Sure issues can’t be solved by means of cautious dialogue or compromise. Generally it isn’t sufficient to provide a verbal beatdown to your rival – you have to throw palms as properly. The Rose & Camellia sequence was constructed upon the concept that not solely is an efficient old style slapfight enjoyable, however it’s typically the one dignified approach a real girl of society can resolve her issues.
We love the idea of Nigoro’s Rose & Camellia Assortment, dropped at Change within the West by WayForward. The sequence began life as a Flash recreation earlier than getting a cellular port and now finds its solution to Change. On paper, it is a good transition for the franchise, by which women in Victorian-era excessive society have interaction in dignified slapfights to find out every little thing from the proper line of succession inside a household to encouraging the pushy saleswomen on the door to go away. The Change incorporates each touchscreen and movement controls, permitting you to essentially get into the spirit of slapping individuals throughout their smug faces.
![Rose & Camellia Collection Review - Screenshot 2 of 5](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147119/900x.jpg)
WayForward has stated that Rose & Camellia Assortment consists of 5 “distinct” video games however that seems like a little bit of a stretch. Even in the principle menu itself, these video games are known as eventualities and so they play out fairly related to one another. Each includes slap-battling a sequence of 5 – 6 opponents of accelerating issue, although the additional issue primarily stems from how a lot well being they’ve.
The controls are all the time the identical no matter who you’re combating. You possibly can slap by swiping to the left or holding ‘A’ and swinging the Pleasure-Con or dodge by swiping proper or holding ‘R’ whereas swinging the Pleasure-Con. There are some extra superior strikes, like feinting and countering, however all of them stem from these two primary actions. Sadly, the controls might be frustratingly imprecise. We discovered the movement controls barely extra dependable and enjoyable, however each had been hindrances at instances.
Usually we’d be extra forgiving of those type of management points due to how distinctive they’re. Swinging the Pleasure-Con does an affordable job of emulating truly slapping your opponent, in any case, which makes this one of many few video games the place this movement management scheme is warranted and well-used. Nevertheless, as a result of the gameplay depends so closely on timing to work appropriately, the small delays in registering our actions had been the distinction between victory and defeat. Too typically we discovered ourselves combating the controls moderately than our opponent.
![Rose & Camellia Collection Review - Screenshot 3 of 5](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147112/900x.jpg)
Some technical limitations left us scratching our heads as we performed. The loading screens are bafflingly frequent. You’ll typically encounter a couple of per cutscene, which is unusual as a result of the cutscenes are primarily nonetheless photographs with small quantities of animation and textual content on the backside of the display screen. Nothing within the recreation ought to require a lot loading time, even on the Change, but it’s a noticeable challenge.
The place the Rose & Camellia Assortment actually shines is within the absurdity of its idea, which it revels in all through. There’s a wonderful escalation to the plot. The primary state of affairs begins with Reiko Tsubakikoji attempting to assert the inheritance promised by her late husband, which leads to her slapping her approach by means of her in-laws earlier than doing battle with The Grand Madame who lives of their attic to soak up her legendary slapping energy. The illogical nature of the story works as a result of it makes you imagine that it is a world the place every little thing from inheritance disputes to studying methods to be a reliable maid depends on slapping your rival throughout their silly face.
![Rose & Camellia Collection Review - Screenshot 4 of 5](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147115/900x.jpg)
Additional eventualities contain one among Reiko’s sisters-in-law difficult her newfound energy, a maid occurring a slapfighting world tour, and a bunch of ninjas making an attempt to steal the Tsubakikoji’s household secrets and techniques to create the last word slapfighting robotic. The ultimate state of affairs includes a crossover with developer Nigoro’s La-Mulana recreation sequence, which is the place the characters get actually outlandish. Each struggle is so bizarre however the characters are all so splendidly distinct and stylised that, from a visible standpoint, Rose & Camellia Assortment by no means will get previous, even when the gameplay will get repetitive.
The largest flaw on this recreation isn’t simply the frequent load instances or the imprecise controls, although. It’s simply how brief it’s. Maybe that is a blessing given how repetitive it could possibly get, however even with a few of the fights taking a number of makes an attempt to get the timing down, it solely took us a handful of hours to finish every state of affairs. The native VS mode sees one particular person play as one of many heroines of the story and the opposite play as one among greater than 20 potential enemies from throughout the video games. As a consequence of there solely being one Change touchscreen, this mode is barely playable by way of the Pleasure-Con controls. Whereas it’s a good addition, it solely highlights the problem that each character performs the identical, making them purely a beauty selection.
![Rose & Camellia Collection Review - Screenshot 5 of 5](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147117/900x.jpg)
There may be some enjoyable available with Rose & Camellia Assortment. We beloved the absurd characters and bonkers escalation that they introduced with it. The music is evocative of the interval and the characters are gorgeously designed. The voice appearing is strong in each the English and Japanese language tracks. The particular strikes that two characters unlocked supplied a needed aid to the monotony of the gameplay, however the imprecise controls, brief size, and bafflingly frequent load instances make this a troublesome one to suggest at full worth.
Conclusion
Rose & Camellia Assortment will get away with a whole lot of its technical imperfections merely due to the energy of its idea and its strong presentation. The music and artwork type will hold you for a minimum of just a few hours – which is all it’s going to take to finish the story mode. Nevertheless, the weird anime logic can’t distract you from the frequent loading screens or the frustratingly imprecise controls. This one is value choosing up, however provided that you catch it on sale.