Ok... essa obra é densa e tô atônito com esse final até agr, mas vamo lá.

Uma série de jogos que começou como basicamente um meme e acabou se tornando uma franquia mt divertida e com um worldbuilding interessante e surpreendentemente profundo a cada jogo, chega aqui no seu ápice como um grande épico erótico de guerra em escala continental.

Apesar com seu elenco marcante, seu humor e carisma presente, Kichikuou Rance é uma obra cruel. Você vê nesse jogo vários núcleos de diversos personagens seja os principais e até msm figurantes sem nome, e isso é muito importante pq mostra como q esse conflito de interesse afeta desde da burguesia até as classes mais pobres. É um jogo q n é só difícil, é frustante, cansativo, desesperador, desesperançoso e até msm melancólico. E essa alta dificuldade é importante pros temas q o jogo quer trazer, em como essa guerra e ambição não beneficia ninguém (a não ser claro, O Rei Brutal). É uma obra q adora mexer com moralidade e subvertendo os lados da moeda, principalmente na parte dos reinos dos monstros onde isso é elevado a quinta potência.

Kichikuou Rance tem um loop de gameplay incrível e viciante (ao ponto de msm ter tomado softlock no final do jogo e ter q começar tudo de novo, imediatamente peguei pra jogar de novo... não é qualquer jogo q faz isso comigo, acredita em mim), q é amarrado perfeitamente com sua história, tornando uma das narrativas mais impressionantes, complexas e completas da mídia (chegando até o nível de virar meta no true ending). E ainda é um jogo TÃO rico e com TANTO conteúdo, que chega a ser assutado o quanto de detalhe tem. O valor replay desse jogo é algo sem precendentes.

Kichikuou Rance mostra o melhor e o pior da humanidade, e tudo isso é exponenciado no seu personagem título: O Rei Brutal Rance. Onde aqui neste versão ele está no seu ápice até então, onde com o contexto q ele está inserido e o seu papel q está exercendo, todos os lados dele são elevados e mostrados na mesa. Ele é extremamente egoísta, genocida, misógino e não se importa com os meios q ele vai usar pra conseguir com o quer... mas no final ele só quer viver mais uma aventura ao lado da sua parceira e viver a vida ao seu modo.

Infelizmente não é uma obra que é convidativa para todos, seja pelo conteúdo erótico, suas problemáticas ou sua dificuldade infernal. Mas certamente é algo único na indústria, um verdadeiro milagre que não é atoa que salvou a empresa da falência, sim... essa obra é um milagre onde toda a sua equipe elevou o seu máximo pra conceber e msm com suas imperfeições, é incomparável.

E pra terminar ainda tem uma das melhores ost q já ouvi, casando perfeitamente com a atmosfera do jogo e com oq a obra quer transmitir https://youtu.be/U_6YPBSasyU?si=nUBuA8MqLJ6wplQr

é inacreditável essa obra existir, como disse, um milagre.

Sabe,já vi gente me perguntando o por que eu gosto tanto de uma franquia como Rance mesmo sendo problemática,até por que Rance tem sim algumas coisas moralmente problemáticas ,como toda a piada do personagem do Rance é ele ser um """herói""" que salva as personagens e dps transa com elas (a maioria das vezes não consensualmente) porém a obra não gira em torno disso quanto uma galera pensa.
Eu gosto da franquia Rance pelo seu excelente worldbuilding,os personagens carismáticos,boa gameplay e a sua incrível trilha sonora e narrativa
Até mesmo o humor é muito bom e ele foi um dos motivos que inclusive começei a jogar rance aos 15 em 2022.

Por mais que franquia tenha alguns jogos ruins(né rance 5d) de um modo geral ela é bem consistente no quesito qualidade alem de ser uma das franquias de rpg mais influentes dos anos 90.
Mas aí depois de toda esse blábláblá vc vem com a pergunta:
Aonde que Rance 03 se encaixa nisso tudo ?

Rance 03 é um remake do terceiro jogo da saga:Rance lll
O jogo original por si só foi um ponto de virada pra franquia que até então fazia jogos mais pelo meme do que por algo mais profundo,porém rance lll veio pra mudar isso e apresentou uma plot um pouco mais madura apesar de ainda ser mais focada no humor,alem de ser o primeiro rance a ter uma gameplay e um combate decentes.

Então em 2015 é lançado o remake do terceiro jogo,com melhorias em absolutamente tudo,desde as novas ilustrações feitos pelo incrível ilustrador gyokai até melhorias absurdas na narrativa e gameplay

Falando na narrativa,rance 03 tem varias adições legais
agora cada um dos personagens principais tem um pov diferente dos acontecimentos,isso é legal pq alem de deixar a historia mais rica,dá profundidade para personagens que no jogo original n eram lá essas coisas,o maior destaque aqui vai pra um dos dark lords ,aizel que foi muito mais bem desenvolvido do que no jogo original e teve um desfecho melhor

Sobre a gameplay:ela é kino.
A gameplay do lll original era um combate estilo fire emblem que apesar de ok dps de um tempo fica repetitivo
Mas a gameplay do 03 mostrou uma puta evolução deixando o combate mais agil e dinamico e brutal refinando o que foi apresentado no 01,alem de ser bem balanceado e não ficar repetitivo.

Btw o final do jogo é genuinamente mt bom além de ter um foreshadowing muito bom pro Rance IV e que num geral foi bem mais satisfatório que o jogo original

Antes de acabar queria falar uma coisa,desde que começei a aprender japones meu objetivo era consumir obras que nunca vão receber tradução ou que não vão sair de lá
E ter finalmente zerado um jogo de 50 HORAS em japones me deixa muito feliz

Acredito que a tl desse jogo ainda vai demorar um pouquinho para ser lançada,mas quando for recomendo bastante jogar os três remakes de rance,se você gosta da franquia,e sabe japones,Rance 03 é uma play obrigatória.
10/10

Do I think Nukitashi 2 is good? Definitely. Do I think it's really good? Yes, potentially a top 10 VN. Do I think it's better than the original? Not quite, but I can absolutely see the hype though.

When NUKITASHI 2 is at It's best I would say definitely has a case of being better than the original in certain aspects.

The main positive I would give of Nukitashi 2 over 1 is that the comedy as a whole is somehow even funnier. Since there's a lot more slice of life, they just focus more on the jokes and they are even more over the top with more specific unique memorable moments than even the original which i already thought was really funny.

Pretty much anything related to NLNS (characters AND the routes) were consistently great for me. To me these characters and their interactions are the life blood and why I love the original so much. The personalities are as great as ever and a few even get more development than I expected.

One unique thing about NUKITASHI 2 is that it actually covered LGBT themes, all four letters, in a surprisingly kind of nuanced way, actually delving into the psychology of said characters, as opposed to just being lazy representation or Weeb pandering fetishism. The main issue that makes it just kind of nuanced is that all the deep dives into their personalities eventually devolves into eroge fan service. Still, it's the most that I got personally invested into fictional LGBT characters which is saying a lot.

I think the main thing people are hyped for is the main sequel portion. It's a kind of weird parallel world Isekai similar to Higurashi Rei, Steins Gate, ReZero, etc. This parallel world isekai takes place after the true route of NUKITASHI 1, with the possibility (so many potential alternate timelines now) that Junnosuke did NOT get with Fumino. I wasn't a fan of this Isekai being a bad excuse to almost overwrite the true end of the original. Many times throughout this route I just thought it was just a forced way to give the "Big Three" a reason to have routes. This sequel route isn't all bad though. In fact I would say "objectively" It's actually quite solid, having good buildup, serious themes, good comedy and fight scenes. I just think some of the enjoyment was brought down by the premise in how it relates to the first game as I just talked about.

Speaking of the big 3, I'm guessing another reason why people hype the sequel because they actually get routes. While I wasn't a fan of the Isekai premise, I do at least commend the effort of Junnosuke actually having camaraderie and interactions with these three in the sequel route so the big 3 routes could at least make sense.

Sadly, I was disappointed in the big three and their routes. Rei already had her backstory in the original so there's only so much they could do with her in the sequel. That said, Her route was certainly the best of the 3, with some very solid moments, but kinda felt like it won by default. Touka got a little more backstory and depth but they also added a few more comedy gimmicks to her which I thought were hit or miss, and I was kinda disappointed in how they developed her. I never liked Ikuko and outside of learning her backstory her and her route did not make me like her more. In fact My feelings on Ikuko are even more mixed after her route.

To go on a positive note, I will say that Junnosuke is at his absolute best in NUKITASHI 2. Since every timeline is after he gets major development he gets to have great influence in the main theme of "understanding", and can switch off between the humorous man and the straight man pretty well, and in general is much less of a douchebag than in the original.

But I also REALLY liked all the after story routes related to the NLNS girls. They were all really hilarious and/or wholesome and were easily the highlight of the VN for me. I also quite liked Asane's (unlockable) route since she's hilarious, probably my favorite little sister character in VNs now.

Overall I would say I still quite like NUKITASHI 2, but it has a bunch of inconsistent flaws that make me not like this much as the original. That said, I'd say it's definitely worth reading, especially if you like the comedy, want to see an alternate version on the original NUKITASHI's plot, want to see fandisc style after stories for the original 4 heroines, and/or you want to see routes for Touka, Rei, Ikuko, and/or Asane.

I would grade NUKITASHI 2 a 9/10, because it had wholesome and unique storytelling themes, fun action whenever it showed up, but most importantly might actually be the funniest visual novel I've read to date.

Especially Misaki, who might now be THE funniest character in visual novels for me, almost any time she was on screen I was guaranteed to be dying laughing.

Speaking of, Character Ranking:

Misaki >> Hinami > Asane > Fumino > Nanase >> Rei > Touka >> Ikuko

PS

I had the privilege of doing a full PAID software QA run of NUKITASHI 2. Heavily grateful I got to do it at least once for an official VN release, especially for the sequel to one of my top three favorite visual novels of all time.

This is one of the most consistently funny AND engaging visual novels I read in a long time.

I think the people who try to sell this as a plotge are not selling it correctly. To me it's a plotge in the same vein as the agave route from Majikoi. It has its serious themes but the action is very goofy shounen and there's still all of the over-the-top comedy especially with the whole unique parodying nukige thing.

But considering that I just compared it to Agave from Majikoi, which is my favorite visual novel, obviously means I still put this visual novel in high praise.

I actually quite liked all the routes. Some people have said that Misaki route is their least favorite but honestly outside a few rushed developments, it was easily the funniest route reminding me of a Majikoi or Asa Project route with how ridiculously funny it got. Nanase, Hinami, and True route for all good in different ways, I would say Nanases route is only my least favorite for minor reasons.

I think by the end I found every single major character likable or interesting. Including the antagonists, with some who you are not supposed to like it first. (Which does go into one of the interesting themes of the VN of you eventually coming around to things you initially dislike)

Junnosuke was a decent entertaining main Character mostly brought down by him being a hypocritical asshole at times.

My main girl ranking goes something like this:

Misaki - No surprise she's my favorite considering she's the very quirky hilarious girl. But she also has a nice wholesome side (in fact, I liked how every single heroine with a route are all distinctive variations of nice girls)

Fumino - A very wholesome character with surprising depth. Maybe went slightly far on her being willingly subservient.

Hinami - An amusing character with some funny if occasionally Repetitive loli/senpai jokes. Definitely the least deep character but makes up for with some of the most wholesome scenes in the whole game.

Asane - the only character I would say got slightly worse as the story went on. Her jokes got slightly more repetitive and they made her slightly bitchier than I was expecting to non-Nanase girls. That said, her funny jokes were still really funny.

Touka - She was easily the most interesting antagonist to me so I was kind of disappointed they sequel baited her depth.

Nanase - Likeable but just doesn't stick out as much as everybody else above her.

Rei - Definitely got the most love in terms of giving proper backstory and depth. Her base personality just isn't quite as good as everybody else's.

Ikuko - She's okay, but definitely my overall least favorite. Her base personality is too OneNote and her depth and development is way too rushed when it shows. (The opposite problem of Touka)

Just a little aside on the translation. I do think there were a bunch of lines where they went a little too far on the localization memes/references/political jabs but to be honest, they felt more like mild to moderate annoyances at most. I would say the complaints are kind of overblown but if it really bothers you, there is an improvement patch you can find on vndb.

I'm still stewing on my final score, but with how consistently I enjoyed just about everything about it. I would not be surprised if I settled on a 10/10. It's been forever since I've given one to a full length visual novel.

I read Sakura no Toki this year, work by the same author, and then when I came across his view on art and the artistic potential of a work, I imagined that with a Remake of his first work he would not choose the easy path, and well, he didn't choose.

Tsui no Sora Remake is a sequel to both Tsui no Sora and Wonderful Everyday, it maintains the general form of the first novel while changing the core adding an even more Lovecraftian layer which makes everything else a completely new perspective on past events, the narrative still stands alone as well as the author's other works, but the attempt to correlate themes such as: the meaning of life, the material and the immaterial, the edge of the world, dreams, happiness, etc. is notable.
In some moments it becomes apparent that the story is limited to following the structure of the original and this ends up cutting part of the potential that is shown in routes like Yasuko where you see the evolution of the author in more than 20 years, but it is still worthy note how he achieves his proposal so well and thematically evolves one of his masterpieces;
To reduce TnSR to just a new version of Tsui no Sora is to leave behind part of what makes Sca-Di's work so special, both in terms of thematic and metalinguistic continuity, and taking all that into account this ended up becoming mine " remake" favorite.

"終ノ空で逢いましょ"