Can't see any of what you're talking about at all. Rance 8 didn't really have good writing and the series as a whole has been going downhill writing wise since 3/4.
While the writing for 9 isn't amazing and the whole orb training scenes you have with all the women definitely feel disconnected from the actual story going on it manages to have the best cast by FAR and has a bunch of nice/fanservicey/cool moments that people, including me, have wanted to see for awhile.
That, mixed with actually competent SRPG gameplay, definitely puts it ahead of most of the other games.
Rance 8's writing was very good, it was the plot that was the problem. Each of its scenes was crafted very well, and highlighted the strengths of each character, even if they, overall, didn't do anything in the plot. and that's exactly what Rance 9 is as well, just without the charm and likeability that 8 had.
I'll admit, the prospect of a high number of males in Rance was intriguing at first, mostly because Rance doesn't want anything to do with dudes. Most of them come into conflict with him due to his behaviour, however, literally, everyone in the resistance watched Rance do war crimes and had zero to say about it. They also don't do anything in the plot. When Shiela and her Stockholm syndrome is revealed, big bro is like "Happy for you sis". Zero conflict whatsoever. That's boring writing, a clear showcasing of the writer's unwillingness to do anything interesting in Rance 9 because he needs all the characters for X.
The one thing that has held the Rance series back is the fact that Rance doesn't seem to go up against enemies that are too much for him anymore. He's lost his agent of chaos status because he's no longer a random who shows up and performs far above his ability - the one thing that has been able to secure him victory throughout the story.
In no game does this show more than Rance 9. When Rance has nobody that can pose a threat to him until the very, very end, with an asspull boss that everyone immediately forgot about afterwards, then how can it be a good plot? In 8, at least the curse was a threat to Rance, not to mention Reset becoming a frequent target. But in 9, what am I supposed to be fighting for?
9 could just not exist and nobody would notice the difference to the story. This is not the same when considering 1, 3, 6, 7 or even 8 - all of which are amongst the best Rance games besides X. Rance doesn't even have much of a relationship with Sheila because Sheila has zero personality. I thought Magic's romance with Rance was bad, lmao.
