While we here at Operation Rainfall love covering the latest in gaming news and sharing our reviews of titles new and classic, we also just enjoy playing games in our downtime. So with that, sit back, relax, and check out what the oprainfall gaming crew have been up to this week!
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country
This week I ended up starting a new game plus path in Torna. I had a ton of fun playing the main Xenoblade Chronicles 2 game and I still go back to it once in a while. I’ve actually already fully gone through a new game plus run of the main game and periodically find myself returning, to level up my blade characters further and finish additional sidequests. However, when the Torna prequel expansion came out, I think I was burnt out at the time and didn’t fully enjoy it to the extent that I did the main game. I hadn’t yet returned to the prequel portion for extra sidequesting like I do the main game, until now. This week I finally found myself in the mood to jump back into Torna and thus, decided it was time to completely start over, albeit with the extra carried over perks.
I haven’t gotten super far into my new path yet. I lowered my party down to level 5 and now and then am instantly raising them 1 or 2 levels when I get to new areas. But mostly I’ve been grinding back up from the bottom for the purpose of saving my bonus xp and using it on the new game plus exclusive merchants, much like how I replayed the main title. Plus, I don’t find myself having as much fun replaying a game if I’m over-leveled from the start, so that’s another reason why I tend to knock everyone’s level back down. As of writing this, I’ve just gotten past the first visit to Torigoth and met up with Hugo. So far I’m quite enjoying myself, but ultimately, I can’t wait for Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s release. It’s about time I get to have fun with a completely brand new Xenoblade game. – Jenae
Evenicle 2
I played a few different games this week, but I was pretty happy to finally finish up Evenicle 2 (Editor’s Note: 18+ review). Alicesoft makes some of the best Eroge games out there with tons of amazing gameplay elements and Evenicle 2 was no exception. I loved the cast of crazy characters such as the very innocent but lewd Platina and the very tsundere but adorable Kano. The very horny doctor in the game was always willing to lend the girls a hand in curing their illnesses with his lust. He gives “Sexual Healing” a whole new meaning. The exploration and fantastic turn-based RPG combat here was just icing on the cake. Evenicle 2 got banned on Steam because of Valve’s ever-changing set of rules, but folks looking to snag this one up can find it on JAST, MangaGamer, FAKKU, DLSITE, Kagura Games Store and Johren. – Steve
Elden Ring
Like millions of other people, I got bit by the Elden Ring bug, and I’ve been plugging away at it since a little after it released. This week I made a ton of headway, finally defeating Malenia (with help) and Placidusax (without) and clearing my way to endgame. It’s been tough and sometimes I’ve had to call on other Tarnished to triumph, but that’s part of what makes me love this game – for every battle I can’t beat on my own, there’s others where I persevere and come out on top. I’ve had an absolute blast exploring the Lands Between, and seeing as it’s my first real taste of a Souls-like title, it has also given me the itch to try one of FromSoftware’s other games. I’ve been eyeing Sekiro and the Demon’s Souls remake, but there’s also the Dark Souls trilogy and Bloodborne, so who knows where I’ll go from here. – Leah
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
