Why ban Rule of Rose?

 

Rule of Rose. If you have heard of this game, kudos to you! Because of the messy ban of this game, it has almost completely been wiped from the internet as a whole. This video game was published in January of 2006 for the PlayStation 2; only releasing an utmost 10,000 to 20,000 copies. It follows a young woman named Jennifer and her journey through recovering buried memories of a place called Rose Garden Orphanage. With graphics like that of Silent Hill remakes, and Fatal Frame- this game has a plot that covers hard-to-swallow issues like child abuse, sexual assault, and something as common as childhood bullying and violence. This in contrast with even more violent games made in the 90s, really doesn’t amount to much but contains triggering topics. 

The game's contents alone sent Europe into a frenzy of moral judgment, taking the biased and fabricated rumors from citizens against Rule of Rose seriously. One of the more popular rumors made by European authorities themselves is that the point of the game is to cause harm to children and even to bury them. This is untrue. In a chapter of the game titled “The Funeral”, protagonist Jennifer is forced to bury a friend of hers (a dog named Brown) alive as a sacrifice for ‘unruly behavior.’ This is possibly the scene that the misinformation was spread about.

All in all, the banning of the game was simple due to misconceptions about the game itself and unwillingness to admit to fault. The game has plenty of good qualities, and a good representation of loss of innocence within children whether it's realized or not. It’s saddening that only few copies are being circulated on second-hand sites for high prices (on account of it being controversial.) Thankfully, a playthrough can still be easily accessed on YouTube. The playthrough will be linked! 

Playthrough: Rule of Rose