Games within the Monster Hunter genre are going to be difficult to do quickly because of how games of this nature rely strongly on repetitive grinding, and making said grinding feel like something you want to do. But with the game soon coming out in a few days, I thought a few who may be curious out there might want to know what my findings are so far, roughly 6-8 hours into the game. So allow me to share my God Eater 3 experience so far.

The first thing I took notice of would be the music, the new layer of vocals and what sounds like an entirely revamped OST got me pretty pumped on the get-go. I mean, if I’m going to be an anime edgelord who’s out to save a post-apocalyptic world fighting over-the-top looking monsters, the music better match. Fortunately, the music goes as ham as the entire game. If Ar Tonelico or Keiichi Okabe ring a bell to you, the score is somewhere around that neighborhood.

I also think God Eater 3 has more or less updated itself in a satisfactory manner.Though, I wouldn’t exactly sing it praises, if you look closely you’ll notice many elements are still sporting low-res textures. Perhaps this is a choice for efficiency’s sake, but I’d claim that there are better solutions than that. Models for both characters and monsters look detailed enough, and in fact perform very well for cut-scenes. So aside from the fact that almost everyone has either shiny leather or poorly textured cloth, I think they mostly look good.

There appears to be two new weapons, both with the theme of being transformable weapons like in Bloodborne. A set of dual blades that turns into a double-sided glaive and a bladed ring that turns into an axe. So far, I’ve explored the dual blades and the glaive form can be rather fun, allowing you to launch a relentless combo which drains your stamina. To be honest, this is the first time that I felt like stamina mattered.

For the actual combat, it doesn’t feel that different aside from some incremental improvements that made playing the game feel more natural. You gain OP (basically gun ammo) by attacking with your melee weapon which allows you to switch out your gun with ease without having to depend too much on the devour function. However, it’s pretty noticeable that devour has been slowed considerably, or at least monsters now recover quickly enough to make it harder to devour them whenever you felt like it. They also added a new mechanic that further enhances you as you meet a certain condition for it’s activation. I personally find this gimmicky, giving you one more thing to think about for a considerable boost, but at least it doesn’t get in the way.

So far, there’s been improvements here and there and some new content. Personally I’d wish that there was changes to the weapons themselves especially with their frame data. While there’s value in making use of what’s in the game’s legacy, how weapons feel and perform feel clunky and sometimes feel deceptive in how they work. Faster weapons have a backswing that feels too long and even vary if you whiff, it’s hard to tell when you can cancel a move unless you practiced it, and reading the range can be difficult. Especially when you compare this to more modern counterparts, you can see that there’s a lot of potential behind them being refined.

On the other hand, God Eater 3 has chosen to stick to its guns, where the other half of your gameplay is interacting and creating a squad that can properly respond to how you play. This easily makes the title stand on its own better and will surely appeal to those who like to optimize and specialize units to match how they like to play. Also interacting with certain character tropes can get fun once they start fleshing themselves out, having the context of other characters around you helps in making it a more immersive experience. Things are only better with a good story, after all.

I haven’t gotten very far in the game because I’m the kind of person who won’t accept anything less than a SS rating on every mission he plays. So I’ve repeated a good set of missions contributing to a grind, specially when I had to start dealing with flying Aragami. But I’d like to report that despite my complaints I’m actually looking forward to more hours in this game, the campaign has gotten me invested to keep going.

If you’re looking for something more technically refined like Monster Hunter World, you’ll probably prefer that. God Eater 3, despite what I would say are some flaws, also has some good points that can make it a worthwhile stay for some. For me, it’s pretty good so far.