Video Game / G.O.D.: Heed the Call to Awaken

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In the year 1999, a ten-year-old boy named Gen, fresh out of school for the summer and bicycling across Japan to visit family, witnesses an Alien Invasion that promptly wrecks human civilization.

Ten years later, Gen is a recovering amnesic working for Bless, an international alliance of humans fighting against alien control of Earth following the collapse of most world governments. Over the course of his fight against the alien menace, he'll go on a World Tour across many countries and landmarks, gather together a small Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, and learn the truth about his own Psychic Powers, the motives of the aliens, and the nature of the very Earth itself.

In terms of gameplay, G.O.D. is a fairly standard SNES-era JRPG, Random Encounters and all. Battles take place in an over-the-shoulder perspective, and each playable character has a set list of Psychic Powers which they learn as they level up and a Job System in the form of "Chakra". G.O.D.'s most notable twist on the formula is its setting - not just a modern-day sci-fi story in a time when fantasy settings dominated the RPG landscape, but one set on the real Earth itself, featuring all manner of famous landmarks and National Stereotypes.

A remake named G.O.D. Pure was made for the PlayStation.

Ironically for a game about world travel, neither the SNES or the PS1 versions was released outside Japan. A Fan Translation patch for the SNES game was released in 2018 by Dynamic Designs. All information regarding character names, dialogue, etc. on this page comes from this translation unless noted otherwise.

G.O.D.: Heed the Call to Awaken contains examples of:

• Adaptation Expansion: The PS1 version has a few new segments, such as Mina being kidnapped by pirates during the Oceania arc and a plot arc involving the drug lord of Honmaka Town which also gives General Crewel an Early-Bird Cameo.
• A God I Am Not: Getting the true ending requires rejecting the idea that you have become "gods" on account of your power and embracing your origins as humans. In the epilogue, Mina explains to the children in the House of Salvation that she is just an ordinary human with weaknesses like any other.
• Aliens Are Bastards: Most of the invading aliens are cruel, remorseless brutes who almost seem to revel in their villainy. Special mention goes to General Crewel, who is said to have slaughtered tens of thousands of humans simply for the fun of it, with Ai and her unborn baby being among his victims. When Heath confronts him for revenge, Crewel responds that the event was so insignificant that he hardly even remembers it.
• Alternate World Map: Japan gets a world map to itself, even though it only takes up a few tiles of the real world map.
• All Myths Are True: Every major mythology, religion and even urban legend has existed since antiquity, having been created by the native Earthlings before their banishment and later appropriated (and apparently misinterpreted) by humans. There are also creatures like Orochi which may or may not be directly related to the aliens themselves, as they are physical manifestations of human emotions.
• Ancient Astronauts: All of the major archeological sites and wonders of antiquity such as the Egyptian pyramids, Chichen Itza, Stonehenge, and the Nazca lines are in reality the creation of the aliens- or, more accurately, the native Earthlings, who only became "aliens" after being banished out of Earth.
• Antagonist Title: God is the True Final Boss and Greater-Scope Villain.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: God offers this to the heroes, but they reject it in favor of their human lives (in the good ending, at least).
• Atlantis: One of four Great Flood-related endgame dungeons alongside Lemuria, Mt. Ararat and Mu. Atlantis, as it turns out, is right below The Bermuda Triangle.
• The Atoner: Basil went back to training after Fahrah went missing trying to look for him after he ditched her five years ago pretending that he found a temple to train.
• Bat Out of Hell: Gen encounters and fights one at the beginning of the game in an underground cave, guarding a mysterious diamond. After the Time Skip, Gen returns to the same spot to find the same bat who recognizes him and wants to get back at him. The bat then will appear again at several points in the game to try to take revenge on Gen, becoming a single member Goldfish Poop Gang and eventually undergoing a Heel–Face Turn.
• Connected All Along: Michael and Gen are half-brothers. Gen's mom was pregnant with Michael when she was abducted, and the embryo was "enhanced" with alien genetic manipulation.
• Collection Sidequest: Buns (dumplings in the Japanese version). The Bun King, situated near China, will give you bun-themed equipment for eating as many different types of buns as you can. Each city has its own unique souvenir bun, and there are also buns that can only be obtained through sidequests or hidden in dungeons or dropped by certain enemies.
• Creator Provincialism: The plot starts off in Japan, and spends the longest amount of time there compared to any other country. On a lesser note, the leader of the aliens, Ra Mu, is depicted with heads of various major figures of world religions, such as Egyptian mythology, Christianity and Buddhism, but the figure at the very top (and the only one to be fought alone rather than grouped up with others) is the all-Japanese Dogu clay doll/Arahabaki.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: When escaping the city on the moon, you are given the option to blow it up, killing the innocent civilians living there, but even if you choose to spare it, God will casually destroy it himself.
• Crusading Widow: Heath was already on his way to fight the aliens, but the death of Ai, the mother of his unborn child, didn't do any favors.
• Cult: The church of Fatimaria that terrorizes the area around Nagasaki and offers happiness to all those who submit but is in reality an insidious alien-run cult.
• Demoted to Extra: In the relatively short manga adaptation, Batty stops appearing after his debut.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Did you just punch out God!?
• Doomed Hometown: Gen's hometown of Tokyo can be revisited after the apocalypse, although there unfortunately isn't much left to see anymore. In the epilogue, Gen is working towards rebuilding the city.
• Drunken Master: Dan Kichi is always asking for booze, although we don't get to see whether it makes him a stronger fighter.
• Eldritch Abomination: The alien leader Ra Mu is a bizarre floating shape whose core is a horrid amalgamation of important figures from various religions and mythologies
• Enigmatic Minion: Michael. In most of his appearances, he asks the heroes to stop their mission, hits them with an HP to One move, and disappears as quickly as he came.
• Flunky Boss:
  • King Tut fights alongside two mummies (in the SNES version; he is a standard solo fight in the PS1 version).
  • The Alien Mother fights with several Crystal Boys and constantly respawns them.
• Fun with Acronyms: "G.O.D." stands for either "Growth Or Devolution" (according to the game's title) or "Grouping Of buns Discovery" (according to the Bun King in the Fan Translation).
• Game-Breaking Bug:
  • The first version of the Fan Translation patch had a bug that prevented characters from being revived in battle. While not impossible, this made the game far more difficult than it had any right to be, and was fortunately fixed in a later version of the patch.
  • The PS1 version has a bug that might cause the game to freeze right after dealing the final blow to the very last enemy in the true ending, a mere few minutes before the end of the game.
• God Is Evil: God created humans and aliens with the sole purpose of cultivating them into becoming powerful enough vessels that would become his physical body, as he otherwise only exists as an Energy Being. The aliens' refusal of this fate was what initially angered God and drove him to banish them out of the planet.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Dan Kichi and Lem the lemur are both the "can't be equipped or ordered" type. Ai, on the other hand, behaves exactly like any other party member right up to her pregnancy and subsequent Plotline Death.
• Guide Dang It!: To defeat Insecurity, the party must remove all their weapons and armor. This is pretty well hinted at...but only after the battle starts. The game never tells you how to change equipment in battle, of course. Oh, and the same applies to the fight with Sadness immediately afterward, so don't re-equip everything after the fight.
• Half-Witted Hillbilly: Sam the UN worker is an exceedingly rare American hillbilly in Japanese media, being a rambling but well-meaning farm boy who distrusts city slickers.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Party members aren't named by the player until they actually join up, so whatever name you give them retroactively replaces their actual name which has been used up to that point. You get to nickname Gen's mom, too.
• Heroic Mime: Zig-Zagged with Gen. He is generally silent for most of the game, but there are a few rare instances where he makes short exclamations without the player's input, and he also writes down his thoughts in detail in his diary. The one time Gen fully engages in dialogue is when he meets his mother near the endgame, completely horrified at the prospect of having to Mercy Kill her.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lem the lemur must sacrifice his life to power the ancient ship. Michael sacrifices himself to destroy Ra Mu's barrier.
• Hollow World: There's an entrace to the interior of Earth situated inside Antarctica, where the Post-Final Boss fights take place.
• Historical Domain Character: Tutankhamen is the boss inside the Great Pyramid.
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople): Since the state of geopolitics changed quite a lot in the 10 years after the aliens invaded, many cities have had their names changed (such as Nagoya becoming Myaa Town or Kobe being Neo-Kobe), while others remain unchanged (such as Moscow or New York City).
• Jesus Taboo: Averted, in a rarity for the genre. One of Ra Mu's heads is clearly meant to be Jesus Christ, with his attack names even being Bloody Cross and Last Supper.
• Light Is Not Good: God is a formless consiousness represented by a point of light, and his plan is to force his creations to evolve to the point where they can become vessels that'd function as a physical body for him.
• Missing Mom: Gen's mom goes missing after the initial alien invasion. A psychic NPC claims that she's still alive, but doesn't offer any information beyond that. The aliens abducted her and are using her to breed.
• Ms. Fanservice: Ai is voluptuous, wears a tank top and shorts that exposes a lot of her skin and her victory pose has her bouncing at the camera with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
• Multiple Endings: After the credits roll, a simple "CONTINUE? YES/NO" prompt appears. Choosing "Yes" leads to a short additional Playable Epilogue and the Post-Final Boss, where the heroes reject their destiny to "become as gods" and go on to live their lives peacefully. Choosing "No" leads to a simple Game Over screen which implies that the heroes did become as gods.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Churchill, the Free London chief of Bless; M.K. Washington, the president of the US; Lennon and McCartney, chief and vice-chief of the New York branch of Bless respectively.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: An alien commander named The Great Catastrophe. Also, General Crewel.
• N.G.O. Superpower: Since the concept of "countries" has all but collapsed after the alien invasion, most of the remaining communities are managed by a military offshoot of the UN known as Bless, though some are independently run.
• 90% of Your Brain: According to the game, humans normally use 30% of their brains at a time. When the heroes find a new God Stone, it unlocks another 10%, so after seven God Stones their brains are operating at 100% capacity.
• No Biochemical Barriers: The aliens have no trouble living on Earth. Understandably, since they came from Earth in the first place.
• Non-Standard Game Over:
  • At the start of the game, your mom is concerned about sending you off on your own and asks if you're sure about going. If you answer No, then answer Yes twice when asked if you're sure, she'll be relieved (and a little disappointed) and you'll get a "THE END" "GAME OVER!" screen that suggests you "Use your brain next time!" with a little animation of the main character looking exasperated.
  • The only other place where the words "Game Over" appear are choosing "No" when asked to continue at the end of the game. Normally, falling in battle returns you to your last save, but not this time.
• Overworld Not to Scale: Considering that the map is supposed to be the real Earth, this is an acceptable break from reality.
• Orochi: The party encounters Yamata no Orochi at Izumo Shrine just as Ai is to be its sacrifice. A boss battle ensues, which is when Ai joins the party, and head by head the monster is killed. Shortly after, Ai's grandmother Gibo reveals that the aliens have the ability to materialize human fear and that the Yamata no Orochi and other monsters walking about are their doing.
• Post-Final Boss: Incarnations of the party's anger, insecurity, and sadness, which appear before the party in Antarctica in the Playable Epilogue.
• Playable Epilogue: One after beating the final boss where you can walk around a few locations in the game and talk to the people you've saved, and one after the credits roll where you face the Post-Final Boss.
• Plot Coupon That Does Something: The goal of the game is to find the seven God Stones. Finding each one increases your Chakra Level, allowing you to use more Charka spells.
• Pop-Star Composer: The music was scored by none other than Demon Kakka (known at the time as Demon Kogure).
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: The ancient ship in Oceania can only be activated using Lem the lemur's life, a cause which he is willing to throw down his life for.
• Pregnant Badass: After being unable to continue traveling due to her pregnancy, Aoi is left to stay in an inn. Later, said inn is attacked by the aliens and she is able to fight them to protect two children who were also there. Thanks to her bravery, the children escape from the aliens, but she dies in the process
• Psychic Powers: The game's equivalent of magic in other RPGs. All the playable characters have them, but few other humans do.
• Puzzle Boss: The Post-Final Boss. Heal the party's Anger, remove all equipment before facing the party's Insecurity, then do both to the party's Sadness.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The party members (permanent or otherwise) consist of a Tokyo boy who spent 10 years with amnesia, a Drunken Master Swordsman, an all-American war veteran, a mind-reading orphan and former unwilling cult leader, the rebellious granddaughter of a spirit medium, a monk-turned-criminal-turned-monk again, and a lemur with psychic powers.
• Rage Against the Heavens: The aliens barely escaped God's judgment and want to strike back at Him. The heroes ultimately finish the job when He prepares His judgment against humanity as well.
• The Right of a Superior Species: The aliens treat humanity as refuse to be swept aside. They came from Earth in the first place; they figure they're just taking back what was always theirs, and it doesn't matter what happened to grow on it in the meantime.
• Satanic Archetype: The aptly-named Lucifer, a massive alien Brain in a Jar that controls the lunar city and represents the aliens' memory of their lost paradise on Earth, having been banished by God himself. Ra Mu, the actual leader of the alien invasion, is another example for similar reasons, and he introduces himself as being a god who defies God.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Doing just about anything in Moscow requires bribing someone off, whether it's getting gossip at a bar or entering the office of the prime minister (who also demands payment if you want to actually talk to him).
• Second Love: The epilogue implies that Heath ends up in a relationship with Linda, presumably having gotten over the heartbreak of losing Ai.
• Sequential Boss: The alien leader, Ra Mu, has three stages.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Free London and Free Paris, being parodies of the real life nations' historic rivalry. Both of them are located right next to each other in an underwater shelter below the English Channel, where they evacuated due to the original cities being destroyed by aliens. Neither want to back off and give the other one space, and both of them will openly make fun of each other as being backwater hillbillies.
• Space Compression: The overworld is based on the real Earth, but small enough for a group of adventurers to traverse most of it on foot. Several large cities from real life are compressed into about the size of your average JRPG town. New York, an exceptionally large city, is the size of two average JRPG towns.
• Shout-Out:
  • Batty's battle theme is an almost exact copy of the riff from Smoke on the Water.
  • A Kobe resident says "I heard there was a murder at Portopia". On another occasion, he also asks you which popular RPG series you prefer, "the one that starts with F" or "the one that starts with D". Regardless of your answer, he refuses to talk to you any further.
  • A Hokkaido resident will mention that someone was murdered at Okhotsk a long time ago.
  • The hotel in California is called- what else?- Hotel California. The theme park it's inside is also a thinly veiled Disneyland, and the local Buns you can buy are even called Mickey Buns.
• Talking Animal: Most animals talk, a fact which they'll occasionally Lampshade but not otherwise explain.
• Time Skip: A ten-year one between the initial alien invasion and the start of Gen's real adventure.
• True Final Boss: After beating Ra Mu, the leader of the aliens, the real final boss is God. But see Post-Final Boss.
• Unnamed Parent: You're asked to provide a nickname for Gen's mom, with several variations of "Mom", "Mother", and "Mama" to choose from if you don't have your own in mind. This gets a gut-wrenching twist later on in the game, as after granting his mother a Mercy Kill, the usually silent Gen will shout the nickname you gave her over and over.
• Video Game Geography: Apparently our actual, real Earth is toroidal. Who knew.
• World Tour: All sorts of real-world locations are represented here.
• You Killed My Father: The party killed Michael's mother. The fact that she was Gen's mother too, and begged her son to do it, doesn't cool Michael's rage much.
• Zero-Effort Boss:
  • The battles against Batty start off as fairly easy and only get easier with time, eventually devolving to him being defeated automatically in the first turn and then just him not even initiating a battle at all.
  • The Alien Mother constantly heals your party for far more than its Crystal Boys can dish out, making the fight a cakewalk...physically, at least.