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!
Last week, I was lamenting having to earn a medal against Zangetsu in Bloodstained, but I’m happy to say that I got it. I even managed without the use of Invert because, honestly, I found that it was making it harder to avoid his attacks. Also, I did it without that shield power, of which I totally should have been using this entire time to make life easier.
Anyway, after that fight, Zangetsu did his best impression of Maria from Symphony of the Night by gifting me a very specific thing for a very specific battle. I then continued onward, earning the medal against Gebel, and doing the very specific thing reminiscent of Richter’s fight and now I’m in the reverse castle. Not really, as instead of everything being upside down, most everything is just bigger.
From there, I fought a big dude, earned that medal, and then I reached the Glacial Tomb because why have any kind of logical transition from one area to another at this point in the game. And so, the fight that awaits me is against Not-Death, with its…flying sickles, kind of like one of Death’s trademark attacks, but obviously not because of possible copyright infringement? Oh, and it doesn’t use a scythe, but a pair of scissors.
Well, after trying this fight a total of one time and realizing I’m seriously close to the end of this game, I decided to backtrack and just handle the bonus bosses now. I began by fighting Not-a-Belmont, but not earning a medal, as there is none…wish I had known, though it only took two attempts. I then found, fought, and beat a slot machine and a carpenter, but again, no medals to be had. Lastly, I also beat the 8-bit boss, this time abusing that shield ability because my patience is wearing terribly thin now, and earned that medal. A few more bonus bosses, and then it’s back to fight Totally-Not-Death once more.
A quick aside, the Alchemy in this game could have been vastly more helpful. Throughout my play, I have nearly always found myself lacking specific materials or ingredients, or lacking enough of them, to craft better gear or prepare the meals for quests and stat increases. I’ve never been a fan of grinding or farming either, and I never see that as a proper nor fun solution. Instead, I think more accessibility to a wider variety of materials earlier, improved drop rates, or lowering the required materials and ingredients necessary would each have very much helped to alleviate the issues and make the Alchemy a bit more evenly accessible throughout the entire game. I guess that’s the reviewer in me talking.
A final note, I’m seriously tempted to play this on Nightmare mode from scratch, as in without New Game Plus. It will probably take a bit of planning, but unfortunately, also take a huge, huge time commitment, as I don’t see it being possible to earn medals or even pass some of the more difficult stretches without loads of farming. I just don’t have that kind of time, nor do I see myself having it in the future, so it shall remain a temptation. – Drew D.
This week has basically been either full of VR games or making my way through Orlok’s route in Piofiore. First, let’s chat a little bit about VR, namely Beat Saber and Dyschronia. It’s honestly such a nice feeling getting back into playing BS, though I’m rusty as all get out since I didn’t play for a while. But it’s great exercise and it’s an excellent way to find new music, on top of it. I’m of the opinion that Beat Saber and games from MyDearest are the two strongest reasons to invest in VR and I stand by it. Speaking of MyDearest, I’m working my way through Dyschronia, the third in their Chronos series, and I cannot get enough of this game. Those of you who have been around know that I loved ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos to an absurd degree, and this game is shaping up to have a similar impact on me. You play as Hal Scion, an Administrator in a futuristic city who is trying to solve the murder of the city’s founder. Only problem is that when you go to investigate, not only is there no body, but the city’s AI says the man is still alive. Oh, yeah, and you’re also killed by a strange woman and have to go back in time to change events so you don’t die. Wait, what? Honestly, it’s a fantastic premise with astounding visuals that lean into the VR aspect of the game really well and I highly recommend it. I’ll have a full review coming soon!
In regular gaming space, I’ve finally made more progress in Piofiore and am currently working on Orlok’s route. I took a bit of a break from the game due to other obligations, but it really is a nice wind down sort of title, where I can sit back and just enjoy the story and voice acting. I finished Dante’s route last week and that was quite enjoyable, and my sister gushes over Orlok, so I’m curious to see if he lives up to her hype. I do have to say that Piofiore holds my interest much more than the previous otome I played, Collar x Malice, did. I found Takeru a better love interest than anyone in Piofiore so far, but it’s hard to beat 1920s mobsters in Italy, so the story alone is much more appealing. Plus the boys are all quite pretty, and you can never go wrong with that. – Leah
I honestly didn’t do a lot of gaming this past week. That Riichi Mahjong tournament put me back in somewhat of a gaming slump, not sure why. Though I have been told that mahjong only brings misery, so maybe there’s a little truth to that. Especially when you lose horrendously and don’t even make Top 64 in the tournament you entered. Yep, that was me on Friday. The next portion of the tournament began and I had to make my way to the Top 64 if I wanted any chance at anything more than the participation prize. Unfortunately, the flow was not with me at any point during this whole Whale Cup tournament. The goal this time was to play three matches with the same three other people and end up in the in the Top 2 of overall points between yourself and those three others in your room. I honestly didn’t really play that poorly, but I got some really meh hands, and two others in my room kept getting tsumo, which is where you get your winning tile from the random draw, it’s not stolen from someone else when they discard. And after you win with a tsumo, you steal points from everyone else in the room. So, even though I didn’t play into anything significant, there were a lot of tsumos worth a good amount and I ended up 3rd in my room, thus not making the overall Top 64. The tournament was still worth entering, I mean I learned I can at least hold my own against way better players, plus I got a cute whale tile back design in Riichi City, for participating. But I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t do better than I did. – Jenae
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
