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!
For most of this past week, I didn’t have a ton of time to game. I did play a smidgen more of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, mostly just continuing my sidequest adventures in Honolulu. Then I was a bit busy for Christmas and couldn’t play much. Now that Christmas is over however, I have some new games, a new controller I needed, as well as some Christmas Amazon cash I currently have a bit of choice paralysis with. I’m planning to use it to take an additional game or two off my wishlist eventually, just trying to decide what to buy. Then as far as the new games I got for Christmas are concerned, I received the Suikoden I & II Remastered collection, more specifically I got the Switch version, and also a Switch copy of Octopath Traveler 0.
As far as the controller is concerned, I recently have realized the start/plus button on my old SN30 Pro model was failing me, only working about half the time it’s pressed. That controller is now my second 8bitdo and also the second one to fail me within only the first couple years of owning it. I absolutely love 8bitdo controllers for so many Switch games. They have the full sized analog sticks the joy-cons don’t, plus chunkier buttons, but not as much excess range on the sticks as Nintendo’s own pro controller. In certain games, mainly Xenoblade titles, I get annoyed with too much stick range because I have to push it so far to keep running at full speed. Not to mention, it has the quality d-pad as well, which Nintendo’s pro controller also lacks. My first 8bitdo had its battery permanently die only a couple months after it was a year old. I found out then that 8bitdo support kinda sucks and after your controller is a year old, they couldn’t care less. And yet, because I love using these for so many games, I find myself wanting to replace it and get a new one each time like an idiot. I asked for the Pro 2 for Christmas since I figured if a button fails me again, I can remap its function to one of the rear P buttons and then if the battery dies, I can replace it with rechargeable AAs instead since it’s removable on the Pro 2 model. I honestly hope this controller lasts me a lot longer because I do love them. Also, the new option of customizing so many settings, such as vibration strength and remapping buttons, which my last 8bitdo didn’t support, is quite nice. Though if I have to remap anything to the P buttons, they’re kind of easy to accidentally press just from holding the controller normally.
I’ve heard great things about Octopath Traveler 0, which is why I really wanted it, even though I was stuck with the original Switch copy if I wanted it physically. I do worry about the building limit in the customizable town and I know at least one scene or area apparently looks more yellow than the lush green it’s supposed to look like. Nonetheless, I love playing Octopath Traveler and other similar 16-bit style RPGs on my Switch with an 8bitdo controller. Also, I already have the first two games physically for Switch. Plus, once again the PS4 version of a game has gone digital only. I might’ve opted to ask for it on PS4 if it had gotten a physical copy, at the very least for the increased building limit in the customizable town. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that reverse cover art, which happens to be the official art I’ve embedded above, returned for this latest release. The first game had portraits of each of the main characters for the art on the inside of the case. Octopath Traveler 2, however, was lacking reverse cover art and is simply empty white space if I remember correctly. I’m waiting to start Octopath Traveler 0 because I know it’s somewhat of a remake of the mobile prequel and has some connections to the first Octopath. I did finish one or two characters’ full stories in the original Octopath Traveler and got at least halfway through everyone else. But I have yet to fully finish everyone and get to the final boss and whatnot. I’d like to finish it before I play Octopath 0. Then Octopath Traveler 2, I only barely started and may start over sometime and fully play it, but now I’ll probably jump into 0 before 2.
Okay, enough about what I got for Christmas and haven’t played, time to talk a bit about what I have played so far. Even though I was still enjoying Pirate Yakuza, I did want to check out stuff I got for Christmas and not sit on everything for however long. Thus, I opted to set-up my 8bitdo controller and got started on Suikoden. I’ve never played Suikoden before so I wasn’t sure if it would hook me, but I had heard the games, mainly the second, are really good RPGs. A lot of old RPGs I’ve never played I find out didn’t age too well and it’s hard for me to get into them without any nostalgia or previous experience. Fortunately, I’m enjoying Suikoden thus far. I just unlocked the castle home base and got access to a boat. I’m a little lost at the moment though, trying to figure out where I’m allowed to go with it to get to the next town.
At the start of the game, I looked up info on the difficulty options and read it was pretty easy, so I’ve decided to try it out on Hard. Hopefully I don’t get overly stuck in some difficulty spike later and have to grind for all eternity. I’ve taken advantage of the Day 1 bonuses, well the extra currency, and have been keeping my party well equipped. I’ve refrained from using the double money and experience attachments though and I lost one due to a character leaving the party. But I’m just glad the game seems to have aged well enough and I’m enjoying the time I’ve put into it. It is a bit slow-paced so far, still, I haven’t had any issues due to the age of the game and it’s been a fun, more simple gaming adventure. – Jenae
Much like Jenae, I did not have a lot of time to game during the Christmas holiday, but I did get some playtime in under my belt. My biggest accomplishment was finishing even if TEMPEST and its fandisc, Dawning Connections. Both games take around 25 hours each, so reading a couple hours a night before bed was doable. I will always appreciate spicy dark fantasy reads, and eiT definitely delivered on that front. The basic premise is our heroine, Anastasia, has been horribly abused her entire life by her stepmother. After a serendipitous intervention by her childhood friend and prince of the country, Lucien, Anastasia is whisked away to live in the castle, where she’s engaged to Lucien’s older brother, Conrad. This does not go well for Anastasia, but despite her bad ending, she inexplicably finds herself getting the chance to do it all over when she travels back in time, still equipped with the knowledge of her future fate and the determination to save herself while taking revenge on the people who destroyed her life the first time around. The game doesn’t really pull its punches on some of the horrific situations it puts Ana through, but as someone who likes the darker side of fiction, it suited me wonderfully. The plot is interesting, the romances are appealing, and the love interests are all delightfully different while feeling like a cohesive cast. It helps they interact with one another significantly on any given route. Crius is a knight with a bit of a playboy persona; Tyril is an inquisitor with a sadistic side; Zenn is a no-nonsense detective who tends to keep his own company; and Lucien is a literal ray of sunshine. I honestly wish the game was slightly longer so we had more time with each LI, but thankfully that’s what the FD is for.
Where even if TEMPEST really stumbles for me is quality control. There are so many typos, misspellings, bad punctuation and grammar littered throughout both the base game and the FD that it started getting ridiculous. The past couple years have seen a real uptick in the quality of localized otome, so I wasn’t prepared for just how bad some of the lines got mangled in this one. The writing itself is compelling and the plot and characters engaging enough I was willing to deal with the mistakes, but I’d really thought we’d moved past this low effort editing. One or two mistakes are understandable in any piece of media that’s heavy on text, but there’s a limit to my magnanimity on that front. I would still recommend these games for someone looking to get that nice dark fantasy hit, just know what you’re getting into.
The only other thing I really got around to was playing Ys V with my sister in our neverending quest to tackle games we didn’t play when we were younger. We started this right on the heels of Ys IV but we’re maybe one play session from the end. It is a very, very short game, even by series standards. This time around, Adol has found himself in fantasy north Africa/Egypt, where every sprite is white for some reason. After playing the Quintet Trilogy and seeing the diversity of sprite work in those games, I refuse to give a pass to Falcom here just because of the time period. It doesn’t take anything away from the game itself, but it is kind of glaring. Regardless, Adol has once again stumbled upon a crisis in need of solving, this time involving the Lost City of Kefin, which was swallowed by the desert some 500 years prior. He arrives in Xandria at the behest of a local leader named Dorman, but things take a turn for the worst as our hero is immediately accosted by guards when he arrives. The area has seen a particularly large spike in adventurers and ne’er-do-wells trying to find the city and steal its treasures, and Adol looks questionable. (And he should. He is the least prepared adventurer in history, what with his penchant to leave home with zero equipment or items.) Once Captain Rizze comes to save his bacon, Adol is off to meet Dorman and get his assignment: Find the elemental crystals that are the key to entering Kefin.
Unlike most previous titles, Ys V does away with bump combat and opts for manual sword slashing. Depending on the weapon he equips, Adol even attacks using different swipes, which I appreciate. He can also use his shield to block projectiles, and jump up on ledges to navigate through the world. During his adventures, Adol can also find elemental stones, which he can fuse into Fluxstones to equip to his weapon, allowing him to access magic spells. They are garbage. In order to use magic, you have to hold the right bumper down to build your magic meter up to 100. Swinging your sword at that point unleashes a spell, which range from a quick fireball (useful), to literally everything else (not). Several spells root Adol in place while enemies dance around him, meaning you will almost always miss, or they freeze the entire screen for an area of effect that takes way too long to go off to make it anything less than cumbersome. However, not using your spells means they never level, so you have to use them if you want them to be effective. This is rendered mostly moot since almost no bosses are effected by magic, and enemies aren’t so strong you’re required to use spells to defeat them. It’s an overall poorly implemented system that feels pointless in the grand scheme of things, especially considering how short the game actually is. Thankfully, the magic isn’t a dealbreaker here, so my sister and I have otherwise been enjoying our time running around and solving problems by killing things. – Leah
What games have you been playing this week? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Gaming entries here!
