God Eater 3
This is my sword… and my gun. My gun-sword. It eats monsters.
God Eater 3 is an action role-playing game developed by Marvelous Inc. and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. This is the 3rd main installment in the God Eater series as evidenced by the title, of course, and is released worldwide in early 2019.
I have to say, this game series is essentially what made up at least a good quarter of my high school years, so it holds a special place in my relatively large library of videogames.
The Story
As spoiler free as possible.
Earth no longer resembles the home we know of now. The Aragami, massive beasts that live only to consume, are carving a path of destruction and misery wherever they are encountered.
To combat this threat, an elite group of humans known as God Eaters are called upon to save humanity from extinction.
These God Eaters are individuals who have been bestowed with the ability to wield the God Arcs, special weapons powered by Oracle Cells, and are the only means of combating the Aragami.
The year is now 2087, approximately 37 years after the outbreak of the Aragami, you are part of a new breed of God Eaters known as AGEs, which are highly resistant to Ash, and are required to wear two armlets instead of the standard one. As such, they face discrimination from others as they are thought of as closer to an Aragami, rather than that of a God Eater.
The story follows you, alongside your childhood friend, Hugo Pennywort, as you break free from the shackles of your masters and aspire to live a free and peaceful life.
Well, as peaceful as it could in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with all-consuming monsters, anyway.
The Characters
There are more, but I’d be on spoiler territory if I introduced them.
Luca Pennywort*
The player’s character in God Eater 3, similar to the protagonists of previous titles, their name, appearance and gender are determined by the player, however they will always have the surname of Pennywort.
*This is the character’s canon name
Hugo Pennywort
He is the player’s childhood friend. You and him became Adaptive God Eaters at the same day at a young age and grew up together.
He has the ability to take action, is quick-witted, and is an essential leader among his comrades.
Zeke Pennywort
Zeke was raised in a rough environment compared to his friends and has defiant tendencies, but is caring of others and has a strong sense of fellowship towards those that he trusts.
He has two younger brothers, but one is separated from them, who is currently missing. His youngest brother is well and alive, and lives with him in the Pennywort Port.
The Game
More than just a Monster Hunter clone.
The gameplay of God Eater 3 is awfully similar to that of Monster Hunter, a game series that shares the genre, and is most likely heavily responsible for inspiring God Eater’s core gameplay. That being said, there’s enough gameplay elements that allow it to shine on its own and deviate itself from Monster Hunter’s style of play.
Design-wise, I love the Aragami, although I do have a few exceptions to this rule, the rest of the Aragami’s designs look awesome, from giant wind monkeys, to lightning alligators, to a lion that spits electricity from a cape, lots of monster diversity, and I love it, kudos to the design team.
The character’s fashion choices however can be summarized by adding duct-tape to a t-shirt, however, that doesn’t mean your character can’t pull it off, because it definitely fits the overall tone of the game.
God Eater 3’s Non-Diegetic UI is simple and easy to understand, I had no trouble understanding where my items are, what my current stats are, what I have currently equipped. At the very least, I can say that I’m not looking at a shopping list whenever I try and equip items.
Progression in the game is pretty straightforward, you fight big monsters, you get rewards, you upgrade your gear rinse, repeat. The progression system is pretty easy to grasp, so there’s really no need to go in-depth about anything.
God Eater 3’s controls are very easy to grasp, nothing too complicated, although I suggest using a console controller (Like a PlayStation or Xbox Controller) instead of the keyboard & mouse for the PC version, as the look sensitivity of the game isn’t well optimized for keyboard & mouse.
Combat is very fun, fluid, and flashy, almost anime-esque, matching the intended aesthetic of the game, I have never hada dull moment for me personally whenever I fight Aragami, although it can get hectic, confusing at times, and on rare occasions I can get lost in the zone and forget that ‘blocking’ is a mechanic that exists.
God Eater 3 introduces five new features compared to the previous games: Burst Arts, Burst Plug-ins, Engage, Acceleration Triggers, and Dives.
Burst Arts are a system similar to Blood Arts from God Eater 2, where attacks are augmented or even replaced entirely during Burst mode.
Burst Plug-ins are set on melee weapons, guns, and armor, and provide power-up effects during Burst mode.
Acceleration Trigger is a gameplay mechanic similar to the Blood Rage system from God Eater 2 Rage Burst, where you need to fulfill a few requirements in order to attain a certain buff such as increased damage, increased defense, etc.
Engage is a system where whenever you are fighting near allies, a gauge fills up, when this gauge is full, you can press Z on the keyboard (LT and RT on controllers) in order to activate a link with you and your ally to receive buffs such as health regeneration, immunity to status effects, etc.
And my favorite new gameplay mechanic: Dive, where, at a set cost of stamina, your character launches themselves towards the opponent, while dealing miniscule amounts of damage, this is essentially a new mobility option in order to close in on Aragami from a distance.
Overall, I’d say that the game is pretty solid, easy to get in to, and pretty fun once you get into it deep. The story is decent, and is somewhat self-contained. You don't really need extensive knowledge of the previous games’ stories just to understand what’s happening.
Screenshots
