This was like playing Ys 1 but fucked up.
Playing a game from before a lot of genres and their mechanics were codified is such a unique experience. The combat and dungeon crawling is extremely limited and is kinda just kinda a glaze on top of a point and click adventure game, but it's interesting that it's there and sort works at all. The adventure game is about what you'd expect of having a lot of runaround for singular items to continue.
With that all said, this is an H-game where the sexual content is not hidden in nooks and crannies. Maybe it's a bit interesting to see this kinda of stuff integrated into the game instead of purely a reward at the end of specific routes and scenes, but also idk if I could stomach this game at all if it was more complex and involved. Even in its first entry, Rance is an H-game that is pretty bad in what the main character does. Though the CGs are single images with a short bit of dialogue, there are plenty of scenes of sexual assault and other explicit images. Like, yeah, this was a hentai game made in the 80s. Probably one of the more interesting ways this integrated is that the combos of how you fuck your partner Sill gives you your different magic spells. Something something gameplay story integration. The epilogue scene of Rance and Sill needing to bounce as soon as they find out that having sex with the princess means they have to get married and they leave an entire tub full of GOLD (which Rance mentions hurts to bath in) was also funny and makes me fearful that the comedy and writing of the larger series might actually be good.

I think this game is a good short game. The gameplay didn't aged that well but since this game came out in the 80s, I think it did a good job at being a good RPG on the PC-98. while the gameplay is super simple tuned based RPG with a bit of ADV style during towns, it has lots of charm and a enjoyable plot. It'll only take you about 3 hours if following a guide and you'll need it since back in the 80s, games expects the player to spend a lot of time figuring out what to do and takes note through trial and error to the point of being unfair that requires you to start the game all over again. It may be bad game design today but back then this was normal.

Ok, I admit that this game is a guilty pleasure for me.

This game is bad with bad game design and gameplay, but it also has a lot of charm, soul, and originality with good ideas that were poorly executed, but it still managed to be a fun game for the journey, characters, and funny story.

I relieve because of that fact, for being one of the most relevant eroges of all time and for being the first of an incredible franchise that improved the quality of games in later games in the franchise.

It's still a classic with issues, but a game I love nonetheless.
Personal tip:

Play the remake first, and if you really enjoy the game, play the original Rance 1.

"Hey, this series' music is pretty good and people seem to think Kichikuou Rance is amazing, maybe the games are worth something despite what they look like at first glance?"
i.e.:
- ex. 1 ~ Fiend Boss, Rance X
- ex. 2 ~ Mars, Sengoku Rance
- ex. 3 ~ Outdoor Crawl - arrange, Rance Quest
- ex. 4 ~ Influence, Kichikuou Rance (enough examples already, but Rough Edge is also pretty good)

As someone who sometimes gets really interested in a game due to its music, my thoughts were akin to the quote above. And so, I decided to try the series going by release order.
The answer is, at least for this first game, no. Bear with me while I explain why.

Old but gold copper
Beyond its appearance lies a product that has aged as well as a carton of milk contemporary to this game's initial release.
With its extremely barebones and easy-to-break battle system (within 10 minutes of random battles I had leveled up enough that I had no trouble at all for the rest of the game), Rance I's core is flawed beyond redemption.

The game isn't too long to begin with, so it's not like I was expecting some outstanding and profound RPG, but somehow, I was left disappointed. I guess I should maybe even be glad I broke the game that easily, becoming tedious would have been the last straw.
At least the graphics and music are decent for its time, I guess?

A parody to its core
The game's story is pretty much an excuse to make Rance go do something instead of having an actually meaningful plot.
A simplified summary would be something like: "there's a girl that has disappeared, go investigate and bring her back to earn a hefty sum of money", and then you do just that, but adding some minor sidetracking to the mix, so, expecting a lot from this story would not be the smartest move.
To be fair to this game, it pretty much feels like a parody of the average fantasy RPG, so I guess it makes sense it's like this.

When it comes to the humour, this game is an extremely mixed bag, because on one hand, there's a lot of content and puns that can alienate a lot of people, and understandably so, but despite that, the game admittedly has moments where it is genuinely funny.
An example I recall is (paraphrasing it):
+ "How old are you?"
- "I don't have an age."
+ "Huh?"
- "My writers are just lazy."

As you would expect from a game like this, the game does have some questionable content, but personally, the game is so unabashedly goofy that I couldn't take anything seriously and therefore, didn't care about it, I just brushed it off (having played it while talking in VC with friends might have something to do with it). Regardless, it is still something to take into account if you ever feel like playing this series, or this game particularly (for whatever reason).

A proper guidance for the player? Never heard of it
This is something a lot of old RPGs suffer from due to its shorter runtime back then, but this game is just obtuse as hell.
You either use a guide, wander aimlessly trying to take a stab in the dark in the hopes of getting somewhere, or heavily rely on the clue system the game includes, which if I recall correctly, was tied to money (I don't remember how expensive it was though), so... you better get ready to take part in more insanely satisfying battles! Exactly what everyone was waiting for!

Actually cool insights into its development
Before starting the game, there's an option called "Alice's Mansion" that's nothing amazing, but is worth mentioning for anyone interested in old game development, as it scratches the surface of what it entails, and overall, is just a nice bonus.

General thoughts
All in all, this game is definitely a product of its time, somewhat made as a parody to all the fantasy RPGs taking the market by storm at the time.
The setting itself may prove to be more interesting in future entries, but as it stands, with its severely outdated mechanics and structure, weird jokes, and run-of-the-mill storyline, this game is definitely not something I'd call good, at least by current standards.
At worst, the game is annoying, and at best, it's inoffensive. The game also seems to know it is not to be taken seriously, and also doesn't overstay its welcome, so there's that to take into account.

I might have been overly negative with this review, but anyways, it is simply not good, although it's not the worst thing I've ever played either.

If you actually want to play this game, be it for context for further entries, or anything else, download Rance I Rebuilt, it fixes bugs from the original English TL and is probably a better experience overall.

Will the next entries be better than this?
Probably.
Will I keep pushing forward until I reach Kichikuou to see if this is really worth it?
Perhaps.
Did this game make me want to do so?
Not at all.

P.S. why I've made such a long review about this game out of every possible option I could have picked is beyond me. Also, I hope I've been as accurate as possible, but I've played this game more than a month ago, so...

Honestly, this game opens with a sense of adventure that destroys almost any zelda or dragon quest. It's just that the longer it goes the most point and click and search a guide beat to sleep to it becomes. Similarly, the sex sucks. I don't even need to oohh the [problematic], that's the premise of this fucker, I know where I'm going. And yet, for a guy that cannot keep his dick still, he has the sexual curiosity and imagination of a japanese 80 year old grandpa who cried upon shinzo abe's death. This is fantasy, sicko, you better do some real pervert shit. As much as you want to put it as immoral, the morbid thrill stops at the second that all is putting dick in pussy and, if you get a shiny pokemon rare chance, maybe even ass. I wanna “assault” rance just to show him how to have a really good fuck god damn it.

had a blast with it for what it was. extremely the kind of game you need to take fully within its own tone, both as a lighthearted early eroge and as an extremely scrappy production. if seeing spraypaint tool cobwebs doesn't make you smile you'll probably not get much out of it. shocked by how playable this was, too, i didnt feel the need to pull out a guide until i was probably two thirds or three fourths of the way done. i adored the stuff like the development history and info about its development, so cute. loved that i could knock it out in one sitting, too, hahaha