Just reviewed the entire chapter, the part in the last page where Aizen has a hand over his face that's his own hand not Ichigo's, he's already let go of Aizen at that point, so if that's the square people say the hand looks shriveled then that's Aizen's hand not Ichigo's.

So he claims to be, we've not yet seen him match up against anyone of his own caliber and the definition of a god is that he/she is almighty, well Ichigo seems to be able to fight against him, so that's almightiness out the window, so not a god either imo.

Well, not a god in the literal sense, like omnipotent or something. Just incredibly powerful. He's been implying he's a god since before his transformations started. He used the Hogyoku to become a perfect hybrid like Ichigo. Not a weak Arrancar and not a Vizard (he calls Vizards mock failed arrancars), but a true hybrid like Ichigo. That's the whole point of him being interested in Ichigo in the first place

Ichigo didn't cause the Hogyoku to activate... Urahara had hidden it in Rukia's soul so by being near Ichigo and his friends it was able to fulfill their wishes. Ichigo, Chad, Orihime all cursed their own powerlessness and wished they were stronger, so the Hogyoku helped them awaken their powers.

I won't attempt to say anything else regarding the Hogyoku though, because right now everything is confusing. So far we only knew of one Hogyoku, but now Aizen says he has had his own version all along so...I have no idea what that means for what we know so far

Yes, but even the Hogyoku has its limits. It didn't make him a REAL god. What you wish for has to, uhh how should I say it.....'exist within the realm of possibility' maybe? Like, if I had the hogyoku and wished I was an alien living in a planet millions of light years away, my wish probably wouldn't be granted...

Of course, not everything I say is from the manga directly, some are my own assumptions, but what I think happened, is that the hogyoku made Aizen a 'god' as much as it was possible. And in order for something to be possible, it has to exist first. Thus the need for Ichigo to power up and become a perfect hybrid...

Well, depends how you interpret the term "God" I suppose... I for example, usually associate it with omnipotence, omniscience and immortality. Anyone who's like this obviously can't even be hurt, much less killed.

Possibly, and I think we agree if we take that interpretation. Aizen now is even more powerful than Yamamoto, so yes, by shinigami standards, you could say he's a god...

In that sense, yes, god can be a term for one who possesses massive power. However, back to the question of a higher level than bankai, I think that Ichigo's present is his fully matured bankai, like how toushiro doesn't have a fully mature bankai yet because he is so you by shinigami standards: ichigo is way younger. Also, the "Hollows can evolve why not zanpacutos?" is moot because the evolution of hollows happen outside of the souls of others through devouring the souls of their fellow hollows; that was how Hichigo evolved IMO, natural hollow evolution! The reason that Zangetsu looked different is that the sword changes form and thus the spirit must aswell, but, after thousands of years of use, if there was a higher level than bankai, it would have been discovered by yammamoto, a 12 division, histugaya or some other genuis captain.