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Set in 1930 England, the plot revolves around a nineteen-year-old girl named Jennifer, who becomes trapped in a world ruled by young girls who have established a class hierarchy called the Red Crayon Aristocrats. The game has been compared to survival horror games Silent Hill and Haunting Ground, due to the psychological horror used throughout and because the main character is accompanied by a canine companion.
Rule of Rose garnered mixed reviews from many publications upon its release; reaction to the story, music, and the horror elements were almost universally positive, while the gameplay was panned. The game was also the subject of a much controversy due to its use of violence and implied sexuality amongst some of its underage, female characters.
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Story
Taking place in England in 1930, Rule of Rose centers on Jennifer, a young woman who is led to an abandoned orphanage by a small boy. She follows him into the attic and then to a grave in the courtyard, where she digs up a coffin with a bloody sack inside it. Four children sneak up on her and pour water on her, before shoving her into it, and she loses consciousness. She awakens in an abandoned airship ruled by a cruel group of children known as the Red Crayon Aristocrats: the mysterious Princess and Prince of the Red Rose; the confident Dianna, the eldest of the group of children and the highest-ranking under the Princess and Prince; the distant Eleanor; the intelligent Meg, who loves Dianna; and Amanda, who despises Jennifer, as her arrival caused Amanda to be put at the bottom of the hierarchy. Under the threat of death, Jennifer must appease the Aristocrats by bringing an offering for them each month, and she finds herself ranked near the bottom of the hierarchy. Although she encounters adults and other children on the airship as well, they are either unkind or distant towards her. She eventually befriends the sickly child Wendy and frees Brown, a dog who aids her in finding gifts and battling imps.
Jennifer eventually regains her memories of being cared for by Gregory Wilson, an emotionally unstable farmer who named her Joshua after his deceased son, after being orphaned in an airship crash. Wendy discovered her at his home, and they exchanged letters. Wendy convinced her to escape from him, but not before taking his gun. The two renewed their oath of "everlasting, true love", with Jennifer's stuffed bear exchanged for Wendy's brooch. On the airship, Jennifer retrieves the stuffed bear after it is stolen and is given a red crayon, the symbol of the Red Crayon Aristocrats in return.
The game's setting then transitions to the now-inhabited orphanage. Bullied by the children, Jennifer is horrified to find that she has become the offering of the month and loses Brown when she encounters Wendy in the courtyard. She eventually learns that Brown has been killed instead. Wendy then reveals herself as the Princess of the Red Rose, the leader of the Aristocrats. Jennifer, now a child, slaps her and casts aside her brooch, hating the Aristocrats and herself for being too cowardly to oppose them.
Afterwards, the Aristocrats approach Jennifer, now an adult, in the hopes that she will replace Wendy as their leader, as they have cast aside the tale of Stray Dog, a creature which kidnaps disobedient children, as Wendy's lie. Jennifer, however, finds that Wendy has brought Gregory to the orphanage, having conditioned him to obey her, and he proceeds to kill the children. Wendy then orders him to kill Jennifer, who manages to subdue him with the aid of inexplicably alive Brown. Wendy then confesses that she brought Gregory to the orphanage because she had felt that Jennifer did not love her. After giving Jennifer Gregory's gun, Wendy is snatched into the orphanage by Gregory. After a brief battle with him, Jennifer gives a remorseful Gregory the gun, which he uses to commit suicide.
Rule of Rose concludes with Jennifer, now a child, waking in the orphanage and reflecting on the events and characters. Letters exchanged between her and Wendy reveal that the sickly Wendy had become jealous of Brown, feeling that Jennifer treasured him over her. Jennifer reveals that after it was discovered she was the lone survivor of not only the orphanage massacre but the airship crash that was thought to have no survivors, the media coverage of the children's deaths was diminished, and she vows to remember her friends. In the final scene, Jennifer visits Brown, now a puppy, in the shed and puts a collar on him. Promising to protect him for eternity, she then closes the door on him.
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