Whilst the PlayStation Vita’s launch software lineup was somewhat substantial, things have taken a more subdued turn as of late, leaving RPG fans especially wondering what’s next to grace the OLED screen. In an attempt to draw attention to some stellar PSP titles available to download to your Vita, I’m here to take a look at God Eater Burst from 2011 – a true ‘pick-up-and-play’ experience that in the end transcends its Monster Hunter derivation to deserve a place in your life.
Expositional depth was clearly not top priority. You take control of a customisable, personality-lacking husk who joins a rag-tag group of post-apolocalypic… er, monster hunters, somehow quickly rising to become both the talk of the town and the star of the swords-bigger-than-bodies show (he/she can’t even speak!). It’s a valiant attempt at power-fantasy which, for the most part, works in spite of its blatancy. The foe are the menacing Aragami, heartless beasts that can only truly be destroyed by having its core extracted by your massive sword monster. It’s a nice setup but rarely anything much more.
Most of the other main characters stray a little too close to the cliché. All the archetypes are there; the strong leader who guides you in your endeavours and is liked by everyone (I reckon he’s about 16), the ridiculously proportioned woman who takes a shine to you early on, the sexually obsessed pre-pubescent who is clearly mentally deficient and, of course, the emotionally distant loner with a heart of gold. That being said, whilst not on the level of Junpei from Persona 3, they’re generally an agreeable bunch who make the home base at least seem inhabited.
Once you’re inducted into the group, the game takes on a formulaic bent. You’re essentially offered a tonne of monster-destroying missions at the front desk and it’s up to you to do them, all the while building your monstrous sword/gun/shield. It’s worth noting, though, that your task seldom deviates from the slaying of countless bad guys. If you’re hunting down a diverse experience, this may not be your bag. Adding friends into the mix certainly shakes things up. Ad-hoc play is available and works well but there is no full-online support if you’re lonely.
Levelling takes place in a way akin to Diablo, or that other dinosaur killing game Capcom once released that I can’t remember: through equipment not experience. You’ll never come across a level up screen, just another monster chunk that you can duct-tape to your weapon. By upgrading, buying or crafting you can get some truly crazy combinations going on. These days Ben Fox is rocking a chainsaw-cum-rocket-launcher-cum-riot shield, a stupidly heavy idea that takes about as long to swing as it does to build. Let’s also not forget the mandatory magical monster jaw harnessed within it (and all weapons) that you can call upon at anytime to rip goodies from your enemies. It’s crazy stuff.
It’s on the ravaged battlefields that the game really shines. Shift’s combat system is a genuinely engaging one. When brandishing a sword, square and triangle can be used for strong and quick attacks, and sequenced together for the odd combo. Hitting R shifts your sword into its gun form. From here you can hold L to manually aim or just start blasting in your foe’s general direction. Homing ammunition eventually becomes available, rendering ranged combat a viable and lenient option. Everything feels responsive and rarely cumbersome, helped no end by a dodge that breaks current animation. Like Monster Hunter, if you’re packing a huge sword, it’ll take a couple of second to land blows, but, unlike Monster Hunter (where dodging is either prohibited mid-animation or ineffectual unless timed perfectly) you can dash straight out of harm’s way. It’s a small difference but one that allows the combat to flow easily.
The above-average animation makes it really feels like you’re doing damage and once you’ve got a team of medics, assault sergeants and corporals with you, you almost feel sorry for the hideous monstrosities. That being said, eventually the difficulty ramps up considerably, rendering your choice of weapon of paramount importance. As far as the camera is concerned, if you’re playing on the Vita you can map the directional pad to the right analogue stick, allowing proper twin stick control and alleviating aggravating issues on the PSP.
The visuals pushed the limits of the PSP, and still look brilliant on Vita’s screen. Environments are limited and few, but what is there adds nice contextual weight to the circumstance. It certainly won’t blow you away, but it’s far from ugly, benefiting mostly from a well-realised anime aesthetic. Audio is what you may have come to expect from Japanese localisations, fine but unable to convert the idiosyncratic nature of the dialogue.
God Eater Burst’s strengths lie in its core mechanics and compartmentalised structure. Missions of all lengths and difficulty are available to find or replay quickly and easily. To get the ideal experience, it’s best to accept this at what it is: an opportunity to customise a massive sword and kill monsters in various satisfying ways. Whilst the story hints at perhaps a greater scale, a sprawling game this is not. It’s an uncompromisingly basic and repetitive title, delivering, at points, some of the greatest portable gaming around.