Despite its cutesy look, this game can be unexpectedly dark.
Some years ago… wait, how many years is that?! So, uh, many many years ago I played an obscure Princess Maker-like game called Ranshima Monogatari Lairland Story on the PSP. I played it and played it, got a number of endings and had a great time in general, but I never did get the “true” ending that tells you the story behind your mysterious charge Chilia.
Time passed, and I moved on to other games, but then I heard the game had gotten a Switch port and an English translation, so I decided this was a good chance to support the brave (but clumsy) localizers and also get a few more endings. Playing it again after 13 years, I found it rather more tedious and childish than I remembered, so after one playthrough just to get the hang of things again, I made a beeline for the true ending to put the game behind me once and for all.
*Note, it’s mainly so tedious for me because 1) I played the heck out of it years ago and I’m really not into replaying games, 2) I dislike visual novel-type games even more than I did long ago, and 3) I don’t like flag-type “buy the strategy guide” games where you have to be at the right place at the right time with the right stats or that route is closed off for that playthrough. If you don’t have any of those problems, Lairland Story is a nice, affordable little game that will keep you busy for a couple of days. The characters are (mostly) nice and each playthrough is just the right length to allow for multiple playthroughs, unlike, say Princess Maker 5, which I liked a lot but simply can’t play again because it was waaay too long.
I couldn’t stop giving her crazy outfits and hairdos even though it was a waste of money
Anyway, on to the title: how to get the true ending of Lairland Story. Spoiler free. The spoiler free part is important, because I got all these steps from a YouTube video, which was awesome and very easy to follow BUT it spoiled the whole thing in the video. Here’s a link if you don’t mind spoilers: Lair Land Story – how to get the True good ending (not the marry Chilia one)
Personally I like to spoil, but I only like to be spoiled when I’m actively looking for spoilers. For the sake of people like me who want to see the game’s true ending for themselves, here’s the step by step guide to which events you need to trigger and which stats you need to raise (only one).
Preparations
It is recommended that you aim for the true ending on at least the second playthrough so that you can set bonuses like the card that gives you 2000 Eve to start with in order to make your life easier. Set your room ambience to the highest (50 Eve) so that it rises quickly. This will enable you to reach ambience 400 quickly so you can hold 2 parties a season. The goal of doing this is to raise Chilia’s affection as high as possible, so be sure to travel with her every chance you get and try to choose answers that raise her affection. You will also need 3000 Eve quite early on and 2000 Eve at another point, so try to keep those funds at hand at all times. Having Chilia work high-paying jobs is good, having her do lucrative research is good too.
Now to the events proper. To get Chilia’s true ending, you need really high affection (I had 999 at the end) and to see certain events in order.
1. Meet Dark Mage in the Streets in Spring 885. Reset until you find him. He might appear in early, mid or late spring, but keep visiting the Streets until you find him. Let Chilia decide what to do with the necklace.
Meet the Dark Mage again on another day in Spring and pay him 3000 Eve. There will be an automatic event shortly afterwards.
This is not the time to be stingy, Herol!
2. In Fall 885, visit the Church to learn more about Chilia’s pendant from Fay. BTW for all these events, there’s often flexibility in when exactly in a season an event will occur, so don’t despair if you don’t get an event in a particular outing, but do despair if you haven’t gotten it by the end of that season. Keep multiple saves just in case.
3. Summer 886, there will be a bard in the Plaza singing about the First Hazard.
4. In early Fall 886, visit the Church until you see an event with Fay dropping books. There will be an option to help her and another option to ask about the First Hazard. Ask about the First Hazard instead of helping her, because you’re a jerk.
Don’t look at me, I’m a jerk.
5. Visit the church in Late Winter 886 to talk to the priest. The guide I read said to find Fay in the Bathhouse first, but I never did and I still got the true ending.
6. In Early Spring 887, meet the Dark Mage in the Streets again and pay him 2000 eve.
7. In Late Summer 887, the priest should pay you a visit at home.
8. There will be an automatic event around or before Winter 887. Hug Chilia when given that option.
9. Affection should be around 800 in Winter 887 if you’ve been traveling with Chilia, holding parties, decorating the house etc. to raise her affection. A Mysterious Man will pay Chilia a visit.
10. Keep raising Chilia’s affection until it reaches 999. You might not need it that high, but that’s what is suggested both by the video guide by a Japanese guide I checked.
11. Late Spring 888 is the end of the game and your evaluation. Play through till the credits roll to get a post-credits scene.
12. Do NOT start a new game plus. This is where many people trip and fail. Reload your last save like nothing happened and play everything again up to the end of Late Spring 888. Try to save close to the end of that period to minimize the amount you have to replay.
13. Keep watching till the end and enjoy the changes in the new, true ending.
Non-spoiler comments about the true ending
I wanted it, I got it, so how do I feel about Lairland Story’s true ending? Well, it’s good to finally get some closure on Chilia’s past, where she came from and who she was before losing her memory. Some parts of her background still aren’t fully explained, like why she appeared in the church in front of Herol, how she deleted the monsters with her song, why she called herself Chilia (I feel like that was explained elsewhere but I forgot), etc. But you do get some solid answers about her past, and that’s enough for calling it a day.
On the other hand, the true ending isn’t a very happy one for a lot of people. Her past was really tragic, so I can’t help feeling that Chilia’s better off in the endings where she never recalls her past and instead blithely moves on with her new life and new friends. A certain tragic event that happens in 891 (three years after the end of the game) doesn’t seem to happen in any of the other endings either. Maybe Chilia’s sunny personality kept everyone so happy that nothing bad happened, or maybe her presence acted as a protection for the kingdom… or maybe everything goes to hell after the regular endings, but they don’t tell us. The true ending calls a lot of things into question if you want to dive deeper into it… which I don’t.
All’s well that ends well. I’ll definitely play the sequel if they ever release it, otherwise it’s time to put Lairland Story behind me. Next up, I’m playing Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side Fourth like I said I would, but… 😑 I think I’m too old for otome games now. More on that another time.