TGS 2009: God Eater Hands-On
At this year's Tokyo Game Show, there was a plethora of PlayStation Portable titles on display, and one of them was a new franchise by Namco Bandai, called God Eater. Gaming Union was able to get a very short amount of hands-on time with the title, but it's very clear what served as an inspiration, even based on this short experience with the game.
During the demo, the playable character started off in what appeared to be some kind of Headquarters, where they could select which missions they wanted to undertake. There were various tutorial missions, which explained some of the game's elements, but we dived straight into the action.
From the get-go, it's clearly evident that this game is influenced by the Monster Hunter franchise. The objective is to kill a certain target within the designated time limit by using only the weapon and items available. The controls are near identical to that of Monster Hunter, meaning the camera is controlled using the d-pad, with the left trigger locking behind, and there is also a roll and jump. However there are some slight modifications. Attacking is done using square and triangle, as opposed to triangle and circle, and the character also has access to what is effectively two weapons.
The weapon has the ability to morph between being a gun and a sword. Using the gun drained an undefined stat, while attacking with the sword actually replenished it. This made for a slightly different dynamic to the combat, as the gun was severely overpowered in comparison to the sword. It was quite easy to stun monsters when using the gun's charged attack, but against multiple foes it will become much more difficult to manually aim it quickly.
In terms of the game's feel, it's quite different from Monster Hunter. Instead of having a traditional fantasy style, God Eater is much more futuristic and is a different kind of fantasy; imagine Devil May Cry meets Monster Hunter and that's effectively God Eater. Because of this, the weapons have a bit more creative freedom, and it's possible to actually turn the sword into a huge monster's head. There didn't really seem to be any benefit to doing this though.
Upon completing a level, a generic performance screen was shown, and the items collected were displayed. We were then able to select another mission from the exceedingly long list. However, after finishing the demo, God Eater didn't exactly leave a lasting impression. It just didn't seem like it was anything special, and while it does appear as though it will support local co-operative play, it's difficult to see it challenging Monster Hunter.
