Japanese PlayStation fans have been left without a Monster Hunter title since the release of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for PSP and PS3 in 2010 and 1011, and maybe it’s time for them to move to a new monster hunting franchise.
God Eater 2, that will be released locally on November the 14th, seems to be in the right place at the right time, and the long wait for a release daye created quite a lot of anticipation between Japanese gamers.
The God Eater franchise has always been considered Namco Bandai’s response to its rival by Capcom, and while the first chapter of the series, that was released in the US as Gods Eater Burst, failed to compete on the same level with Monster Hunter, God Eater 2 could have better luck, at least if the best seller chart on Amazon Japan is to be believed.
While Monster Hunter 4 dominated the chart since yesterday, today God Eater 2 overtook it and gained the 1st place. It’s worth mentioning that Capcom’s 3DS game just sold out (yesterday it was still available), so that definitely played a role, but the fact that God Eater 2 surpassed it this fast definitely shows promise for a heated competition between the two franchises this fall.
It also has to be considered that God Eater 2 is split in two version, as it’ll be released for PSP as well. The PSP version is currently ranked 7th.
Did the PS Vita finally find its killer application in Japan to replace Monster Hunter, now that it jumped ship to Nintendo’s consoles? We’ll have to wait and see. God Eater 2 is much more story-driven than Monster Hunter games, and its art style is much more akin to anime. This could determine a relevant advantage in Japan, where good stories and anime style are definitely appreciated.
One thing is for sure, solid sales might encourage Namco Bandai to localize the game in English, and that would be quite positive.
