TBT- God Hand: Thumbs Up For A Game That Nails Action

God Hand is in many ways what I want from action games. It’s a game filled with generic environments, lacklustre character models and an overwhelming sense that it took the game’s writers all of twenty minutes to hash out whatever semblance of a plot there is that made its way into the final product. By sacrificing development time on components however, Clover Studio and director Shinji Mikami have managed to craft a deft action game whose combat system is unmatched in its ability to generate unadulterated fun.

Much of God Hand equates with the player spending time customizing and experimenting with a choice of about 100 unique attacks, each of which are unlocked progressively as s/he makes his/her way through the game. Many of the attacks possess unique properties, such as being able to break an enemy’s guard, being able to knock an enemy off their feet, or being able to hit multiple enemies at once. These unique qualities are then given a damage value, which the player can see before equipping said attack, and an often elaborate attack animation.

In many ways, it is God Hand’s purity which I find to be its most endearing quality. Being able to create a combo out of whatever attacks you wish, knowing pre-emptively which attacks do how much damage, and being able to see how long it’ll take before it can be pulled off is refreshing. Other actions games such as Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden offer style and challenge, but their pre-defined combos and the often obscurity as to how much each individual attacks do frustrates me. In other words, many other games since have failed to create this degree of transparency and God Hand is better for it.

Like this opinion piece then, God Hand offers a lean and singular experience by emphasizing stylish, challenging combat, with very little fat to speak off regarding plot and characterization. It is a game which should be played by anyone who knows anything about action games.