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 in gaming I played around with some of my backlog. I didn’t want to start anything too big with Unicorn Overlord coming at the end of this week but I did spend some time with two games I liked quite a bit.
The first one was Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. I love a good Musou game and these are good titles that if you have to take a break from for a long period of time you don’t forget many of the details about them. This game is packed with content, lots of maps to explore, plenty of side modes and other content to unlock as well. I played several maps on story mode, and while I don’t like the amount of running around you do on each map, the puzzle elements they added in really do make it feel like a Zelda title.
The other game I spent some time with this week was Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-. I’ve wanted to try this one out for a while, and I wish I had gotten to it sooner. I love the gameplay here, solid Metroidvania action. I played through the first chapter last night and it went by like a flash. I love that you can get Deedlit all sorts of new weapons, and the each one of them is slightly different than the others. Throw in the bow action and magic and it’s no wonder why everyone loved this one. I hope I can finish it by Friday, and seeing I’m addicted to the gameplay it’s very likely I will. – Steve
At the beginning of the week, I continued on with Piofiore: Episodio 1926. I’ve now gone through each individual guy’s route that’s available at the start. I also did all the little advent calendar scenes which take place after Fated Memories‘ final happy ending route, where you don’t end up with anyone and doing those has unlocked the main sequel, Alternativa route. After unlocking it, I miraculously managed to pull myself away from the otome addiction. Like Steve, I’m also waiting for and excited to play Unicorn Overlord. I’ve honestly never really gotten into Vanillaware games before, though I do have a copy of 13 Sentinels I plan to play eventually. But I enjoy the occasional SRPG and I had fun with the couple hours I’ve spent on the demo so far. It’s definitely unique, being this overworld strategy system, rather than on grid based stages, but it seems like there will be a lot to do and it should be worth getting into. The unit groupings, where you put a few characters together and they move as one, reminds me a bit of Soul Nomad.
I didn’t spend long on the Unicorn Overlord demo because I didn’t want to get too sucked in and then have to wait to keep going. In the end, I’m quite looking forward to that one. Until it comes out, I think I may be spending some time on Smash Bros. Ultimate. I was playing with my nephews over the weekend and I definitely need to practice for the next time I hang out with them. My older nephew was spamming Link’s remote control bombs on me and the younger one kept sending me off a cliff with Steve’s minecart attack. I’m able to keep up because I spent a ton of time as a teenager playing Melee, yet I find that Ultimate feels quite a bit more stiff. I almost feel like the Nintendo brand pro controller has too much stick range, which makes quick movements more difficult and clunky. Thus, mostly I’m using my 8bitdo SN30 pro instead. Overall I’ve spent 60 hours on SSBU, but my in game stats menu says I’ve only spent 28 hours actually in battle. So I definitely still need some practice to get the hang of the newer, more stiff mechanics. I’m also about to finally get the second fighter’s pass which will be another reason to play some more while I wait for Unicorn Overlord to arrive. – Jenae
I finally wrapped up my time with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth after about 120 hours. I’m working on a complete review of Ryu Ga Gotoku’s newest entry in the franchise, but figured I’d give some quick thoughts here anyway. In a nutshell, I adored my time with RGG8, but it does not reach the heights of RGG7. The gameplay is solid and a cut above its predecessor with some welcome quality of life tweaks and additions, but the story lacks the emotional payoff I got from Ichiban’s introduction. That’s not to say Infinite Wealth lacks in the story or emotional investment departments: It’s quite good! But I admit I’m very biased in RGG7‘s favor, seeing as it’s my favorite game in the franchise, and no small part due to Ichiban himself. Infinite Wealth‘s standout moments are definitely in its Bucket List substory for Kiryu and the expanded Walk & Talks and Table Talks that let each party member’s personality shine in ways the main narrative doesn’t really have the space for. I highly recommend picking this one up if you haven’t yet!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is out and I’ve been digging into this title as well. I’m about 10 or so hours in and have been enjoying faffing about in the Grasslands just outside Kalm. So far the open world elements of the game have been great, if somewhat bog standard. The area is gorgeous, both visually and melodically, with tons to find while exploring. It doesn’t feel empty the way some open worlds do, with points of interest to investigate, neat little hideaways tucked into off-the-trail locations, and a decent smattering of NPCs to chat with as you explore. The dreaded towers are here, but they’re integrated into the gameplay in at least a somewhat sensible fashion, so I can’t complain too much. Taking a much-needed page from the Star Ocean book of gameplay, Rebirth adds little party chat moments in town where you can build up your friendships with everyone on an individual level. Private Actions are one of the mainstays of the SO series and something I think most RPGs could benefit from incorporating, so I was thrilled to see it rolled out in Square Enix’ flagship series. I’ve been playing on Performance Mode and the game holds up really well, with smooth movement and snappy combat. The pop-in is aggravating, though, and probably the worst I’ve seen since Elden Ring. It’s not game breaking and nothing I would swap out of Performance Mode for, but man is it distracting. I know there’s a patch coming to address some Performance Mode graphical issues, but it definitely speaks to a wider problem with big budget games that we still have to sacrifice graphics for a solid framerate despite the increased technical capabilities of consoles. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the game has in store as I progress, and I’ll hopefully have a proper review of this title in a couple weeks. – Leah
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
