Line #46 YMMV/GodHand


1	* AntiClimaxBoss: After so many challenges, the final boss comes out as an easy opponent that repeats a selection of highly-telegraphed attacks over and over. He even spawns enemies who die in two or three basic attacks each, and [[TacticalSuicideBoss drop power-ups upon dying]]. The only [[FakeDifficulty difficulty]] is the fact it has [[DamageSpongeBoss two]] [[MultipleLifeBars life bars]], and even that is counteracted by [[spoiler:Gene having ''[[EleventhHourSuperpower both]]'' God Hands at his disposal, complete with [[LimitBreak Shaolin Blast]] getting upgraded to Double Shaolin for the express purpose of shaving off even bigger chunks of the boss's health]].
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Pretty much ''all'' of it. Masafumi Takada knows his business. [[AwesomeMusic/{{Capcom}} See here]] for specific examples.
3	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
4	** Every mini-boss you fight (with the exception of [[GoldfishPoopGang The Three Evil Stooges]] and [[TheRival Azel]]) comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the [[ExcusePlot "plot"]], and are never mentioned ever again after you beat them.
5	** Special mention goes to the Psychic Midget. Gene even quips after the fight that [[BreakingTheFourthWall he picked the wrong game to appear in]].
6	** A minor moment, but the opening sequence counts. Gene walks into frame, falls over himself and screams "WAAAAAAT''EEEEERRRRRR''." The next time he's into frame he stands back up and acts as though nothing happened. It's likely he was only doing that to mess with Olivia, though.
7	* BreatherBoss:
8	** Ravel is a DreadfulMusician with a very damaging long-range combo, but with the lowest health of any boss and an exceedingly easy-to-dodge knockback move, the fight is pretty much over the second you manage to get in melee range. The rematch is only slightly harder because you have to learn the moves of his drummer buddy Debussy, an equally long-ranged fighter, but a God Hand release and adequate pressure can knock them down without even letting them fight back.
9	** Dr. Ion, coming after [[MirrorBoss Azel]] and before Demon Elvis, doesn't block and has very telegraphed attacks. He also can't be juggled, knocked down, and launch moves only disassemble him [[PullingThemselvesTogether temporarily]], so there isn't a lot of interesting things to do with him; he's a completely straightforward beatdown. When he [[DegradedBoss returns]], the only new thing he brings to the table is a claw he can grapple you with. And ''that'' encounter comes right before [[MarathonLevel The Flying Pyramid]].
10	** After the titanic fight against [[LeftHandedMirror Azel]] that [[FinalExamBoss puts to the test everything you know about the game]], the fight against [[SatanicArchetype Angra]] is more just [[CatharsisFactor a cathartic beatdown of a giant monster]] using [[spoiler:the unfathomable power of two God Hands]].
11	* BreatherLevel: Several sub-stages like the second pass through Shannon's Dance Party (which has only two mooks), and the immediately following Puppy Kingdom (which has literally no enemies but there's a ton of crates to smash for items) in Stage 3, while Stage 4 has Kissing a Hot Chick, which is little more than a puzzle where you have to [[spoiler:chuck crates at four enemies who die in one hit that are tormenting a villager you can't get to directly]]. Other than that, there are only two enemies you fight head on (one of which can be baited from the other with a thrown object) and plenty of stuff to break if you're hurting for health or Orbs. The titular hot chick is also a guaranteed Tension boost, making it a tempting room to SaveScum for items to recover if you need to. Generally any short area without a lot of enemies to fight you and a decent supply of boxes and barrels to smash.
12	* CompleteMonster:
13	** [[SatanicArchetype Demon King Angra]] -- {{SATAN}} [[DubNameChange in Japan]] (yes, in all caps) -- is the ruler of all demons, and the true leader of the Four Devas. Originally a FallenAngel cast down to Hell for his pride, Angra sought revenge against the humans who he felt betrayed him, forming a demon army to enslave mankind. Eventually defeated by the man with the [[PowerOfTheGodHand God Hands]] and sealed away, Angra allowed the Four Devas to send their demons out to murder and enslave countless humans in their plan to revive him. Hiding in Azel's Devil Hand, Angra [[UngratefulBastard betrays his loyal follower]] to be the sacrifice needed for his revival, hoping to destroy the God Hands and rule over humanity.
14	** [[LesCollaborateurs Azel]] is a human who desires the God Hands for their power. Originally a member of the clan tasked to protect the God Hands, Azel slaughtered his entire clan to claim one of the God Hands for himself. [[FaceHeelTurn Selling out humanity]] by joining the Four Devas, Azel isn't afraid to [[BadBoss kill his own minions]] or [[SocialDarwinist mock those he deems weak]] as he assists the group in Angra's revival. Kidnapping his fiancée Olivia to be used as Angra's sacrificial vessel, Azel also uses her as bait to lure in [[PlayerCharacter Gene]], hoping to kill him and take his God Hand for himself.
15	* CultClassic: Unlike the universally acclaimed ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', ''God Hand'' was initially tainted by the infamously bad IGN review that made it fade into obscurity soon after. Even so, or rather because of it, the game received a dedicated fanbase that loved its deep mechanics allowing tons of customization and surreal, off-the-wall humor that doesn't take itself too seriously and is delightfully tongue-in-cheek. [[VindicatedByHistory Nowadays]], while the game is still relatively unknown when compared to other games from the same era, it's mostly fondly remembered as one of the few great 3D [[BeatEmUp beat 'em ups]] of [[MediaNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames its generation]].
16	* EvilIsCool: Invoked and lightly parodied with Azel, Gene's [[TheRival rival]] [[EvilCounterpart who wields]] [[LeftHandedMirror the other God Hand]], wears SunglassesAtNight, is Olivia's fiancée, and is a member of the Four Devas despite being the TokenHuman of the bunch. Fan reaction is that he still ends up playing this straight, thanks in part to the incredibly challenging yet fun MirrorBoss nature of your fights with him and Azel's snazzy battle theme, "Devil May Sly".
17	* FauxSymbolism: Asuras? Devas?
18	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: It was (and still is) regarded as a genre classic in Indonesia.
19	* GoodBadBugs: It's possible to get the Great Sensei into a stun loop.
20	%%Can someone please elaborate on the above?
21	* HarsherInHindsight: Spade will mention wanting to be the leader of the Mad Midget V in the sequel when you defeat the aformentioned group for the second (and final) time in Stage 6, which unfortunately never came to be due to IGN's infamous review and the subsequent closing of Creator/CloverStudio.
22	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The ending itself counts as this, as it ends up being goofily adorable thanks to the upbeat music and the visuals of Gene doing silly dances with the various {{Mooks}}, sub-bosses, and boss characters.
23	* HePannedItNowHeSucks: The infamous IGN review that gave the game a 3.0 score is generally regarded as the worst piece of writing to ever be posted up on their site, and part of the reason the game flopped despite having such a cult following. Problems include complaining about things that aren't in the game and [[ItsHardSoItSucks saying it's bad because it's too hard]], finding the sense of humor to be weak, and other issues that make it seem like they hadn't played the game for more than a few hours. The review itself was also poorly written with multiple spelling errors that have gone unfixed to this day.
24	* HilariousInHindsight: ''God Hand'' has "TheReveal" that Azel, the cooler-than-you rival character, is actually the fiancée of Olivia, Gene's love interest. One year later, ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' would pull the exact same thing, only [[spoiler:Henry]] is revealed to be Sylvia's ''husband''. Travis pretty much reacts identically to Gene, completely baffled by the random plot twist.
25	* MemeticMutation:
26	** There is a widely circulated ''God Hand'' [[https://lparchive.org/God-Hand/Images/2-godhand.jpg fancomic]] out there on the internet, created by an {{imageboard\|s}} regular based on his own experiences with the game as well as LetsPlay/KungFuJesus' [[https://lparchive.org/God-Hand/ LP of the game]] and featuring two ''very'' quotable lines: "[[BigOMG OH MY GOD]] I'M THE [[PrecisionFStrike MOTHERFUCKING]] FIST OF THE NORTH STAR [[SugarWiki/SoCoolItsAwesome JESUS CHRIST!]]" and (regarding Demon Form Elvis) "[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]] [[BigYes YES]]! [[AwesomeBosses/VideoGames YOU ARE THE BEST BOSS FIGHT EVER!]]" [[http://sabator.is.not.tgies.net/godhand%20edits/ Said comic has spawned numerous imitations based on other games.]] ''God Hand'' itself also qualifies to an extent.
27	** Also, a quote from a review: "It's a game about punching people."
28	** There are a few photoshops of characters from other games pulling out a God Reel.
29	** The BraggingThemeTune [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFSen7DRQWU played during the credits reel,]] particularly lines such as "Dragon Kick your ass into the Milky Way!" and "God power keeps my pimp hand strong!"
30	** "[[https://68.media.tumblr.com/2387dd6c5a2a880b37986d1afc95f8d9/tumblr_nvrnsuPHf41uipu7co1_1280.png God Hand: 3.0 / Imagine Party Babyz: 7.5]]", a common and still widely used argument to support the supposed incompetence of IGN staff and gaming journalism as a whole. Ironically, while aforementioned [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/10/10/god-hand-review review]] is often cited as one of the reasons ''God Hand'' flopped during its release, backlash towards "Imagine Party Babyz" total score and resulted comparison introduced the game to many new players years later.
31	** Much of the random chatter in the game, from Gene's responses to picking up items ("I love it!") to the mooks' taunts ("You're not Alexander!").
32	** The Dragon Kick is generally the most referenced Roulette Attack in the game due to [[ATwinkleInTheSky its effect on enemies]].
33	* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:For Azel, killing his entire clan for the Left God Hand and using his fiancé, Olivia, as a sacrifice for resurrecting Angra.]]
34	* PresumedFlop: While it certainly didn't sell all that well, the game wasn't quite the CreatorKiller for Creator/{{Clover\|Studio}} that it's often stated to be. In fact, while its exact budget was never disclosed, it was made on the cheap and didn't need that many sales to break even; in fact, producer Atsushi Inaba noted when it moved 60,000 copies domestically by the end of 2006 that those modest numbers were ''twice'' what he had even expected. For better or for worse, the fault of the studio's death lies solely with ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}''.
35	* RatedMForMoney: The game was rated M by the ESRB, but those who've actually played the game will certainly be puzzled as to why. The back of the box states the reasons to be Blood & Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, and Violence. The only instances of any blood or dismemberment in the game are when Gene gets his arm cut off (and even then, it's blocked by a GoryDiscretionShot) and when using the Western-exclusive "Head Slicer" roulette move (which more resembles the head flying off a mannequin). The game has minimal swearing, and nothing ''too'' bad in terms of language. The violence and suggestive themes are definitely there, but nothing in the game couldn't have easily been in a T-rated game.
36	* SoBadItsGood: The voice acting, filled with NarmCharm and ridiculously bad lines at point. However, it fits the game's wacky premise perfectly and just ''works'' so well.
37	* SpiritualSuccessor: It's no exaggeration to say that ''God Hand'' looks like one of the best ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' games ever made, considering that [[NoExportForYou we didn't get any good ones at all]] until ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarKensRage''. It also doubles as a better 3D version of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' than either of the actual 3D ''Final Fight'' games (one of which was a competitive fighting game, and the other a ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto GTA]]'' [[FollowTheLeader clone]]).
38	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The background theme of Area 1 sounds a lot like the theme of ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' without the horns.
39	* ThatOneBoss:
40	** ''All'' of them can be, but Demon Elvis and the Mad Midget Five are especially painful.
41	** Ditto the Great Sensei. Even in this game, this fight is typically a HUGE speed bump.
42	* ThatOneLevel:
43	** Level Five makes many players want to cry. Get past that, and Level Seven's "The Flying Pyramid" will make you wish for Level Five again.
44	** Level Eight is absolutely brutal, and the area just before the tower is one of the most soul-crushingly difficult levels in existence.
45	* UglyCute: Elvis in his demon form, as his round body and somewhat silly-looking face on his chest, combined with his overall goofy animations and his silly personality, make him look more endearing and huggable than threatening. [[ThatOneBoss He's still a pain to fight, though.]]

Context YMMV / GodHand