God Eater Burst originally launched for the PSP back in 2010, providing gamers with a solid alternative to Capcom’s Monster Hunter series. The game provided a more direct approach to the action cycle at hand, starting you off in a small hub to get your equipment in check before immediately being thrust into the action against a variety of monstrous beings. That same game has now been remastered for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and is certainly worth a look for those in search of a Monster Hunter alternative.
While the most recent iteration of Monster Hunter attempted to include an actual plot, narrative-driven action was actually something that God Eater Burst took a shot at with its debut. The plot involves a world in the not-so-distant future being overrun by massive entities known as Arigami, which are consuming everything on the planet to the point where humanity is on the brink of extinction. A resistance has been set up in the form of God Eaters, which are people who wield God Arcs as the only means of damaging and ultimately defeating the Arigami.
While the plot is nothing special, it’s all elevated by a very likable cast that brings to mind old-school RPG charm from games like Dark Cloud. Characters feature a lot of personality and quirks, and during the several dozens of hours of gameplay on hand I really grew to like just about the entire cast. The voice acting that accompanies these characters is also surprisingly solid, making an otherwise standard end-of-the-world scenario more enjoyable. It may not be state of the art, but considering that many of these types of games are ruined by horrible voice acting is definitely a big plus for God Eater Resurrection.
Of course, the narrative really isn’t the main draw of the game at all, as that is unquestionably the gameplay. Those who are familiar with the Monster Hunter series will feel right at home with this one, as the core moment-to-moment gameplay is very similar. You are sent on countless missions to bring down a variety of different Arigami with your crew, and upon completion of these missions you will get new items to improve your equipment. It’s a gameplay cycle that is almost as addicting as it is in Monster Hunter, as you’re always looking to obtain that next new weapon to deal even bigger damage with. The game features a crafting mechanic in order to accomplish this, and the sheer amount of items that you are able to cook up is impressive.
The combat requires strategy, as button mashing leads to an early grave
Combat scenarios are also very challenging, as many of the Arigami that the game throws at you take a lot of work to ultimately bring down. The game being a third-person action game doesn’t mean that you can just run in and button mash everything, as that will get you nothing more than an early grave. Instead you need to go into each and every encounter knowing what your plan is, as certain monsters may have a higher resistance to the current weapon (which includes, swords, spears, scythes and more) you have equipped, and have certain weak spots that you need to find to really deal damage. You’ll regularly be swapping between blades and guns as you bounce between close-range and long-range combat, which adds some nice variety to the combat.
Where God Eater shakes things up in the gameplay department compared to Monster Hunter is in the Devour mechanic, which literally allows you to bite off a chunk of an Arigami to gain stat boosts and items. It’s a cool feature as it allows you power yourself up a little when you’ve caught an Arigami off-guard, and ultimately deal more damage than you would have otherwise. Resurrection fleshes this feature out with the new Predator Styles mechanic, which essentially gives you new ways to pull off a devour within the heat of combat that are a welcomed addition.
Unfortunately, where God Eater Resurrection falters is that it doesn’t have quite enough tricks up its sleeve in order to keep extended play sessions consistently entertaining. As you progress through the game you’ll often find yourself journeying through the same areas over and over again with Arigami you’ve taken on dozens of times already, which definitely gets old after a while. This isn’t to say that some of these encounters can’t still be entertaining, but more map variety and Arigami types would have gone a long way to keep this lengthy adventure consistently engaging.
Despite being a 6-year-old PSP game, God Eater Resurrection looks surprisingly solid on PlayStation 4. Barring a few low-detailed textures here and there, the character models themselves look solid and everything runs smoothly with no technical issues to speak of. This translates over to the multiplayer component, as well, as there are no latency issues at all and teaming up with a group of up to 3 other players is pain-free. This is definitely a game that is best served playing with a group of friends, so those of you who are more multiplayer-inclined than single-player-inclined will more than likely enjoy the experience more. The game also features cross-play between the PS4 and PS Vita versions, ensuring the player base remains populated for as long as possible.
The Verdict
God Eater Resurrection may not be a must-have game, but seeing that its genre isn’t over-saturated allows it to stand firmly on its own. Going on a hunt with a team of human or AI allies is a blast most of the time, and there’s plenty of equipment to tinker around with to keep the sense of progression steady. Whether you’re returning from the PSP game or are just looking for a new Monster Hunter-esque fix, this game will definitely scratch the hunting itch for you.
