Atlus U.S.A. today announced Rule of Rose, an action-horror game for the PlayStation 2 developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Rule of Rose is being billed as an intensely atmospheric and incredibly disturbing experience developed in Japan by Punchline and Shirogumi, and published in Japan by Sony Computer Entertainment. Rule of Rose is scheduled for release in the fall of 2006. Rule of Rose has not yet been rated by the ESRB; but an M rating is expected.

Rule of Rose is set in March of 1930, where a young girl named Jennifer whose parents were killed in a tragic airship accident, is taken to the Rose Garden Orphanage. Located in a remote portion of the English countryside this orphanage is a dilapidated building populated by a ragtag mob of children who call themselves the "Aristocracy of the Red Crayon." The demented residents of Rose Garden kidnap Jennifer and take her into the dark heart of an impossibly large zeppelin, on a meandering course for a distant land. Now, with the help of a canine companion named Brown, Jennifer has to find valuable gifts for the Aristocracy, or suffer a fatal punishment for her insolence.

Key features of the game include melee combat against bloodthirsty monsters, musical score by Yutaka Minobe (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Skies of Arcadia), a storyline with 50 minutes of CG scenes and multiple endings along with hidden extras. Look for the game later this year.