By the 2080's, Earth has been devastated and all-but overrun by the Aragami. To make matters worse, a calamity has caused outbreaks of an ash-like substance that corrodes anything it touches, and has spread across Europe, leaving vast stretches of uninhabitable area called the Ashlands which continue to grow over time and are crawling with Aragami. The headquarters of Fenrir, the God Eaters previous command organization, has been lost to the Ash, and Fenrir's outposts have all become isolated. The only human habitations that remain in the sea of ash around HQ are underground facilities called "Ports," built in the ruins of Fenrir satellite bases. These defend themselves with a new type of God Eaters: Adaptive God Eaters (AGEs) specialized to resist the Ash and having increased combat capability, but often are treated as little more than slaves. The Ports are unified under the Gleipnir organization, successors to Fenrir planning to retake the Ashlands, while an AGE-based resistance organization named the Crimson Queen opposes Gleipnir seeking to adapt to the Ashlands instead.
Players are equipped with God Arc weapons which can be transformed. In the game, players are tasked to hunt massive monsters known as Aragami. The player character is a God Eater who can absorb energy from monsters to unleash "Burst Arts", special attacks that deal a lot of damage to enemies. Companion characters, which are controlled by artificial intelligence, assist in combat. Players can activate the Engage System to share combat perks with them during combat. The game also introduces Accelerator Triggers, passive abilities that when certain criteria are met in battle, will grant various temporary boosts. Accel Triggers' effects are shared when God Eaters are Engaged. Each Accel Trigger has its own experience gauge that increases the more the player use it in battle, similar to Burst Arts. When Accel Triggers level up, they increase in power and will occasionally unlock new Accel Triggers.
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