The original God Eater on PSP was the game that made the hunting genre click for me. As much as I had tried with other titles, none kept me playing like God Eater Burst did. God Eater’s approach is essentially a story driven hunting game. With the Monster Hunter series, you’re more or less left to your own devices, left to create your own hunting legacy. God Eater on the other hand, proudly boasts of its story along with its sci-fi post-apocalyptic setting.
Outside of the new bridging story content that leads into God Eater 2, God Eater Resurrection is very much the same game you might have experienced on PSP. This includes large menus and text with the camera being uncomfortably close to your avatar. These aren’t really issues as such but just something to be aware of and the camera can be ‘fixed’ in the settings by setting it to “far” so you’ve got some distance between you and your player character.
God Eater Resurrection does look good and it looks like work has been done to give the characters and Aragami (the monsters of the series) more detail though it’s still clear that the game has PSP origins. Luckily the more simplistic anime stylings of the game help things not seem too dated or out of place.
The biggest improvement is simply being able to play God Eater with a controller. It feels much more natural and at home with a full controller scheme to the point that I had forgot about the whole cramped camera setup that infamously came with many portable titles on the PSP. While I couldn’t sample this in the demo, another benefit will be the improved online features to the title. I had played the majority of my time with the PSP original in local play or using the PS3’s ad-hoc app to play with friends remotely. Being able to form parties online natively within the game will be hugely beneficial as even with the increased story focus, I’ve always found these games to be best enjoyed with friends.
The demo for God Eater Resurrection was a short one but I’m glad to see the series have a second chance with audiences. While Resurrection may not be a complete remake, it certainly still remains the best place to jump into the series and its inclusion as a freebie for those who buy God Eater 2 certainly makes for a tempting complete package later this summer.
