God Eater 2 Rage Burst Review: Gives One Heck of a Bite

Written by Allen

November 9, 2016

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Take a look at our review for the remastered God Eater 2 Rage Burst.

Remasters and ports have been an ongoing thing in the world of consoles and some may have found this rather unsavory. While the sentiment can be understandable there are certainly titles that deserve a second chance at getting out in the world. Particularly ones that never got localized out of Japan. ‘God Eater 2 Rage Burst,’ the expansion of the title originally released back in 2013 is one such example. It’s no secret that it’s also an attempt to put hunter type games back on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. So does a stronger anime-esque spin on the genre give us a refreshing spin on the game or would we rather all go for the original? Pick up your morphing weapons, fellas, we’re going to take this monster on.

Production (3.5 / 5)

GE2 Rage Burst actually gives me a showing of how good a remaster should look. while they might not brag of what the PS4 can really offer, models and animations look great. Improvements like shading and lighting are largely noticeable and the smooth frame rate leaves me little to complain about in that regard. One thing I’d particularly like to give attention to are the english voices. Coming from an age where English dubs are usually met with my face cringing, laughing or just outright unhappy, I’m really impressed with how their speech adds character to the roles of each character. They may be cliche, but the voices made it work. The music was notably good during missions as well.

Mechanics (4 / 5)

The game certainly borrows general mechanics from more popular titles as it comes from that format. Stamina management and typical choices from movement and fighting style are there, being either the slow hard hitter or the nimble quick striker are pretty much the ends of the spectrum. And as expected, controls are responsive according to your build. You’ll also find that larger targets have parts you can break off for greater rewards. The more interesting part of this would be the option to develop your own skills as well as all the additional characters you find within your NPC allies. During actual combat, the option to switch between gun form and melee weapon form also makes for some dynamic combat. Even the ranged combat, something that seems insignificant at first may become a real asset thanks to the Bullet Editor system. That is, if you have the patience to learn it. The concept of ‘eating’ enemies with your ‘God Arc’ to keep your combat abilities stronger is an great method to keep the players on their toes while going through what would be rather repetitive combat. There’s not really much to write about aside from your standard fare farm, grind, upgrade, and customize fest you see in many games now. But the very least it can be said that they all mix together very well, as each addition is welcome and I wouldn’t really see as unnecessary.

Content (5 / 5)

Content is probably something that GE2 Rage Burst truly doesn’t lack. Aside from a main story that guides you through the numerous missions, there are additional ‘hard missions’ available in case you want more of a challenge. Aside from that, specific character stories become available as you progress. Each one offers rewards that invites you to explore what the game has to offer. Having clocked about more than 40 hours into this game and it looks like we’re still at the mid-game with missions still stuck at ‘Difficulty 4.’

The game also offers a lot of customization options. Aside from the previously mentioned bullet editor, you can also heavily customize your character’s look and loadout. In fact there’s even options to customize the looks of your NPC Allies. They even release DLC of costumes that are based on other games or anime series. It seems to offer a lot for you to just try to have fun with the game in any way you please.

Features (4 / 5)

I’ve come to seriously appreciate the online features of this game. Playing online with upto 3 other friends or strangers is nothing new to the genre. But having the option of working with AI allies that come off as rather dependable is nothing less than a welcome addition. Its capability to cross-save, and cross-play between PS Vita and PS4 systems is also a really nifty considering it’s not very common for games made outside of Japan to have this feature. It seriously helped me out as I have working arrangements quite far from my home for most of the week.

Importing old save data from its previous version shows that they won’t leave players from the original God Eater 2 game hanging. A huge value given with a rather simple feature.

Overall (4 / 5)

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God Eater 2 Rage Burst initially came across to me as a pretty simple game. But the truth is it isn’t, there’s so many sub-tasks and side-quests that comes with developing your character and your allies that it’s surprising that I didn’t get lost. That’s when I realized that the developers had set this perfect pace with the game, slowly adding more gameplay elements as you go through the game at point where it feels natural and keep things feeling fresh. Yes, it’s the same enemy with the same map. But before too long, they always add a little new something that suddenly changes how you have to play.

Most of these introduced elements are available from the start but only thoroughly taught to you at a well-timed intervals. Just about the time when you’re ready for another lecture from your NPCs. Each time I find myself wanting to see how much I can get out of this new sub-quest feature, customization feature, ability, and so on.

The general controls are simple enough such that you can drop the game for weeks and pick it up with almost no problem getting back into it. But the advanced features only become rewarding through immersive play. In other words, it really is designed to be enjoyed by people with different gaming habits. You don’t need to be the best to get the job done, but the option to be is always open to anyone who’s willing to try.

The game doesn’t try to pretend to be something it’s not. It’s a hunter game and it knows it. So they make the hunting great, then put enough in other areas, particularly cute girls, to keep you going. And when you’re in there just to hunt giant monsters, that’s plenty.

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God Eater 2 Rage Burst gives plenty to bite into, rating a meaty 4.1 / 5.

This game is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PC.

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