AO Archives: Sanguine Rose

This is probably going to be one of the shorter entries in this series, but let's get straight to it.

Sanguine Rose is an adult-only visual novel - hence its appearance in the AO Archives - that was developed by Dusky Hallows and published by TinyHat Studios.

The game was released on April 17th, 2020, and is set in a dark fantasy world but it has a definite crime-noir/thriller vibe to the whole thing. I wasn't able to find much information on the two companies behind the game. As far as I can tell, they got their start in 2020 and have been producing adult games ever since.

What's the Story?

You are playing as Roman, the leader of a band of mercenaries who is hired to kidnap Carmen Valentine - the High General of the Queen of Amarinthia. She's known for her beauty and cunning, she's also known for being incredibly dangerous. The kidnapping itself, works out fine, but you and your team are left stranded in the town of Whitewood waiting for someone to come and collect your prisoner.

Being stuck in place means you're forced into close quarters with your prisoner who promptly starts playing mind games with you.

What I Liked

Let's start discussing the things I liked about Sanguine Rose.

1. The Art

You can easily make the argument that the visuals carry the whole shebang in some cases. In this instance, it certainly does a lot of the heavy lifting. Every panel has this gorgeous oil painting look to it that I loved!

2. The Writing

Sanguine Rose is very well-written and has a fairly consistent pace to it. The characters all have their little quirks and flaws which makes them more interesting. Carmen is one of those femme fatales that you cheer for from the get-go.

She's charismatic and witty, but not to the point of being obnoxious. The other characters play off of her really well too which is an added bonus - great chemistry between characters makes the world go 'round.

3. The Music

The music is beautifully done, it has the expected softness of a fantasy tune, but with a darker, brooding edge to it that often leaves you with goosebumps. It does get a bit repetitive after a while, but that didn't bother me so much.

4. The Maturity behind the Content

There is a lot of adult content here, as you'd expect, everything from three-ways to bondage and beyond. Thankfully, we don't get the whole 50 Shades treatment going on - at least I didn't. The adult content is very well handled, it doesn't come across as pandering or forced.

Likewise, the choices you make don't have an obvious result beyond the initial reaction to the choice in question. The consequences of each choice play out later on in the game. The choices themselves are also interesting in that they aren't clear cut right or wrong choices. You're tackling a lot of morally grey areas.

Was there Anything I Didn't Like? Nah!

So...was there anything about Sanguine Rose? Not really. If I had to name one complaint, it would be that the game is much shorter than I'd have liked. Overall, it's worth playing, but probably not the best visual novel to start with - especially if you're not keen on sex stuff.

As always, I want to know if you've played this one or not. If you have, what did you think? If you haven't, are you likely to give it a go? Why or why not? Thanks, as always, for reading. I hope you all enjoyed it, I'll see you for the next one!