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!
This week a demo for Witch on the Holy Night was released, so being the huge Type-Moon fan that I am, I had to try it out. First thing I noticed was how beautiful the art was. From the backgrounds to the character designs, it just looked gorgeous. The music is great too, though I expected as much from Type-Moon. Of the characters introduced in the demo, the one I was most familiar with was Aoko, due to her appearances in Tsukihime and Melty Blood. Alice and Soujyuro I don’t know much about, but I’m looking forward to learning more about them in this story. Aoko is very energetic; Alice is stoic and doesn’t show much emotion; Soujyuro is hardworking and unfamiliar with city life. These three are very different from each other, but that made their interactions that much more enjoyable. The demo’s story gave us a taste of the daily life and also of the supernatural occurrences you’ve come to expect from Nasu. There were a few errors while reading, such as incorrect name or tense usage, but nothing that made me go crazy. I am very much looking forward to the full release.
Other than Mahoyo, I also played a new mobile game that released recently, Goddess of Victory: Nikke. I don’t know what I was expecting going into this game, other than the fanservice and nice character designs. I was surprised by how fun the gameplay actually was; it kind of reminded me of Time Crisis. The story throws you for a loop at the beginning and pretty much says this isn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows. The music is incredible as well. I was pleasantly surprised by Nikke, so I think I’ll be sticking with this one. – Patrick
Like Patrick, I also took the opportunity to play Witch on the Holy Night, though unlike Patrick I’m completely Type-Moon blind. I’ve been on the internet long enough to recognize the characters and have a general idea of what Type-Moon is through osmosis, but for all intents and purposes I went into this blind, and I gotta say it was pretty enjoyable. The writing does a fantastic job setting the mood, and I adore the way scenes transition to give the effect of actually moving through the haunted mansion. Aoko and Alice are interesting characters whose back and forth is both somehow familiar and very esoteric, and I’m really curious about the magical elements introduced in the short demo. Soujyuro was also really interesting in how he interacted with the girls and made the mansion his home in his own way. I liked his work ethic. The music was very fitting, and I found the voice acting not bad. Like Patrick, I also encountered several typos, and seeing as I made a big deal about them in both my Birushana and Amnesia: Later x Crowd reviews, I’d be remiss not to note them here, even though I suspect they will be addressed before the game launches fully. None of them were enough to disrupt the flow of the story or pull me out of it entirely, but they were there. Overall, this was a nice little slice of a visual novel, and I’m curious as to what the full game entails. If nothing else, I can now say I’ve actually played a Nasu title! If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, the demo is available on the PlayStation store and the Nintendo eShop.
Outside visual novels, I’ve continued plugging away at Star Ocean: The Divine Force. I’m still overall enjoying it, but there are definitely cracks that are showing the farther into the game I get. Some of the direction is confusing, and the pacing between gameplay and cutscenes leaves a lot to be desired at times. It’s jarring to go from escorting a person to having said charge suddenly be mounted and under attack. I’ve also encountered several performance issues, which is annoying seeing as I’m playing in Performance Mode. The font is also just unacceptably small, especially for a modern title. The fact I cannot change it at all is infuriating. Thankfully, the cast remains fantastic: Laeticia is the bestest best girl, I would die for Elena, and I adore Albaird to an absurd degree, so it’s not without its merits. Battles are always fun and traversal with D.U.M.A. feels amazing. You’ll get much more fleshed out thoughts once I finish my review, but it isn’t in danger of dethroning The Second Story as best Star Ocean anytime soon. – Leah
I had a pretty busy week in terms of gaming this time around. I finished up The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, and I have to say I would put it easily in my top 10 RPGS of all time. I love the world and cast that inhabits it so much. I was going to take a break before I started the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd, but I was installing the voice patch an hour after finishing SC and thirsty for more of this series.
Aside from my current Trails addiction I am checking out This Way Madness Lies from Zeboyd Games. You may know their previous works, Cthulhu Saves the World or Cosmic Star Heroine. This game seems to follow in the same vein as those so far. Good RPG systems and a lot of on-the-nose humor as the story follows a group of magical girls in a drama club that fight their way through an alternate Shakespearean world filled with monsters! I hope to have full review of this one out by the end of the week. –Steve
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
