LONG LIVE RANCE!
BlackPantyChuckle
I discovered the Rance series entirely by accident nearly a decade ago and it completely changed how I think about eroge. I was such a huge fan that I bought very pricey imports of first Sengoku Rance and then The Fall of Zeth. Thanks to a fan translation, I was able to play Sengoku Rance in English, and after finishing it, I played The Fall of Zeth through twice in Japanese (I can't read Japanese). The ability to now play full English translations of these remakes, something I never thought I would be able to do, is like a dream come true. As for the games...01 is an EXTREMELY good remake, and a fantastic game. Once you get used to the game mechanics, it becomes a joy to play, and the art is absolutely phenomenal. Additionally, the explicit content that would originally have been censored is done beautifully, with very few exceptions (why does Aki look like a Barbie doll ;_;). The music in Alicesoft titles has always been great, but here... it's incredibly great. Themes that are instantly recognizable to me as a Rance fanboy have been given incredible care and attention. It's essential that you play it.That said, 02... well, it might be amazing. I don't know yet, as I only just installed it! Still, I felt compelled to write this now because 01 was made four years after 02. It's noticeably older and that can be jarring, as I was under the mistaken impression that they were released around the same time. Still, it's Rance. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy myself, but even if I come away less satisfied than I was after finishing 01, that game alone was well worth the purchase. Everything after that is a bonus.Thank you, Mangagamer. Thank you, Alicesoft!
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Really fun!
DonnyJoe
I played and enjoyed Rance 5D and Rance VI, so thought I'd go back to the beginning and try some of the earlier works. In fact, if you look at the development dates, the 01 and 02 remake versions of Rance were developed after Rance VI, even if story-wise they happen earlier in the Rance timeline. So graphically they're on a par with Rance 5D and VI.In any case, several of the RPG mechanics in Rance 01 are unique in my experience, especially the way you navigate the "dungeons," via a card based system that feels a bit like a cross between traditional map-based RPGs and random card games like Slay The Spire. The combat balance is well done, and beyond all the nice gal art and H scenes there's a very good retro-style RPG.Rance 02 (I played the Kai version) uses a much more conventional map system and a somewhat different combat system, and largely felt like playing an older isometric 2D turn-based dungeon crawler.As always, there are some adventure-type puzzles in both games, some of which are obscure or convoluted, but an internet walkthrough got me through those.And, of course, if you didn't already know it by now, Rance himself is a narcissistic, horny asshole. I think it's a testament to the game's writing that the characters (including Rance, TBH) have more going on than in your average erotic game. And the comedy often lands, which again is rare in an erotic game.Ultimately if you're a grown-ass adult who can handle a story about a horny antihero who treats women like objects, these are solid games and worth your hard-earned cash.
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Great game and a bad one
somejabroni51
If this were a review of Rance 01, it'd be a 5/5. If this were a review of Rance 02, it'd be a 2 or 3. So, these are my first entries into the Rance series, and while I came in with the knowledge that Rance was the evil lovable anti-hero he is, I didn't expect how evil or how lovable he'd end up being. Rance is suprisingly cruel and awful, and yet Rance 01 is legitimately one of the funniest games I've ever played, in addition to being a really fun and unique RPG. There's hentai, I guess, but for me, the appeal is totally in the absolutely superb writing. And you know what? The music absolutely slapped too. I couldn't recommend Rance 01 enough to someone degenerate enough to actually make a MangaGamer account, so long as they're okay with Rance "enjoying" some women without their consent while calling himself the greatest hero to ever live.Rance 02 is a profound disappointment after the absolutely fantastic entry of 01. It's worth noting that while 02 is, obviously, later in the timeline of the series, as a remake it came out 4 years before 01, and while its okay that it shows in the art and music, where it really hurts is that it shows in the gameplay and writing. While 01 was a ground-up remake of Rance I, Rance 02 (and 02 Kai) makes very, very little changes to Rance II. Whereas Rance 01 featured a unique gambling themed exploration and combat system, 02 just places you on a grid that you control with a compass in the top right of the screen and puts you into battles that feel like Persona 3 if you missed 60% of the time, basic attacks took SP, and the ai was actually as bad as people always say it is. This improves in the later part of the game where you're rich enough to just buy 100 ibeprofun (this game's healing potions), but before then it's rather dreadful playing as Rance. There are two short sections where you get to play as Sill, Rance's slave and resident best girl, and those are much, much better in terms of combat. This, of course, is traded for frustrating exploration puzzles that took much longer than was necessary in the second Sill section. 02's writing, as well, starts out terrible but slowly gets slightly less awful as time goes on. In Rance 01, much of the humor relies on the absurdity of how over-inflated Rance's sense of self is compared to his actions and the way it affects the people around him. 02 is frontloaded with a lot of really terrible meta-humor that misses after the first two or three jokes. As the game went on, I did laugh a few times, especially at the scene where Rance summons and H's a demon, (02's plot is so inconsequential this isn't even a spoiler lol), but the game starts you off on the worst possible foot and with how short it is, doesn't really have a lot of time to recover. If you're a coomer, 02 seems to have a lot more H scenes than 01, but if you, like me, enjoy the series beyond the hentai it's... not a great experience. I want to stress that this is worth the price tag just for 01. 02 is treated like a little bonus for a reason, it sucks! And that's fine. I spent 60 altogether for 01+02, getting its hardcopy, and I don't feel like I overspent a cent. This is the FF Pixel Remaster of eroge, and damn if it isn't great.
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MG point:131
