God Eater 3 so far

Well so far here's what I know after trying out the demo and then some.

*the timing for the game's official release was a bit of a lie "In Fall?" Nope actually it's been bumped like WAY down to Feb-8th! (so totally pre-ordering that sucker!)

Gameplay seems very much the same for veteran Fenrir units such as me, if you too were a veteran then it won't be too much different but then again there's several changes too that might get you mixed up.

-Now since this one's not going on portable devices anymore sadly, there's more focus on using the controller, taking a turn like Monster Hunter: World at this point so now people will be using the L2 and R2 buttons this time around too instead of just L1 and R1 anymore! Speaking of an example; there's now a new Super Jump kind of dash mechanic in where a "hound" (the new unit name for God Eaters this time) has to use R2+X to do a boost jump over a distance at a target or location. Steals quite a bit of stamina (like a -20%!) when done but it helps to quickly stick a bead on those pesky speedy aragami this time or to quickly close distance to dodge an attack from him/her before they land a hit if used properly.

-Weapons are about the same with new entries but there's also a problem to my view. Here's a Hound's arsenal:
Melee Types-
Returning: Knife, Short Sword, Buster Blade, Hammer, Spear, Scythe
New: Dual Knives, Heavy Ring-Axe (?)

Ranged Types-
Returning: Sniper, Semi-Auto Assault, Shotgun
New: Plasma Belt Cannon
Missing: Heavy Cannon

So far I'm liking the fact they are adding dual blades here too which is good for those combo-enthusiast fighters, but that's not all, it can transform to a double-saber too and the more someone hits their prey with that mode, the hotter the weapon gets till it starts to glow red for big damaging power. The new Ring-Axe weapon is hilarious when I dropped on an enemy and did a short Sonic Spindash, lol. It's also extremely helpful to use against downed enemies, and in my case especially knocked-over bosses! I doubt the Quadriga is making a comeback but I do know if I could use this in his face when he's KO on the floor, well this won't feel pretty for his open gut!

On the contrast however, the ranged department has taken a drop. I'm a bit concerned as of the removed Rocket Launcher/Cannon as it's the only ranged weapon in the series that does immense damage of its group not being a melee weapon if used properly albeit annoying to friendly units because of the high knockback case (like Kanon for example   .....) and in my current standing with the arsenal provided for Hound Trainees as of now, the ranged damage is actually.... terrible. Like, really terrible! True though the new plasma belt cannon is a fun gadget to use as the longer someone has it out the stronger it gets, and also perhaps is the one first and only fully automatic weapon which can be shutdown on a second press of the trigger before the OP limit reaches. The longer it goes, the bigger the beam gets up to X3 normal (extends twice) Still, the lack of explosive ranged weapons is a bit of a bummer, guess this is a saying of where now people really have to focus on Aragami Bullets this time instead of ignoring it, making it something that counts this time... feels a bit forced but understandable.

There's now a new move for players to use, lesser than in GE-1 Resurrection but from it indeed: aerial devouring! This helps to steal HP and bullets from pesky bosses and enemies who aren't on the ground still just the same. Not sure if there's a later notice of if they will re-add the different variant kinds such as the dashing types or the jumping ones. Speaking of biting things though, there's a new class of threat in the Aragami Beastlore now, they are called "the Ashborn" and they will bite back, no they literally do! They actually will use a devour attack, and if they bite someone's face, they leave a nasty status on the victim and buff themselves up in the same counter-fashion as players always did this time for themselves now too, making them a bigger problem to deal with so don't let them do that!

I've only seen one boss do that so far, no regular enemies yet, but if some return from GE 1 & 2, this might be a problem as I can see Susan'o or Hannibal doing it quite often (even noted in the game they did that) but this time actually doing it to hurt.

As for the story, this is a sequel and is noted right after GE2; things look apparently like they gone to hell. My guessing and such is that it's all right after because of the incident with Rachel and Julius, but newer, stronger Aragami are out causing even bigger damage than before around now, many God Eaters had became infamous and shunned, in fact even jailed by the ungrateful locals as we start in a prison cell, and bound by two God Ark bracers now. They're stronger than before seems but the people aren't too impressed, or polite.

There's new faces this time around too who you'll be with in such said cell, and one of them is quite a big mouthed boy lol. Can't blame him on his first complaint as "we saved these people and this is how we God Eaters are treated?" I can understand how he feels, truly I do...

In the field, there are healing springs. I first panicked thought they were poison veins but when I approached it, was healing instead, helpful! Bad though because as for being watched during play, bosses will too use these to heal themselves quickly now!

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As for enemy encounters:
You won't be seeing any same-old breeds such as them cute Ogertail dudes or pompous Zygotes anymore; in counterpoise of Ogretails as a first encounter this time there's a bulkier kind of small enemy group that look like them but bigger and are known as trolls (according to part drops when they were defeated).
*There now some enemies who will actually SELF-DESTRUCT as a final attack as they die, beware!!
*There's new bosses here and they seem highly mobile compared to previous aragami bosses! So far three challengers I encountered were: 1- A angry dude with a drilling arm who can burrow underground and use uppercuts and has a lot of destructible parts. 2- A mech girl who glides at super-high speed along the ground and uses a beam saber to attack people, and I mean super-high speed indeed! Utilizing the new boost jump (R2+X) is a must-learn tactic to quickly master here to defeat her! 3- An Ashborn dude named Anubis and is perhaps the most dangerous of the three bosses; he can bite your face off and leave a nasty infection to power himself up! (I haven't fought him yet during this report but I certainly have seen him!)

I take back things about no sightings of Ogretails or Zygotes, but their superior variants are AWOL for now. In fact seems this game isn't finished yet as it's only 1/5 as long as the previous two games but with all them pompous Havakiri Brats around yikes they're just as annoying as Kongou sightings but actually worse! Crazy bitch stings like a thunder hornet, and no I kid not... stupidly fast unlike anything in the demo she was teasing everyone with this time! Not fun!

Regardless, a few days ago the game decided to consider me a "Master" and is one of the first recent platinum trophies of 2019 I scored! What a shock!

Well sorry I had to boast about something worth a go that I actually never get in life as a compliment, lol. Anyway though yes my bad feelings were right: the game is currently sluggish compared to previous GE games indeed but updates eventually(?) are noted to fix this along with finally adding some freaking descant outfits too! Really hoping for something more sexy and stylish, and gotta lose the taped stuffs yeesh... they call that "style"? Whut?

Noted rumor is kind of as follows but more than this:
(For "Early Spring")
-going to add over 100+ more missions finally,
-New Ashborn boss: Amen Ra (yikes!)
-Havakiri is going to get nerfed (finally!)
-players will be sped up like in PSO2 with running animations starting faster,
-players can bite enemies/bosses faster by default
-all charge attacks will be sped up a bit
-NEW OUTFITS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS COMING
-Skill Triggers will be nerfed of cost requirements but stats boost lengthened when triggered
-Ashborn Type bosses will be nerfed of how many chances they spam Devour Counters,
-new modes might be added
--and some other good stuffs...

(for "Late Spring"?)
-"Ein" (AKA: Soma) will have some new gigs for us to do in story mode too!
-Zeke's younger brothers join the rig and fight!
-more new modes
-Assault Missions will have password lock too
--more bonuses but many unannounced...

(for Summer)
-???
-Phym has a secret but she's not telling anyone what's the surprise.

Unexpected alert! Update happened a day before yesterday! Here's what happened!

Outfits!:
-Clare gave me her outfit in four colors!
-Commissioner Amy also had gave me her outfit too in four colors! (a full set)
-Lulu gave me a matching outfit set as she was teased to do in a cutscene, but really this time! (four different types of hers!)
-Hugo gives boys a matching outfit set to his own in four variants,
-Zeke's brother also gives boys his outfit in four different colors too,
-New uniforms unlock after taking the rumored but now active "Classification Missions"
-There's a few new hairstyles for boys and girls, none are all that great (I'm still proud of my twintails unless they give me something to make 'em longer! )

Enemy Contact!:
Boss Attack - Amen Ra does not play fair! He deploys clones who also attack but if they die then he suffers a stun lock! (Faker's core is dark, real Amen Ra's core is glowing!) Watch out though, he shoots FOUR devour missiles! Each hit he does induces Radar EMP-Jamming!

Spoiler:

-Havakiri and Fallen Havakiri have finally slowed back down to like in the demo version and are far more manageable to duel again, but those ladies still hit like a battleship! Time for a rematch!

-Classification missions now exist, they deceptively start light with just a (large!) swarm of spiders and cocoon maidens but eventually start to get to crazy levels like in previous GE games, including bosses having insane power or even infinite overdrive for Ashborn dudes! Also, not every "boss" is the hitlist in some missions so if someone lets up and gets distracted on a boss, they will soon meet a swift "Game OVER!" by time failure if ignoring some small fry, was quite a nasty surprise truly... others may focus on only one boss out of an onslaught of many who are trying their hardest to be a nasty distraction, etc!

Skill Arsenal!:
-Small Sword users now can cancel out of attacks very quickly like in previous GE games!
-Buster Blade users have speed-guard back finally! No more being stuck swinging without being able to stop a mistaken move!
-Devour nipping at enemies and bosses truly has been sped up at least +50%,
-Some skill trigger costs have been nerfed! No more having to do far too many perfect guards to access one, and those pompous 5-bursts have been dropped to the reasonable 3-burst which a God Eater is forced to contain to max now making it useful for them,
-Guarding almost feels as swift as it used to be for God Eaters (at least about 80% to me after this fix)

Bonus Stage!:
-There's one new mission about stealing food... this is where God Eater meets Metal Gear, and the time is extremely short so avoid being caught by two patrolling bosses when dowsing!
-Doing this stage successfully will have people share their cooking with a player like in Phantasy Star Online 2, which too, just like in there, provides multiple buffs at once.

Password Assault!:
-Now Assault Raids can be password locked! Don't expect too good of a run if doing those except with the few someone allows in, and when done, make sure not to forget to remove the passcode to return to casual random Assault Raids with randoms because it stays saved after entered once and must be manually removed.