I could go on about the gameplay loop, but one hidden gem about this game is the meta-interaction between Rance and the player; the oft-memed picture of whether to assault the miko girl or look at her panties is typical AliceSoft dark humor but perfectly captures how the game forces you into Rance's mindset for worse. Anytime the player tries to play to their own sensibilities or morality they're severely punished for it; not having enough sex lowers Rance's battle performance, making some story battles overtly difficult, and trying to play peacefully or mercifully will have the player miss out on several strong benefits needed to beat the late-game factions. By forcing the player into roleplaying Rance, AliceSoft lets the moral dilemma of the Rance series shine through: how can this supreme asshole be the hero of the story?

Nominally, Rance is really only the hero because everyone else in the Ranceverse is a total piece of shit, including the character literally designated to be the "Hero" of the verse, but more deeply, Rance finds his success entirely by being a undefined, hedonistic shithead in a world where everyone else is simply following the pre-determined roles assigned to them. Rance does what Rance wants to get by; the Player does what they can to get by. The finale of Brutal King Rance was a revolution of the created against the creators, a final No Gods No Masters message from AliceSoft; it's only fitting that the spiritual successor to Brutal King Rance would also re-assert that the player themselves is not the master of Rance either. It's a refreshing take on a JRPG protagonist, and provides a lot of food for thought, especially in contrast to AliceSoft's Toushin Toshi II, where the player is explicitly punished for having a moral center anywhere near Rance. I'm not sure I'm fully onboard with using sexual violence as the emotional hook for a lot of the on-paper narrative here, nor the occasional homophobia, but if you can look past that there's a compelling exploration of existential freedom and amorality that's unlike anything else in the media.

Also the design work is incredibly creative and varied, minecraft-esque characters sitting comfortably next to Masamune Date as an eyeball. It slaps.

Rance não para de me surpreender e não foi diferente com Sengoku Rance, é impressionante a quantidade de conteúdo nesse jogo e como a franquia sempre se reinventa em gameplay/mecânicas.

A ideia de um JRPG tático com elementos de Management Game já foi executada em Kichikuou Rance, porém, com muito problemas de balanceamento, o que prejudica muito a sua progressão, Sengoku Rance tem um sistema de administrar territórios muito mais coeso e objetivo, além de recompensador, a party também é mais densa, cada classe tem skills particulares que têm utilidades para batalhas específicas, uma profundidade impressionante, eu realmente tive que montar estratégias para diversas batalhas e pensar quando usar X personagem, além de ter mais liberdade para explorar o potencial disso, já que diferente de Kichikuou, eu consigo manter meus membros de party, mesmo eles morrendo em batalha, claro, existe a possibilidade de perdê-los para sempre, mas não é instantâneo. O problema de balanceamento de Kichikuou que citei anteriormente também tem aqui, só que em menor escala, sendo apenas no End Game, onde fica insustentável de tão quebrado, é irritante demais o quanto as batalhas são mais longas e desproporcionalmente mais difíceis, mesmo você com um level alto e com muitas tropas, insuportável. Outro aspecto negativo, é o sistema de rotas, que pouco adicionam ao jogo, apesar do mar de conteúdo, não existe nenhum empenho em fazer essas rotas valerem por si só, além de poucos momentos legais, boa parte é só chato e cansativo, com um conteúdo repetitivo e você tendo que tomar ações já feitas anteriormente para poder progredir, além de plots que não valem tanto a pena, mas isso eu vou deixar para comentar quando for falar do enredo no geral. Já o conteúdo ero me divide um pouco, tem H-Scenes boas que tão crescimento na relação do Rance com as personagens, mas, estamos falando do protagonista mais doente já criado, então a quantidade de conteúdo cursed, vazio, fetichista, problemático e nojento é imensa, não da pra defender.

Comentando sobre a produção, visualmente é um jogo lindo, adoro o Character Design, é identidade pura, além de uma evolução impressionante, os CGs são maravilhosos, a HUD me agrada bastante também, é intuitivo e você não se perde para fazer suas ações, já a OST, é do CARALHO, fantástica, tem muitas tracks memoráveis.

Agora, a narrativa desse jogo, é simplesmente primorosa, JAPAN é gigantesca e Sengoku Rance aborda isso de forma excelente, a politicagem que envolve o país, os conflitos de cada estado, os males da guerra, a falta de liderança, preconceito, o valor da perda, o peso do amor, cada líder tem seus ideais e crenças, toda temática tem seu impacto, tudo te envolve muito fácil, é uma jornada excelente do começo ao fim, que elenco fantástico, a quantidade de personagens bons me surpreende, mas, claro, tem alguns problemas, como os character clear serem beeeem fracos e não darem substância alguma aos personagens, além de em certos casos, serem sub-plots já abordados em Rance VI que não progridem em nada o arco das personagens, uma pena que existem ainda piores, como character clear que existem só para alguma H-Scene de péssimo gosto que resume a personagem a nada além de um fetiche. Como citei em alguns blocos acima, o sistema de rotas é raso para um jogo tão denso, a True Route conta uma excelente história, já as rotas alternativas, são chatas em mecânica, porém, entregam quase nada em narrativa também, a rota da Ran é completamente skippavel, é terrível, não entrega nada além do Rance sendo um doente e conteúdo erótico merda, a rota da Yamamoto é um INFERNO de repetitiva e vazia, só vale pelo epílogo e a progressão da personagem, que é pouca durante a rota, já a rota da Kenshin é a menos pior, um pacing ok e da profundidade para a personagem e sua relação com o Rance, é o único IF que vale a pena na minha opinião.

Apesar de problemas e incomodos, Sengoku Rance me fascinou, foi um jogo que tirou semanas da minha vida, seja me divertindo ou querendo me jogar de uma ponte, mas, no fim, valeu a pena demais.

mentally on the fence of deciding if this game is overrated or a masterpiece because while it does so many things I absolutely love it also has a lot of really annoying aspects.

i think the game encourages savescumming way too much, theres so much rng involved in battles especially when you want to capture specific generals. also think the game rushes you due to plot reasons and is really opposed to letting you achieve 天下統一 despite it being SENGOKU RANCE. also dungeon battles are BORING. good god.

despite the annoying points i think this style of game is incredible and was absolutely addicted to this game. looking forward to playing the dai series.

Despite having said "I will never play this game ever again" at least five times here I am re-playing Sengoku Rance.
I am an huge fan of the Rance Series, but honestly this is the "worst" rance title. I haven't appreciated the story so much, not 'cause is bad, do not misquote me, but because is (in my opinion) worst than the other Rance Games; I've played 5 routes by now, but no one of them keeped my interest til the end.
But the gameplay.
OOOOOOH THE GAMEPLAY.
It's so stupidly addicting than I can't stop playing. It's a tactic with a lots of stuff to do and with tons of characters to appreciate (to love).

I recommend this game to anyone who wants just a good tactics.
If you want to talk with your friend about this game you can simply skip the eroge scene by pressing CTRL (I'm gonna be honest, I am not an huge fan of hentai/ecchi, I just CTRLed all of the eroge scenes).

Pretty fun strategy game that has a surprising amount of depth to it. It's one of those porn games where the porn is the worst part, I kinda just mashed past it all.

The one issue is the final boss is a single person battle rather than army battles you've been doing all game (there are only 2 or so mandatory single battles a game), meaning you are forced to grind to stand a chance, especially since you can only ever damage him when either Rance or Kentarou are deployed. It brings the whole ending down a bit just by how frustrating that is.

But it's still a really solid adventure through and through! Kenshin best.

I know this game like the back of my hand. I have replayed it... Man I think it's getting closer to 45-50 times? This is the best strategy game I have ever played. I know for a fact I've probably put more than 100+ hours into it, and it never gets old.
It's story isn't nearly as amazing as the game that came before, with it having an antagonist I... Really don't like much, but with the single best gameplay in any game I've ever played, it's easy to overlook.
And granted it's still a Rance game, so it's story is still a cut above the rest. Especially the true route, with the main heroine and her struggle hitting home for me.
Really the only problem I have with this game (aside from the main antagonist) is the Nanjou Ran route, which just doesn't have what made the other routes so amazing. It's probably the weakest point in the entire series for me. But the weakest point being not really all that bad goes to show how amazing this series really is.
Gahahahahahaha!

Fundamentally, Sengoku Rance is the greatest game ever created and no other game can reach its caliber. When Sengoku Rance was released, it raised the bar of the video game industry to a point where no other game could physically ever be better than Sengoku Rance, other than Sengoku Rance itself. Sengoku Rance forever is and will be the greatest video game of all time. If somebody asked me, "why do you like Sengoku Rance so much?", you know what I would tell them? I would tell them Sengoku Rance is my soul, it is my fuel, it gives me the strength and energy to wake up every morning and keep going. Sengoku Rance is gods gift to this world. I've had issues with depression for years, along with anxiety and suicidal thoughts but you know what has kept me going? Sengoku Rance. Being able to sit down and have a good ol time in Sengoku Rance. If you play Sengoku Rance, you're already on a higher level intellectually than the majority of the population. That's simply because Sengoku Rance makes you superior to the rest of the human race. It stimulates your brain cells the more you play, with every girl you fuck, the more power you receive. For every territory you claim and every House you overtake, more power goes to you. The more you play Sengoku Rance, the more of a saint you become, until you play enough Sengoku Rance to reach ultimate god status. Sengoku Rance is the greatest game ever created.

(Content warning: rape)

Yeah this game is extremely rapey, which is kind of a shame, because the gameplay itself is actually extremely fun. The Rance series is apparently the oldest erotic game series ever, with the first game being released in 1989 for the PC-88. Each game has entirely different gameplay but is usually some brand of rpg. This particular one, the 7th main game in the series, plays like a visual novel stapled on top of a grand strategy game. It's a pretty cool mix, actually.

The focus on characters' personalities and charming dialogue mixed with the cold strategy of war tactics actually reminds me somewhat of Fire Emblem, in that you actually care about the characters you send off into war and want to see them grow stronger and consequently shout at the screen when they die due to your own tactical mistakes. The turn counter is an especially ingenious design in that the less turns you take in completing the game, the more bonus points you get for use in the New Game plus store, which gives you fun features to use in subsequent playthroughs. It's honestly such a fun idea I'm surprised more games don't do something like this as a way to encourage both getting good at the game and replaying it in cool new ways.

The main character Rance, is actually a lot of fun and his brazen, despicable nature actually plays really well in just decimating what would otherwise be a completely serious story moment down into slapstick comedy. It's just kind of a shame the guy's a serial rapist. And it's like, there are plenty of good consensual relationships in the game, like with Kenshin (best girl) or Maria, so clearly the writers are capable of not being so rapey, but I guess they just can't help themselves.

The writing in general's actually pretty dang good, and funny, even. I actually ended up endeared to the characters by the end and wanted more. The worldbuilding's also pretty weird and cool, though they do a good job really only hinting to it when it's not directly relevant to the story, like when the characters mention someone being "over the bridge".

Overall I would recommend the game not just as a porn game, but as a legitimately good visual novel / grand strategy game...as long as you can handle all of the uh, incredibly nonconsensual sex scenes. If you can't, then stay away from Alicesoft games, because that seems to be what they're all about. Maybe play something like Kamidori instead, honestly.

Sengoku Rance tinha uma missão complicada: continuar o legado do jogo anterior, que havia expandido o mundo e debatido seu tema de forma excepcional. E você acredita que eles conseguiram fazer melhor? Sengoku Rance traz uma gameplay tática com elementos de Management Game que consegue ser divertida e viciante ao mesmo tempo. É muito foda como você consegue passar por diversas situações com diferentes tipos de estratégias Isso dá um fator replay incrível. O jogo também traz uma mecânica de exploração de dungeons que honestamente, eu ignorei 80% do tempo. Não é muito divertido explorar elas sendo bem sincero.

Sobre a história, ela é do caralho. JAPAN é um país completamente dividido, onde cada estado tem sua história e cultura própria usando de seus líderes para trazer as discussões a mesa. Muito foda como ele consegue falar sobre racismo, a consequência da ganância por poder, a importância de um símbolo e os males da guerra e diversos outros temas de uma maneira engajante, nunca deixando a peteca cair. O elenco no geral ta muito bom, principalmente se tratando dos representantes dos reinos. Porém, por ser um jogo grande, ele tem muitos personagens bosta que só servem pra fetiche puro. Inclusive, o jogo não consegue validar a existência das meninas principais estarem nesse jogo, pois todas só repetem temas que já foram abordados no jogo anterior, pra no final se mostrar uma maquiagem pra colocar uma hscene okzinha no final dos seus clears. Aproveitando a deixa e falando das hscenes, sendo um jogo da franquia, na grande maioria das vezes as hscenes são boas. Porém, tem muita hscene nojenta fetichista, completamente descartáveis. Sobre as rotas, que tristeza falar disso, são rasas demais, considerando a riqueza da true não são divertidas de se fazer, e o pacing é uma merda (tirando a da Kenshin, o IF dela é bem legal). Se eu soubesse que elas seriam assim, nem teria feito fds

Falando sobre a arte, o ORION mais uma vez teve um salto na sua arte, com um char design fodao tendo um monte de CGs lindos dignos de wallpaper. E mais uma vez o SHADE faz uma OST PERFEITA. Impressionante como casa com o clima do jogo, as vezes me pego cantarolando algumas.

Sengoku Rance foi mais um grande passo na franquia. Acho lindo como o universo ta se acumulando aos pouquinhos a cada jogo, construindo algo maior, mas não necessariamente se prendendo a um plot hiper complexo. É simplesmente um aglomerado de boas ideias e criatividade. Eu amo demais essa franquia.

I don't even give a fuck about strategy games and this managed to make me play it for 10 hrs at a stretch.

While, technically, it does have a few gameplay flaws which hinder my experience... I don't think it would be fair to give it anything less than 5 stars given its infinite replay value without ever getting bored.

My Glorious Days playing when Rance does something insane or even just does something will never miss for me and will always hit the mark.