Rance Series

[Endemic]

Well it's a sendoff for the series, so everyone of any import gets screen time. Plus the mini-army that is Rance's offspring.

 

[TigerKnee]

The text does not let up, you will spend tens of hours reading text in Rance X

 

[Jason Liang]

It's 2022! Rance IX English translation will be here soon!

 

[Jaedar]

It's 2022! Rance IX English translation will be here soon!

It's been stuck on "script insertion" for like 3 months. So soon may be exaggerating things a bit. Probably this year though.

 

[N0rn]

It's been stuck on "script insertion" for like 3 months. So soon may be exaggerating things a bit. Probably this year though.

I feel like Mangagamers progress is pretty unsteady, sometimes it seems to be going well enough, at other times it seems as if nobody is working on a title for months. Im looking forward to IX (still have to finish Quest, though), but given the sheer volume of Rance X's text, I really wonder how long MG is going to take to release it. I'll probably play it when I enter a retirement home or something.

 

[Jaedar]

It's been stuck on "script insertion" for like 3 months. So soon may be exaggerating things a bit. Probably this year though.

I feel like Mangagamers progress is pretty unsteady, sometimes it seems to be going well enough, at other times it seems as if nobody is working on a title for months. Im looking forward to IX (still have to finish Quest, though), but given the sheer volume of Rance X's text, I really wonder how long MG is going to take to release it. I'll probably play it when I enter a retirement home or something.

The translator has said on his twitter that he's aiming to finish in 2022, but after that it needs editing and whatever technical stuff MG does to make it run on non japanese locales. 2023 is probably not impossible, MG does seem to be trying to keep to a release schedule of 1Rance/year.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

It's been stuck on "script insertion" for like 3 months. So soon may be exaggerating things a bit. Probably this year though.

I feel like Mangagamers progress is pretty unsteady, sometimes it seems to be going well enough, at other times it seems as if nobody is working on a title for months. Im looking forward to IX (still have to finish Quest, though), but given the sheer volume of Rance X's text, I really wonder how long MG is going to take to release it. I'll probably play it when I enter a retirement home or something.

The translator has said on his twitter that he's aiming to finish in 2022, but after that it needs editing and whatever technical stuff MG does to make it run on non japanese locales. 2023 is probably not impossible, MG does seem to be trying to keep to a release schedule of 1Rance/year.

Since Evenicle 2 is being released on MangaGamer in all of its lewd glory, I'll probably play that sometime this year while waiting for Rance 9. The only other release I haven't played is the Rance 1 and 2 remake, but I felt I didn't miss much since I already beat the previous version of those games.

 

[Jason Liang]

Since Evenicle 2 is being released on MangaGamer in all of its lewd glory, I'll probably play that sometime this year while waiting for Rance 9. The only other release I haven't played is the Rance 1 and 2 remake, but I felt I didn't miss much since I already beat the previous version of those games.

I played through Rance 01 last year. It was... interesting. I think that despite the upgraded gameplay and graphics, it is still a poor introduction to the series. Rance is just a dick (huk huk) showing no real redeeming qualities in it. The writing, and the gameplay itself, is still fairly artless, crude, and humorless. So overall it seems like it would turn more people off to the series than get them interested.

About the best feature of the game I found is that it does keep track of how many in-game days it takes you to beat the game, encouraging you to replay it for the challenge of beating the game using the least number of turns possible - obviously how I get the most enjoyment out of these games.

I would recommend reading the game's Alice Mansion commentary though.

 

[Tyrr]

MG is just selling Evenicle 2. Like JAST and other shops. It's published directly by Alice Soft this time. That's why Evenicle 2 has mosaic censors.

 

[Jaedar]

I played through Rance 01 last year. It was... interesting. I think that despite the upgraded gameplay and graphics, it is still a poor introduction to the series. Rance is just a dick (huk huk) showing no real redeeming qualities in it. The writing, and the gameplay itself, is still fairly artless, crude, and humorless.

Agree on Rance, he really is just a pure jerk in 01. But I think the proper introduction of Willis was good, and I found the gameplay kind of charming. It's a casual experience, but I think the card based dungeon exploration is neat and the mental imagery of rance attacking with a half dozen weapons every turn is not what I'd consider humorless. Certainly the gameplay is miles above 2 and 5D. I hear 03 has a similar system, so I'm looking forward to it. I have not played Rance I though, so I can't compare to that.

MG is just selling Evenicle 2. Like JAST and other shops. It's published directly by Alice Soft this time. That's why Evenicle 2 has mosaic censors.

Good. Maybe they'll also self publish an english localization of 03 ahead of whenever MG would plan to do it. I considered buying 03 directly from a japanese E-store, but the price was ridiculous. 70 euro for a single game is insane, plus it had some regressive DRM scheme.

The only other release I haven't played is the Rance 1 and 2 remake, but I felt I didn't miss much since I already beat the previous version of those games.

Afaik 2 plays it very close to the original (it's barely changed at all, remaster more than rerelease for sure), 01 is very different in terms of gameplay at least, but barring a few small easter eggs I doubt they changed the story a lot.

 

[N0rn]

I played through Rance 01 last year. It was... interesting. I think that despite the upgraded gameplay and graphics, it is still a poor introduction to the series. Rance is just a dick (huk huk) showing no real redeeming qualities in it. The writing, and the gameplay itself, is still fairly artless, crude, and humorless. So overall it seems like it would turn more people off to the series than get them interested.

01 is definitely a bad entry point. Like a lot of people, I started with Sengoku and got by just fine since the story is pretty self contained apart from some reoccuring characters. Rance is definitely way less charming in 01 and more evil for no reason.

I still got some entertainment out of 01, even though the gameplay can be a bit tiring at times, but it was definitely fun to see the origin of Lia's infatuation with Rance. And even though the battle system is pretty strange, I gotta say I generally like it when Alicesoft tries to do something silly and interesting in their games. I mean, I enjoyed 5D quite a bit as well, even though it is objectively way worse compared to the other titles.

 

[Jaedar]

So, after a lot of effort I have made it to turn 3 in RanceX. The main quests are ridiculously long. At the same time, I'm impressed with how well they use the map to present the choices. Scrolling ahead you usually see some weird formation that makes you go "wow, I wonder what's beyond the next hill".
Spoilery stuff below, including a question:

Spoiler

I got what is presumably the worst ending of free cities 1st main quest, as I failed every fight against Ray except for the final one (and I don't have a rance with ranged attack, so I couldn't win single combat). Even so, I gathered up so many cards and xp. So I doubt it would have been better to go for a side quest instead (no spoil please).
I think I'm going to go Zeth next as I suspet Helman will completely spoil rance9, and leazas will completely spoil 03. And I'm already a bit sick of 03 references from free cities.

So what's up with Mi Lordrings 6 ap ability? It's a lot of AP to ask for experimentation...

Also, Full Kalar is ridiculously overpowered. I got lucky enough to get the Zeth Ice lord, so now I don't even have to combo her with herself. Bosses go down in 1 turn easy (just not the first turn). It's barely worthwhile to try and get the 50% treasure bonus from using a variety of characters when she can just hit massive overkills every time. The AP increase does prevent complete overuse though.
Oh, and I just realized you can swap the medal bonuses whenever. I'm sure there's ways to exploit that...

 

[DrDustCell]

It's completely normal to take the "longest route" in the Dark Lord Extermination quests. Not only that, it's the proper way of doing things the first time around so the player can see the most events, with the shorter routes being considerably difficult NG+ shortcuts. (for early map exit/saving a turn) For what it's worth the long way round also provides the closest thing to a canon interpretation of events. I'm mostly an event/lore skipper so I cannot comment on that with confidence.

The particular Lording card you have is only for Healing. His first ability will never be available as a gag and is considered useless. Only a single version of his will have two usable abilities. (Lvl 37 Lordring, out of four total Lording cards)

These are the other useless abilities in the game:

Card Spoilers

Wastes AP
The aformentioned Lvls 18, 26, 31 Lording Skill 1- does nothing, just consumes AP6
Naked Peruele's Skill 1- does nothing, just consumes AP1
CanCan and Lucky CanCan's Skill 1- does nothing, just consumes AP2

Purely Harmful
Future Demon King Miki's Support Skill 2- 30% proc chance, depletes all AP down to 0
Toppos Support Skill 2- 30% proc chance, downs himself

Does Absolutely Nothing, lore only
Regular Family (Father, Mother, Girl) Support Skill 2
Monster General's Girls (1 to 12) Support Skill 2
Greening Disease Calory Support Skill 2

 

[Jason Liang]

So, after a lot of effort I have made it to turn 3 in RanceX. The main quests are ridiculously long. At the same time, I'm impressed with how well they use the map to present the choices. Scrolling ahead you usually see some weird formation that makes you go "wow, I wonder what's beyond the next hill".
Spoilery stuff below, including a question:

Spoiler

I got what is presumably the worst ending of free cities 1st main quest, as I failed every fight against Ray except for the final one (and I don't have a rance with ranged attack, so I couldn't win single combat). Even so, I gathered up so many cards and xp. So I doubt it would have been better to go for a side quest instead (no spoil please).
I think I'm going to go Zeth next as I suspet Helman will completely spoil rance9, and leazas will completely spoil 03. And I'm already a bit sick of 03 references from free cities.

So what's up with Mi Lordrings 6 ap ability? It's a lot of AP to ask for experimentation...

Also, Full Kalar is ridiculously overpowered. I got lucky enough to get the Zeth Ice lord, so now I don't even have to combo her with herself. Bosses go down in 1 turn easy (just not the first turn). It's barely worthwhile to try and get the 50% treasure bonus from using a variety of characters when she can just hit massive overkills every time. The AP increase does prevent complete overuse though.
Oh, and I just realized you can swap the medal bonuses whenever. I'm sure there's ways to exploit that...

Spoiler

You did get Lei though! Lei is very good and going to the end of the route is the only way to get him. He does need Mary to unlock his second ability though, which takes up the valuable FC leader spot.
Full Kalar is great! On your next playthrough you can try beating Redeye/ Anise in chapter 0 Kalar Forest, with her.

 

[Jaedar]

So, after a lot of effort I have made it to turn 3 in RanceX. The main quests are ridiculously long. At the same time, I'm impressed with how well they use the map to present the choices. Scrolling ahead you usually see some weird formation that makes you go "wow, I wonder what's beyond the next hill".
Spoilery stuff below, including a question:

Spoiler

I got what is presumably the worst ending of free cities 1st main quest, as I failed every fight against Ray except for the final one (and I don't have a rance with ranged attack, so I couldn't win single combat). Even so, I gathered up so many cards and xp. So I doubt it would have been better to go for a side quest instead (no spoil please).
I think I'm going to go Zeth next as I suspet Helman will completely spoil rance9, and leazas will completely spoil 03. And I'm already a bit sick of 03 references from free cities.

So what's up with Mi Lordrings 6 ap ability? It's a lot of AP to ask for experimentation...

Also, Full Kalar is ridiculously overpowered. I got lucky enough to get the Zeth Ice lord, so now I don't even have to combo her with herself. Bosses go down in 1 turn easy (just not the first turn). It's barely worthwhile to try and get the 50% treasure bonus from using a variety of characters when she can just hit massive overkills every time. The AP increase does prevent complete overuse though.
Oh, and I just realized you can swap the medal bonuses whenever. I'm sure there's ways to exploit that...

Spoiler

You did get Lei though! Lei is very good and going to the end of the route is the only way to get him. He does need Mary to unlock his second ability though, which takes up the valuable FC leader spot.
Full Kalar is great! On your next playthrough you can try beating Redeye/ Anise in chapter 0 Kalar Forest, with her.

Spoiler

Lei does not seem very good! Double 1x attack for 1 AP would be great, except it only works if enemy is shocked, and I don't have a good shock mage yet. Also he's in a faction that's currently very weak which makes him a lot less stronk(and it needs a medal slot to use, and I only have 2 total so far). I assume you need to win single combat against Lei to get both him and mary-ann. The 3 extra rare treasure chests on that route looked really enticing, but I think it was mathematically impossible for me to win with just default Rance card. Perhaps she can also drop as a rare later on?

 

[Jason Liang]

Spoiler

Lei does not seem very good! Double 1x attack for 1 AP would be great, except it only works if enemy is shocked, and I don't have a good shock mage yet.

Afaik Lei's attacks are actually *the* 2nd most efficient AP: Damage attack in the entire game - nearly every other 1:2x ratio attack has cumulative penalty or is once-per-recovery - the only higher ratio attack is a 4:9x, and it's not in the Demon Army faction (the best faction)(EDIT: I just noticed that there *is* a 1:3x attack, BUT it is prohibitively restrictive). Comparatively, Full Kalar's attack is 2:3x, and Kesselring, who is the standard for efficiency, is 1:1.5x. Among Lightning element attacks, Kabachan (and Magic) have a once-per-recovery 4:7x, and Omachi's attack is a cumulative penalty 3:4.5x.
Anyway, repeatable 1:2x is top tier.

Spoiler

Also he's in a faction that's currently very weak which makes him a lot less stronk(and it needs a medal slot to use, and I only have 2 total so far). I assume you need to win single combat against Lei to get both him and mary-ann. The 3 extra rare treasure chests on that route looked really enticing, but I think it was mathematically impossible for me to win with just default Rance card. Perhaps she can also drop as a rare later on?

Mary should drop fairly common until you get her. It's also a little weird she didn't auto-drop when you beat Lei - she's always auto-dropped for me from Lei's chest (although you should always take Lei's token instead).

 

[Reinhardt]

I got what is presumably the worst ending of free cities 1st main quest, as I failed every fight against Ray except for the final one (and I don't have a rance with ranged attack, so I couldn't win single combat). Even so, I gathered up so many cards and xp. So I doubt it would have been better to go for a side quest instead (no spoil please).

Leasas and Free Cities are countries you want to do both elimination missions for maximum gain. Helman and Zeth on the other hand you must 1-turn to not lose characters.

 

[KingDoofus]

Spoiler

It's barely worthwhile to try and get the 50% treasure bonus from using a variety of characters when she can just hit massive overkills every time. The AP increase does prevent complete overuse though.
Oh, and I just realized you can swap the medal bonuses whenever. I'm sure there's ways to exploit that...

Getting more characters in her faction will make her even more powerful. Each character's power is determined both by their own stats and a percentage of their total Faction power, basically everyone you've recruited from their Faction (I think 20%?). Each chapter the enemies get progressively stronger and you'll want to be recruiting characters from treasure chests to keep up with that power creep (and generating your own power creep).

As for the medal bonuses, that's just another part of the strategy. Some fights you'll want 7 characters fighting, other fights it may be more advantageous to only have 4 characters while generating other bonuses. I wouldn't think of it as exploitable, just another layer of decision making.

 

[DrDustCell]

Each character's power is determined both by their own stats and a percentage of their total Faction power, basically everyone you've recruited from their Faction (I think 20%?)

It should be 100% the AT sum of the faction I think? and not just 20% or any%. Which is then added to 4x the card's displayed AT to get Leader AT.

eg. A brand new game starts at Troop 2125 HP, 2400 AT with Rance and Sill on the front lines.
Lv42 Rance has 250 HP, 210 AT; Sill has 150 HP, 175 AT
Protagonist faction has 250 HP, 510 AT; Others faction has 275 HP, 350 AT

so we get our displayed
2125 Troop HP= [(250*4)+250] +[(150*4)+275]
2400 Troop AT= [(210*4)+510] +[(175*4)+350]

Some wikis (1) (2) (3) have the formulas for getting Card AT or using Leader AT to calculate final damage, but I was unable to locate the Leader AT (or HP) formula there. Fortunately the manual itself has a blurb about it: "5x the card AT + everyone in the group's AT" although the 5x might be a typo and should instead be 4x.

リーダーのＡＴ　＝　リーダー本人のＡＴの５倍　＋　グループ全員のＡＴの合計
リーダーのＨＰ　＝　リーダー本人のＨＰの５倍　＋　グループ全員のＨＰの合計

It could also be that it was patched, but having recently updated the Patch page on the [backup alicesoft wiki] I did not find any mention of that when cross-checking sources. (or maybe I'm just plain incorrect lol)

So having more cards in the playthrough's Joint Forces definitely ends up being dramatically more powerful! To the point that playing hard mode can end up being easier than normal mode (outside of the initial missions) as the player can take two cards instead of one which quickly overcomes the +5 difficulty handicap.

 

[TigerKnee]

It's actually the other way round - you get to recruit Lei if you play dirty and just dogpile him.

 

[Massl87]

I would really like to try the Rance series, also own Rance 1 to 3 for FM Towns but never had the Hardware to play them...sadly...

 

[thesecret1]

I would really like to try the Rance series, also own Rance 1 to 3 for FM Towns but never had the Hardware to play them...sadly...

You never had the hardware to play a game from 1989? What?

Edit: Missed the FM Towns parts, sorry. You can still download the old games for PC though – alicesoft even made them free so you don't need to pirate them

 

[Jaedar]

Managed to kill the fucker Galtia "first attempt", a single turn away from him smacking me to death. Feels real good to pull it off.

Spoiler

His mechanic of instakilling random characters every turn is kinda rng, but it's the kind of rng I like. I tried various strategies, but in the end the winning one was hanny zippo + THROW MORE MEN AT HIM and using every replenshment action to throw in a faction that still had dudes left (There were no fighters left in rance, leazas, demihuman or helman factions).

The whole damn fight felt touch and go, and the last few turns were agony of trying to estimate how much damage I needed, versus not trying to die literally this turn (2 ap heal from sill or 2 ap defence? HNNNNNG)

 

[Jason Liang]

Managed to kill the fucker Galtia "first attempt", a single turn away from him smacking me to death. Feels real good to pull it off.

Spoiler

His mechanic of instakilling random characters every turn is kinda rng, but it's the kind of rng I like. I tried various strategies, but in the end the winning one was hanny zippo + THROW MORE MEN AT HIM and using every replenshment action to throw in a faction that still had dudes left (There were no fighters left in rance, leazas, demihuman or helman factions).

The whole damn fight felt touch and go, and the last few turns were agony of trying to estimate how much damage I needed, versus not trying to die literally this turn (2 ap heal from sill or 2 ap defence? HNNNNNG)

Yeah Galtia was the first boss I got a real kill on too (without going to the end of the route).
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/rance-series.76507/page-50#post-5508056

Although to be fair, I think Galtia was tougher to kill. Killing Galtia your team also needs to recruit RNGJesus.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/rance-series.76507/page-53#post-5521019

Galtia is also well-designed. But actually insane.

I just remember my first run, fighting La Hawzel... shit, this is hard. She has a fuck-ton of hp. Then fighting Lei- holy shit this is harder. Then fighting Galtia- holy mother, this is insane.

But Galtia also felt vulnerable in his first fight, and

It's a wild fight because of the random downs. I still remember thinking "holy shit that was hard" but the game definitely has more where that came from! The game's brilliance is that it scales difficulty to how well you are doing, so all the Darklord fights are going to be memorable. Note that Rocky and Anasel (from Helman) are useful against the down ability since they will always get targeted first by it.

Did you pick to head for Medusa?

 

[Jaedar]

Did you pick to head for Medusa?

It took me like 1.5 hours to beat galtia, so I had to log off and do other stuff. But if the game gives me an option to take *free actions* I don't see why I would ever refuse. No spoilers for Medusa please, shem seems like a real piece of work.

Note that Rocky and Anasel (from Helman) are useful against the down ability since they will always get targeted first by it.

I considered Rocky, but character slots are limited, and I felt it'd be better to have Uzpira leading Zeth to combo with Full.