I met up with D3 Publisher to check out the localized version of Gods Eater Burst. Before starting a hunt, I watched the localized cutscenes, which had English voice acting and the original opening theme. After the interlude, the character I made attached his God Arc through a painful processes of having it mounted to his hand.
The God Arc is the weapon you use to defeat beasts that roam in a post-apocalyptic Earth known as Aragami. Actually, the God Arc is made with remnant Aragami flesh. Compared to other hunting style games, Gods Eater Burst is more story driven. There’s a conspiracy to investigate, which will be unraveled using in-game graphics. So, if you decide to dress your character up like a giant teddy bear, you’ll be a teddy bear during event scenes.
The first mission I played was a tutorial level designed to get a player familiar with the God Arc. This weapon has three forms. As a sword, you can hack and slash at an enemy. Hit transform and the blade becomes a gun that fires elemental bullets. You don’t have to stock ammunition, but bullets are tied to an energy meter. Switching back to sword mode and slashing an Aragami fills the meter back up. The third form changes the weapon into a giant mouth that "devours" a target. It’s a slow move, but if you manage to take a bite out of an enemy your character will switch into Burst Mode. This grants your character extra speed, abilities like a double jump and more importantly a special stolen bullet with a limited number of shots. After an enemy is defeated you can devour it to earn extra materials. My initial impression was Gods Eater Burst feels more like an action game. The controls were easy to pick up and if you don’t like the setup there’s a menu option to remap the buttons.
Tutorial over. Now its time for a real fight. I joined a game where Vajra was the target. The lion-like monster is weak against divine attacks. We prepared beforehand by making a powerful divine bullet. The bullet customization is a neat little feature, especially if you’re a fan of shooters. This system allows you to add parameters (such as explosive) or elements (such as fire). The number of slots put a cap on the kind of bullet you can create, but it’s possible with enough resources to make lasers and the divine shot that goes through one enemy and hits another. Your custom bullet is carried over to your avatar card. Give this to a friend and you can be in their game as a NPC even though you aren’t physically around. This opens up some interesting customization options since its possible to make an avatar card with a character who has a machine gun or an ultra-powerful bullet, but only one shot.
With the divine bullet ready, we set out to find Vajra. Smaller Aragami known as Ogretails greeted us when we started the mission. We made quick work of them using sword mode alone. As we walked (actually dashed) through the city ruins, we spotted Vajra. I ran out of dash energy, but the other player went in to strike Vajra. I switched to gun mode and fired as Vajra cornered my group into what used to be an office building. Out of bullet energy, I ran towards Vajra and struck with an air attack. While I was chipping away at Vajra’s torso, the other player went for his head, a weak spot. I changed position and went for its tail to see if it would do anymore damage. The fight continued until Vajra leapt out of the building. Being near-death made the Aragami retreat. We chased Vajra to a more open area, with plenty of room to dodge away from its claws. Soon after Vajra was defeated. Victory was mine and I devoured the Aragami for an extra item. It wasn’t a race, though. Everyone can devour a fallen foe for a bonus.
It was only a taste, but I think the amount I sampled would make fans of the ever growing hunting game genre hungry for more Gods Eater Burst.
