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God Eater 3 Review


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355047622_GodEater3boxart.png.d644e047a0a50fdc2d295b94e0fed08f.pngThe God Eater franchise officially debuts on a Nintendo system with God Eater 3, the latest entry in the flashy action series that pits you against monstrous creatures either solo or with friends. Short, fast-paced missions may make it a natural fit for the Switch's design philosophy that is built around quick pick-up-and-play sessions, but the core of God Eater 3 leaves something to be desired.
 
In a world ravaged by monsters known as Aragami, only God Eaters have the abilities and weapons to fight back for the sake of humanity. An even smaller subset of warriors, called Adaptive God Eaters (AGEs), are able to withstand the devastating conditions of the Ashlands and battle the new, more ferocious Aragami that dwell within. However, AGEs are feared and exploited for their power, and so begins the story of God Eater 3 as a group of AGEs are kept essentially as slave labor to battle monsters. The game certainly establishes an interesting setting, but one can't help but feel like they're always playing catch-up with the story. For one thing this is the third game in the series (not including expansions and side games) but God Eater 3 makes no effort to familiarize the player with the universe, which Nintendo fans might not be aware of. Then there's the whole concept of AGEs and more powerful ash Aragami that is intriguing but never properly explored within the main story and often leaves the player with answered questions. Instead the plot focuses on the predictable  story beats of young heroes banding together to fight monsters as well as human oppressors. It's a shame that the unique setting and premise aren't put to better use.
 
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The gameplay formula of the God Eater series should be instantly familiar to Monster Hunter fans: you have a wide selection of weapons to craft and upgrade by using materials collected by defeating Aragami during missions. Missions take place in enclosed locations and pit you against one or more deadly Aragami, though you have AI helpers in story mode (and can connect with players locally or online for multiplayer missions). You have a limited number of consumables (such as healing items) that you can bring along on a mission, so the focus is really in playing strategically and learning each Aragami's patterns and tells in order to avoid taking too much damage. What makes God Eater unique is the much faster paced combat, which includes flashier attacks, particularly Burst Arts which can be charged by "devouring" Aragami with a powerful bite attack. You still need to play thoughtfully, but rather than picking your moment to strike you have a lot more freedom to dive in, slash away, and smoothly dodge back when the Aragami starts attacking. Every weapon is also able to transform between a melee form and a ranged gun as well as a shield, so you're well equipped to handle basically anything an Aragami might throw at you.
 
It's surprising, then, that the faster and flashier gameplay is somehow less engaging than Monster Hunter. Part of it is that, overall, God Eater 3 is a much easier experience. Aside from healing items there are also healing springs scattered throughout each level, and your AI companions are able to heal you as well. The faster attacks means you can quickly devolve into button mashing without many negative repercussions since you can quickly bring your health back up anyway. Sometimes it feels like button mashing is simply the way to go since the faster pace makes it much harder to keep track of what is happening in the battle—also the game's camera is woefully inadequate at times as it either gets stuck in a corner, locking you into one view, or simply doesn't track the fast movements of the Aragami smoothly enough. Using target lock-on is particularly frustrating since it just doesn't seem to keep up with the action, and it becomes way too easy to shift your lock-on to a different creature in the heat of battle. Mashing your way through these battles ends up being totally viable and more than a little boring in long play sessions.
 
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God Eater 3's gameplay loop of fighting Aragami, collecting resources, crafting gear, and doing it all again just doesn't have the same charm as similar games, possibly because elements of this loop are even more grindy than usual since you not only have to collect materials but blueprints for new weapons as well. The resulting gameplay loop feels particularly tedious and a bit mindless at times. Even if there is a ton of content to pursue in God Eater 3, not a lot of it is particularly rewarding.
 
Part of what makes button mashing in God Eater 3 so tempting is just the complexity of the controls. With melee attacks, gun attacks, and different dodge/block/dash actions, there's simply a lot going on and there's quite a bit to learn when you first start. A lot of it just takes some practice but some of the button mapping could have used some fine tuning.
 
If the gameplay does click for you you'll at least be treated to hours and hours of content in God Eater 3. Just rushing through the story missions should still last a good fifteen hours or so, and then there are optional missions, different weapons to craft and experiment with, and multiplayer. The bad news is that the online community is basically non-existent at the moment, so don't count on finding random players to team up with. Coordinate with friends or resign yourself to playing solo for now.
 
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The Aragami designs are a lot like the gameplay itself: flashy and seemingly stylish but in the end a little too repetitive. Many of the monsters have variants that you'll encounter over the course of the game, and by the end the designs just kind of blend together in your mind without much personality to make them memorable or exciting. The character design isn't much better—these are the kinds of anime characters we've seen thousands of times, and without interesting personalities in the writing to help flesh them out, they're totally forgettable. The voice work falls prey to the same issue—the acting is decent but the flat dialogue doesn't give any of the characters a chance to shine.
 
God Eater 3 has a ton of content served up with fast-paced, flashy action gameplay, but the loop of fighting Aragami, collecting materials, and crafting new weapons never feels quite as satisfying as other games. Despite a variety of attacks and approaches the combat system isn't particularly rewarding, and devolves into repetitive action far too quickly for a game that is built upon replay value. The story is a missed opportunity, while the presentation fails to give these beasts the kinds of personalities that make battles memorable. God Eater 3 is a decent action game, but never manages to be more than that.
 
Rating: 7 out of 10 Gods
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With Monster Hunter seemingly done for Nintendo platforms it might not be a bad idea to see what other alternatives out there.  I'm guessing this is how PSP/Vita owners felt after Monster Hunter transitioned to the 3DS/Wii U back then.  God Eater always seemed kind of interesting because the gameplay was flashier and I really liked the setting, the look of the creatures and the weapons that you could use. But even then it did seem really button mashy. 

 

I don't even mind it potentially being easier but if the gameplay behind it results in things feeling too repetitive then it becomes a bit of a hard sell.  But I haven't played much Monster Hunter in a good while so I still have Ultimate Generations to jump to, but as an alternative maybe I could always check out Dauntless as well.

 

At least there are options, if nothing else and in the end I may still give GE3 a try.

 

Awesome review on this one, actually has me watching videos of the Switch version again now that it's in mind.

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