Original Release: AliceSoft, 2008, PC
Also known as “Sanbiki ga Kittari Tsuitari Moyashitari,” this mini-game was released around the time of Sengoku Rance and follows on to that game’s story with a little side adventure for some of the ninja gals
Three for the Slash! Thrust! Burn! (PC, AliceSoft, 2008)
Where to Buy: Freeware (still available in Japanese directly from AliceSoft’s website, but here’s a pre-patched English version that’s been up since 2013 and is safe as far as I can tell)
Review by: Master-B
Sanbiki was released as freeware by Alicesoft, one would think as a promotion for Sengoku Rance … but it actually seems to have come out shortly after, and takes place after the events of that game.
We return to a now-peaceful JAPAN as Kanami is undergoing ninja improvement training with Suzume and her master. The general peace is disturbed when a mysterious robed ninja attacks Kanami in the forest, stealing the Decapitation Blade she won in Rance 6. Suzume believes the mystery ninja is a member of a sect she accidentally wiped out while bass fishing, and the pair make off for an abandoned fortress the remnants are thought to be holed up in, soon joined by the war-happy Senhime (who initially joins the bad guys out of boredom but switches sides after realizing she can kill many more dudes by fighting them).
This all plays out across three “boards” of a sort, two outdoor areas and an attack on the fortress, that are a sort of combination of board and card game. You hold a hand of up to five cards, each of which has a number that allows you to move that exact amount of spaces (skipping over any enemies or traps along the way). However, these cards also grant bonus abilities on the map and in battle. “Regen” restores some of your health every turn, “Abilities” unlocks the more advanced moves of your characters, “Power” boosts attack and defense, “Good Luck” can sometimes cause extra gold to appear on the map, and so on. Play the card to move, and you lose those benefits.
Your alternative to playing cards on the map is taking a random draw from the deck, and you’re stuck moving whatever number of spaces it comes up as. The game is thus an interesting strategic balance of calculated gambling when the next six spaces are either thin on serious risks, or loaded with a risk type that you’re strong against (ie a long field of enemies but you have Power and Ability cards stashed away).
Traps will either do damage, or make you drop some amount of money. When you land on enemies, you go into battle where you again have some decisions about the cards you hold and play. You first get any stat buffs and health regen from your current hand, then there is a set point (I believe set by the enemy speed stat) that you have to match or beat by playing the appropriate value of card. Here again, you can draw from the deck and take a random chance.
So there is some random element to the game, and it’s possible for it to be quite cruel in the draws it gives you. However, I finished it pretty quickly and found it to be on the easy side once you play around with it a bit and realize what’s most important. It’s vital to hang on to Power and Ability cards, as they give you a big edge in battle even against the toughest enemy groups of the later reaches. It’s nice to spend money on character upgrades when you can, but it’s most vital to stock up on a stash of at least 12 or so basic healing items, and you really don’t need to use a lot of it otherwise (thus don’t fear traps that make you drop it).
The game will also provide you with the option of continuing in “watered-down mode” after your first death, which reduces the amount of damage that everything does. This can apparently multiply a few times if you continue dying. After one death on the second board I cleared the game with one “watered-down” continue, which just seemed to reduce trap and enemy attack damage by about four points.
It’s really a fun little concept, I’m surprised it hasn’t been expanded out to something bigger (or maybe it has somewhere and I’m just not aware of it). At the price of “free” the game is definitely worth a play, but there is a dirty little secret for Rance fans: there doesn’t seem to be any “H” content in it whatsoever. That would make it the only Rance game entirely free of saucy elements, and it’s actually quite cute and wholesome. I guess that makes it a questionable choice to add to Plumflower, but where else am I gonna put it?
Links
- You’ll almost certainly need to change the system locale to Japan to run this, if not using an emulator. In Windows 10, go to Control Panel > Region > Administrative > Language (non-Unicode programs). Will probably require a lengthy reboot.
JUMBO Mod – 2023 fan mod that adds a new player character and some tweaks
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