GOD EATER 2 Rage Burst

I previously had written about God Eater Resurrection in this review, mainly with the intent to add-on my experiences of God Eater 2: Rage Burst and how the two contrasted. It would be tempting to start with the sequel since much of God Eater 2’s assets are carried over from the first, with even the menus largely appearing the same between both releases. That said, they are collective experiences, part of one single entity. Make no mistake either, both God Eaters have unique campaigns that feed into one another, but there are gameplay quirks that differentiate them even so.
But, without getting ahead of myself, let’s start from the beginning: Most people will tell you God Eater is an anime inspired version of Monster Hunter, and structurally you would be right for thinking so. God Eater is a co-op orientated action RPG, emphasising smart item and equipment choices, a necessity when attempting to shift the balance of fights against boss like entities, known as the Aragami. Missions are picked from a quest dealer in a hub space, again similar to Monster Hunter, and there are different types of weapons and armours to peruse, each with their own play style, which you also have to consider when heading into battle. But that is where God Eater’s similarities to Monster Hunter end, and where God Eater earns it’s own identity stems from the beat ‘em up style of controls, which liken it more to a brawler such as Devil May Cry, or Bayonetta, as it flows effortlessly with the combat often encouraging combos, mixing up heavy and light attacks besides “devouring” foes in order to get bonuses through what is known as burst. God Eater’s main gimmick derives from this burst feature and certainly the addictive part of it’s fighting comes from keeping a burst chain going, between combining more, and more, attacks and getting devours in to extend that burst further. God Eater Resurrection does it’s own thing with Predator Styles, a facet of burst that changes what it does and how it animates between manoeuvres. This doesn’t sound like much but the bonuses and consistency of burst is drastically changed because of it and, inexplicably, this feature is entirely missing from God Eater 2 Rage Burst, which genuinely changes the seamlessness of chaining burst altogether.
Although, what hasn’t been mentioned yet is how that interacts with God Eater’s transitioning forms between sword and gunplay. Some enemies are more prone to gun damage, others will take further hitpoints from the type of melee weapon in action. Regardless of what you use, your playable character can swap dynamically between melee based attacks and projectile focused flurries, and the depth of this can be felt from the intricate bullet modification system, which allows you to tailor shots (before fights), allowing them to work as you see fit. It is incredibly thorough, with the very angle of shots, delays from impact, and explosion type, all being fully customisable.
The missions themselves are also very score orientated, and I do find it immensely gratifying pushing the finishing times of missions in order to obtain SSS grades from scoring tallies. I am not normally a fan of alphabetised grading in games, since it forces players to try-hard “metas” in order to win, but the grading does encourage the revisitation of older missions, such as those on lower ranks, and if you really want to push yourself you can even gun for SSS+ grades by going it alone. Which leads into my last point which is the way in which teams work in God Eater, including AI companions on missions. Monster Hunter will always receive praise for it’s handling of Palicoes, and later Palamutes, but what if I told you God Eater had entire team members played by the computer, with arguably more customisable skills and settings, besides an additional support character who rewards the player with their own bonuses upon mission completion. For a PSP game, it is incredibly ambitious of Shift to attempt such a thing, and while not half as impressive on PC or PS4, there is something to admire in attempting to replicate the multiplayer component of God Eater with computer orientated team mates. In-between Left 4 Dead and Bioshock Infinite, the sliding scale of either making your NPC companions too weak or too strong is a difficult balance to maintain. God Eater arguably has some artificial difficulty in attempting to make your AI friends weaker in various situations, with “old type” God Eaters not even able to share burst or switch gun/sword forms at will, but at the same time, you quickly pick out your favourites whether because of how they are presented in the narrative (Lindow) or because of how ridiculously helpful that character can be in those stressful combat situations (Alisa).
Both God Eater games have a harsh difficulty curve but much of that originates from neither truly explaining the mechanics as effectively as they should, heck. Having played both God Eater Resurrection and God Eater 2 Rage Burst with a partner in crime through co-op, over the internet, the effectiveness of link aid, combat buffs, and sharing of burst go a long, long, way in dialling back the challenge of some arenas. I would always advise finding someone to play, and learn, God Eater with. A lot can be earned from that previously discussed trial and error of having to push for SSS grades, but again, it can feel more gruelling if you haven’t made heads or tails of God Eater’s core framework. I do however have to applaud the focus on storytelling, and the chemistry between God Eater’s colourful cast of characters as it makes them instantly memorable. Some designs might be a little… Suspect… But you get a good feel for the universe’s vibes when those goofy personalities interact with you in the game world (especially with the likes of Dr. Sakaki). The lack of a Japanese dub is a bit of a letdown although this can be patched in with a little effort.
Given the number of hours I have put into it, besides completing the achievements to 100% (atleast on God Eater Resurrection anyway), I can safely say I feel rewarded for putting my time into this series. To go back to my earlier point in this review, it is highly recommended you start with God Eater Resurrection first. DON’T play God Eater 2 Rage Burst until you have comfortably finished every main story beat that the first game has to offer. There are actually two or three post-game scenarios in God Eater Resurrection, so you will see the credits being run through a bunch of times before you have done absolutely everything worthwhile. That said, the post-post-post game is insanely challenging and, unless you absolutely want more content, I’d suggest moving on to the sequel by that point. You may or may not prefer the changes but certainly the removal of Predator styles does make fighting function a tad different compared to the mad button mashing of Blood Arts. That said, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone preferring God Eater 2 Rage Burst’s approach to combat.
All in all, this package of God Eater Resurrection and God Eater 2 Rage Burst is well worth expereincing, a happy alternative to Monster Hunter (even more so if you have a reliable friend or two willing to join you). I can't recommend it enough.

It's Anime Monster Hunter.

Fewer weapon selection, still fun to play. Everyone has the same mobility, but the weapons have different animations and swing speeds.

It's very cinematic when your character finally talks during specific cutscenes.

Shame our original character from the first game is only talked about, never seen are called by the name you gave him. Even if you have a save file.

God Eater 1 & 2 - 100% Completion Review
Score: 7/10 - Based off 2010 to 2013 Standards
God Eater 1 & 2 are Monster Hunter like games that focuses on hunting down Godlike monsters called Aragami in a post apocalyptic world where the monsters have already won, after fully completing both these games together as they tie in to each other, i'll give some pro's, neutrals and cons
PRO'S:
-God Eater 2 Rage Burst comes bundled with God Eater Resurrection a improved version of the first game
-Great male and female character creation and customization with tons of different hairstyles, clothes, weapons and abilities to choose from
-Blood Abilities that make their debut in the second game were a good way to freshen up the combat a bit
-Good stories that are quite unique and different
-Aragami are quite a unique type of monsters in that they aren't just normal beasts but mythological godlike beings
-Great monster and character designs
-Good music
-Good voice acting
-Good amount of x-appeal, doesn't shy away from the spice
-Having weapons be a Aragami itself with both melee and ranged forms was a neat idea
-Great in game encyclopedia that gives info on all monsters, people, places, terms and abilities
-Alt version of characters that have different load outs to choose from
-General auto repeating radio chitchat can be turned off before missions
-Despite their bleak environments and stories God Eater games always end in a happy ending
-Good performance, didn't encounter any lag or crashes
NEUTRAL'S: "No Score Change From These"
-Too may recolored enemies and reused maps
-Fair warning, due to these games being quite old now they lack quality of life improvements such as solo scaling etc.
-Multiplayer is pretty much extinct at this point, obviously lol
-Protag doesn't talk much outside of combat dialogue
CON'S:
-Too much padding with many missions that serve as nothing but filler in-between the story elements
-Both games suffer a few bugs that require fan made patches to fix as the developers never bothered to fix them such as music randomly stopping, AI not using items etc.
-Some enemies have way too much health
-Games are overall just a bit too grindy and long if your trying to 100% them
-Alt versions of characters can't be used in some Story missions
Overall despite their age God Eater 1 & 2 are still solid Monster Hunter games but they are definitely starting to show their age at this point, so i only really recommend them on sale and if your someone who really likes Monster Hunter type of games or is a big God Eater fan, on sale though they are definitely worth it, but as always, It's.. Up.. To.. You and i'll leave it at that. (^_−).

If you are a fan of Monster Hunter style games, then the God Eater franchise is the only other game series that I have found that will reliably scratch the itch. This entry will get you both GER and GERB, so 1 and 2 in the series. Originally released on the PSP, these entries are showing their age a bit, but are still solid games in both graphics, controls, and gameplay, especially if you wait to buy the trilogy when it goes on sale.
I recommend you play GER in its entirety first before diving into GERB, even though RB has the better story, graphics, and gameplay. Both games have a linked story, and GERB picks up where GER leaves off, but from a different original vantage point. If you are absolutely flying, you can bare bones platinum GER in under 60 hours and then move onto GERB, which will give you the most "meat" of playtime of the trilogy for most people.
Gameplay is a lot faster then MH, but you are limited to either blocking or dodging all the way out of the way... no i-frames to be found here. Weapon choices will be familiar but more limited than anything MH has to offer. The difference lies in the guns, and the near infinite types of bullets you can create with the bullet editor. Both GER and GERB have some fun things you can do there, and you can spend hours playing around to find out what works. There are also guides to making absolutely bonkers bullets, but I recommend you stay away from them until you grasp the fundamentals of the game.. because you can absolutely cheese some stuff using them. The story is also decidedly anime trope, being the power of friendship can save the world, but it has it's charm and 1/2 I think have the better story compared to 3, which has better graphics and gameplay.
You can occasionally find people who are still playing through GER and GERB, but expect to complete most of the game and the content solo, using your favorite NPCs. If you get people to play with, make sure you exchange avatar cards, especially at endgame. Player avatars are always going to be stronger than maxed out NPC's, and will have better gear / live longer. I keep GERB on my system, so feel free to request to be my friend and you can add my card.
I highly recommend it if this is your genre of game, just be prepared for 161 story missions before you reach the end game. It is a bit longer of a slog than GE1, but definitely worth the journey.

(This is a review for Resurrection)
Where do i start...This game was honestly the most fun i have had in a long time, the gameplay was fun, enemy design is top notch, story is fascinating and its fun getting to know all the characters.
i started off brand new to this monster hunter genre and this was my first time playing something like that, so i was a bit confused in the beginning, but after a while i slowly learned this games mechanics and gameplay and became hooked, the action just feels so good, its fast, fluid and engaging, your AI companions aren't always perfect, but they do a good enough job of helping out.
Environments were actually pretty cool, yes there is not too much to look at it, and there is not a huge variety when it comes to the different stages and levels the game offers, but that never bothered me, every level felt immersive enough and always left me wondering what the hell could of possibly happened, i was always intrigued looking at all the destruction and barely standing buildings, it really did a good job at showing just how dangerous the Aragami threat really is.
Weapons/Outfits, there's a pretty good variety, options for all kinds of different playstyles, i do not have much else to say on this as i really only stuck to one build, so i will just leave it at that.
All in all, solid, well made game, if you love post apocalyptic anime games, i definitely think this is worth checking out, its a good 8/10 in my opinion and there is still a decent chunk of things to do even after finishing the game.

way better aragami roster than 1 but blood arts are boring af compared to the predator styles, still liked it more than 1 overall lol

Bought it on a whim, not expecting much, but it turned out to be a pretty fun game.