Original Release: AliceSoft, PC, 2004
Other Releases: PC uncensored re-release (2016)
Rance 6 returns to a more straightforward RPG format, this time a dungeon crawl, but one that has a few unique twists
Rance VI (PC, AliceSoft/MangaGamer, 2016)
Where to Buy: MangaGamer
Review by: Master-B
You might see Rance 6 recommended around as an entry point to the series, and that’s primarily because it’s the first really smooth-playing installment that doesn’t really have any frustrating or confusing elements. The prior entry, Rance 5D, was more user-friendly but had a very odd style that went for incorporating tabletop RPG dice roll elements and landed on feeling like a weird slot machine instead; Kichikuou Rance was an excellent and deep strategy game but also player-hostile to an almost unacceptable level, and all the games before that were some degree of RPG-adventure hybrid that tended to onboard some of the most obnoxious points of both JRPGs and visual novels
So Rance 6 takes it markedly easier on you than pretty much anything I’ve seen from the series (and AliceSoft in general) to date. It does stick with the series penchant for radically altering the gameplay between entries, this time morphing into a dungeon crawl with standard side-view JRPG turn-based combat. But as with any TADA game it does have its own little unique and creative elements.
The whole thing kinda operates on Shining Force rules. You can’t save while in dungeons, but you’re furnished with a magical escape item that (almost) always works at any time. If a character dies, they’re booted from the current dungeon but they’ll be back at camp no worse for wear.
The unique twist is the “stamina point” (SP) system. Each character has a limited amount of SP, usually from 6 to 12. One gets eaten up with each battle, and there are some battle abilites that can draw on them for a big boost as well. Since a lot of your characters will thus only be able to fight 6 to 8 battles per outing, you’ll need to rotate them as you explore the dungeon. You get a reserve party of 16 total characters with 6 of them active at any given time. With a lot of dungeons, the basic strategy is to send a weaker party in to do the initial exploring and scouting and have an “A” team of heavy hitters to call out when you see a tough battle coming.
In the usual in-game notes available from the Alice’s Mansion screen, TADA says that he enjoyed many dungeon crawls over the years but the goal of Rance 6’s design was to eliminate the annoying and tedious elements of the genre. That did happen to some degree, but not entirely. There is still a pretty good amount of grinding required, but it’s more about running through old dungeons repeatedly to pick up respawning tokens which in turn give you the “orbs” needed to initiate story events back at camp.
While the series plays around with gameplay between installments, it stays with the “H” approach it always has – usually single static screens, maybe a second screen for a few scenes, but always very well-drawn. I’ve always found the sex scenes the least interesting bit of the Rance games and I think the design team was coming around to that at this point too, as they have a samey progression as Rance fires his five shots of Imperial Juice from the Hyper Weapon (“Tooooh!”) whether the young lady cares for the idea or not. More interesting is the optional capture and training of gal monsters, where a new sadist character comes up with inventive ways to turn them into sex slaves.
In spite of some tedium in combing over the old spots of old dungeons repeatedly to progress the game and nothing real new or exciting on the H front, Rance 6 still manages to be a pretty interesting RPG. It’s definitely worth the play if you’re into the series and want to keep up on the lore, characters and game world. Aside from occasional spots of orb grinding it moves along crisply, and the SP system adds enough of a strategic approach to dungeons to keep things fresh.
Links
- The optional “Calculator Cube” dungeon late in the game is pretty badly glitched. You need to complete the puzzle in the lower left corner last, but there’s no indication this is the case. Also, if you exit in the middle of solving puzzles it can randomly reset some of them. The best approach is to just map it on the first go, don’t try any of the puzzles yet. On the second trip, focus on beelining to all the puzzles (saving the lower left for last). After you solve them all, you also need to grab the weapon before leaving or random puzzles will reset again.
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