Far more interesting, however, are the mechanical twists from expected norms that transform the game from what would have been a fairly generic-yet-competent entry in the PlayStation 2 catalogue to the sleeper classic that it is. Narratively, the twist comes in the fact that, for a variety of convoluted reasons, you have actually come to possess the right arm of a God and your human frame. The premise is simple enough, and was something that had seen before plenty of times prior to God Hand‘s release: you’re a guy you need to get somewhere a variety of enemy combatants stand between you and your destination you have fists and therefore both can and will punch your way to your destination. To think that this reviewer’s opinions may well have led to the lacklustre commercial performance of what is a wonderful game and thereby perhaps even the closure of Clover studios boggles the mind to be so hard on a game that’s play mechanics are defined by a fairly lengthy learning curve for reasons that seem to be rooted in simply not giving the game enough time to grow on the player and adapting to its firm-but-fair no-nonsense approach to combat beggars belief. IGN, bastion of good taste and integrity though they may be, saw fit to award the game a meagre 3/10 at a time when eights and nines were being handed out freely for the most mediocre efforts.

God Hand’s release must have been ill-timed: it did not receive much in the way of critical recognition upon its being unleashed upon the market. Enemy design is stellar, if a little eccentric at times.

God hand game ps2