God Eater 2

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

God Eater 2 is an action role-playing game developed by Shift and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It released in Japan on November 14, 2013, for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable and is a sequel to God Eater. The game introduces a new setting, new heroes, new monsters, and new weapons.

An expanded version, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, came out in Japan on February 19, 2015, for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4, and was released in the West in 2016 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Microsoft Windows. Rage Burst adds a new chapter, a Blood Rage mechanic, more weapons and enemies, and includes all special episode DLC.

Key features:
- New weapons: Boost Hammer, Charge Spear, Variant Scythe, and Shotgun. Existing weapons gain new skills like Rising Edge and Zero Stance.
- Blood Arts: powerful attack upgrades that you improve by completing missions.
- Link Support Devices: provide temporary buffs in battle; you can equip up to 100 points’ worth.
- Co-op play: PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable players could join in multiplayer modes together.

Story premise:
- Set three years after God Eater, a Red Rain plague hits the Far East Branch. A special unit called Blood fights Aragami and uncovers dark plans behind the outbreak, leading to battles against powerful enemies and a race to stop a planet-wide threat.

Development and reception:
- God Eater 2 was announced in 2011; a Vita/PSP demo released in 2013. Patches added online multiplayer and new episodes, and Rage Burst expanded the game further. The Western release followed in 2016.
- The game received positive reviews, with Famitsu giving the Vita version 38/40 and the PSP version 35/40. It performed well in Japan during its first week, with Vita sales topping 266,000 copies and PSP sales over 112,000. By March 2014, about 700,000 copies had shipped in Japan. Rage Burst also posted strong debut-week sales.

Legacy:
- A sequel, God Eater 3, released in 2018–2019. Marvelous later took over development from Shift.