This is certainly a memorable game with a unique story and a remarkable and well-developed antagonist in General Valentine. With that said, however, I found myself more in agreement with monalisasimilie's critical review than the rest which were so full of well-deserved praise. Don't get me wrong: Sanguine Rose is a good game and one I would recommend to others. Still, I found it extremely frustrating how I was unable to make choices in certain key moments. monalisasimilie didn't remember the tea scene quite right, at least not the one I saw, but I've never loathed a character more than Roman at that moment when he sees Crow drugging the tea and decides to ignore it despite his knowledge that Crow is not loyal. The fundamental trouble is that Roman is in no way suited to a battle of wits (or any other sort of battle) with General Valentine. He is foolish, impulsive, overly trusting, and lacks the charisma needed to inspire loyalty in others. Unfortunately, he's the only player character we've got.
I suspect people that play the betrayed route first may not enjoy the game as much as others. In part, that's because it is so vivid and involving. Unfortunately, it's very hard to see the characters in the same way once you've seen them betray you so dramatically. What sort of future could Roman and Crow have together when she can be so easily seduced and influenced? As for Markus, he's less Pretty Boy Floyd and more Coward Robert Ford in my mind. He'd certainly betray Roman in the future if he deemed it advantageous...not exactly the sort of person I'd like in my criminal gang. No doubt they'd still end up looking shocked when they stand over Roman's corpse after some future betrayal; they've definitely got that part down. On the other hand, Glasha's loyalty is so strong it's hard to understand. Maybe Roman and Glasha's past really does explain it, but it looked a lot like love to me. Perhaps it's another manifestation of Roman's foolishness that he can't see it. I personally would have loved a "Red Wedding" type ending where Roman and Glasha figure out Carmen's plan, slaughter everyone, and ride off into the sunset together...in fact, I still hope that route is there somewhere and I just haven't found it yet. Maybe this game will get me into writing fanfiction, who knows?