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!
I finally got my hands on the Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed DLC this past week. I actually got the DLC a few weeks ago but ended up sick and wasn’t up for playing. So this week, along with my latest review I was working on, which will be out soon btw, I decided to hop back into Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I’m not yet finished with Future Redeemed, but I put in at least a good 8 to 10 hours or so. I’m having a lot of fun with it so far. I’m always a little disappointed that these DLC story additions are as short as they are, I’m a fan of large RPGs, such as the main game of every Xenoblade, but it’s definitely well worth the money so far. I mean, XC2‘s Torna DLC was fun to play, but like, we already saw just about everything that happens in that prequel during flashbacks in the main game. Nothing was that special or surprising. However, in XC3, a lot of Aionios’ history from way back when, wasn’t actually shown. You find out some stuff, they maybe vaguely mention what happened or hint at things, but you don’t really know how things ended up how they are. Also, I can’t go into detail because of spoilers, but there’s a lot of nostalgic and fun stuff in Future Redeemed. I was so glad a specific song came back and I just enjoyed all the stuff that’s almost like fan service for Xenoblade fans. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next, but I’ll be a bit sad when I’m finished and there’s nothing left to see story wise.
In addition to XC3‘s Future Redeemed DLC, I played a bit more Persona 4 Golden. These last few weeks I’ve actually been kind of off and on playing my new P4G Switch path that I started when the ports came out. Unlike Persona 5 Royal, which I had my issues with, I feel like Persona 4 Golden really perfected Persona 4. It added all the extra content it needed to, thus fleshing out the game more and gave you more things to do. Vanilla Persona 4 on PS2 always felt a little too bare bones, which is sort of understandable being that it takes place in a rural town. But for me at least, it made it much less fun than Persona 3 FES. Anyway, I just got past the school camping trip part last night. – Jenae
I spent this week working on several review titles, including Charade Maniacs, which you can read my full review for here. This was such a fun read, and I still have so much of it left. Nine love interests is A LOT, but the game doesn’t really suffer for it. I would say the common route being as long as it is, can be a bit detrimental to replays, but that’s what the fast forward button is for. Since I wrote my review I’ve played a bit more, and I just wanted to chat a bit about how much I love this cast. It’s easy for a group this big to have characters who don’t get nearly as much screentime or development, but so far I haven’t really encountered anyone who suffered from those particular issues. This is one of the saving grace’s of the game’s long common route, but also the fact that even once you’re on an LI’s route, you never stop interacting with everyone else. It’s probably my favorite aspect of CharaMani; the other boys don’t cease to exist once Hiyori starts dating one of them. They continue to be an active presence and have input in the plot. And that’s great, because I adore their interactions with each other. This is such an incredibly charming cast, and I especially love how Takumi and Iochi pick on Hiyori. There are definitely weaker characters and those I have no real interest in as an LI, but I found everyone fit surprisingly well – yes, even Haiji. I definitely recommend this one if you like plot-heavy otome.
Speaking of reviews, I’m working my way through Final Fantasy XVI as well, and should hopefully have a full write-up of that soon. The game is a lot of fun so far, and I’m really digging it from both a story and gameplay perspective. I’ve always been a fan of dark fantasy, and XVI just bathes in its tropes. That’s not to say it’s any darker or deals with any heavier subjects than previous games, but its presentation is definitely much more in-your-face about it. The comparisons to Games of Thrones are not without merit (but then again, Yoshi-P was pretty up front about the influence, along with Matsuno’s FF works.) The cast is small but varied, and having a more focused group of characters keeps the political intrigue manageable. Plus I like the intimacy of smaller casts. Cid is my personal standout, but Clive is surprisingly complex. He would fit right into a Tactics game. Gameplay wise, the combat is just incredibly fluid and fun, especially once you unlock more Eikonic abilities, and mixing and matching skills is a joy. I do wish your level up notification didn’t stop combat dead in its tracks, though. I’ll save my more in-depth thoughts for the full review, but I’m seriously loving this newest entry and am excited for more people to play it once it hits PC.
Lastly, my sister’s and my Resident Evil playthrough continues with the Resident Evil 4 Remake. Leon Kennedy is the best, I love him. The game has so much character and atmosphere, but just enough camp to balance out the gore. Some of the monster designs here are honestly inspired, and I like the heavy incorporation of insects into both the look and mythos. The games have been building up to the parasites since RE2, so it feels like a natural progression from the traditional zombie scenario to a full-blown biochemical threat, but like … still really dumb and fun. Which is what I want from RE. I don’t come to these games for riveting plot – I come for the spooky atmosphere and quirky one-liners, and this remake has them in spades. We’ve just completed Chapter 11, so we’re getting close to the end. Salazar doesn’t have nearly the charisma that Alfred Ashford had, but honestly, who does? Code Veronica is still the standout for me in terms of villains. (Justice for Steve!) But I’ve enjoyed most of the boss fights, and the gunplay feels good, especially headshotting folks from across the map with the sniper rifle. Enemies feel much less spongey here than they did in RE2 Remake, and especially less so than Code Veronica. They’re just the right amount of resilient to provide a threat without feeling like a chore to handle. Hoping we can finish this one soon and move on to RE5! – Leah
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
