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!
It’s been a while since I last added to this column. October ended up a surprisingly busy month. But I couldn’t go all of spooky season without playing at least one spooky game and telling you all about it. So here I am to give my impressions on Parasite Eve, since my sister and I are playing through it as part of our unending attempt to play games we missed out on growing up. This particular one I actually did play a tiny slice of way back when on my brother-in-law’s copy, but I was too chicken to play through it properly. Not so now! (I mean, I’m still a chicken but I can play through scary games much more easily.) Having played through the first two days, I can also safely say that younger me was stupid because this game isn’t scary in the least, but it does ooze atmosphere and style, with fantastic monster designs, memorable locations, and a downtempo, moody soundtrack that would fit into any respectable lofi playlist. I’d expect as much from Squaresoft’s attempt at a survival horror game.
During a Christmas Eve opera performance, our heroine Aya Brea is the only survivor of an apparent terrorist attack that causes spontaneous combustion amongst the entire audience. The cause of the combustion seems to come from the lead singer, who eventually reveals herself to be “Eve” and turns into a monster after telling Aya that they’re the same and the time of mitochondria supremacy has come. Aya, understandably, has no idea what Eve is talking about, but cannot deny what she saw with her own eyes: people suddenly bursting into flame, rats mutating into terrifying abominations, and Eve herself changing from a regular woman to a horrific monster. From here, it’s up to Aya and her motley crew of friends to save the world from this mitochondrial horror.
Gameplay is an interesting mix of survival horror resource management and RPG combat, with random battles against an assortment of mutated monsters as Aya explores an evacuated New York City in her mission to stop Eve. Combat plays out ATB style as you run around dodging enemy attacks while waiting for your own attack bar to fill. Aya can attack with weapons or psychic abilities, as well as use items, once her action bar fills. Dodging enemy attacks can be a pain in the ass, though, since their attacks change trajectory even after they’ve started their animation. You can customize Aya’s gear and weapons through upgrade paths to enhance stats or add special abilities, and since enemies hit really hard, it’s to your benefit to do so. So far the resource management aspect has been pretty lackluster though, because the game throws ammo and healing items at Aya every other step. It’s actually too many resources, and removes a lot of suspense during exploration sequences. I am loving the horror elements, though, with superb sound design and creatures that make my skin crawl in the most delightful way. Squaresoft brings its high production values to the cutscenes, as well, with some stellar transformation sequences that are as grotesque as they are stunning. I’m kicking myself for waiting as long as I have to actually pick this one up, but I’m definitely enjoying the ride now that I’ve done so. Highly recommend this one, either during spooky season or as a Christmas treat. – Leah
I’m realizing lately, I’ve been wrapped up in a lot of review gaming this year. I feel like this year I’ve possibly done more reviews in one year than I ever have before. Right now, I’m actually just wrapping up another otome review, about to go look for some screenshots. Thus, I haven’t really been doing any gaming on the side for fun. What I have kept up with however, is mobile Riichi Mahjong. This week, a new event in collaboration with Gintama has started in Mahjong Soul. A few free summon scrolls were sent to most players and I managed to pull myself Kotaro Katsura. Now, I’m not someone who’s ever seen Gintama or really knows much about it at all, but it’s always nice getting an event exclusive character to play mahjong with. This is only my second event exclusive character I’ve managed to get thus far in Mahjong Soul. I quite like my new emote selection, I feel like I’m able to properly mock my opponents now and I’ve also still got at least one excited for my win emote, in addition to a couple angry ones for when I lose. I’ve also been playing a bit of Riichi City as well, mostly just trying to get the title unlocked for the latest event there, which ends today. I haven’t been keeping up with RC quite as well. – Jenae
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
