God Eater 2: Rage Burst

An accomplished, remastered sequel to the first God Eater comes fully loaded with otherworldly beasts to kill.

Whatever the case, though, God Eater 2: Rage Burst inadvertently feels less like a sequel to God Eater Resurrection than a very substantial expansion, becoming a refinement of what came "before" than a genuine step forward. While it's impossible to deny the mechanical improvements in the game, many players' enjoyment of it will largely hinge on how much more God Eater they wanted to play, or if this is the only one available to them.

God Eater 2: Rage Burst provides hours upon hours of monster slaying fun, but only if you have the patience to wrap your head around its overwrought progression systems. Once you've broken through the initial slog and you're confident in your God eating abilities, you'll find an addictive action RPG that's enjoyable as both a snack and as a three-course meal.

Though it presents a valuable entry into a genre Monster Hunter inhabits, Rage Burst doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from its prequel.

Unfortunately God Eater 2: Rage Burst just drips of mundanity. Boring combat, characters, environments... It is not a bad game, just not a particularly good one.

God Eater 2: Rage Burst could have been much more interesting if the developers had paid more attention to mechanics and variety, worked on locations and plot, cut all filler scenes and better revealed the setting. Perhaps a next God Eater will meet our expectations, but for now it is very average series, which will disappoint sophisticated fans of the genre.

God Eater 2: Rage Burst cements the series as the best alternative to Monster Hunter, and potentially surpasses it for those looking for a narrative within the gameplay experience both series offer.

In short, God Eater 2: Rage Burst is a brilliant game for fans of monster hunting. While the post-apocalyptic storyline has a surprising lack of death and suffering, the characters are interesting and decently written. The dealings with adversity are fun, and taking down an exceptionally large and dangerous foe is always satisfying. The PC version's poor online is easily its biggest failing, and experts might scoff at the abuse prone Blood Arts, but there's still a lot of enjoyable qualities. This game perfectly captures the addictive "one more mission" aspect, and for anyone it manages to suck in, free time is guaranteed to become a thing of the past.

In the end, God Eater 2: Rage Burst is a good adventure game that remains accessible for genre newcomers, and the wide variety of weapons and power-ups ensures that you'll find your favorite style rather quickly. The fights aren't overly strategic, but you are rewarded if you know the weaknesses of monsters you're facing; there are tons of these fights, and each is rather short unless you pump up the difficulty. The story could be better, and it would have been nice if the online community were more active. Those coming fresh off of God Eater: Resurrection won't find much of a difference. God Eater 2 is solid enough that it comes as an easy recommendation for PC players looking for that Monster Hunter fix yet weren't quite sold on Toukiden: Kiwami.

While the old players will probably relive the moments of happiness they hoped for, God Eater 2: Rage Burst probably won’t attract many new fans. Even if it’s great, it’s definitely not for everyone. So we warmly recommend if it’s even possible, let someone who already played the first game lead you into this world first, instead of risking less than a mediocre impression of, deep down, one very good title.