theories and yes, unfortunately you will find the ocassional flame wars and that game is from Atlus titled “Rule of Rose”, a PlayStation 2 game released in 2006.

The game has received attention because of its mature rating and rumors ran rampant that the UK had banned the game fueling video game collectors to hunt down this game and in most cases for Atlus games, possibly very limited print runs.

For me, I have to admit that I knew nothing of this game. Being an Atlus fan, or more or less a “Shin Megami Tensei” fan, I decided to pick up many of the games published by Atlus.

A game that caught my eye was “Rule of Rose” from Japanese company PUNCHLINE and CG house SHIROGUMI INC. PUNCHLINE is known for making the kissing PS2 very Japanese game Chulip but what caught my attention was the survival horror title put on the game and that it was so unlike “Silent Hill”, “Fatal Frame”, “Siren” and “Biohazard”. So, that in itself was good enough for me to make the purchase…. if I could find it.

Fortunately, found a place (out of a dozen places that I checked) that had two used copies…but one was so severely scratched up that I was luck the other was not bad.

WHAT IS THIS GAME ABOUT?:

The game takes place in the 1930’s in England and focuses on a girl named Jennifer whose parents were killed in an accident and had to live in a creepy orphanage with pardon my language, really f’ed up children who seem to hate her.

All she has is a friend, a dog named Brown who helps her as she uncovers clues about the orphanage and the orphans who have their own secret society/club.

The game is like stepping into a time paradox whisked into playing in a orphanage or a zeppelin but once you advance through the game, you realize that there are some cruel things that have gone on in that orphanage or within the vicinity near that orphanage.

GAMEPLAY:

The game has you controlling the character of Jennifer, finding items with the use of your dog Brown. Jennifer can attack with weapons, while the primary uses of the buttons outside of attacking is to give commands to your dog to find, stay or to come back.

Because Jennifer is a weak person, controlling her is not easy. She’s always scared and even swinging a weapon, she can’t look and sometimes its very clumsy.

But you come to accept that this fits Jennifer’s character. You’re dealing with a terrified girl not Lara Croft.

Camera angles sometimes get janky at times but fortunately you can switch the camera with the L1 button.

WHY IS THIS GAME SO CONTROVERSIAL?:

Before I answer this, I know there is another Japanese game in the US out that involves a girl in a janky, haunted area with a dog called “Haunting Ground” but this is totally different.

By saying that, I’m going to talk about a few things that are spoilers, so you may not want to read further.

The game is about a girl named Jennifer but what you are playing is Jennifer, possibly seeing things through her eyes as she was younger and possibly the trauma she has faced as a child.

Now why is this game so controversial? Afterall controversy is “hot coffee” in GTA: San Andreas or the violence in “Manhunt 2″ and similar situations but for “Rule of Rose”, the things that you will see if you did a search on “Rule of Rose” is that this game was controversial because the game possibly dealt with lesbian relationships, abuse, cruelty to animals, child kidnappings, murder, abortion and child molestation.

Topics you pretty much thought you would not see in a video game. In fact, these situations are not shown in the most part but certain things can be implied that these things possibly and I stress “possibly” could have happened. Each of these topics are up to debate and if you read online, these debates are what fuels the interest of this game.

It’s probably one of the reasons why Sony, who published the game in Japan, did not want to publish it in the US. Atlus, who has a record for taking on things not so politically correct, released the game in the US.

I really don’t think you will find a game that is dark in this manner and because the creators of this series want you to make your interpretation of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. The character Jennifer has some twisted and imaginary of things that may or may not have taken place with what may have happened in reality. Thus depending on your perspective, the game could mean different things to different people.

After playing this game, I read many of the theories and there are some people who really did some in-depth investigative work on the years and dates shown through letters and newspaper clippings in the game and really made their case on what may have transpired.

IS THIS GAME A TRUE HORROR GAME?:

In a sense of killer imps, pigs, goats and rats trying to kill you and having to wack an axe, steel pipe or knife on them and see blood everywhere, yeah I guess that can be seen as horror. But will it scare you? Probably not.

But if there is anything I found disturbing aside from the topics discussed above, it’s the character of the young girl, Amanda.

Her smile alone is utterly twisted.

REPLAY VALUE:

The game takes about 8-10 hours to play and once you beat the game, you can try to access a variety of clothes including dressing Jennifer in a gothic lolita outfit (definitely targeting the j-rock visual kei or rococo fans out there) sans the J-rock music of course.

JUDGEMENT:

My oh my… I enjoyed this game because of its thought provoking storyline. It makes you wonder why there was no marketing on this game and how it flew under the radar, possibly because of the dark undertones or traumatic nature of the character may be too real for some.

There was an HK film that I once watched that shows the different kinds of love outside of passionate and intimate love. The creators wanted to show that within the cruel world of these young orphans, there is beauty.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this is quite evident in “Rule of Rose”. There is a character in “Rule of Rose” who tries to show her love but once you ponder what she does to make her love known, you being to realize how disturbing her love is. Possessive and cruel love.

After beating the game, I was left with… “Oh my… Did this things happen? No way!” and online you will find those who say…”oh, hell yeah that happened” to those who feel “I don’t think that happened”. Hours after beating the game, I’m still surprised by it all (btw, there are two endings to this game).

As for the gameplay, at first I found playing Jennifer and such a scared character, I was put off by what I felt was janky controls but as the game continued, I realized… the controls work, especially for the character of Jennifer. This girl has gone through too much shit in her young life and you are mean to see what this girl has been through and how she felt.

If there was one thing I didn’t like, I found “Rule of Rose” a game that featured quite a bit of backtracking. I hate backtracking but fortunately, if you use Brown correctly, that shouldn’t be a problem. Fortunately, you can find areas where you can save and there are more than enough ways to rebuild health for your character and for the dog after being injured.

All in all, I will say right now that this game is not for everyone. I actually thought I was going to play something close to “Silent Hill 1″ or something similar to survival horror games that I’ve played but in the end, you get a little bit of what those other games offer but something incredibly different is when the enemy are not zombies (although they are on here) but the enemies are the people who are meant to take care of kids and the children themselves.

I felt that the way the storyline was made to leave it to the player’s interpretation is its major strength because its evident, people have an opinion of the situations that happen in this game.

Definitely check this game out if you are up to it and most of all, if you can find it.