God Hand is VISIONARY Action Game Design

God Hand is VISIONARY Action Game Design. God Hand is the ultimate beat em' up that us action game hipsters love, but still is not appreciated in mainstream game design discussion. In today's video, in addition to discussing the quality of the game which is finally being recognized, I outline the design lineage of the game from 2D beat em' ups (especially Final Fight) as well as it's more contemporary influences of 3D fighters like Tekken and Virtua Fighter.

In the revised IGN review they compared God Hand to Sekiro and today's slew or Parry-focused action games, but that comparison is not remotely accurate. God Hand is the opposite of these games when it comes comes to it's naturally balanced evade system and radically free cancel system. God Hand is all about real spacing and hitbox interactions, which I love.

In this video I also talk the innovative camera system of the game as well as how if God Hand was more successful it could have become a blue print for an entire sub-genre of 3D beat em' ups that focus on fundamentals. Alas with every new action game release it seems we are drifting further and further away from this foundation. Imagine a modern action game with hit confirms, counter hits, and wall-carry combos

Right now God Hand is trapped on the PS2 (as much as I love the PS2), but it does emulate extremely well via the PS2 Emulator at least :-) I think we'd all love to see a robust PS5 and Steam port but we'll have to wait until Capcom finished remaking all the Resident Evil Games first ha. I do think God Hand is one of the best PS2 games, and that's a very stacked field of competition :-)

Incredible thumbnail made by the master ‪@boghogSTG‬

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00:00 The Arcade Lineage of God Hand's Design
03:52 God Hand is the Lost Blue Print to an Action Game Sub-genre
05:23 Strength 1 - It Uses Real Spacing For Combat
10:10 Strength 2 - The Evade System is Naturally Balanced (Not Prescribed)
17:10 Strength 3 - Gameplay Density and Robust Enemy Design
20:35 Why LIMITING the Camera is Brilliant
25:15 The Radically Free Evade-Canceling is Unmatched
30:06 Kick-Cancels and Wall Loops are Delicious
35:15 Rank is the Most UNDERVALUED Concept of Game Design!
40:20 Critique 1 - Game is Missing the Last Layer of Production Polish
42:24 Critique 2 - Soft-lock and Turn Button Need Refinement
44:20 Critique 3 - Skill Tree Needs Refinement
47:20 Final Thoughts - God Hand Needs to Be Played and Studied More!

#Godhand, #ps2, #actiongames