Collection VN Others Rance Series [Ch. 1-2 Remastered, Ch. 1-7 + Kichikuou] [AliceSoft]
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- Feb 21, 2018
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- Aug 14, 2020
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I think the biggest weakness of the Rance games is that they're too fixated on old characters/fan favourites. Like each new game introduces some new characters but they get 5 min of screentime until they're pushed aside for old characters.
Yeah, usually why game series like this have to end eventually. Even at Rance Quest Magnum you can already see them straining to add all the fan favorite characters, and that kind of game is made for a large roster. It's one of those issues where you want to satisfy old fans of the series who want to see their favorite characters, but you don't want to make the entire game old cameos and storylines for new fans because they won't know wtf is going on, and they'll have a hard time connecting with/caring about characters from other games they missed.
Rance series kind of feels like they can't decide if they want each game to be enjoyable as a standalone game or if it's the type of series where you need to play every game in the series to understand the characters and what's happening. They kind of half/half and it varies from game to game. Like Magnum really feels like you should play Sengoku first at least. It has a lot of Lia and company too from the early games. Without playing those, I feel like there wouldn't have been much of a connection with some of those characters.
Rance games getting up to 10ish games at this point means it's super intimidating to get into a "You need to play the entire series" type of series, so that doesn't help. The half and half my have made things a bit easier on that front but then you get the "Do I need to play other games before this?" questions.
There's one thing I should mention right off the bat here: Alicesoft absolutely loves inserting cameos of pre-existing characters.
Not just cameos from the Rance series, either - they'll do cameos from different games, or even entirely different settings. Characters like Rick Addison, Barres Provence, Patton Misnarge and Kabachahn the Lightning show up in Mamatoto, even though that's not even the same continuity as the Rance series. (they went hog wild with this in Mamanyonyo and Widenyo btw)
This is just how Alicesoft does things. Their way of advertizing their other games is to put in cameos. That's also why Alexander shows up in Rance Quest, and why he actually has a dedicated mission there (along with Bernard Ceramite, who's another one of the very few playable male characters in Rance Quest) - he's actually from the Toushin Toshi series. OK, that's still set in the same setting, but it's still a different series. But some of the bonus characters in Sengoku Rance weren't even from the same continuity (which is at least somewhat excusable in-story due to dimension travel shenanigans, but even so).
Point is; expect to see cameos when you're playing an Alicesoft game. Lots of them. It's just how they roll.
Having recurring characters can make a series more appealing and easier to get into if you're already familiar with them. And if the writing is good enough, you can make characters from earlier installments show up and still make them feel natural.
This sort of thing is only bad when you need to understand that character's backstory in order to make sense of that character's role in the current story. It's only then that such a character will feel out of place.
When it comes to major, established characters, I'd say that the Rance games usually handle this sort of thing pretty well. My introduction to this series was Sengoku Rance, and my first exposure to most of the series' older characters was Kichikuou Rance. To me, Maria Tulip didn't feel out of place in Sengoku. And I felt that characters like Rick, Lia, Patton, Hubert Lipton and Satella all worked quite well in Kichikuou. Especially in Kichikuou Rance, I generally couldn't tell which characters were newly introduced and which were actually from earlier games.
That said; the later Rance games do sometimes feature a lot of cameos of minor characters that do feel out of place. Stuff that makes you ask "why is this character here, and why is s/he explicitly mentioned by name?". Urza's cameo in Sengoku Rance did that for me; even though she's one of the optional requested reinforcements form Zeth, exactly why she's a big deal in Zeth is never actually explained in Sengoku. Same for Shizuka's cameo in that same game (she's also just a bonus character there, but still).
The way Maria, Kanami and Leila (the optional reinforcement characters from Leazas) are presented in Sengoku did work, because the game provides just enough background info on them. You get that there's a backstory, but you don't actually need to know that backstory beyond what this particular game tells you in order to get a good feel of who they are and why they're showing up here. But like I said; plenty of other cameo characters aren't handled nearly that well.
Rance 3 and Rance Quest do heavily focus on characters from earlier games. But Collapse of Zeth and Sengoku don't (OK, most of Collapse of Zeth's core cast already debuted in Kichikuou Rance, but that's a different continuity). And even in the case of Rance 3, you don't need to have played Rance 1 and 2 in order to get what's happening in 3.
Not just cameos from the Rance series, either - they'll do cameos from different games, or even entirely different settings. Characters like Rick Addison, Barres Provence, Patton Misnarge and Kabachahn the Lightning show up in Mamatoto, even though that's not even the same continuity as the Rance series. (they went hog wild with this in Mamanyonyo and Widenyo btw)
This is just how Alicesoft does things. Their way of advertizing their other games is to put in cameos. That's also why Alexander shows up in Rance Quest, and why he actually has a dedicated mission there (along with Bernard Ceramite, who's another one of the very few playable male characters in Rance Quest) - he's actually from the Toushin Toshi series. OK, that's still set in the same setting, but it's still a different series. But some of the bonus characters in Sengoku Rance weren't even from the same continuity (which is at least somewhat excusable in-story due to dimension travel shenanigans, but even so).
Point is; expect to see cameos when you're playing an Alicesoft game. Lots of them. It's just how they roll.
I'd call that a double-edged sword rather than a weakness, though.
Having recurring characters can make a series more appealing and easier to get into if you're already familiar with them. And if the writing is good enough, you can make characters from earlier installments show up and still make them feel natural.
This sort of thing is only bad when you need to understand that character's backstory in order to make sense of that character's role in the current story. It's only then that such a character will feel out of place.
When it comes to major, established characters, I'd say that the Rance games usually handle this sort of thing pretty well. My introduction to this series was Sengoku Rance, and my first exposure to most of the series' older characters was Kichikuou Rance. To me, Maria Tulip didn't feel out of place in Sengoku. And I felt that characters like Rick, Lia, Patton, Hubert Lipton and Satella all worked quite well in Kichikuou. Especially in Kichikuou Rance, I generally couldn't tell which characters were newly introduced and which were actually from earlier games.
That said; the later Rance games do sometimes feature a lot of cameos of minor characters that do feel out of place. Stuff that makes you ask "why is this character here, and why is s/he explicitly mentioned by name?". Urza's cameo in Sengoku Rance did that for me; even though she's one of the optional requested reinforcements form Zeth, exactly why she's a big deal in Zeth is never actually explained in Sengoku. Same for Shizuka's cameo in that same game (she's also just a bonus character there, but still).
The way Maria, Kanami and Leila (the optional reinforcement characters from Leazas) are presented in Sengoku did work, because the game provides just enough background info on them. You get that there's a backstory, but you don't actually need to know that backstory beyond what this particular game tells you in order to get a good feel of who they are and why they're showing up here. But like I said; plenty of other cameo characters aren't handled nearly that well.
Things aren't quite that bad. Most of the Rance games have a core cast that includes several major new characters.
Rance 3 and Rance Quest do heavily focus on characters from earlier games. But Collapse of Zeth and Sengoku don't (OK, most of Collapse of Zeth's core cast already debuted in Kichikuou Rance, but that's a different continuity). And even in the case of Rance 3, you don't need to have played Rance 1 and 2 in order to get what's happening in 3.
- Apr 20, 2020
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I kinda confused at the Rance 02. does the add on version already included the remake one or do I need to download both to play the full version?
- Feb 21, 2018
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If you download the 02 Kai installer from the OP, that is all you need to play the updated version of 02.
- Apr 20, 2020
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- Jan 14, 2019
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Can we put this on sticky at first post? Game is completed and doesnt really have problem till the end.
credit to BassB
- Feb 21, 2018
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Wanted to make aware of a fan patch by RottenBlock who did the newer compatible versions of Rance 4.1 and 4.2 and various patches for the other games. The patch fixes several issues found in the MangaGamer releases of 02 and 02 Kai and can be found
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- Feb 21, 2018
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Is going to the 'System' button in the lower lefthand corner and selecting 'Save' not working?
- Jun 10, 2019
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- Feb 21, 2018
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- Feb 21, 2018
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In terms of translations, yes. The previous fan TL works, Sengoku and 02, which were later released by MangaGamer were updated in the OP. Rance Quest Magnum from MangaGamer is not in the OP because there is a separate thread for it. In terms of post launch patches, as far as I know only Sengoku from MangaGamer got them and the latest 1.07 patch is also in the OP. The OP does not have some of the other patches or releases. Such as, there are several fan patches for Rance I(original version, not remake), 02/02 Kai, IV, and VI primarily from
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which fixes text issues, gameplay issues, missing content, etc. RottenBlock also ported 4.1 and 4.2 so they can be played on newer OS systems without a VM and also fixed some things like allowing you to control party members in battle.
- Aug 12, 2018
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thanks a lot, that answers almost all my questions. i just have one more, should i play rance 02 or rance 02 kai? what are the main differences?
- Feb 21, 2018
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I suggest 02 Kai. 02 Kai includes slight tweaks to gameplay and the main difference is it adds about 50% more text within the story and dialogue. The original 02 is basically just the old Rance II from 1990 with new art and interface. 02 Kai adds enough text to expand on the adventure and give a bit more depth to scenes and characters. Only reason to play the regular 02 is for completionist sake or if you want to experience the original 02 with a new coat of paint.
- Feb 21, 2018
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"
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" was fan-translated. It is a short visual novel collected of short stories which add some fun segments from the characters of Rance VI and a bit of worldbuilding. If you are a fan of Rance VI, I recommend it especially considering how short it is to read all the stories. You can find it,
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.