God Hand: really a bad game?

[Xeogred]

I thought it was pretty awesome. It's definitely a budget title, but good stuff.

[Gamerforlife]

I didn't like it quite honestly despite the cult status it has among beat'em up fans. The controls are weird with that stupid right analog to duck thing. When you have to mash the analog stick repeatedly to dodge a whole series of moves it just feels awkward and annoying

The game is too random(random health items, random demon appearances, etc.). The game is not a true test of skill since getting through an area successfully might ultimately come down to whether or not you were lucky enough to find health items or power ups and lucky enough to not spawn a demon encounter. When luck factors into a game, automatic fail. Particularly when it's one of those games that is trying to appeal to the hardcore gamer that wants a tough game that can legitimately challenge their skills. Your skills aren't being challenged in a game where at any given time you can get a lucky break(randomly spawned items/power ups)or get screwed up the ass(spawning a bunch of demon encounters). God Hand is fifty percent luck, fifty percent skill and that makes it a bad game

The whole difficulty system of the game is stupid to. No matter what difficulty you set the game on, it can change it at any time during gameplay which completely robs the player of any kind of choice

The graphics are ugly too. God Hand is a game that wants to get by on its gimmicks(the weird humor, over the top moves, etc.)to hide the fact that it is badly designed

[brunoafh]

Loved every second of each of my 10+ playthroughs and rank it up there with the most enjoyable PS2 games ever.

God Hand forever.

[Veno]

Loved every second of each of my 10+ playthroughs and rank it up there with the most enjoyable PS2 games ever.

God Hand forever.

Agree with this here.

@Gamerforlife: Though luck plays a factor, I feel skill definitely plays the majority. Whenever I take a huge hit, I feel like it's my fault for not being able to dodge it, and each death screen I feel comes with a sense for improvement.

[Erik_Twice]

I haven't played God Hand but if it's a hard game it's no wonder it gets bad scores in every magazine. They simply don't bother, in the same way that they complain about how Gradius lasts for 30 minutes.

[Anapan]

I played it and had fun for awhile, but didn't understand the mechanics and couldn't play it well so I just got beaten into the dirt shortly after getting into the game fully (yeah button mashing doesn't work...). When I was at my friend's place he told me to give it another try while explaining to me me how to play it properly and now it's a completely different experience. Can't say I loved it because I didn't, but I fully intend to give it a proper playthrough soon. Just gotta know what to watch for and respond with the right move while doing this.

[Gamerforlife]

Loved every second of each of my 10+ playthroughs and rank it up there with the most enjoyable PS2 games ever.

God Hand forever.

Agree with this here.

@Gamerforlife: Though luck plays a factor, I feel skill definitely plays the majority. Whenever I take a huge hit, I feel like it's my fault for not being able to dodge it, and each death screen I feel comes with a sense for improvement.

Yeah, but the luck factor makes the game a contradiction in my eyes. Either you're making a purely skill oriented game or you're not. God Hand doesn't know what it wants to be. Hence the problem sometimes with experimental games

[Hatta]

That's a false dichotomy. Games can use both skill and chance and still be excellent, e.g. poker. Absolutely a game of chance, but skill is the major factor in making it to the top. Otherwise you wouldn't see the same people in the finals of so many tournaments.

[Erik_Twice]

That's a false dichotomy. Games can use both skill and chance and still be excellent, e.g. poker.

Setting aside whether poker is an excellent game or not, I think the point he is making is that the luck factor in God Hand doesn't work well with the skill factor of the game.

For example, in TF2, you can get a lucky crit and kil the enemy in one shot. This diminishes the quality of the game, as the fun deathmatch iscut in half. Here luck hinders gameplay.

On the other hand, there's luck in Magic: The Gathering. Here it magnifies skill, adding bluffing, consistency issues in deckbuilding and minimax an important part of the game.

[brunoafh]

What's with acting like God Hand is the only game in the world to have random item drops? I don't even understand this complaint to be honest and find it completely bizarre. And frankly, if every single destroyable barrel/box in the game dropped health, God Hand would still be tough as nails.