Rance Series

[abnaxus]

@TheEntitledOne needs to finish Utawarerumono LP first.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

I should continue that one soon, but I will probably start R4 asap (but at a slow pace) anyway.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Rance 4 should be out very soon, tomorrow (?) maybe. Meanwhile Rance 3 was re-released with some important fixes:

http://rancetranslation.wordpress.com/

 

[TigerKnee]

The most important change is that Ferris is now Feliss.

 

[Average Manatee]

Feliss?

 

[tppcrpg]

http://rancetranslation.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/rance-iv-legacy-of-the-sect-release/ Here it is.

 

[Average Manatee]

Beat me by 10 minutes.

It's an excellent game. Much recommended.

 

[TigerKnee]

Might want to hold off a bit, they might have accidentally uploaded an earlier version of the game.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Well, expect LP today.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Well, expect LP today.

A million Brofists isn't enough.

 

[abnaxus]

Is anyone translating Kichikuou Rance?

I can only find

• Rance 4 -Fully translated, in playtesting
• Rance 5D- 85% complete, awaiting engine tools
• Rance VI: Collapse of Zeth - 53% Complete
• Rance Quest - New translator working on it with overall progress 8100/110000 - 7.3% Complete

 

[TigerKnee]

Sadly no, no one is doing it at the time. It's a big project and the current team really want to release all the "canon" games first or are really unsure about their ability to tackle translating it.

 

[Average Manatee]

The intro and menus have been translated by someone. The rest, well...

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Rance IX: Hellman Revolution

Seems like it will come out in November...of 2014. More detail on November 14.

3D grid based gameplay?

I don't mind the 3D myself (even if it can't compare to some good 2D sprites).

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Sorta want. 2D is still the king in my eyes.

 

[Grinolf]

That 3d looks very ugly. Character models are at least toleratable, but after that monster models I want to gauge out my eyes. On positive side, that 3d is still slightly better than Rance Quest 3d. But I am not sure, that it can be used as compliment.

 

[TigerKnee]

Oh, so that's why Pastel Chime 3 turned into an SRPG: Alicesoft was using it as the beta test for Rance 9. They seem to like doing that.

(No one will get this because most people here only care about Rance)

 

[Grinolf]

(No one will get this because most people here only care about Rance)

I am not sure, why I should care about anything else made by Alicesoft. I tried other two their major games with translation, but they had very serious problems both with gameplay and story/characters, so couldn't even call them mediocre.

 

[TigerKnee]

I am not sure, why I should care about anything else made by Alicesoft. I tried other two their major games with translation, but they had very serious problems both with gameplay and story/characters, so couldn't even call them mediocre.

Big Bang Age and...?

It's not like half of the Rance games don't have serious problems with both gameplay and story/characters either.

 

[Grinolf]

Big Bang Age and...?

It's not like half of the Rance games don't have serious problems with both gameplay and story/characters either.

That game, where poor, peaceful and totally not aggressive imperialist Japan was forsed into war by evil Americans. It isn't fully translated, but for 30 or so turns the only decent thing was a Rance cameo.

Well, the first Rance game had a serious problems, but it is very old and already been remaked. RQ gameplay are also was a horrid experience for me, but a didn't understand a word from it so I can't comment on writing. But overall Rance series managed be pretty enjoyable.

 

[Haba]

Wat?

Way to generalize, no two Rance games are the same.

And if you don't like Sengoku Rance, you don't deserve to live.

 

[ghostdog]

Sengoku is fucking awesome. I've played Rance 1 and Rance 2 remake and wasn't impressed. Are there really any other Rance --or generally Alisoft-- games worth playing ? (translated obviously).

 

[Grinolf]

Sengoku is fucking awesome. I've played Rance 1 and Rance 2 remake and wasn't impressed. Are there really any other Rance --or generally Alisoft-- games worth playing ? (translated obviously).

3 and 4 parts are decent. Also Kichikou Rance and Rance 6 are considere equal in gameplay to Sengoku, but only translation of 6 are active, and I didn't see updates on it for the long time.

 

[TigerKnee]

RQ's plot was hindered by the game structure, there's basically too many side quests, too many characters that are "just there" because they were in previous games and it has a weak overarching "finale" plot. Magnum adds in a much more interesting overarching plot, but the weaknesses are still there. I did like the gameplay, so whatever.

Rance 6-8 were good gameplay-wisel. Of course if it wasn't for Sengoku/7, none of the fanbase on Codex would be even here, so it's pretty much the "best" one in that regard.

As far as the rest of the series goes, Rance 1-5 don't particularly have outstanding gameplay. Rance IV probably has the best out of the 5, but even then it drags in the end. 3/4 have okay-goodish writing.

(Kichikuou is kind of on its own area and it's the only game out of the old ones that people really consider really good/classic).

Big Bang Age is a proto-Sengoku (outside of Kichikuou), so I'm not really sure if it's fair to criticize it according to a "Sengoku is way better" standard, since it was made earlier and was way too ambitious for its own good that you can clearly see the cracks. Daiteikoku is terrible and it has really no excuse, Alicesoft just fucked up with that game because they did a complete revamp halfway changing the game from an RTS to a turn-based strategy.

 

[TigerKnee]

Sengoku is fucking awesome. I've played Rance 1 and Rance 2 remake and wasn't impressed. Are there really any other Rance --or generally Alisoft-- games worth playing ? (translated obviously).

It kind of depends on what you are playing for. If you absolutely need to have a shark-tooth rapist hero as your protagonist in your games and comedic rape then you're kind of out of luck.

I don't think I can help you if you need it to be translated. I know sometime this month, they're going to finish translate Toushin Toshi 2. If you can tolerate RPG battle systems with only 1 character, then Japan considers it to be one of Alicesoft's best RPGs (alongside Kichikuou and Sengoku). It's still definitely one of those "you can really see the cracks of time in the gameplay" game.

Big Bang Age is translated, feels very proto-Sengoku. Story's much weaker, gameplay also has cracks, but aged a lot better than most of the early Rance games IMO.

Outside of that, if these games ever get translated they might be worth a look.

Galzoo Island - Uses Rance 6 engine. Is a monster-catching dungeon crawling RPG that takes place in the same universe capturing all the Gal Monsters that has appeared in the series.

Pastel Chime 1/2 - School Simulation/dungeon crawling RPGs way before Persona 3 even got the idea. The first one is actually pretty hardcore gameplay-wise, with Wizardry style "identification costs a shit ton by NPCs and getting it done yourself means being having to be in a certain class" and outside of 1 free girl to take with you into dungeon, you'll need to pay through the nose for hirelings if you want some extra firepower for crawling.

Persiom - Really weird Puzzle/RPG/Dungeon Crawler hybrid. Though no real plot to speak of. Technically takes place in the Rance universe also.

And then there are the Alicesoft games that people like for the fap factor and not the gameplay, but I don't think you're interested.