Rance 03: Fall of Leazas

Back in 2020, I played and finished Rance 03 Remake during the period of COVID isolation and even did make an article for the game at some point. At the time, I did promise to make full article for this game. But the plan ended up never materialized since I thought I accidentally deleted the in-game assets I collected to make the full article of Rance 03 which totally killed my motivation. However in a strange turns of event, I managed to retrieve the Assets that I thought had been long gone. Thus, just like Sakura Taisen 2, I will make an amend even if it has been overdue for 5 year. Therefore I proudly present Realm of Darkness Rance 03: Fall of Leazas full article!

This article will feature Safe-for-work Rance 03 Storyline overview which will be mostly done through covering the main factions, characters and points of interests in this game. The aim of this relatively lengthy article is to hopefully get people interested with Rance 03 and might as well delve further into this legendary High Fantasy series. Because among many Visual Novel Titles, Rance series are one of the few that can be actually successful without relying on their R-18 contents. Lastly this article revival also owed to the enthusiasm of this Blog’s visitors who seems to show quite an interest with past Rance series articles that are written in Realm of Darkness. This is one of the longer article that this blog had even compared to Kannazuki no Miko mechatalk part 2, so enjoy the read.

Sengoku Rance 1/8 Sill Plain Review

The lovestruck slave follows her master faithfully

Rance IX Revolution of Helman: Masou Shizuka Route

 Almost halfway there for the Rance IX Main Heroine articles and this time is another old time Main Heroine of Rance series, Masou Shizuka! For some reason Shizuka is the most popular Rance Girl in Japanese Fanbase constantly scoring top positions throughout Rance series. In Rance IX, we got to see Shizuka personal conflict resolved but her love story with Rance is still far from finished in this one. In this route we got to see the cooler side of Rance once again befitting his status as the legendary adventurer.

Rance 03: Fall of Leazas Main Story Complete!

 Since i revisited Sengoku Rance early this year, my journey toward Rance series has been very fruitful in particular in the past two months and now i have finished Rance 03 which took me about a week! I have been anticipating to play Rance 03 for a long time because it is the actual point where Rance started to score some major accomplishments that paves his way to become the Legendary Hero of the Continent. While Rance 3 doesn't last me as long compared to Rance IX, I thoroughly enjoy the experience of this game and think I have found another personal favorite from Rance series title apart from Sengoku Rance.

 Of all Rance Remake title, Rance 03 Production value easily surpass Rance 01 and 02 by far margin, representing a definitive adventure experience in Ranceverse. Rance 03 is noted as the first Rance series that is given a voiceover and at very least the performance for Rance, Sill and Lia doesn't disappoint.

 As of now i think i will take a short break from Rance series before moving onto Rance X but might took a detour to Kichikuou Rance. I have also gathered sufficient material to write a full article for this game which may be out in near future once i have written few more for Rance IX Route. If you consider yourself a devoted fan of Rance series, Rance 03 is definitely one of the must play title as it features one of Rance's major adventure campaign. But given that Rance Quest translation is not even been released yet, i doubt the translation will even be out within 2-3 years. In any case i will take observe closely for future Rance title, possibly Rance 04 Remake which will have Rance encounter with the legacy of Holy Magic Sect.

Rance IX Revolution of Helman: Senhime Route

 Continuing on Rance IX Main Heroine route storyline, Senhime is the second one that i will be covering. From her debut in Sengoku Rance, Senhime is one of the character that had good potential as main heroine material despite her character is rather undeveloped apart from being a battle maniac.  Senhime's love of battlefield led her to Helman as mercenary during revolution of Helman and a strange turn of fate led her to Rance one again. In this route we got to see more caring side of Rance as he is shown to genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of Senhime.

Rance 01: Quest for Hikari

 In order to prepare myself for Rance X, i tried to complete most of the Rance games before moving on the final Rance Title to make the Journey for this Epic Fantasy feel more worthwhile. As i reached the True Ending for Rance IX, i set my eyes upon the Remake of Rance 1 Quest of Hikari. Since Quest for Hikari is the earliest title of Rance series, it only took me two days to finish the game but for most readers it should take less than a day once the Translated version comes out. Overall Rance 01 is quite fun revisit of the Older Rance title as Alicesoft add new battle mechanics for this game, fixing the flaw that Rance 02 had. There is actually 4 Episode H-OVA for Rance 01 which essentially covers the game's main plots, nonetheless both Game and OVA had their own merits.

Rance IX Revolution of Helman: Kentou Kanami route

 For the 7 Main Heroine routes story in Rance IX, I picked Kentou Kanami as the first of the main heroines to have her story covered. Out of the 4 Main Heroine routes in Rance IX that i have read so far, Kanami's route is one of the more amusing one as it had Lover's quarrel that ultimately decide the fate of a nation as the main plot.

Rance IX Main Story Complete!

 The journey toward another Rance game has ended and it was a good ride even if it could have been even better. As expected Rance IX: Revolution of Helman lasted me for two weeks and VNR proves to be a very handy tool. While i could have grasped around 60% of the story without translation machine, VNR raised it up to 90% and speed things up. Overall Rance IX is a good game but didn't fully live up to its potential as I feel the game is only around 70% complete. It feels that my expectation toward Rance series is too high due to Sengoku Rance but I suppose Alicesoft at the time just doesn't have sufficient resources to make Rance IX reached its fullest potential.

Rance IX Revolution of Helman first playthrough

 After Fall of Zeth it appears that Rance 2 and 5D are not sufficient to sate my hunger for the Alicesoft's Legendary RPG series. As the official translation for the next Rance game is not coming anytime soon, i braved myself to read the original japanese version directly something i haven't done for a while for a VN apart from Sakura Taisen. After some consideration, Rance IX Revolution of Helman become my first pick mainly because i want to finish one good Rance Game first before touching Rance X and i also would like to find out how one of the most beautiful princess in Ranceverse fall for the legendary hero.

 I used VNR to assist me reading Rance IX which makes the reading experience surprisingly a smooth ride. VNR is certainly way more convenient tool compared to ITH though you still need Translation Program like Atlas14 for best experience. At the moment i have reached Chapter 7 in Rance IX which is around halfway and as expected the storyline doesn't disappoint. But when it comes to gameplay, Rance IX unfortunately is not as polished as Sengoku Rance mainly due to subpar 3D Modelling which Alicesoft could mitigate by using some 2D cut-ins.

 In Revolution of Helman, Rance will face the final legacy of Holy Magic sect before settling scores with Dark Lords in the final game. Prior to Rance VI, i don't really care anything about Holy Magic Sect but it turns out they have significant contribution toward of Ranceverse when it comes to lore as the faction represents an era where Humanity able to put up the fiercest resistance against Demon Race until Rance came in and clear the playing field. I definitely look forward to Rance 4 remake someday because it is one of the Rance game that had most exposure to Holy Magic Sect. In any case i think Rance IX will last me for a week and at very least the Story will not disappoint.

Rance VI: Collapse of Zeth

 To fill the void that Sengoku Rance left as i settled all of past my scores, i have been marathoning other Rance Titles over past two weeks. Among three Rance games that i played, i spent most of my time with Rance VI and this one no doubt left the deepest impression to me. In Rance 6 , the brutal warrior Rance landed himself in the Magic Nation Zeth which is rife with discrimination toward non-magic user and such situation certainly calls for Heroic intervention from Rance.

Sengoku Rance 1/8 Yamamoto Isoroku Review

Go! Hayatemaru!

Sengoku Rance Nanjou Ran IF route clear!

 The last of Sengoku Rance IF route cleared! Now i see why of all Sengoku Rance routes, Nanjou Ran is easily the least popular one. Overall Ran's route is the weakest, mainly because it was given the least amount of effort but her story is just not compatible for a Rance game. I suppose at the time Alicesoft think that Sengoku Rance need a variety of Main heroines apart from Female Samurais and thus Nanjou Ran came into the equation as a Onmyoji providing a supporting role.

Sengoku Rance 1/8 Senhime Review

The Battle Princess joins into the fray!

Sengoku Rance 1/8 Uesugi Kenshin Review

Bishamonten protects us!

Sengoku Rance Uesugi Kenshin IF Route clear!

 Took me three months, but I finally managed to settle my old debt with Sengoku Rance by clearing Uesugi Kenshin's route at long last! In Sengoku Rance Kenshin is known to be very strong frontline unit but her passive skill is what makes her pretty much one the most overpowered unit in the game.  Being a peerless Female Samurai when it comes to Strength and Beauty, Kenshin is practically the postergirl of Sengoku Rance and at some point even on par with Saber from Fate series. Such masterfully crafted character no doubt deserved her own route and Alicesoft delivered really well for Kenshin's story 

Sengoku Rance Loot

 Some stuffs that i have been gathering along since early this year as I revisited Sengoku Rance! Most of these figures are actually acquired from my SG trip on January and i got them for quite reasonable price with MISB condition as icing on the cake. I think Kotobukiya was at its peak around a decade ago where they are capable of churning quality Model Kits and PVC Figures for reasonable price which Sengoku Rance was part of it. These Sengoku Rance figurines was my in wishlist long back when i was introduced to the Rance series VN during my Uni years. However at the time i was unable to buy any of these figures as they were just out of distributions as i just had interest on the series. I am very grateful that i had a second chance to obtain these rare Sengoku Rance with reasonable price which is partly due to Carousell SG which are treasure trove for Collector Toys if you know where to look at.

 At first i only prioritize Sill Plain for the Sengoku Rance figure but when i saw the availability of other variants, i took no hesitation because they are very rare figures actually. I recalled Kotobukiya made 7 Figures from Sengoku Rance and i managed to get 4 of them. The ones that i skipped are Kouhime, Nanjou Ran and Suzume because they are not particularly must get for me. Out of the 4 Sengoku Rance figures that i got, surprisingly Kenshin Uesugi's is the best deal that i had which i got for 60 SGD, whereas Isoroku almost cost twice as much though i didn't mind. I planned to make the review for these figures once i finished Kenshin route which hopefully will be done soon as i just finished Kill the Monkey route last week. I think Sill will be the first one to be reviewed out of these Sengoku Rance figures because i do have quite an attachment with her character when i got into Ranceverse for the first time back then.

Revisiting Sengoku Rance

It has been more than 10 years since i played this legendary Alicesoft title! Sengoku Rance, among many VN titles is the one that make me hooked into Visual Novels. Rance series had been a Big Shot in its industry and one that had survived Three Decades worth of journey, an achievement that not many can brag about. The Visual Novel basically all about adventure of warrior named Rance who is known for his extreme lust. An unlikely material for a Hero, but he had what it takes to save humanity with him going for an epic adventure in each iterations. Recently i decided to get back into Rance series once again starting from Sengoku Rance after i saw some videos of Rance X which served as the epic conclusion for an epic series.

Rance series had one of the best Fantasy JRPG setting out there with its rich amount of worldbuilding that even puts many JRPG to shame, not something expected from an 18+ Visual Novel. While majority of the groundwork laid in the Kichikuou Rance, Sengoku Rance is one of the sequel that actually put better use on them complemented with very good gameplay. AFAIK Rance series gameplay are mostly Wizardry esque JRPG but for once Sengoku Rance is a grand strategy game which makes you lead an army and unify JAPAN. Therefore this is actually one of the best gateway for Rance series of all 10 titles in the series. At the moment i am doing my first run and now close to complete the game. Back then i only finished the True History and Isoroku Route, but this time i will finish Kenshin's route at very least. If you are interested in Visual Novel, Rance is one of the best one out there if you prefer the JRPG genre.

Figma Uesugi Kenshin

Since Rance Quest has been released recently, there are some good opportunity for Rance merchandise to be released and now we got Figma version of Uesugi Kenshin herself! The Figma will be released on March next year with the price of 3800 yen. The figma comes with some accessories including sword effects and Kensin's favorite giant onigiri. Alicesoft's Uesugi Kenshin is a Warlord from Uesugi clan in Ranceverse's JAPAN just like her real counterpart who had rivalries with Takeda house debuted in Sengoku Rance. Kenshin fell in love with Rance at the first sight when she met him in the middle of battlefield and subsequently become Rance's lover after he saved her from his evil uncle's imprisonment. Kenshin is one of the most popular Rance heroine and i recall she even win character popularity contest for eroge back in 2007 beating Saber for her first place. For anyone who haven't played Sengoku Rance i would certainly recommend to play the game as it is one of the VN that has better gameplay.

Rance 8/Quest release date confirmed

Well i just checked the Alicesoft blog webpage and now find that the game willbe released 2 more months from now on 26th of August. Other than that the game is almost finished and currently on debugging stage. By the way the kid shown below Rance banner is supposedly Rance's daughter with the queen of color's tribe.

Rance 8/Quest News Update 2

For the Rance Quest update, so far the progress had made into music testing for the game. Rance Quest had the official homepage made in Alicesoft website and it has made into VN Magazine indicating that the game will be released soon. Another Heroine  seems to be joining Rance's journey this time who is Kopandon Dotto. Kopandon is one of the recurring character in Rance series if i recall her first appearance is in Rance 5D. She is a miko from Portugal who is another part of Rance's Harem. Kopandon is the richest girl(other than the princesses) that Rance had ever relationship with. Probably Kopandon try to win Rance's heart by giving him expensive gifts. In Sengoku Rance it is mentioned that She is the one who stole Maria's Tulip Cannon and sold it to Tanegashima house where it becomes the base of Tanegashima rifle.

Apparently the gameplay for Rance Quest is going to be 3D dungeon explorer unlike the previous Rance game where it is first person dungeon explorer. Personally i don't think it would be a good idea considering it will be compared to console games which has similar genre and probably better most of the time. However Alicesoft's game are usually great when it is compared with other Visual Novels.

I think there is a good chance for Kenshin to reappear in this game since one of the official arts for Rance Quest show that she is eating along with Rance. I wish Uruza would show up in this game as well because she is one of my favorite heroine in Sengoku Rance