Okay, I lied. You do know about God Hand, but because of the wrong reasons. It’s this thing right here:
Yeah, totally unexpected, but IGN dropped the ball, because God Hand absolutely kicks ass. I’ve been playing it here and there recently and I can confirm that every claim that the reviewer made at the time is absolutely and completely wrong. That’s not to say that the game is perfect, as it has a lot of quirks that can get annoying, but at the same time add to the charm of the recipe of God Hand. But how come? Accompany me on my review of God Hand: The Coolest Game You Didn’t Know About.
God Hand puts us on the shoes of Gene (or is it Jin?), who is just some dude who happens to be an expert in martial arts, for some reason. Despite his competence, he isn’t Kenshiro, and when he tries to save a girl from some thugs, he ends up with his arm chopped. Happens to the best of us. Fortunately, he receives the God Hand, an arm with sacred powers that gives him inhuman strength and speed but at the same time it summons demons that can kick his ass seriously. Armed with this powerful weapon and with the girl he saved by his side, Gene sets out on a quest for revenge. This is the premise of God Hand, one of the most unique games to come out of the PS2 era. It was developed by Clover Studio (the guys behind Viewtiful Joe and Okami), published by Capcom and directed by Shinji Mikami. This last part is what tells you that the game is good.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, not too different from Mad Max or Hokuto no Ken and the setting is mostly wild west-like. There are saloons, casinos, coliseums, shops… all that you could expect from a world like this. Most of its denizens are deranged, as expected: most of them are violent and attack bystanders just for the fun of it. And as I mentioned, there are demons as well. Typical stuff, really, but it helps God Hand differentiate itself from other games with a similar setting. And if that’s not enough, the story or the gameplay will make sure that it does.
God Hand has tank controls.
And you might think: “A BEAT ‘EM UP WITH TANK CONTROLS????? ARE YOU A COMPLETE FOOL?”. But what if I told you…
…it works?
That’s right. Somehow, whether it’s by magic or because Shinji Mikami is just that good, the tank controls of God Hand work, and they REALLY work. I attribute this to the speed at which Gene moves, which makes those tank controls feel really fluid. Overall, Gene controls very well, and as a result, every death that happens to you (and believe me, it will happen because the game is tough as nails) is mostly a skill issue. This doesn’t mean the combat system is perfect. As a result of the tank controls, sometimes you’ll have issues focusing on a specific enemy that you want to beat. But that’s the only thing I can criticize the game for. It’s just that good.
Aside from the tank controls, God Hand features an unique mechanic: customizable move set! From the pause menu, you can choose what moves you can Gene to use when pressing square, triangle or X. This makes for a very unique experience that’s tailor-made for each player. You can focus on fast, weak jabs with a strong finisher; focus entirely on kicks; go for the big hits or… whatever you want, really! Aside from dealing damage, you can also break the guard of enemies (very important, as they block often!), juggle then or launch them.
The punishments (at least, that’s what I call them) are a big part of the game. In certain situations, you’ll be prompted to mash circle, dealing big, uninterrupted damage to enemies. The most common situation is when you stun them, but if you manage to knock an enemy down, you can stomp them, which is very satisfying to do. It’s not a particularly deep mechanic, but it’s very fun and has a lot of impact.
The God Hand! Yes, that's a mechanic. It's similar to Devil May Cry's Devil Trigger: once the meter is filled, you can activate the powers of the God Hand, increasing your attack, your speed, your attack speed as well as becoming invincible and making your attacks unblockable. Proper use of this transformation is vital to beat the game, because even the most common enemies can kick your ass if you're not prepared.
Last, but not least, a quick mention to the level system. When you battle, sometimes the level will go up. Does this mean that it’s part RPG? Heavens, no! Rather, it’s the enemies’ level that goes up, making them stronger and more reactive. This means that they’ll evade and block more, and when you’re beating down on an enemy, they’ll be more likely to interrupt you. This is part of what makes the game hard (although I would be lying if I said that the game is easy at level 1). To compensate, however, enemies drop more rewards the higher the level is. These rewards range from healing items to money, and more, so having a high level is not necessarily a bad idea. The level is pretty much just a type of adaptative difficulty for when you’re too good or too bad.
Oh, and don’t disregard those mid bosses. They can be just as tough (if not more) than the end bosses. Only Mikami!
Graphically speaking, the game is good. It’s not impressive, like in a Square Enix game, but the models look very good, and are complemented by good designs (Gene in particular looks badass) while also being very well animated. In fact, they are too well animated: the animations are hilarious, expressive and colorful. An honorable mention to the people you save, they go from “GOD PLEASE HELP ME FROM THIS RUFFIANS” to “turns out I didn’t need your help”. To compensate for those models, the scenarios look very “whatever”. They are not bad, mind you, but in comparison to the characters they are a bit weak. There’s a variety of backgrounds, but they never really stand out aside from “it makes sense for the point we are in the story”. The music, on the other hand, is amazing. It’s very reminiscent of Trigun (which I recommend a lot, by the way), with lots of guitars with varying tempo that always push you towards the action. The music themes of the bosses, in particular, really stand out a lot, because they complement their personalities greatly.
The game is far from perfect, mind you. Because of the controls, sometimes the camera can screw you over. Also, the treatment of women is cringey at times. In spite of those flaws, I recommend God Hand wholeheartedly.
God Hand is a lesson about life: having fun and letting loose from time to time. We don’t have to be serious 24/7, and that’s beautiful. We have to be more like God Hand.
Yeah, totally unexpected, but IGN dropped the ball, because God Hand absolutely kicks ass. I’ve been playing it here and there recently and I can confirm that every claim that the reviewer made at the time is absolutely and completely wrong. That’s not to say that the game is perfect, as it has a lot of quirks that can get annoying, but at the same time add to the charm of the recipe of God Hand. But how come? Accompany me on my review of God Hand: The Coolest Game You Didn’t Know About.
A WACKY WILD WEST
Money can do anything, such as purchasing fighting techniques or absurdly expensive pizza.
God Hand puts us on the shoes of Gene (or is it Jin?), who is just some dude who happens to be an expert in martial arts, for some reason. Despite his competence, he isn’t Kenshiro, and when he tries to save a girl from some thugs, he ends up with his arm chopped. Happens to the best of us. Fortunately, he receives the God Hand, an arm with sacred powers that gives him inhuman strength and speed but at the same time it summons demons that can kick his ass seriously. Armed with this powerful weapon and with the girl he saved by his side, Gene sets out on a quest for revenge. This is the premise of God Hand, one of the most unique games to come out of the PS2 era. It was developed by Clover Studio (the guys behind Viewtiful Joe and Okami), published by Capcom and directed by Shinji Mikami. This last part is what tells you that the game is good.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, not too different from Mad Max or Hokuto no Ken and the setting is mostly wild west-like. There are saloons, casinos, coliseums, shops… all that you could expect from a world like this. Most of its denizens are deranged, as expected: most of them are violent and attack bystanders just for the fun of it. And as I mentioned, there are demons as well. Typical stuff, really, but it helps God Hand differentiate itself from other games with a similar setting. And if that’s not enough, the story or the gameplay will make sure that it does.
AN UNSERIOUS ATTEMPT
This is real.
All of this may sound weird, because it is. God Hand wears its wackiness with pride, because the story is very unserious. Most dialogues try to be funny and are usually complemented by extremely exaggerated scenes. As a result, the story is nothing to write home about, but it’s very fun because of the wackiness and because of how it’s executed. Same goes for the characters: it’s all for shits and giggles and you should suspend your disbelief a lot. And that’s great! I love it a lot. Shinji Mikami and his team managed to strike the perfect point for things to be crazy without getting annoying. It’s wonderfully executed, not many pieces of media manage to do it like God Hand.
BEAT ‘EM UP… WITH A TWIST
Enjoy high octane stomping action!
If there’s anything about God Hand that stands out is its gameplay. God Hand is a beat ’em up or brawler in which you beat down enemies with your bare fists. Sometimes you may find weapons which, frankly, are quite powerful, and even throw explosive barrels and crates to deal damage from afar. Being a 3D game, it might remind you of earlier Yakuza games, but here is the thing…
God Hand has tank controls.
And you might think: “A BEAT ‘EM UP WITH TANK CONTROLS????? ARE YOU A COMPLETE FOOL?”. But what if I told you…
…it works?
That’s right. Somehow, whether it’s by magic or because Shinji Mikami is just that good, the tank controls of God Hand work, and they REALLY work. I attribute this to the speed at which Gene moves, which makes those tank controls feel really fluid. Overall, Gene controls very well, and as a result, every death that happens to you (and believe me, it will happen because the game is tough as nails) is mostly a skill issue. This doesn’t mean the combat system is perfect. As a result of the tank controls, sometimes you’ll have issues focusing on a specific enemy that you want to beat. But that’s the only thing I can criticize the game for. It’s just that good.
YOU WANT MECHANICS? WE GOT MECHANICS
We even got some good old fashioned, once per lifetime, shitty PS2 minigames.
Aside from the tank controls, God Hand features an unique mechanic: customizable move set! From the pause menu, you can choose what moves you can Gene to use when pressing square, triangle or X. This makes for a very unique experience that’s tailor-made for each player. You can focus on fast, weak jabs with a strong finisher; focus entirely on kicks; go for the big hits or… whatever you want, really! Aside from dealing damage, you can also break the guard of enemies (very important, as they block often!), juggle then or launch them.
The punishments (at least, that’s what I call them) are a big part of the game. In certain situations, you’ll be prompted to mash circle, dealing big, uninterrupted damage to enemies. The most common situation is when you stun them, but if you manage to knock an enemy down, you can stomp them, which is very satisfying to do. It’s not a particularly deep mechanic, but it’s very fun and has a lot of impact.
The God Hand! Yes, that's a mechanic. It's similar to Devil May Cry's Devil Trigger: once the meter is filled, you can activate the powers of the God Hand, increasing your attack, your speed, your attack speed as well as becoming invincible and making your attacks unblockable. Proper use of this transformation is vital to beat the game, because even the most common enemies can kick your ass if you're not prepared.
Last, but not least, a quick mention to the level system. When you battle, sometimes the level will go up. Does this mean that it’s part RPG? Heavens, no! Rather, it’s the enemies’ level that goes up, making them stronger and more reactive. This means that they’ll evade and block more, and when you’re beating down on an enemy, they’ll be more likely to interrupt you. This is part of what makes the game hard (although I would be lying if I said that the game is easy at level 1). To compensate, however, enemies drop more rewards the higher the level is. These rewards range from healing items to money, and more, so having a high level is not necessarily a bad idea. The level is pretty much just a type of adaptative difficulty for when you’re too good or too bad.
BOSSES AND MID BOSSES
THIS IS REAL.
As with any good beat ‘em up, halfway through each level you’ll face mid bosses, and at the end, proper bosses. These are the biggest testaments of skill in the whole game and require you to be in top shape to just be able to graze them. They evade, block and counter like there’s no tomorrow, but there’s always opening to exploit. Each boss also feels unique, because they are unique. For example, Elvis is a big guy, so he focuses on big moves that hit hard but are fairly easy to avoid. He also uses his cigar to blind you. Shannon, on the other hand, is a slim temptress, so she uses her magic wand to kill you in three hits and transform you into a chihuahua. Yes, this is real, please check it out.
Oh, and don’t disregard those mid bosses. They can be just as tough (if not more) than the end bosses. Only Mikami!
YET STARING ACROSS THIS BARREN WASTED LAND
A post apocalyptic world is the best way to spawn weirdos, such as the Powerless Rangers.
The level design in God Hand is alright. It does what it has to do. For the most part, it’s linear, but there will be times where, to advance to the next area, you’ll need to collect keys to open doors. There’s a particular stage in Level 1 that has you go through several rooms in a mansion to collect three keys and make progress. There are also diversions sometimes that are not necessary to progress, but sometimes hold crates with healing items or money, so it’s always good to explore a bit, and hidden in specific spots you’ll find, sometimes, demonic fairies. By interacting with them, you’ll do challenges that are similar to the ones found in Devil May Cry, with the difference that they are mostly just beating up enemies in a certain amount of time. Also, when you beat them, you just get money (which you can actually farm), but it’s still good to do them because you get a lot of cash, and it’s a huge boon, especially early game.
Graphically speaking, the game is good. It’s not impressive, like in a Square Enix game, but the models look very good, and are complemented by good designs (Gene in particular looks badass) while also being very well animated. In fact, they are too well animated: the animations are hilarious, expressive and colorful. An honorable mention to the people you save, they go from “GOD PLEASE HELP ME FROM THIS RUFFIANS” to “turns out I didn’t need your help”. To compensate for those models, the scenarios look very “whatever”. They are not bad, mind you, but in comparison to the characters they are a bit weak. There’s a variety of backgrounds, but they never really stand out aside from “it makes sense for the point we are in the story”. The music, on the other hand, is amazing. It’s very reminiscent of Trigun (which I recommend a lot, by the way), with lots of guitars with varying tempo that always push you towards the action. The music themes of the bosses, in particular, really stand out a lot, because they complement their personalities greatly.
FINAL WORDS
Guess who you can only do this punishment to.
God Hand is brutal and ruthless, but also unique, badass and fun. There’s, literally, no other game like God Hand, and that’s for the best, because it’d make God Hand less special. This is probably one of the biggest passion projects ever, because Shinji Mikami simply wanted to make a game that he found fun, no matter how good it’d sell. In a way, he predicted the future, because the game was a commercial failure, and wouldn’t become a cult classic until much later.
The game is far from perfect, mind you. Because of the controls, sometimes the camera can screw you over. Also, the treatment of women is cringey at times. In spite of those flaws, I recommend God Hand wholeheartedly.
God Hand is a lesson about life: having fun and letting loose from time to time. We don’t have to be serious 24/7, and that’s beautiful. We have to be more like God Hand.
Pros
- + Unique gameplay.
- + Good music.
- + Goofy, fun story.
- + Memorable characters.
- + Very customizable.
- + Hard but fair, for the most part.
- + Graphics that stand the test of time.
Cons
- - Combat takes a while to get used to.
- - Lacks meaningful tutorials.
- - Some mechanics are not explained.
- - Camera can be antagonistic at times.
10
Gameplay
It's hard to criticize the combat of God Hand. Sure, it's weird, but it's all pure skill.
8
Graphics
For the most part, the game looks good, especially the models.
7
Story
The story stands out for its goofiness, making sure that you're never bored, but it lacks depth.
9
Sound
Really good music overall, no complaints whatsoever.
8
Replayability
Several levels of difficulty (some even unlocked after beating the game), stages that can be beaten quick, overall short length and good customization make for a very replayable game.
8.4
out of 10
Overall
WTF Chris Roper, you freaking nooblord.
Nooblord.
Nooblord.
Nooblord.
Nooblord.
Nooblord.
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. I wish to beat this game again one day but good luck to me to getting up to where I was before....XD
