Editor’s Note: This is a review coupled with a video review. You can watch the video review above, or read a transcript of the video below.

This is God Eater: Resurrection, developed by Shift and published by Bandai Namco for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita (and soon to be PC). God Eater: Resurrection is actually a remake of God Eater: Burst, a PSP title that was released in March of 2011, and while it’s noticeable that the game is just an HD re-release, the game’s graphical style upscales nearly flawlessly.

The only noticeable things are backgrounds and the occasional low polygon hands standing out against the fantastic faces, bodies, and hair. In fact I’d wager to say that God Eater is up there as one of the best looking games on the PlayStation 4 right now due to the dedication Shift showed in handling its re-release.

The God Eater series is Bandai Namco’s attempt at the monster hunting genre after Capcom’s Monster Hunter series was met with general praise and high sale numbers. As such, the basic premise is relatively similar. The player outfits themselves with equipment and large weapons to go out and slay large monsters in order to gather materials to craft even better monster slaying weapons and gear.

Where God Eater differs, however, is instead of having only one weapon to fight monsters with, the player’s weapon which is called a “God Arc,” a shape-shifting weapon that can be switched between a melee weapon and a ranged weapon with the push of a button. The other major difference in this game that the player’s God Arc is somewhat of a living creature that can be used to devour the corpses of dead monsters, or just take a bite out of living ones.

The player must do this in order to harvest materials from dead monsters or if they are still living, to get a power up. The easiest way for me to explain God Eater’s gameplay is say that it feels like exactly how you think it would. This is just another team’s interpretation of the Monster Hunter style. The game feels familiar and shares many similarities with God Eater’s differences being more of a garnish.

Another difference in God Eater from Monster Hunter is that God Eater has an overarching story with many different characters, each with their own background and personality. Instead of taking place in a medieval fantasy world, God Eater instead takes place on Earth after an alien species is discovered on Earth, twenty years later the world is nearly barren, with almost all matter being devoured by the monsters, called Aragami.

The aliens are explained to be singular cell organisms that work together to create the beasts that you will fight. This is used to explain why the creatures in the game share the characteristics of animals and vehicles. Think Monster Hunter meets John Carpenter’s The Thing.

The story of God Eater follows your character, a new type of Aragami killer called a New type, whose abilities have been enhanced in order to better deal with the new emerging Aragami that have been appearing all over the world.

The main hub in God Eater is a small underground base where you will do all your socializing, crafting, and shopping. You will select the mission you want to complete, choose who you want to accompany you on the mission and from there you’ll go out and hunt.

Once you’re out on your mission, you’ll notice how familiar the game is. Blocking, dashing, light and heavy attacks make up your movesets. It’s important to know that all creatures have elements that they are weak to, and weak points that you must attack for massive damage. Attacking a weak point compared to an armored point can mean the difference between dealing only 21 damage or 140 damage per hit.

It’s actually this point that I have to take issue with, I don’t particularly find the combat to be that engaging. While there are plenty of monsters that are fun to fight, there are just as many to fight that I’d consider an annoyance. Too many creatures in this game have a move that allows them to quickly move from one side of the map to the other.

This means you as a player are going to be spending a lot of time running around just trying to catch the monster. While it may seem like this is a novice complaint, let it be known that while I fainted quite a lot I rarely ever failed a mission. No, my annoyance came from having to run up to a monster, getting only one chance to swing at it’s weak point, then having it run away just for me to have to run up to it again to hit it.

While there are items that can be used to deal with this problem, the player is often only given a very limited supply of them. I can say from personal experience that the game doesn’t allow you enough to kill a creature.

Another feature I enjoyed was the online multiplayer, where you and 3 three friends or strangers can work together to hunt down monsters. It was a nice break away from having to use the AI teammates who are only really there to revive you if you faint in battle.

I understand the confusion that must come from the fact that I’ve given this game an 8 even though my one and only complaint has to do with the gameplay itself, so please allow me to explain my view of video games for a moment. For me, there is much more to a video game than just the gameplay. While it may be the most important thing, a video game is the sum of its parts and if the other pieces of that puzzle are good enough on their own, they have the ability to compensate for a game if its gameplay is not the best.

This is how I feel about God Eater: Resurrection, of course I must also take into consideration my lack of skill in the monster hunting genre itself. Having only started playing them in the last two years, I understand that I have much to learn in the ways of killing monsters. Therefore I’m willing to say that my negative (featured below) here is definitely my opinion. So if you disagree with me, please make sure you let me know in the comment section down below, I am always open to feedback from our dedicated and passionate fans.

To make a long story short, I think God Eater is a good game and definitely one that any monster hunting fan should look into. For only $20, the game is practically a steal to hold you over until August when God Eater 2 comes out.

God Eater: Resurrection was reviewed on the PlayStation 4 using a digital copy provided by Bandai Namco. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.

The Verdict: 8

The Good

• Graphics are fantastic, even for a PSP remake
• Monster designs are awesome
• The story is actually compelling, with characters that I’ve come to care about, which surprised me

The Bad

• The combat isn’t as refined as Monster Hunter…yet