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34-481: The Rance series follows the titular character, Rance, as he saves a number of kingdoms, defeats demon invaders, and causes mischief in the in-game world, known as "The Continent". He has appeared in most of the main series games as the playable character, accompanied by his loyal slave, Sill Plain. The main series has ten main games, with two spin-offs following the event of Rance IV , the original canon concluding with Kichikuou Rance ( Brutal King Rance ). In addition,

68-566: A brand of Zilog Z80 -based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan . The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the four major Japanese home computers of the 1980s, along with the Fujitsu FM-7 , Sharp X1 and the MSX computers. It was later eclipsed by NEC's 16-bit PC-9800 series , although it still maintained strong sales up until

102-459: A castle leading to another dimension. They must then escape the dimension, along with a new ally, Rizna Lanfbitt of Zeth. The game was officially released in English by MangaGamer in 2016, bundled with Rance VI: The Collapse of Zeth . Rance, continuing his trials from Rance 5D: The Lonely Girl , travels to Zeth, a kingdom to the south-west of Leazas. He offends Radon, a high governmental official, and

136-582: A horde of underground monsters from attacking the Happiness Pharmaceutical building, where Ibeprofun, a healing medicine, is produced. They discover that the perpetrators are the Angel Army. Rance captures and interrogates one of their commanders, which begins the next game, Rance 4.2 ~ Angel Army ~ . In a continuance of the previous game, Rance 4.1 ~ Save the Medicine Plant! ~ , Rance chases down

170-643: A kingdom ruled by Queen Lia Parapara Leazas, is invaded by the warring empire of Helman, to the west. Fiends, nigh-invulnerable monsters who drank the blood of the Archfiend, are believed to be the cause of the attack, and to solve that problem, Rance sets out to find Chaos the Darksword, a weapon capable of breaking the Fiends' invincibility field. It was released in 1991 on the PC-9800 series of computers, along with Sharp X68000 and

204-731: A particular series. The Microcomputer Sales Section was reformed to the Microcomputer and Application Division in June 1980, and was renamed to the Personal Computer Division in April 1981. At that time, Japanese personal computers were mostly used by hobbyists. The division introduced the PC-8801 in November 1981 and intended to expand the personal computer market into the business world. The PC-8801

238-472: Is sent to a slave camp. Sill, despite having previously been sold to Rance from the Zethan slave trade, is treated very kindly. While within the slave camp, Rance joins the resistance group "Ice Flame", which seeks to change the inequality of Zethan society, in which non-magic users are treated as second-class citizens. Rance VI: The Collapse of Zeth , released in 2004, is one of the most well-received installments in

272-628: The PC-8801mkIISR , which had improved graphics and sound capabilities. A cost-reduced version, the PC-8801mkIIFR , shipped 60,000 units for half a year. Although the PC-9801VM shipments surpassed it, the PC-8800 series was still popular as a Japanese PC game platform until the early 1990s. Throughout the lifetime of the PC-8800, there were four different graphics modes. They are as follows: No entry in

306-614: The Rance series, and AliceSoft in general, a noticeable presence in the western world. Sengoku Rance , also known as Rance VII , was one of AliceSoft's best-selling titles of all time. In the game, Rance, having been entrusted by an ill Oda Nobunaga to command the Oda clan in his place, seeks to take over Nippon and have sex with as many beautiful Nipponese women as he can. The game was released in Japan in 2006, and an official English translation by MangaGamer

340-558: The Rance series, primarily due to its borrowing of story elements from the non-canon Brutal King Rance . The game was officially translated by MangaGamer in 2016, bundled with Rance 5D: The Lonely Girl . Rance sets out for Nippon, an island archipelago to the east of the Continent, which is modeled after the Warring-States Period of Japanese history. The original English translation of this game, that of Yandere Translations, gave

374-487: The Rance series; he pushed for the war between Helman and Leazas in the events of Rance III: The Fall of Leazas . The game was released in 2014, and localized by MangaGamer in 2023. The conclusion of the Rance series, it was released on 23 February 2018. The war amongst the Fiends of the Monster Realm has ended, and they now invade the human realm, to their east. Rance leads the combined forces of all humanity to battle

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408-408: The Continent, seeking a cure for both himself and for Sill. This installment focuses more on the individual stories of its various characters than on continuing the greater storyline of the series itself. The game was released in 2011, and an official English translation by MangaGamer was released in 2021. An expansion of Rance Quest , this game follows Rance as he quests around the Continent to break

442-485: The FM TOWNS; an early Windows release, similar to those that the first two Rance games received, was also released. A complete reimagining of Rance III: The Fall of Leazas , released for Windows in 2015. The graphics are renewed, while the story is changed to better fit into the main canon. It is the most advanced of the early Rance re-releases. This game directly follows the events of Rance III . Rance, having defeated

476-515: The Fiends of Helman and saved Leazas, is teleported to Ylapu, a giant floating island above Leazas. There, Rance must find a way to escape from the island, but is hindered by agents of Helman who are attempting to revive and control the Wargod Upsilon, an ancient weapon created by the Holy Magic Sect. It was released in 1993 for the PC-9800 series and the FM TOWNS. Rance accepts a quest to stop

510-540: The Four Mages who were tasked to guard the town by Ragishss Cryhausen, the city's former guardian. Rance sets out with Sill to defeat them, but soon learns that their minds were corrupted by the power of the rings that they wield. Rance sets out to prevent them from receiving the magic power the rings grant. It was released in 1990 on the same computer systems as the first Rance game was. A graphical remake of Rance II: The Rebellious Maidens , released for Windows in 2009. It

544-701: The PC-8800 series was capable of displaying all four modes. The early computers in the PC-8800 series use a simple internal speaker, like the Apple II and IBM PC , capable of generating beeps and clicks. Later models added FM-synthesis chips for much more elaborate audio. Companies that produced exclusive software for the NEC PC-8801 included Enix , Square , Sega , Nihon Falcom , Bandai , HAL Laboratory , ASCII , Pony Canyon , Technology and Entertainment Software , Wolf Team , Dempa, Champion Soft, Starcraft, Micro Cabin , PSK, and Bothtec . Certain games produced for

578-620: The PC-8801 had a shared release with the MSX , such as those produced by Game Arts , ELF Corporation , and Konami . Many popular series first appeared on the NEC PC-8801, including Snatcher , Thexder , Dragon Slayer , RPG Maker , Sokoban , and Ys . Nintendo licensed Hudson Soft to port some of Nintendo's Family Computer games for the platform, including Excitebike , Balloon Fight , Tennis , Golf , and Ice Climber , as well as new editions of Mario Bros. called Mario Bros. Special and Punch Ball Mario Bros. ,

612-667: The PC-9800 series, and NEC Home Electronics had the PC-6000 series . To avoid competing with itself, NEC decided to consolidate their personal computer business into two divisions; the NEC Home Electronics division dealt with the 8-bit home computer line, and the Information Processing group dealt with the 16-bit personal computer line. The Electronic Device Sales division spun off personal computer business into NEC Home Electronics. In March 1985, NEC Home Electronics introduced

646-713: The all-girls Paris Academy, where the kidnapped girl attended school. The first game made under the AliceSoft brand, it was released on the PC-8800 and PC-9800 series of computers, as well as the Sharp X68000 , the MSX 2 and 2+, the FM TOWNS , and the PC88VA. A Windows 95 –03 version of the game was released in the late 1990s, about eight years after the first game was released. Rance 01: Quest for Hikari , released for Windows in 2013, has

680-492: The attacking Fiends. It is known to have the largest video game script ever written. An official English translation by MangaGamer is in progress, though a release date has not yet been confirmed. A hentai OVA based upon the series, Rance: Sabaku no Guardian , was released on December 25, 1993. It was not directly related to the events of any game in the series. It consisted of two episodes. A second original video animation series, Rance 01: Hikari wo Motomete The Animation ,

714-460: The curse incurred upon himself in the previous game. The game focuses on the addition of sundry quests, through which Rance can adventure, ostensibly to cure his curse, although primarily in practice to assuage the effects of the curse. The expansion includes an alternate ending that segues into Rance IX , and was directly implemented into the official English release, without needing to be purchased separately. The government of Helman has fallen into

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748-830: The early 90s. NEC's American subsidiary, NEC Home Electronics (USA), marketed variations of the PC-8800 in the United States and Canada . Nippon Electric's Microcomputer Sales Section of the Electronic Device Sales Division launched the PC-8001 in September 1979, and by 1981 it consisted of 40% of the Japanese personal computer market. In April 1981, Nippon Electric decided to expand personal computer lines into three groups: New Nippon Electric, Information Processing Group and Electronic Devices Group, with each specializing in

782-472: The first three games, Rance: The Quest for Hikari , Rance II: The Rebellious Maidens , and Rance III: The Fall of Leazas were remade in the late 2000s and early 2010s, to better fit into the main canon. Rance, a mercenary with the Keith Guild, accepts a mission to find and rescue the daughter of a rich family. Rance travels to the kingdom of Leazas and investigates the castle town, while Sill investigates at

816-465: The hands of Stessel Romanov, who corrupts the country and plans to take over the entirety of the Continent. A revolutionary force gathers, seeking to replace the former emperor to the throne, and they solicit the aid of Rance, who agrees, having heard of a magical item in Helman's treasury that can remove Sill's curse. The Prime Minister, Stessel, has been planning this, and his actions have been seen earlier in

850-540: The remainder of the Angel Army, while himself being chased after by an assassination group and three "Rare Gal-Monsters", a class of unique enemies that he had previously encountered in Rance IV: The Legacy of the Sect . The two games were released in 1995 for the PC-9800 series, with a separate on-disc version. The game was intended to a "What if..." conclusion of the Rance series for if AliceSoft were to go under before

884-486: The same setting as Rance: The Quest for Hikari , and replaces the latter in the main canon. The game features an improved gameplay system, and introduces more new content compared to Rance 02 , the remake of Rance II . The game was officially released in English by MangaGamer in 2020, bundled with Rance 02: The Rebellious Maidens . The city of Kathtom, a member of the Free City Zone, is suddenly entombed underground by

918-501: The series was to be completed, but its great popularity allowed the company to continue its production of games. Rance, bored of his normal life, gathers a group of outlaw bandits and takes over some towns in southern Helman. The imperial army quickly puts down Rance's rebellion and take Sill captive, but he escapes to Leazas, where he marries the country's queen to become a tyrant "brutal king", commanding his own army to seek his revenge on Helman. Large opposition forces arise tried to remove

952-620: The system, establishing the PC-8801 as a strong gaming platform. By November 1983, the PC-8801 had shipped 170,000 units. The PC-8801's direct successor, the PC-8801mkII , came with a JIS level 1 kanji font ROM, a smaller case and keyboard, and, in the models 20 and 30, one or two internal 5 1 ⁄ 4 -inch 2D floppy disk drives. This set of PC-8800 computers sold more units than the PC-9800 series at that time. By December 1983, NEC had multiple personal computer lines coming out from different divisions. NEC's Information Processing group had

986-509: The tyrant ruler from power; yet, Rance continues his trials to re-assert his power as the King of Leazas, retrieve Sill from Helman control, and take over the world. Rance, in fulfilling his general role as an epic hero, saves The Continent from destruction by a greater evil. Released in 1996, it is the first grand strategy game in the Rance series, and was the basis for Sengoku Rance and other non- Rance titles by AliceSoft with similar gameplay. It

1020-443: Was also the first AliceSoft game released primarily for Windows and all other Rance games would follow. A soft reboot of the Rance series, released in 2002 after a 6-year hiatus following Brutal King Rance . Rance 5D: The Lonely Girl is based on a unique roulette system, where the role-playing elements are determined by randomization. In the game, Rance is traveling through the Continent, when he and Sill stumble upon Genbu Castle,

1054-620: Was an adaptation of the re-release of the first game, Rance 01: The Quest for Hikari , and was released from December 26, 2014 to June 24, 2016. Consisting of four episodes, the OVA was directed by Takashi Nishikawa and animated by studio Seven and Pink Pineapple. Rifujin na Magonote , the author of Mushoku Tensei , said that the novel series was inspired by Rance series, among other inspirations. PC-8800 series The PC-8800 series ( Japanese : PC-8800シリーズ , Hepburn : Pī Shī Hassen Happyaku Shirīzu ) , commonly shortened to PC-88 , are

Rance (series) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-480: Was capable of displaying Kanji characters via an optional Kanji ROM board. Various companies released Japanese word processor software for the machine, such as My Letter ( マイレター ) , Writing ( 文筆 , Bunpitsu ) , and Yūkara ( ユーカラ ) . NEC themselves released Nihongo Word Processor ( 日本語ワードプロセッサ ) which was a rebranded version of Yukara, but it was not a success. In addition to office software, companies like Enix and Koei released many popular games for

1122-469: Was released in 2019. Also known as Rance VIII , it directly follows the events of Sengoku Rance . Rance returns to the Continent to seek a cure for the curse that was placed on Sill by the Archfiend. While attempting to convince the Queen of Pencilcow, a kingdom to the west of Leazas, to cure Sill, he offends her, and she places a curse on him that he must become much stronger to overcome. He then journeys around

1156-427: Was the genesis for the other early Rance series re-releases. It did not contain as much new content as the next two re-releases, Rance 01: The Quest for Hikari and Rance 03: The Fall of Leazas . The latter released Kai version includes the completely rewritten script to better fit the main canon. The game was officially released in English by MangaGamer in 2020, bundled with Rance 01: The Quest for Hikari . Leazas,

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