Surprisingly good game, it has the better gameplay out of the first 3 games imo (counting the remakes) since it plays more like an actual rpg. The plot is the best so far and the visual presentation, while obviously dated and somewhat unpolished since this IS a Doujin game, was actually pretty nice and has a certain old school charm to it. Haven't played the remake since I don't know japanese so I can't speak on that but in my experience this is an enjoyable game even if you only played 01 & 02.

the gameplay is an improvement compared to the second. lots of ridiculous moments, but it doesn't take away the seriousness of the plot. though the walking system can be a pain at times if you're not adjusted to it. it also took forever for me to figure out how to camp anywhere (it might just be a me thing realized it was right on the swords eye).

pretty charming and you can really begin to tell how passionate alicesoft is over this series and it makes a pretty solid jrpg for the time. though good luck recommending this to anyone without getting weird stares LOL

Having played this after consuming the digest versions of Rance I & II available, I believe, as part of a release of Rance VI, III was my first proper experience with the series. And honestly, it's a lot better than I'd anticipated it being for a 1991 doujin RPG. The comedy is genuinely really consistent and reminds me of a blend of early Dragonball, Urusei Yatsura and Golden Boy. The dungeons left a bit to be desires and I guess you could argue that the gameplay is banal, but I found it really fun to casually play while listening to a podcast or dicking around with friends in voice calls. It's cool to see even here how Alicesoft was trying to tie events and plot beats from the first two games into III to create something larger - and with an ending that crazy, I had no idea what to expect as the credits rolled. Art also saw a massive step up as well, and a few of the tracks here are pretty catchy. I had a better time with this one than I anticipated!

The good: the world gets expanded now, the story is not just about Rance going on some adventure but we get to know what kind of world he inhabits, I'm assuming lots of thing established here will have relevance on later games.
The charm and humor stays the same as the previous games too, so if you like that there's more of it.

The bad: once the again the gameplay is nothing to write home about, its better than 02 but overall is still pretty mindless, once you get Feliss and the item that lets you summon her for free the game is a cakewalk, that's it until you reach the final boss which will require both you to grind until at least level 40 and pray to the RNG gods that he doesn't target the one healer in your group.

Overall I didn't have a bad time with it, even though some gameplay related stuff might be annoying the game is overall easy enough that it doesn't reach annoying level.

En 100 palabras, como Tevis Thompson ha hecho a veces:

La pretensión de dirigir el videojuego a un medio que cuenta historias lleva a decisiones comparables a mezclar dos colores para hacer uno nuevo. Rance I es amarillo, II es azul y III, por la combinación, verde. De hecho, hay más azul que amarillo porque se siente como si II aún no hubiera acabado. Y en proporción, la cantidad de personajes nuevos en este nuevo periplo del brutal Rance es reducida. Rance III es un Greatest Hits quizá demasiado prematuro, que pone escaso empeño en sus sistemas pero que, sin embargo, apuesta por un interesante futuro narrativo para la saga.

Pretty good game for its time, though certain elements did not age particularly well and a few mechanics are not fully explained in-game. Furthermore, some of the H collectibles require a stupid level of grind. Story-wise, this is where the Rance series starts to pick up. Of course, like the rest of the series, this is a fun and hilarious story. Fun game and worth playing if you're interested in experiencing Rance as a series (plus, it's free!). That being said, if you can read Japanese, the 03 remake is recommended.

For a more detailed breakdown, watch this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXTYmmEJ9OQ