So...what do we have here?

Japanese Game Box Front

The Great 3

G.O.D (which stands for Growth or Devolution) is a rather unusual RPG published by Imagineer (don't run away just yet) and supposedly based around an anime/manga. I don't know if the game has an anime of its own, but the box mentions of the "Great 3" that were in the making of G.O.D. They are Kokami Shoji, Egawa Tatsuya, and "Demon" Kogure. While Kokami and Kogure are no doubt great, the anime relation lies with Egawa. He worked on anime ("Golden Boy" is one) and he helped with the character and monster design for G.O.D. Other things include a Yuka Ni Omakase screensaver...so if the art for G.O.D. reminds you of Golden Boy or anything else from Egawa, that's because it is. Kokami aided with the planning and overall design of G.O.D. He was quite an intelligent man. Kogure...is the wild son-of-a-gun who helped with G.O.D's musical score. After all, he's got his own Japanese Heavy Metal band. Considering this, it's actually a pretty interesting game (Shame on the lack of recognition this game gets!) and was a rather ambitious project. Just thought that might be interesting.

The game starts out with a boy who likes baseball and wears a red cap called Gen (by default), who gets bullied and the like just like any other kid. One day, however, he goes atop a mountain and accidentally sees something he shouldn't have seen. Shortly after, the land is ravaged by aliens, and you are knocked unconscious. Sound a bit like Earthbound? Well, it's not.You later awake to find out you've become a man. You were asleep for 10 years, and the year is 2009. You are one of the few with the unique ability to tap into chakra gates and powers of the mind (much like PSI), and you will get entangled with the army known as Bless (see the pun?) who are trying to stop the evil aliens and mutated creatures. You must find other people who have a spiritual connection with you and increase Bless' numbers. Explore the world with Gen, Hieth, Mina, Ai, and Bajile as you not only discover things unknown in the world of mortals, but discover the unknown within the self. The story is quite interesting.

The graphics are good and there are some cool effects too. I just love the opening with the G.O.D. logo and I just love huge explosions like the one that annihilates your hometown (This happens at the very beginning). The game also has cool little "details". For example, some moves can leave the field battle-scarred (they stay scarred for the whole fight). One example lies in the image below that has Gen sending a shockwave that tears the ground. The sound has an acquired taste, but it's pretty good overall. Not too much to say about it. As far as gameplay, you have special skills (like sword techniques), chakra powers, and magic. While a lot of people have the same chakra abilities, they do them differently. Some are completely different moves (Or have different effects) depending on the character. The game reminds me quite a bit of Final Fantasy (especially the way you enter a random encounter) and it's pretty solid. It's pretty good for an unknown game, and pretty long too.

- Written by Vyse the determined -