- Price: $19.99 USD
- Developer/Publisher: Failbetter Games
- Release Date: June 8, 2023
A review code was kindly provided by Failbetter Games. We thank them for being able to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.
Mask of the Rose is a visual novel set in the same universe as Fallen London, a still-active browser-based text game created by Failbetter Games in 2009. (Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, available on Nintendo Switch, also take place there.) An alternative version of Victorian London, Fallen London, as its name would imply, fell into “a vast cavern under the earth” to a place known as “the Neath.” Mask of the Rose apparently takes place just after London fell, and playing the other games isn’t required to understand it.
Starting the game, you get to decide what kind of person your character was before the fall. Were they a dockworker’s child, part of the gentry, a tailor, or something else? There are even more options to choose from once you’ve completed the game for the first time. The background you choose seems to have an effect on way you interact with people in Fallen London.
Your character may have been that person once, but “down [in Fallen London], your name is whatever you say it is…often there’s no one left to remember who you used to be.” You can choose the way you are addressed now, as well as your name. Then you select the cameo/side profile you think suits you the best, as well as the type of potential relationships you’ll be open to throughout that playthrough.
Once you finish the character creation process, it’s time to start the story! One of your friends got you a job as a census taker, and the questions you must ask are certainly interesting. When you interact with people, there are several dialogue options for you to choose from. Any information you learn about someone gets written down in your notebook.
Your new boss Mr. Pages, one of the “Masters” native to the Neath, is a tall, mysterious being who wears a cloak. The Masters’ vocabulary is certainly unique (Griz calls them “enthusiastic embellishers of language”), and there are some surprising – perhaps even frightening – cultural differences as well.
Maps and mapmaking are banned because the Masters don’t want mass panic over the shifting streets in the Neath. Those now living in Fallen London can only come up with conspiracy theories due to the lack of information from the Masters.
You will find yourself developing theories of your own using the story-crafting mechanic. Mr. Pages wants you to collect love stories from those you meet while gathering data for the census. Another character will ask you to use what you learn at work to provide them with stories that expose what’s really going on. As you meet new people, you’ll unlock key words and phrases that you can use to come up with stories – whether they’re true or not…
The clothing you wear affects the way that people view you, and also changes the available dialogue options. An admiral’s hat allows you to speak with more authority, for example. Wearing your “Badge of the Ministry of Accounting and Recounting” will make it clear that you’re not there for a social call.
The game always asks you if you want to change before going to see someone so that you can try to get more information from them. You can also buy more clothing items to have more choices, or someone may give you an article of clothing.
Just like in real life, you’ll want to make a good impression on people in both a personal and professional capacity. You can establish friendships and/or optional romantic/offscreen sexual relationships (including same-sex options) using whatever dialogue options that are available to you. I really appreciate the wide range of relationship options in the game.
At times the conversations would have somewhat stilted, awkward transitions, like when my character confessed their love to someone and then the subject changed to the weather… But it still seemed pretty easy to get people to like you; there are only about two (in-game) weeks worth of content, so if you express interest in someone they’ll more than likely take you up on it.
Unfortunately, you only have time for two errands per day, which didn’t seem like nearly enough. (Loading times can be just a bit long as well.) Romance may have to take a backseat if you want to earn money or try to prove that a friend did not commit a murder. It was difficult to get anything done between work, my personal life, and the murder mystery with limited time and tasks.
Each playthrough is fairly short; I believe it took me around 3 hours each time. In my first playthrough, I really tried to help exonerate the person accused of murder, but I couldn’t figure out what to do in time. I didn’t even meet all of the characters in that playthrough. The next time I tried appealing to people who could help, but it came at a cost with another unappealing ending. I kept trying different things in each attempt, but I never really accomplished anything I wanted to do.
I liked the art style for the characters, and I really was interested in finding out more about their backgrounds and current activities in the Neath. Barqujin, whose former city was destroyed when London landed on top of it, is an intriguing character who translates for the tentacled Batachikhan.
And I definitely appreciated that Failbetter Games researched how to write more authentic Jewish and Sikh characters for the time period. I just wish that we had more time with the people and places in the Neath because the ideas are fascinating. As the game auto-saves, players can’t manually create saves to reload at different points to try and play more efficiently.
Thankfully, the developer has indicated that they plan on an update to give players more time in each season. I really do look forward to checking out Mask of the Rose again once they release the update, because I think the world of Fallen London is very creative.
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