Gods Eater Burst

File:God Eater Cover 1513.jpg

"Gods will fall. Humanity will rise."

Gods Eater Burst is a PSP action-adventure game developed by Shift and published by Namco Bandai. Originally released in Japan as God Eater in February 2010, it received an Updated Rerelease in October and localized for North America and Europe by D3 Publisher under the name Gods Eater Burst on March 2011, sporting new missions and items, as well as various gameplay tweaks and balances.

The gameplay is similar to Capcom's Monster Hunter series in that it revolves around teams of up to four slaying gigantic monsters and using the loot found to create new weapons, but it carries the distinction of having an actual plot, being much faster, and having several gameplay differences.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where monsters known as Aragami have destroyed nearly everything and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction, the player becomes a Gods Eater for the Fenrir Corporation, one who hunts Aragami using the God Arc, the only weapon proven to be effective against them. Along with your fellow Gods Eaters, you fight to survive and perhaps in time, learn of the true nature of the threat the planet faces.

A sequel has been confirmed to be in the making.

Character sheet under construction here.

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Gods Eater Burst provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion: This is not the first time Michelle Ruff has voiced a Friendly Sniper Action Girl who fights giant beasts in an apocalyptic wasteland and acts as the Cool Big Sis of her team.
  • Nor is it the first time Kyle Hebert has been her leader and Love Interest.
• After the End: The game starts out after the Aragami have eaten most of the planet.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: While outfits aren't given out as actual quest rewards, new ones can be bought/crafted using materials found on missions.
• Anyone Can Die: Hammered into you early on with Eric der Vogelweid, who gets devoured just as he's introducing himself to you. He doesn't look at all like cannon fodder at the time, so it really comes out of nowhere.
  • This is followed by Lindow... Or is it?
• Armor Is Useless: The clothes you can create have no effect on gameplay outside of aesthetics, which can be kinda jarring when you consider that samurai armor give you no more protection than a swimsuit. Possibly handwaved in that the injection of Bias Factor necessary to become a Gods Eater grants the user increased physical abilities.
• Ascended Extra: Licca Kusunoki has no speaking parts and plays very little part in the main Gods Eater story. In the Burst story, though, she not only gets screen time and a voice actress, but she also plays a part in the story when some Vajratails get into the base.
• Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Some of the Aragami.
  • A notable example would be the Ouroboros; the Database describes it to be as big as a mountain, and when you see it, you'll find that they weren't exaggerating.
• The Bait: Kota's "Lovely Lindow Luring Line-Up" plan uses a team of female-only God Eaters as bait to Lure out Lindow. After it ended in failure he reveals "Lovely Lindow Luring Line-Up Version 2" which is basically Version 1 plus beer.
• BFG/BFS : Your weapon of choice, which is capable of transforming between both.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: The Aragami are actually clusters of single-celled organisms that can consume just about anything, as well as have the ability to take on the traits of the things they eat. The only reason there's still a breathable atmosphere in the world is because some Aragami learned to photosynthesize.
• Beam Spam: The Sariel Aragami series float around the battlefield and do this.
• Big Damn Heroes: Pulled by the protagonist during the Burst storyline when s/he saves Tatsumi from the Corrosive Hannibal.
  • At one point, Alisa appears to help Sakuya in the Aegis.
• Character Customization: Present and fairly robust. Name, face, skin tone, and voice are set in the beginning and can't be changed after that, but hair can be changed whenever you want, and there are a number of different clothes you can create.
• Charged Attack: Buster Blades can be charged to inflict massive damage. It charges faster when in Burst Mode.
  • On the matter of Burst Mode, all God Arcs have a Devour move, though those that plan to get gutsy can also use it to trigger Burst Mode as well
• Combat Pragmatist: Karel Schneider's preferred modus operandi is to sneak up on Aragami and poison them.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The Bullet Outlines for the icons come in the following colors (and applies to some Blades, Guns and Shields): Red for Blaze, Blue for Freeze, Yellow for Shock, Purple for Divine and (only applies to Bullets), Green for Recovery bullets. Status-based shots (as well as mixed elements) are Colorless.
• Cowardly Boss: Every Boss. If the map allows it they will run.
  • Even if the spot they run to is only two yards away, taking them out of rage without you having to run so much would be a pain in the butt.
• Crapsack World: Humanity has been pushed to near-extinction by the Aragami, and the one organization capable of fighting them may not be telling the entire truth of the matter. However, people are still mostly good on an individual basis.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Early on in the game, the group tackles a group of endgame-level Aragami.
  • Much later on in the game, during the new Burst story line, your Silent Protagonist speaks to Lindow, DualWields his/her God Arc and Lindow's, then proceeds to rip the final boss's mouth open. It's as awesome as it sounds.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The game has four people at the most- although they have big-ass swords- kicking the tuchus of monsters at least the size of a large hill. On a daily basis.
• Dub Name Change: The title of the game itself, from "God" to "Gods." This change was most likely done to avoid offending any concerned parties.
• Eldritch Abomination: Most of the Aragami. Especially one of the DLC monsters, Venus, who's an amalgamation of many other Aragami into one lovely piece of melting flesh. Could also count Lindow's transformation into a Corrosive Hannibal.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Blaze (Fire), Freeze (Ice), Shock (Lightning), and Divine (Holy) that act as modifiers to non-elemental physical attack properties.
• The Empire: The Fenrir Corporation has shades of this. They are the dominant power in the world since they are the only ones who can fight the Aragami, but they can force anyone they want to undergo the eligibility test to become a Gods Eater. Additionally, Fenrir bases (the safest places in the world at the moment) can only sustain so many people, so those not rich/affluent/directly useful enough are forced to live in the Outer Ghetto.
• Expy: Hannibal is often stated to be Nargacuga 2.0. They have similar body shape, tail whip attacks, and are very fast.
  • The Kongoa is similar to both the Congalala and Blagonga from the same franchise, even sharing their shockwave bodyslam move.
• Extreme Omnivore: The Aragami have eaten much of what used to exist on Earth. Including rather large chunks of the buildings.
• Fantastic Ghetto: The Outer Ghetto.
• Fan Nickname: The Chi-you is lovingly called "Birdman" by many God Eaters.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Three of the four type of bullets available to you, the other type being Divine.
• Freak-Out: One unstable party member completely loses it and has to be hospitalized and medicated heavily at one point.
• Friendly Fire: Kanon Daiba. Constantly. It's so bad her teammates jump out of her gun's trajectory — even when she tries to use Recovery bullets on them.
• Follow the Leader: This game copied the Monster Hunter hunting formula and 4 people party size. The speed the of hunts, NPCs, weapons of choice, and monsters themselves are VERY different, not to mention having an actual plot.
• Gag Boobs: One of the Fallen Ouroboros has a pair that are probably larger then the main characters themselves and they generally just... bounce around when the main body moves.
• Gainaxing: Disturbingly enough, it's not found in the humans, but in several of the Aragami. Both the Zygote and Sariel species of Aragami tend to "bounce" when they are knocked out of the air. It's not very noticable, but it's there. For a more noticable example, see Gag Boobs.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In Kanon's database profile as well as a few conversations with her, it's noted that she's notorious for friendly fire. Much to the consternation of those who wish to use a medic when Sakuya isn't around, this is not just character fluff. Her AI is programmed to shoot even when you're in her line of fire.
  • A more subtle example can be found in Kota. Shortly after arriving, Alisa disparagingly notes that he wastes too much of his health when he performs a Link Aid. In gameplay, most characters will usually only give about half of their health to revive you, but Kota can often be seen using up a lot more, showing that what Alisa said was true.
• Gargle Blaster: First Love Juice. Tastes sweet and bitter like a first love.
• Healing Shiv: You can create healing bullets to shoot your friends or NPC allies with.
• Heroic BSOD: Happens to the protagonist when s/he discovers that the Hannibal is actually Lindow transformed into an Aragami.
• Holy Hand Grenade: One of the bullet types available to you to use at the start. Specifically, kamuy::mortar bullet, which explodes with Divine damage upon impact.
• Hong Kong Dub: A lot more noticeable during the Burst storyline, where the camera starts focusing a lot more on the characters' faces during cutscenes.
• I'm an Aragami-tarian: The God Arc can be charged to turn into a pair of jaws that chomps on the Aragami. If the Aragami is still alive, it puts you into Super Mode and gives you some special bullets which can be shot back into the enemy or used on allies to put them into Super Mode (albeit only up to three shots at most can be fired on a character). Devouring a dead Aragami means looting its body for raw materials.
  • If you know what you're doing, you can also end a Blade Combo in a Devour to have a shorter Burst Mode.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: For being in a mostly-destroyed future, looking awesome hasn't gone out of style.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: The Old-Type God Arcs are either a BFS or a BFG. The New-Type ones can switch between the two, as well as be able to turn to a Shield.
• Inconsistent Dub: The publishers aren't even trying to hide the fact that the Dub Name Change to Gods Eater Burst was a last minute thing. While the in-game text uses "Gods Eater," the spoken dialogue uses "God Eater."
• Item Crafting: Besides the standard Build and Upgrade, you can also make your own Bullets in this manner.
  • You can also use several items to make one item, or vice versa. This allows you to gather different resources than the ones specified in a weapon's recipe list, then convert your resources to the resources required.
• It May Help You on Your Quest: See those raven feathers? The ones that are indicated as Vendor Trash and sell for 4000fc? The ones the merchant constantly urges you to sell? Better keep three of those.
• Kamehame Hadoken: The Chi-you's energy-based projectile attacks, especially the charged-up final blast of the combo.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Shun Ogawa likes to leave his teammates behind and charge enemies on his own. Doubles with Suicidal Overconfidence as his profile states that he lacks the skills necessary to handle such antics.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Vajra Line stands out the most in regards to this, but the big winner is the Dyaus Pita. It has incredible power, equally incredible defense, and in Rage Mode it could give The Flash a tough time in a race.
• Living Weapon: The God Arc. It is created using Aragami cores and is bound to its user's bracelet (which is fused to said user). They may not look that alive under ordinary circumstances, but given the right command, they can turn into a giant pair of jaws that chomps on any other Aragami on sight.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Quadriga Aragami fights with this tactic, and you can (more or less) send these same Missiles right back at it via Devouring it and using its Aragami bullet.
• Meaningful Name: Kanon, or "cannon." Ever heard the expression "loose cannon?" Yeah, expect her to be very reckless in combat.
• Mega Manning: Hitting an Aragami with a Devour attack usually grants you three bullets capable of shooting something similar to its signature attack.
• Morph Weapon: The New-Type God Arcs can switch between melee and ranged modes, have a built-in shield, and can turn into a set of big monstery jaws in order to "Devour" an Aragami's Oracle Cells.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: It doesn't matter how skinny or scrawny the characters are, they will always be able to hold their incredibly huge weapons as if they're weightless.
  • Explained in-story — Gods Eaters are enhanced through their Oracle Cells to have super strength and regeneration abilities.
• Nice Girl: Sakuya, definitely, as well as Alisa post-Character Development.
• No Cutscene Inventory Inertia: Partially averted. Your character will usually have their exact equipment showing in cutscenes, but replaying some earlier cutscenes with late-game clothing equipped will cause those items to be replaced by the default uniform items. In a less noticeable instance, your character will always hold their God Arc in blade form, regardless of details like having been in gun form two seconds ago.
• Only in It For the Money: Karel Schneider. Almost every conversation with him is about money and he makes it very clear that his only motivation to go out there and kick some Aragami ass is the reward. He also comes with the Connossieur ability that increases the probability of finding Vendor Items which can be sold for thousands of fc.
• Picky Eater: The basis of every bit of Anti-Aragami tech is using the Bias-Factor to make the Oracle Cells into this.
• Powers as Programs: The operating principle behind bullet customization.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Due in no small part to your status as Silent Protagonist.
• Randomly Drops: Every Aragami has somewhere between five and ten different materials that you can get if you devour their cores after you kill them and every material has a fixed drop rate. Gets infuriating later on as creating and upgrading the high end equipment requires multiples of the material with the lowest drop rate.
• Rank Inflation: The highest rank on a mission can be SSS+.
• Restraining Bolt: Gods Eaters wear bracelets that inject them with Oracle Cells that put them in the "safe zone" for their weapon's Bias Factor (the thing determining what an Aragami will and will not eat). They're permanently attached and without them, they'd get eaten by their own weapons.
  • This problem is turned into a plot point when Lindow loses his armlet in a fight with an Aragami, cutting off his Bias Factor supply. During his subsequent disappearance, he slowly turns into a Corrosive Hannibal.
• Scavenger World: Most of the items you scrounge for are old medical supplies, bits of cloth, magnets, and rare minerals. They get converted to useful materials at mission's end.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: Many of the post-game challenge missions involve you facing several very tough Aragami on your own. One example being a solo mission to destroy a souped up Dyaus Pita, who happens to be accompanied by three equally souped up Prithvi Mata.
• Silent Protagonist: Actually subverted, in cutscenes you are indeed silent, but in combat your character use a previously chosen lines each with their own voice and personality. Sometimes leads to hilarious contrast.
  • The protagonist actually speaks to Lindow, before ripping Hannibal in half. And it is awesome.
• Spoiler Opening: As this game is a port of Burst, they would naturally use the Burst opening. For many of the western gamers who start off with the initial English release, this leads to problems, especially once they play enough of the game to experience key events and get a grasp of what's going on.
• Underground Monkey: 49 different Aragami - 14 basic models.
• Utopia: The goal of the Fenrir Corporation is the Aegis Project, an impenetrable safe haven against the Aragami.
• Unfriendly Fire: Johannes has Alisa into killing Lindow.
• Walking Tank: The Quadriga takes the form of a tank, complete with treads going up its four legs (that it never uses).
• Wave Motion Gun: The Ouroboros and Arda Nova type Aragami will use these often. And so can you when you devour them.
• Wrench Wench: Licca Kusunoki, in charge of maintaining the Far East Branch's God Arcs.
• X Meets Y: Monster Hunter meets Phantasy Star Portable.