Buddy Up In God Eater Resurrection

God Eater Resurrection is, like many of the hunting games out there, a social experience. People can go online and interact with people around the world, taking out Aragami and experiencing the story together. But, like Toukiden, it also gives people a chance to get closer to the virtual characters they’ll work with throughout the game. There’s an opportunity to bond with the other God Eaters, getting extra scenes or skills as a reward for your efforts.

Fortunately, you don’t have to go too far to get people on your team. God Eater Resurrection does a pretty great job of bringing extra party members into the fold as you go. Lindow, Sakuya, and Soma take you through your very first missions. Kota’s joins the Far East branch at the same time as you do. Alisa is introduced as the story progresses. Annette and Frederico don’t get fancy introductions, but they’re available as party members from the start. Other generic sub characters, like Kanon, eventually show up. Your ranks start to swell after a while, offering quite a bit of variety to anyone wondering what kind of party to throw for some unsuspecting Aragami.

All of these characters, even the more minor ones, have special events you can see after battles. If you go through a mission with a character and are presented with an option to use one of their three star Support Ability Cards, you will get to see a special scene with that character. Think of this as a reward for taking that character out with you on enough missions and using their cards. (Tsubaki fans will especially want to earn her two events.) Make sure you pay attention, because when I checked the Terminal, I didn’t see an option to rewatch some of these scenes I’d already unlocked with characters.

There’s a trick to getting these Support Ability Card events in God Eater Resurrection. First, you must level up the Support Ability Card. When going through a mission, you might randomly get an opportunity to bring up a card that offers a perk. Using it more will take it from one to three stars. Once it is at three stars, you have to take that character on a either a free mission or a story mission you’re already repeating. You won’t get an opportunity to see a character-related event after beating a story mission. The story segment takes priority. You might randomly get a chance to get to know that character better.

While you may eventually want to take everyone along so you can enjoy the magic that is friendship, it can be better for you to focus on particular parties. Characters have different skills tied to them. For example, NPCs have unique passive bonuses that can aid you, even though they aren’t at your side in an actual battle. When you buy your upgrades, you can see what abilities each one has. I’m a big fan of Kota, despite his voice, because he has a skill that increases the number of consumable items you can find. If you don’t care for him, Licca has the same skill. Once you get to the point where Ren shows up, you can get Rare Arc Up with him.

Also, you’ll start to see the characters you work with more getting better personal abilities. Call me silly, but I always liked Kanon as a healer in God Eater Burst and God Eater Resurrection. However, once Sakuya learned her Healing Beam Personal Abilities, she became a much better fit for my team. She’d focus more on attacking and only heal when absolutely necessary, which left me a little worried sometimes, but she ended up being more solid for me. Granted, this could change for everyone. Each person will have their favorite characters, and some might even prefer to bring Alisa for their fighting and recovery needs. Again, this takes time. It’s only as characters grow and the game progresses that more Personal Abilities will become available. Keep an eye on them.

Of course, you’ll also develop a favorite team, and that’s fine. For my team, I like to have Lindow, either Sakuya or Kanon, and either Soma or Annette along. Lindow’s there because he’s fast, strong, and my favorite character. I switch between Sakuya and Kanon, based on the situation. Sakuya’s more likely to be in my group on critical story missions, because I feel like she’s more effective there and restores more health than Kanon, but Kanon is my go-to for ordinary missions due to the more frequent rate of healing. The last slot is honestly my filler space. Sometimes I feel like Annette spams burst a bit, which makes her a fun ally, but I also think Soma is a strong ally who I can count on to deliver major damage whenever I play.

One thing I will say about God Eater Resurrection is that I’m very impressed with the AI. Lindow and Soma offer just the right amount of offensive backup. Kanon seems like she’s almost constantly healing, which works well when you need it. Sakuya feels a bit more prudent about it, as I’ll notice her coming through right when I need it on those more treacherous missions. It’s a relief, since you can’t always hop online and count on an actual other person to help you through a rough patch. Though, I do always prefer real people once I get to missions ranked 10 or higher.

There are a lot of interesting characters in God Eater Resurrection. The event scenes and personal abilities make you want to try using each one, so you can see how effective they might be in battle or affecting their storylines could be. What makes it all even better is that the characters are so cool and competent that putting the effort in to learn more about them and see what their skills bring to a battle doesn’t feel like a chore. There’s a good balance here that God Eaters will appreciate.

God Eater Resurrection is immediately available for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in North America. It will come to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Europe, as well as PCs worldwide, on August 30, 2016.