Introduction

God Hand (ゴッドハンド, Goddo Hando) is a 3D Beat 'Em Up video game developed by the defunct Clover Studio and was released on the PlayStation 2™ system (PS2) back in late 2006. It received mediocre to average reviews by the video gaming press but grew as a cult classic over the following years due to its wacky story and over-the-top gameplay.

The game was directed by Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil 4, P.N.03, The Evil Within) produced by Atsushi Inaba (Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) and the soundtrack was composed by Masafumi Takada (killer7, No More Heroes, Danganronpa).

There's already a God Hand let's play by Kung-Fu Jesus, why are you doing this?

The gameplay is outdated since the God Hand ~meta~ has evolved since 2008. I got my hands on the official Japanese God Hand guidebook so I'll throw some pictures of it here and there, as well as explain all the ground work and advanced mechanics there is to know about God Hand (e.g. prompt cancel, ground dodging, invincibility-frame extension, etc.) as well as debunk misconceptions people have regarding the game (like how IGN is to blame for the poor reception of the game and some other crap.)



what

This playthrough will be played on Hard difficulty, New Game +. Hard is locked on DIE level, the hardest level you can get to. Since this is NG+, all moves are already available for purchase at the shop as long as you have the money for it, however, you can't access the shop when starting the game, you need to beat the very first level first.

I'll be also juggling between this Hard NG+ playthrough and a KMS playthrough (KMS = Kick Me Sign, a paper Olivia, our female companion, puts on Gene's back as a joke during a cutscene. Activating the God Hand or using a Roulette Move will remove the sign. Beating the game with the KMS still on is a famous challenge amongst God Hand players, and there is actually a reward for doing so - upon completion of the game, you will receive one out of 4 Jukebox CDs). Same thing as NG+, the actual KMS run starts at stage 1-2 after the cutscene at the hotel. Disclaimer: the KMS playthough has already been recorded a while back and it might have commentary here and there.

Thread rules:

None, just don't High Side Kick wall-spam or I'll ball buster you, scrub

~Shameless self-advertising~

If you want to see God Hand and Devil May Cry's grandpa, then check out my let's play of Rising Zan: the Samurai Gunman, a wacky 3D Beat 'Em Up on PlaysTation 1 in which you play as Johnny, a cowboy weaboo wielding a katana and revolver.



lparchive
Youtube playlist




Update #1 Stage 1-1
Update #2 Launching a dead dude into another dude
Update #3 Stage 1-2
Update #4 Stage 1-3 + Infinite weapon durability bug
Update #5 Stage 1-4 Gold & Silver boss fight
Update #6 Prompt-cancel
Update #7 Stage 1-5
Update #8 Stage 1-6 Elvis boss fight #1
Update #9 The Shop & Techniques property
Update #10 Stage 2-1
Update #11 Ground Dodging
Update #12 Stage 2-2
Update #13 How to use moves with long startup animations
Update #14 Stage 2-3
Update #15 Demons don't appear randomly
Update #16 Stage 2-4
Update #17 Warm Up Room and Fighting Ring
Update #18 Stage 2-5 Evil 3 Stooges boss fight #1
Update #19 Sidestep-cancelling aka Table Hopper
Update #20 Stage 2-6
Update #21 Invincibility-Frame Extension
Update #22 Stage 2-7 Elvis boss fight #2
Update #23 Techniques used in stage 1 & 2 + Breakdown
Update #24 Stage 3-1
Update #25 Air Launch Kick & Shoryuken follow-up against airborne opponents
Update #26 Stage 3-2 The Champ boss fight #1
Update #27 Stage 3-3
Update #28 Stage 3-4 Mad Midget Five boss fight #1 + 3-5
Update #29 Stage 3-6 Shannon boss fight #1
Update #30 Stage 4-1 to 4-4 + Evil 3 Stooges boss fight #2
Update #31 Juggle system rundown
Update #32 Stage 4-5 You, Me, Pattycake
Update #33 Stage 4-6 Iron Bridge Fashion Show
Update #34 Stage 4-7 & 4-8 Azel boss fight
Update #35 Stage 4-9 Fat Bazooka Trap & 4-10 Dr. Ion boss fight
Update #XXXVI Stage 5-1 Oh No! Human Horseshoes
Update #37 Stage 5-2 Dangerous Alleyways
Update #38 Stage 5-3 Long Walk, Short Pier
Update #39 Stage 5-4 Rock Star Tour Boat
Update #40 Stage 5-5 The Floating Bazaar, 5-6 Knife Sniper & 5-7 Encore?
Update #41 Stage 5-8 & 5-9 Demon Elvis boss fight
Update #47 Stage 7-3 Great Sensei's Revengeance
Update #42 Stage 6-1 to 6-3 feat. Alps and yoshesque
Update #43 Stage 6-4 & 6-5 Mad Midgtet 5 boss fight #2
Update #44 Stage 6-6 Whip It! & 6-7 Stop Before You Hurt Yourself
Update #45 Stage 6-8 & 6-9 Demon Shannon boss fight
Update #46 Stage 7-1 The Tower Mirage & 7-2 The Flying Pyramid
Update #48 Stage 7-4 The Mirage Town & 7-5 The Four Devas' Leader Belze boss fight
Update #49 Finale (the end)



Hard New Game+ run

Youtube playlist

Fresh Kick Me Sign Hard run

Youtube playlist

Maps from official JP guide

Map caption

-1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 + Gold & Silver 1-5 1-6 + Elvis
-2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5 + The 3 Stooges 2-6 2-7 + Elvis
-3-1 3-2 + The Champ 3-3 3-4 part 1 + Mad Midget 4 3-4 part 2 3-6 + Shannon
-4-1 & 4-2 4-3 4-4 + The 3 Stooges 4-5 4-6 4-7 4-8 + Azel 4-9 4-10 + Dr.Ion
-5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 + Ravel 5-5 5-6 5-7 + Debussy 5-8 5-9 + Demon Elvis
-6-1 6-2 6-3 6-4 6-5 6-6 6-7 6-8 6-9
-7-1 7-2 7-3 + Great Sensei 7-4 7-5 + Belze
-8-1 8-2 8-3 + Masked Gorilla 8-4 + Fat Ninja 8-5 + Afro Fist
-9-1 Azel

A look at the GOD HAND official Japanese guide book

God Hand's basic and advanced gameplay mechanics

-Items



-Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty differences:



-Controls overview - Tutorial (text)
Read this first if you're unfamiliar with this game or need a refresher.
Basic overview of the controls, HUD, guard break, stun status, counter hits, etc.

-How to get good at God Hand (video)
Something I made a while ago, same as above but in video format, in which I address the basic controls, movement options, dodging, cancels, counter-hits, enemy stun and dizzy status, crowd controls and various tips.

-Default moveset deconstruction (text)
The default moveset has all the tools you need to beat the game! It is totally possible to beat God Hand with the default moveset only. Your attacks deal no damage whatsoever in the later stages, but you can do it with enough perseverance and lack of social life. People call it a No Upgrade run or Stock run.

-Demons' spawning rate isn't RNG based

~Advanced techniques~

-Launching a dead dude into another dude
-Prompt-Cancel
-Ground Dodging
-Sidestep-cancelling
-Invincibility-Frames Extension
-Forearm Smash is a better version of Barrel Roll Kick

Bonus:

-Techniques used from Stage 1-1 to Stage 2-2 (video)
-Techniques used from Stage 2-3 to 2-7 (video)

-The God Hand basic tutorial
An in-depth, spoiler-free 40 min long video (!!) I contributed to, where my buddy Alps teaches you the basics of the game.
Watching it isn't mandatory, feel free to skip this one for now.

-Elvis' theme, Smoking Rollist (slow down version) from stage 2-7

-Beetle conspiracy in God Hand and Platinum Games exposed (addendum of Stage 3-4)

-God Hand sound effects audio rip

PAL, NTSC, JP cover differences




Alternate U.S. and European Cover Art with the fist going through the opponent's mouth. Brutal.



The cover of "My Hero", a Sega Master System game from 1985. Oddly similar to God Hand's cover.



Gene


Voiced by: Beng Spies

The player character of God Hand, Gene is a 23-year-old smart-ass drifter who really likes beating people up, and firmly believes that he has a "macho" exterior. However, he earnestly has a strong sense of justice and upon witnessing a young woman being attacked by a gang of demons, immediately runs in to save her. Things don't go quite as planned, and Gene ends up getting his own right arm hacked off. The woman, named Olivia, shows her gratitude by replacing it with one of the legendary God Hands. With this new power, Gene is now fully capable of going toe-to-toe with even the most powerful of demons... but he is also obligated to rescue those under the yoke of Demonkind. And if he doesn't, Olivia will take the God Hand back with her Hatchet!

Olivia


Voiced by: Bettina Bush

This young lady is actually one of the last surviving members of the clan that has guarded the God Hands for centuries. She had barely escaped from the execution of said clan, entrusted with one of the God Hands by her father. She is saved by Gene when she's attacked by Bruce and Felix, and gives Gene the God Hand as a gift of "thanks" — because she now has someone to order around and stop the demons from overthrowing humanity. But if Gene has the right God Hand, where is the left one?

Miscellaneous



Unless Kamiya is trolling us again, God Hand runs on the same engine as Okami, not Resident Evil 4's.



God Hand trailer from Tokyo Game Show 2006 done in Touhou MMD from nico nico douga

A spot-on review of the game from Amazon.com by a devout Christian thinking that the game being called "God Hand" was about spreading the love gospel of Christianity (not)

Vstyletournament 5 Traditional combo video by yours truly, featuring two God Hand clips (fairy challenge 1 and arena challenge 42), some Jetstream Sam footage from Metal Gear Rising as well as Dante from Devil May Cry 4

Clown.avi




Somethingawful user Wayne photoshopped Bernie sanders' haircut onto one of the Four Divas member, Belze.

GODHAND fanart compilation