Roving storms of all-consuming microbes have taken over an ready desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape. Fenrir HQ has been swallowed by the ash storms and the once championed God Eaters - the only ones capable of destroying Aragami (beasts with an insatiable appetite), are now feared and enslaved by the Ports. "Ports" act as habitable environments for the survivors, aided by surface roaming caravans called "Ash Crawlers" and their "Adaptive God Eaters" (AGEs). The AGEs possess a much higher resistance to the ash, and are thought of as being genetically closer to the Aragami than standard God Eaters.
The story of God Eater 3 has a much more dire tone than the previous titles, thanks largely to the collapse of Fenrir HQ and the abuse enslaved AGEs are subjected to. This latest entry in the God Eater series features an entirely new cast of characters which I ended up liking more than the casts from the previous two games. This new, smaller group is comprised of three childhood friends, turned God Eaters at a young age, who have helped to support each other throughout their years of enslavement. Over time their group gains other God Eaters torn between duty and morality, or used as guinea pigs in experiments and then discarded. The cast interacted with each other more than in past installments, albeit mostly off camera, and had connections that went beyond mere co-workers; acting almost like a family unit at times. Sadly, you're told more than your shown and its a shame because I believe the story would have benefited greatly from some family moments with the crew via the "episode system", which first appeared in God Eater 2 and offered little adventures and slice-of-life moments with the characters. Instead, the episode system was left out of God Eater 3 completely.
It is worth noting that God Eater 3 has the shortest story of any God Eater game so far, which is understandable, given this isn't a "Burst" (expanded) release like the previous two games. Even so, I couldn't help but feel like it was a rush job. Too much is glossed over or left incomplete (highlight to read):
The character arcs went nowhere:
• Claire has a single moment where she puts moral ethics above duty. Aside from that, she basically could've been replaced by a faceless no-name NPC and it would have had about the same impact.
• Lulu's character arc was weird; almost non-existent. Her strained connection with Baran and the student/teacher relationship with Goh is treated as a big deal but we know hardly anything about it.
• Zeke has a moment where he suddenly decides that all lives are worth saving before suicidally taking on an Ash Aragami by himself, requiring saving. None of this is relevant to anything or is ever brought up again.
• The Crimson Queen and Inukai are made out to be a bigger deal than they actually are. If Werner had been presented as more of a villain it would have created some natural drama potential between him and Hilda, as well as between keith and Neal. Not to mention the untapped drama potential that already exists between Werner and his father.
Several story and philosophical elements were never fully realized:
• The preservation of humanity at any cost, or the preservation of human rights at any cost.
• Never leaving family behind, even if it means sacrificing the lives of hundreds of strangers.
I was left with lingering questions:
• What caused the Ash-Storms in the first place? Is it Blood Rain in a different form?
• Why is Soma in the Ashlands and does it have anything to do with the humanoid Aragami appearing there?
• What is the status of Fenrir, the Blood Unit and Cradle? Is Dusty Miller just the Cradle under a different name?
• Why does everyone suddenly get along with the AGEs at the end? Are they the "last hope of humanity" again? What about Port Baran who thrived by exploiting AGEs?
Gameplay is split between the "Ash Crawler" and missions. The Ash Crawler is a mobile vehicle that acts as the main hub area for the player and where they can change their appearance, resupply, and craft or upgrade weapons. Most of the weapons from the first and second game return, along with two new melee weapon types called Biting Edge (daggers) and Heavy Moon (semi-circle blade), and a new ranged Ray gun. "Blood Arts" from God Eater 2 also return in the form of "Burst Arts" - a sort of equippable attack booster that augments normal attacks in various ways. New Burst Arts are unlocked or improved by going on missions, and completing them with a higher rank gives more experience points to the equipped Burst Art. There are additional passive abilities in the form of "Acceleration Triggers" that will grant temporary boosts when certain criteria are met in battle. Like Burst Arts, each Accel Trigger has its own experience gauge that increases the more you use it in battle. When Accel Triggers level up, they increase in power and will occasionally unlock new Accel Triggers.
The Ash Crawler front desk contains a list of missions that progress along a 1 to 7 difficulty ranking scale. The first 5 ranks comprise the main story and are not overly challenging. Rank 6 comprises the epilogue and true ending. Rank 7 missions are all optional and contain no story elements, but throw multiple Aragami at you almost all the time. Missions will be marked as either "Story" based (mandatory) or "Optional", and will be either a regular mission or survival based. Survival missions consist of killing multiple boss Aragami without restocking items. Mission objectives are always to defeat all target Aragami within the allotted amount of time. Depending on how efficiently the mission is completed, additional rewards can be gained.
During battle God Eaters use a unique weapon called a "God Arc" that can instantly switche between four weapon types: blade, gun, shield and predator. The player must utilize all four while being mindful of their gauges. The gun form consumes Oracle Points (OP), which are regained from attacking in blade form. The blade form consumes stamina; as does sprinting, jumping and dodging. By devouring an Aragami that is still alive with the predator form, God Eaters can send teammates into a "Burst Mode" called "Link Burst" that temporarily increases their speed, strength and energy regeneration. God Eater 3 also introduces a new "Engage System" in which two God Eaters enter a synchronized state, allowing them to telepathically share thoughts and emotions. While active, Engage skills, active Accel Trigger buffs, and the highest Burst level will be shared between the two God Eaters.
The player's health bar and stamina gauge never increase, and the outfits are purely cosmetic. The player only gets better at bringing down the various Aragami through skill and preparation. Each beast has their own set of attacks, behavior, elemental and damage type strengths and weaknesses. To survive the player must learn when to dodge, when to block, and when to go in for an attack. Taking advantage of an Aragami's weak points and breaking chunks off of their body is always immensely satisfying, and the hit-boxes on Aragami feel much better than they did in past installments. The crazy range of some Aragami attacks have been cut back from God Eater 2 to within reasonable means. Tail sweeps, homing missiles, energy blasts and electric fields no longer have ranges so wide that they take up most of the arena. The speed of their attacks has also been toned back.
Up to three teammates and a limited number of items can be taken into each fight. Should the player fall in battle, AI teammates can use "Link Aid" to revive fallen team members at a cost to their own health bars. There is a limit of 9 revivals and 3 three deaths before the mission fails. New "health springs" that periodically restore health and OP to the player when standing over them were added throughout the arenas, but the biggest new addition to God Eater 3 is the superpowered Ash Aragami who can use devour attacks, just like the player, to take a bite and enter Burst mode. These attacks are strong enough to one-hit kill the player if you’re not careful.
God Eater 3 isn't a "Burst" release, so it understandably contains far less content than God Eater one or two. Even so, I couldn't help but feel as though the game was released half-finished. There were fewer Aragami and the customizability of both the God Arcs and outfits suffered tremendously as well. The combat was excellent; the main staying power of this game by far. I think the general concept of the Ashlands mixed with the mobility of the AGEs was a step in the right direction for the series. It gives the God Eaters more importance within the world as a limited human(?) resource necessary for the continued survival of everyone. I also appreciate what they tried to do with the protagonist and the mother/father relationship they have with Phym, but I think they only partially succeeded. Not enough time was dedicated to the cast and their daily interactions. The story rushed to a conclusion as quickly as possible, utilizing a ridiculous deus ex machina to resolve the conflict.At its core, God Eater 3 remains largely the same in structure as its predecessors. It improved some things while falling short in others. If you like the monster hunting genre or are looking to get into it, God Eater 3 is a good introductory game.
First posted to videogamegeek.com
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