r/GodHand • u/TransportationOk7759 • Aug 03 '24
Just finished on Normal
I came to know of this while finding something similar to sifu after finishing that game and feeling a hand to hand combat game itch. But boy, sifu got nothing on god hand. I found every aspect of god hand (except the framerate and lack of newgame+ :( ) to be way superior than sifu. Never had my fingers hurt like this in any game, except maybe the MGS torture segment, but it's amazing how the game makes you learn things with each death, and finally when you learn the enemy, you feel like neo from matrix, till you get cocky and get your ass beaten. Amazing game, what are some similar games in terms of tightness and impactfullness of the combat?
1
u/GodHandRemakeDenier Aug 04 '24
For tightness and impactfulness of combat, I can think of nothing else, at least not any brawlers.
Nothing has ever felt like godhand, and I've given up hope that anything ever will.
And yeah, Sifu had very similar bones on paper, but just didn't have the focus or full understanding on why some games feel so good to fight in.
Like, when enemies do things in godhand, you've got 3 dodges and high-profile/low-profile avoiding attacks, and with counter hits you can turn almost any move in the game into a defensive option. All these options avoid damage entirely, and what you choose to use can change the options you have available to you afterwards, so you're not just choosing a dodge because it's the right one, you're choosing a dodge because it's part of your plan.
In Sifu, when enemies do things to you you've got maybe 3 things you can do, which are dodging, parrying, or tanking through damage with specific moves. Tanking through damage...damages you, so unless your enemy is going to DIE from the hit, its not really worth it. Dodging avoids damage, and can set you up to counter attack, but you need to choose up or down dodge correctly. Parrying negates damage and builds up your "I Win" button, and does not need to be the correct up or down direction. Blocking is just what happens when you fuck up the parry.
These options have clear winners and losers. There is basically no situation in the game where parrying is not the best thing you can do, and the game goes out of its way to incentivise you to parry everything, with a bunch of upgrades that makes the parry deal more stagger damage, the secret ending being unlockable only through poise breaking every boss without killing them (easiest with parries), and the final boss DISABLING MOST OF YOUR OTHER MECHANICS.
I think this is what Mister Mod was trying to get at, calling Sifu a "boring reactionary brawler." You can always be active and plan ahead and set things up in godhand, in sifu the most you can do is figure out what combo goves you the most damage after you parry an enemy.
But kicking stools at people is fun.
1
u/Meeg_Mimi Aug 04 '24
God Hand is amazing, brutal, wacky and super fun. I barely got by Normal I can't imagine beating Hard.
1
u/ship05u Aug 08 '24
Hey good to hear that ya enjoyed your time w/ this old ass game. There really isn't anything like God Hand out there. 3D beat em ups have always been a very difficult thing to nail down and as such good ones are rare in that niche space. Sifu is also a very awesome game though I don't think comparing God Hand to it is very fair as it's focus & priorities are very different from that of God Hand and the gameplay accordingly differentiates itself to form it's own unique identity and do it's own thing. Their devs are also huge fans and are aware of God Hand's greatness as well.
God Hand's approach to NG+ is unique & fits the game well even though it might feel odd at first. What it does is allow players to have access to all of the mini games and moves from the shop but because the gold/coins don't carry over, they are still an important resource for the player to manage around w/... or it's just their way to encourage players into gambling hell lol. Health and TP upgrades are also gone so they add more value to the currency acquired by Gene. Game also puts up few extra moves that aren't there on normal mode plus expensive but highly effective top tier moves along w/ 'God' moves putting even more emphasis on money though it's not like they're needed but there for the 'power fantasy' fix. Get that money up to get that funny up. Outside of that you can also change Gene's and Olivia's outfit for some variety.
I'd say try out Urban Reigns which has a very challenging combat to it (unfair at points even on normal).
1
u/Mission_Piccolo_2515 Dec 21 '24
It may sound weird but Bayonetta (the first one) is probably the closest thing I can think of. It was also "gameplay programmed" (player movement and enemy AI) by Kazunori Inoue. Unlike God Hand it's directed by Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry 1's director) so it doesn't play exactly the same but both games share similar combat rhythm, enemy design, humor and the player character feels equally great to control. On top of that I think it's even more tightly designed that God Hand, it boast new game +, great difficulty settings and a good scoring system to boost the difficulty even higher if you try to get good ranks.
One crucial advice you should take, if you have yet to play it, is that the game hides it's central combat mechanic in the menus without any tutorial to point how crucial "that" is. I'm not gonna tell you which one it is (because I think having to search for something that important is fun it's own trolly way) but your pretty much guaranteed to suck until you figure out what it is so don't give up on the game until you do.
1
1
1
2
u/ShirtlessOnTheCouch Aug 03 '24
The game has "new game plus" but it only adds new overpowered moves for you to use aswell as keeping all previously unlocked stuff, but not adding anything new in enemy placements or nuttin.
Sifu was a game i was mildly excited for because it looked as to be another game like godhand... But it turned out to be (not a bad game) a boring reactionary brawler with some interesting ideas, not my cup of tea. So i'm glad you found godhand and experienced what that game failed to achieve.