Review of the Rose & Camellia Collection

This Brontë-like brawler, once a free Flash novelty, falls short as a paid game.

Rose & Camellia Collection
Platform: Switch
Developer: NIGORO
Publisher: WayForard
Release date: April 16th, 2024
Price: $19.99, $17.99 launch discount price until April 29th
Digital availability: Nintendo eShop

It can feel like a Faustian process when a free game becomes a paid offering. With regard to doujin circle Nigoro’s Rose & Camellia, that is undoubtedly the case. The clever concept of the game—you have to slap the shit out of aristocrats—quickly makes the 2007 Flash original successful on the internet.

In one instance, a young woman named Reiko married into a Victorian-era noble family. However, Reiko’s husband passed away soon after, and the other ladies in the house started to treat her disrespectfully. Rather than retreating in submission, the independent widow participated in a series of slapping games that resembled a scaled-down version of Punch-Out!, but with ruffled collars, unkempt hairstyles, and music that fits the era. For the most part, the idea was profitable enough to finance three follow-ups and two crossovers with Fata Morgana and La-Mulana, the characters portrayed by Nigoro.

Swinging the Other Way?

Rose & Camellia were given a mobile port in 2020. Users may play the game for free even if it allowed in-app purchases. After four years, the Rose & Camellia Collection now includes everything minus the Fata Morgana fusion. Although the anthology’s twenty-dollar price tag isn’t wholly exorbitant, the swoon-worthy series seems like a novelty that has been overdone.

The Switch version of the game also has a few major problems. The range of difficulty options in Rose & Camellia has mysteriously disappeared, leaving only a fixed level of challenge. The alteration introduced to the control mechanism, which substitutes the mouse-swiping motions of the original games, is more annoying. There is definitely potential for the physical aspect of swiping Joy-cons. However, it’s bothersome that you have to hold down a button in order to give someone an airsmack.

That hurts!

Unfortunately, when trying to enjoy the new two-player versus matches available on the Switch port, everyone realized that there is also a lack of responsiveness to the control scheme. My three opponents enjoyed the ridiculous slap-related facial expressions, but the irritation of constantly dodging and hitting overcame the initial joy. Every contestant in the original games had weak spots on their noses, eyes, necks, and chins.

The collection’s main replacement is a Slap Rush, which brought back memories of crazy controller waggling from the Wii era. Similar to several flashy motion control games from that age, it’s humorous at first, but the mechanic gets old fast. Rose & Camellia Collection does include a touchscreen swiping approach, which is a plus for Switch Lite owners, but just for the single-player portion of the game.

Take That Switch Up!

Nevertheless, the collection isn’t completely drained. You can now relish the puffy eyes and ugly bruises you inflict thanks to the upgraded art. Another good addition is the voice acting in both Japanese and English. The interchange of disparaging remarks and affirmations now gives a clearer understanding of the situation, even though the accents aren’t nearly as snooty as one might anticipate.

Finding rivals’ tells and counterattack possibilities can be entertaining in moderation, just like in the original releases. Reading clear gestures and reacting fast are key components of success, although these are incredibly basic skills. Similar to Punch-Out!every challenger is a puzzle with several slapping techniques. It was difficult for me to justify playing through all five of the mostly identical games more than once.

Rose & Camellia Collection is essentially a compilation of five out of the six games in the series, patched with a two-player competitive mode and Joy-con functionality. Although it makes sense to keep the now-defunct Flash games, it seems like the publisher ought to have added more titles. The catfights would have been a nice addition and would have helped legitimize Rose & Camellia’s transition to a paid product. However, placing them around an extended graphic novel would have encouraged tension.

The publisher’s review code was used to play Rose & Camellia Collection.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 60%

Controls – 40%

Aesthetics – 75%

Content – 70%

Accessibility – 60%

Value – 50%

59%

DISAPPOINTING

Summary : The Rose & Camellia Collection is a novelty that seems overly ambitious. It has a sluggish Joy-cons control scheme and an overly basic slapping mechanism. Anticipate the enjoyment to fade more quickly than the pain from an open-handed smack.