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| Title | GOD EATER RESURRECTION |
| Developer | Shift, Bandai Namco |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco |
| Release Date | June 28, 2016 |
| Genre | Monster Hunter |
| Platform | PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita |
| Age Rating | T (Teen) |
| Official Website | |
Monster Hunter is one of the biggest video game franchises out there today. Its popularity and critical acclaim over the years has spawned a number of “clones”, although to call them mere imitations would be doing them a disservice. Games like Freedom Wars, Toukiden and God Eater Burst have all demonstrated that fighting giant creatures with your friends is appealing enough to be its own genre. And those games each have their own unique features and settings to suit your taste. You can choose to battle demons in ancient Japan (Toukiden), a dystopian future where your character yearns to break free through involuntary community service (Freedom Wars), or in the case of God Eater Resurrection, a post apocalyptic Japan where humans are struggling for survival against the mysterious and dangerous Aragami. And these are just a few of the most well known games out there. I’m well aware that Monster Hunter Generations is now upon us, but I don’t think you can go wrong at all playing God Eater Resurrection.
For those who don’t know, God Eater Resurrection is an enhanced remake of God Eater Burst, which itself is an enhanced version of the original God Eater on the PSP. The graphics have been totally redone, and while they aren’t anything mind blowing, it puts the visuals just a tad less on par with Tales of Zestiria, to use a frame of reference. The environments in which you fight the Aragami are not very large, and neither are they all that varied. The ruined cityscapes and underground facilities you’ll be hunting in aren’t all that visually impressive, owing back to the game’s PSP origins. However, the character models look quite good and the Aragami themselves look much better than they did in their previous PSP incarnations. Previous players of God Eater Burst will also notice that some of the voice actors have changed for the story characters, although like any other game, your mileage will vary with how you react to that.
The game starts with character creation, and I really like all the customization options you have, although I wish there were some more faces to choose from. Your outfit options are limited at first, but as you play and gain ranks, you’ll be able to craft more and more different outfit types, allowing you to put together a whole wardrobe so you can look your best on the hunt. You can also put on cute accessories like cat ears, halos, headphones, bandages, you name it. If there’s an anime trope that tickles your fancy, most likely it’ll be there as an accessory or outfit as you progress through the game.
God Eater Resurrection offers several weapon types for you to choose from, including weapons introduced in God Eater 2 such as the boost hammer, spear and shotgun. When going out on missions, it is important to take into account not only what type of physical damage will hurt the Aragami the most, but also elemental weaknesses as well. By looking up each Aragami using the Terminal’s database, it tells you everything you need to know. Even then, most likely you’ll be finding yourself attacking different parts of the Aragami to find the sweet spot that will help you put out those big damage numbers. I personally like scythes the best, but depending on your group makeup, you may need to choose a different weapon type to be more effective. For ranged weapons, my personal preference is the burst gun, because it allows you to shoot massively damaging rockets and mortars. You can also customize the bullets you fire, allowing you to change the effects and what purposes they’ll fulfill for you in battle. I would have liked the process for this to be more intuitive, it was difficult for me to understand as a new player and an in-depth tutorial really would have helped here. Thankfully there are resources online such as wikis which can provide player created bullet recipes for guidance.
Multiplayer is the real draw of God Eater Resurrection, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve had little trouble connecting to others for online play, and haven’t suffered any lag during Aragami hunts. It’s as easy as inviting your friends in and you’re good to go. There is a restriction on what you can do based on who has the least amount of story progress, but this isn’t much of a problem because you can help them catch up on it. At higher difficulties, you’ll likely want to do this to make gathering materials easier. As good as the AI is, it’s still got its limits.
God Eater Resurrection is an excellent choice for both Monster Hunter vets and those new to this sort of game. The price is very attractive at a mere $20 on PlayStation Network, but if you decide you want to go all-in with God Eater Rage Burst 2 coming at the end of August, pre-ordering that game gets you this one for free. Pretty sweet deal, Bandai Namco. Between single and multiplayer, I clocked in around 25-30 hours to beat the first arc, but a game like this will demand hours upon hours of your time. Might as well spend it Aragami hunting with your friends, it’s more fun that way!
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| Overall |   |
Review copy was purchased by the author
