With "God Eater 3Bandai Namco is releasing the third installment of their post-apocalyptic monster-hunting action RPG this week. "God Eater 3" continues the story of the two previous games, but you don't necessarily need to have played them to enjoy this one, as the series primarily thrives on its hunting gameplay. Whether "God Eater 3“Whether it's worthwhile from this perspective alone will be revealed in our test.”
A new threat
In the world of God Eater, Aragami, monsters whose sole purpose is consumption, have nearly wiped out all of humanity. Only a few humans, known as God Eaters, are able, after extensive training, to confront Aragami with special weapons called God Arcs and ultimately defeat them.
Since the events of "God Eater 2" (our reviewThe situation for humanity has deteriorated dramatically. Ashstorms have rendered humanity's few remaining strongholds completely uninhabitable, but the situation is made even worse by a new type of Aragami that arrived with the storms and against which even the God Eaters are powerless. To escape the storms, the remaining survivors have retreated to underground bunkers, which are called Ports here.
As exciting as it sounds in theory, the story of "God Eater 3" is predictably executed this time around, relying on elements seen in countless other games. Naturally, the heroes are the only ones capable of standing up to the new type of Aragami, while the custom-created character turns out to be a prodigy. Meanwhile, companions are caught between two sides and must choose one, though their choice is all too obvious, as one of the sides is undoubtedly morally wrong. The story of "God Eater 3" is therefore passable, but not enough to carry the game on its own, as surprises or even interesting characters are nowhere to be found.
A classic action RPG
In terms of gameplay, "God Eater 3" is solid and ticks all the boxes of a classic action RPG. The story is advanced through story-relevant missions, though the characters who accompany you are sometimes predetermined, while optional missions give you free rein in character selection. After completing a mission for the first time, you receive blueprints for new weapons and armor, which can be crafted using monster and region materials. However, material drops aren't always guaranteed, so you're constantly encouraged to repeat missions. In addition to materials, you also receive God Arcs after completing a mission. These can't be equipped directly, but can be fused with your own weapon to trigger extra effects that vary in strength depending on their rarity. One of these effects, for example, allows you to obtain extra drops by destroying an enemy's body part, which means less farming in the long run.
As the God Eater, you can switch between melee and ranged combat at the touch of a button. Ammunition consists of Oracle Points, which can be replenished through melee attacks. If the standard fire types, which come in different elemental forms, aren't to your liking, you can thankfully create your own ammunition in a very comprehensive editor – a truly unique feature. However, ammunition reserves are limited and cannot be replenished indefinitely through melee attacks, so you should always carefully consider your use of them. Your companions receive skill points after each mission, which you can use to unlock new skills. The skill system allows you to, for example, increase their HP or determine the elemental type of weapon, constantly opening up new strategic possibilities.
"God Eater 3" thus gives the player many options to customize their character and companions. By hunting monsters and gathering materials, you steadily become stronger, creating a sense of progression. The skill system also allows you to prepare your team for particularly tricky battles, saving you a lot of headaches, with the exception of the ammunition system, which was already present in previous God Eater games, and in "God Eater 3"It has only undergone minor changes. However, this does not result in any real innovations."
The camera, which you use to focus your gaze on an enemy, is implemented somewhat clunkily. If the targeted monster moves too fast, the camera can't always keep up, thus breaking the lock-on. Conversely, if the enemy is too close, the camera can spin frantically while trying to capture the monster. In both cases, this often leads to disorientation. However, with increasing playtime, you get used to the somewhat awkward camera and compensate for it, even if it's not the ideal solution. Many Aragami are capable of reducing an entire health bar to zero with just one or two attacks, so when the camera also seems to be working against the player, frustration can definitely set in.
Graphical standstill?
Graphically, "God Eater 3" unfortunately only makes an average impression, which is particularly noticeable on the PS4 Pro, where unsightly aliasing is sometimes visible. The textures are also only mediocre, simply outdated by today's standards and occasionally making the game look generic. While this is somewhat compensated for by the performance and frame rate, it would have been better to maintain a higher standard across the board. It may look better than "God Eater" and "God Eater 2" did back then, the latter being released on the PSP five to six years ago, but visually it still lags behind the competition. Apparently, the developers were content with simply increasing the game's resolution and textures and making greater use of some "modern" effects, such as depth of field. The fact that "God Eater 3" is so neglected here is all the more unfortunate, as the monster designs are truly creative and the environments could also benefit more from a more modern graphical presentation.
When it comes to audio and text, "God Eater 3" offers English and Japanese audio tracks, while the text is in English. The English audio track was somewhat jarring, frequently dropping the last syllable of a sentence and skipping directly to the next. The recurring occurrence of such audio glitches is a rather embarrassing flaw that apparently went unnoticed or was simply ignored by quality assurance. Hopefully, it's a technical error that can be fixed later. In any case, we've come to expect better from Bandai Namco.
