A Second Helping

It hasn't been too long since I reviewed God Eater Resurrection, and in that review, I noted that the long time it's taken for a God Eater game to appear on English??-speaking shores?? helped make the game seem fresh and new all over again.

It seems that God Eater 2: Rage Burst, a sequel that comes just a few short weeks after its original debuted,?? affords us an opportunity to te??st that assertion in a real way. Will the improvements that this game brings to the table be enough to maintain the fresh feeling, or leave players fed up instead?

God Eater 2: Rage Burst (PS4, PS Vita, PC [reviewed])
Developer: Shift
Publisher: Bandai Namco Games 
Released: August 30, 2016 (NA/EU), February 19, 2015 (JP)
MSRP: $59.99 (PS4), $49.99 (PC), $39.99 (Vita)

From the outset, it's clear that Rage Burst is mechanically the superior game, even after a number of its key features were retroactively ported into Resurrection. This back-porting has the unfortunate side effect of blunting the novelty of Rage Burst for players who are playing or just played Resurrection, or people trying to find points to justify Rage Burst's higher price point compared to Resurrection. Still, things like the expanded weapon lineup, NPC skill system, Predator Style, and other improvements (described in more detail here) are as useful in this game as they were in the last??, so it's a moot point, as far as design goes.

Instead, Rage Burst’s party piece comes in the form of Blood Arts, powerful new abilities that function as a type of “talent tree” for each type of God Arc weapon. They're ??unlocked by using those weapons on powerful enemies and building an "Awakening" gauge by performing certain actions, like connecting with specific attacks in the combo chain or attacking enemies' elemental weaknesses.

Once Awakened, Blood Arts can be equipped like a perk of sorts, and their benefits range from passive buffs to damage to powerful, extra attack animations. F??or example, Short Sword users can look forward to a rapid flurry of slashes, while Variant Scythe Wielders gain extra attacks desig??ned to paper over the weapon's less reliable single-target damage.

The Blood Arts add a much-needed dose of depth to God Eater's melee action. Unlocking and selecting Blood Arts gives a range of additional options to players while rewarding commitment to a specific style, all without compromising on the game's accessibility. This is key, as one of the key appeals of God Eater&n??bsp;has been its undemanding nature compared to the competition.

That said, while these mechanical expansions are substantial, it's in terms of bespoke content that God Eater 2: Rage Burst might not quite sate players' appetites. Picking up some time after God Eater Resurrection's conclusion, Rage Burst starts on the Friar, a mobile city-sized branch of the in-game organization FENRIR. Players are the newest inductee to an elite squad of God Eaters, the Blood unit. Told through between-mission cutscenes, the story is about as thinly drawn as in Resurrection. This wasn't a problem in that game, as having a story at all was a major point over the competition, but this thinness being in the sequel ends up making Rage Burst look more like a riff on the original than a full-fledged follow-up to Resurrection (though technically, Resurrection was originally released after Rage Burst).

This feeling is exacerbated by the way Rage Burst tends to recycle maps, monsters, and even characters from Resurrection. It's as if the developers realized that the characters and plot points they were sketching out didn't even carry the advantage of novelty anymore, and instead chose to ??juice the proceedings with some nostalgia for the previous game.

It's at this point that I have to highlight that the very value proposition for God Eater 2: Rage Burst can change significantly based on the circumstances of its acquisition. After all, many PS4 copies Rage Burst come with free copies of Resurrection. Resurrection also does not have a PC version sold s?eparately ??as yet, mooting the comparison in those contexts.

Whatever the case, though, God Eater 2: Rage Burst inadvertently feels less like a sequel to God Eater Resurrection than a very substantial expansion, becoming a refinement of what came "before" than a genuine step forward. While it's impossible to deny the mechanical improvements in the game, many players' enjoyment of it will largely hinge on how much more God Eater they wanted to play, or if th??is is the only one available to them.

_{[This review of the game is based on a copy provided by the publisher.]}

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Coming in June and August

God Eater: Resurrection and God Eater 2: Rage Burst are coming west this summer. 

The former will be releasing for PlayStation 4, PC, and PlayStation Vita in North? America on June 28, with the latter c??oming to the same platforms on August 30, Bandai Namco has announced.

In Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia, the publisher will be releasing both titles on August 30 wi???th and English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian text options (and English voice over).

Anyone who picks up the "Day One" boxed edition of Rage Burst on PlayStation 4 or pre-orders a digital copy via the PlayStation Store will receive a "free" download voucher for Resurrection.

Resurrection has been available in Japan since last fall, while Rage Burst debuted there in early 2014. To date, only the original game, Gods Eater Burst (PSP, 2011), has been released internationally.

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Summer 2016

After establishing God Eater as a popular franchise in Japan, Bandai Namco is working to bring its response to the Monster Hunter phenomenon to the rest of the word next year.

This week, the publisher announced plans to localize both God Eater Resurrection, a remake of the original game, and God Eater 2: Rage Burst for North American and European audiences.

God Eater is set in the 2050s, when ravenous monsters known begin consuming all life on Earth, and follows a team of elite hunters, on whose shoulders rests huma?nity's last hope for survival.

Both titles will be available on PlayStation 4, PC, a??nd PlayStat?ion Vita sometime next summer.

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Per a European trademark

God Eater Resurrection, a remake of Bandai Namco's take on the Monster Hunter formula, looks like it's coming west, or so suggests a European trademark filing made December 18.

In January of this year, the publisher also filed a mark for Rage Burst, the subtitle for God Eater 2's expansion, though the publisher has not made any official comment about ?localiz??ing either title.

Bandai Namco has, however, launched a countdown website, which is teasing an announcement for ?tomorrow morning, Monday at 8am Eastern time. So I suppose we may know more soon.

God Eater Resurrection and God Eater 2: Rage Burst are both designed f?or PlayStation 4 and Vita, and have been available in Japan since this October and February 2014, respectively.

The only entry in the series to see a western release to this point is an enhanced version of the original God Eater, titled Gods Eater Burst, which?? wa??s released in March 2011 for the PSP.

God Eater Resurrection [OHIM, Mysterious Game via Gematsu]

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God Eater's all the rage (burst)

It wasn't a long reign -- just one week, in fact -- but it was a good one. Majora's Mask 3D has to settle for second place on the Japanese sales charts. God Eater 2: Rage Burst is the new ruler.

In its second week on the market, Majora's Mask 3D moved an additional 72,181 units, bringing its lifetime total to just more than 300,000. God Eater 2: Rage Burst&nbs??p?;on Vita weighed in just shy of a quarter million at 234,180.

God Eater's success didn't come out of left field, though. The series is basically Namco's equivalent of Monster Hunter -- both games in a genre that sell particularly well in Japan. The PS4 adaption of God Eater 2: Rage Burst chipped in an extra 37,824 sales. But,?? as is expecte??d in Japan, the handheld version was far more popular.

「GOD EATER 2 RAGE BURST」合計27万2000本。「DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round」「The Order：1886」も登場の「週間販売ランキング＋」 [4Gamer]

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For PS4 and Vita

Compliments of anime studio ufotable, Bandai Namco has released the opening movie of God Eater 2: Rage Burst, and I'm digging the animation. In case you were wondering, the Rage Burst moniker indicates an expansion of sorts, w?ith ex??tra missions, story, and equipment.

Rage Burst is still headed for the PlayStation 4 and Vita on February 14th in Japan. ?A localization hasn't been?? announced.

The post The God Eater 2: Ra??ge Burst intro looks pretty rad appeared first on Destructoid.

New monsters, characters, and weapons oh my!

I put a sizable chunk of time into the original God Eater 2 on the Vita late last year. It was a solid entry in the long line of recent hunting action games, but certainly not without its fair share of issues. It suffered from a lack of content, and its AI was dreadful. The plentiful content updates helped a lot; online coop, new story missions, extra equipment. At the end of the day though, it still felt incomplete. The underlying mechanics were strong, so I was hopeful that we'd see an upgraded version ala Monster Hunter and the Ultimate/G releases sometime in the near future.

Enter God Eater 2: Rage Burst. 

Featuring a new storyline, new characters, new weapons, and all sorts of other additions, Rage Burst's developers are pushing it as the definitive version of the game. I had a chance to go hands on with the Vita build and? clear the two demo quests at Tokyo Game Show, and I came away feeling good about the changes.

The first quest available in the demo introduces the core new feature of the game, the Blood Rage mode. In the vanilla version of God Eater 2, every character had what was called Blood Arts. These special moves could be leveled up through constant use in combat, and were essentially flashy special attacks that did heavy damage at the cost of stamina. Much of GE2 was based around this new mechanic, and Rage Burst looks to flesh it out even further.

On the left s??ide of the game screen is a lock of sorts. As you fight on through a mission, the lock starts to flash. Swiping the lock on the Vita's touch screen will open up a few options. On the top right of the UI there will be a list of Aragami monsters currently on the field. By swiping the monster of your choosing, it takes you to the next selection screen. This bit is where you make what the game is calling a contract. Each contract will grant you a temporary buff of your choosing, but at the cost of fulfilling certain requirements on the battlefield. In the first quest, the requirement was that I deal some 5,000 hit points of damage to the boss monster in 30 seconds or less. Failure to do so reset the lock, forcing me to do the whole process over again. The better the buff, the more difficult the contract. Because the initial quest was designed to teach players about Blood Rage, I was able to repeat the process o?ver and over again whether I failed or succeeded. The actual system is limited however, and doesn't allow for spamming.

When you succeed at activating Blood Rage mode, your character grows what look like tiny wings of light, your movement gets snappier, and the whole thing just looks really cool. I'm not sure how it's going to work balance-wise in the long run, but for now it seems like an interesting addition. I am however concerned with how tedious the process is. On more than one occasion I was unable to select the monster or contract I wanted because no matter how hard I swip?ed, it wasn't registering on the Vita. Considering all of this happens while in battle, I'm hoping the tweak how it works before the final version of the game. That being said, it's a Vita-unique problem and I doubt it'll be an issue in the PS4 release. Though I suppose ??it could very well be that I just suck at swiping; the kind woman explaining the mechanics to me couldn't help but giggle at me. 

Also fresh to God Eater: Rage Burst is the Valiant Scythe, a new weapon type wielded by one of the brand new st?ory characters. I played around with it during both missions and was impressed by its wide swinging range, though noticed that its starting animation was quite slow. Unfortunately it didn't seem like the ideal weapon of choice against the new Aragami boss in the second quest. I'll be damned if it didn't look awesome though. 

With the combat getting some substantial tweaks, here's to hoping they add more fields and monsters to Rage Burst. With online coop a now-standard feature for the series, the only way to go is up. As for its chances of releasing out west? Your guess is as good as mine, though I suspect Bandai Namco might have been waiting for an upgraded version of God Eater 2 to be released before considering it for NA/EU like Capcom has been doing with?? its hunting franchise.

Or at least that's what ??I tell myself before I go to bed.

The post What’s new in God Eater 2: Rage Burst? appeared first on Destructoid.

Gussied up version of last year's release

Namco Bandai announced a touched up God Eater 2, God Eater 2: Rage Burst will be coming to?? PlayStation 4 and Vita in Japan. 

God Eater 2 came to PSP and Vita las?t year in Japan. Yes??, PSP.

It was also insinuated that the franchise would continue, perhaps with a proper God Eater 3 down the line. 

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