There is no excuse for this kind of Survival Horror gameplay in the modern gaming world.
Unfortunatly, the gameplay mechanics are just not there. The attention to detail that went into some of the visual elements and the overall concept seem to have come at the expense of the actual game. Again, unfortunately the story and concept are not so massively developed that they make up for endless backtracking and and a pervasive feeling that this is less a game, than it is graphic novel you have to stumble through.
For a game, there's astonishingly little "play". As the gamespot review mentioned you basically just walk around, fetching things with your dog, and running away from enemies. This might not be a terrible thing if the story were beefier, the visuals were stronger, the sound was more compelling and most of all, if the game lived up to it's high concept. Sadly, it all becomes very tedious instead. The combat, which fans of the game will dismiss as unimportant, is less unimportant than it is nonexistant. The survival in this survival horror game is really more about running and sneaking. Granted, you play a very young, very withdrawn little girl so this is probably not terribly shocking in real life, but the reality is that it is not FUN to back into a corner while you wave a knife in front of you frantically, hoping to kill your assailant. The final problem with this game, is that other games in this genre (and some others) have already made this kind of game, and done it better. Silent Hill (insert almost any number here) is a good comparison and a much better game in all respects. Resident Evil has offerings which, while they are really in a very different style, are much more fun as well.
The bottom line is that Rule of Rose would have been a great 30 minute animated thriller, but is not a very good game.