No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Back (2018)

It’s a budget title, so it’s not gonna be the same.

Plus, it takes influence from Gauntlet.

The writing for these games has nosedived a lot. NMH was hardly a masterpiece but it had a certain flair and wit to it. 2 and this feel way too on the nose with their humor.

God that gameplay....

If this game didn't have name recognition it would be completely and utterly unremarkable.

It still has the flair. Travis and Electro Hero Six are aware they're being played in a demo version of the game.

I just don't like the aesthetic. But the fourth-wall breaking, anime-referencing absurdity is still there. This presentation wasn't as eye-popping as

I don't know, I might be skeptical, but I'm not completely disenfranchised.

The 4th wall breaking was well placed and funny in the first one. After that they fell in love with it a bit too much and now it happens so much it's not funny any more, which is what I mean when I say the wit's not there.

Uh...I don't think the fourth-wall breaking has ever matched the level it did in the first game's ending. They talk about the game getting delayed, fast-forward through a cutscene, then go on to discuss narrative tropes and the absurdity of its own plot twists. So I find it more than a little ridiculous to suggest that it somehow went overboard after that.

I don't know, I still think it looks fun. Not as fun, but enjoyable enough. I just hope this will inspire an actual third NMH somewhere down the road.

edited 2nd Apr '18 2:57:21 PM by Berserker88

They discuss at length about storytelling tropes and Travis goes on a stupid rant about how important the lives of fictional characters are later in the 2nd game. All throughout the second game they keep making allusions to it being a video game, like Henry killing a bunch of ranked assassins "because the game is jampacked as it is".

It's a little weird and unexpected the first couple of times but gets a little tired when they keep doing it over and over.

In my mind, there's a line that gets crossed when you shatter the fourth wall as thoroughly as the NMH1 ending did, and you can't cross it twice. From that moment on, the series had No Fourth Wall and it can't just pretend it's still there anymore, no matter how serious it tries to be. Now this isn't something I'm complaining about. I love all of the fourth wall humor when it comes from a medium as silly as this. I also don't think this robs it of its ability to still have serious moments. For example, that "stupid rant" is the height of Travis's character development, and for many, one of the highlights of the series. You simply can't go back from being fully self-aware that everything around you is fiction. Might as well embrace it.

edited 2nd Apr '18 3:13:06 PM by Berserker88

I'd say the second game was definitely the weaker entry, but I wouldn't say that the metatextual elements bothered me.

It's a mixed bag for me. There are some things 2 definitely did better, some things it definitely did worse, and some things that vary a lot from person to person. My opinion on which I actually like more has changed more than once, but I have beaten both many times, so at least replay value isn't an issue.

One has better music and imo better writing and theming. Much better final boss (either one, they're both great) than the sequel, too.

Two's soundtrack is still very good though (Akira Yamaoka's tracks are incredible) and I think the gameplay's overall better. So yeah. Dunno which I'd give it to overall because I also like both a lot.

Combat felt nicer, and enemy variety was better in the second game. Also IIRC the Super Mode thing changed so it wasn't just a random thing, but you could actually control when it happened.

Having a world to explore was nice, but there was barely anything to do and the hit collision was garbage at times. But I went and found damn near every single one of those shirts in those dumpsters.

Desperate Struggle got rid of this and gave us some pointless "revenge" missions which were just glorified sub-boss rooms.

Grinding for cash in the first game was a colossal pain. Not so bad in the sequel IIRC.

The story was a lot tougher to digest in the sequel since they were trying to be more "dramatic."

I didn't really care for the open world in 1 so I definitely preferred 2's map and because of that and the fact that it has my favorite song in the series (Philistine), I probably prefer 2 more. Though I absolutely agree that 1's final bosses are better (I still say that Alice should have been the final boss).

I agree that they definitely had more 4th wall breaks in the sequel, but I didn't really mind it that much.

edited 2nd Apr '18 6:47:29 PM by LordVatek

Masafumi Takada's tracks for the series are great too, though I prefer his Dangan Ronpa stuff myself.

Exactly my point. The overworld seems to be one of those things that everyone has a different opinion on. I didn't mind the first game's overworld the first time I played, but on subsequent playthroughs, it started to get annoying fast and I just wanted to get on with it. Conversely, the second game made it more fun to explore the different options and I preferred the retro sidejobs, but it simply didn't have enough. The first game's amount of content plus the second game's style would be the perfect balance for me.

I actually prefer the sequel's soundtrack as well. They're both amazing, but 2 has more variety and I find its songs easier to listen to individually, rather than just as atmosphere for the game. I love Pleather for Breakfast for example, but I found it hard to enjoy as much without wailing on Bad Girl in the background. But I know some would argue that makes the songs better, so...mixed bag.

I didn't necessarily mind so much the loss of the open world, though I would've much preferred if they added stuff (along with a Fast Travel option) rather than remove it entirely. Hunting down shirts and Lovikov Balls had its charm.

And I deeply miss "Heavenly Star" playing at all the shops. The shirt shop song in the sequel literally gives me a headache every time I go in.

Huh... I actually liked the soundtrack to the second better myself, although both are standout soundtracks (and "We Are Finally Cowboys" is still by far the best song in the series). I honestly like the second game better overall, but I'll admit that the first did several things better (earning money outside of ranked missions, wrestling moves, better shirts).

For this one... I mean, the gameplay so far looks a little different from what I'm used to, but I want to give it a whirl before I make any judgments.

I liked the first one's soundtrack more mostly due to soundtrack density - 2 probably has more good tracks overall, but 1's ranked assassin tracks were really good overall, with maybe one or two exceptions, and they stick in my mind more. For every great ranked assassin track in 2 there was at least one other so-so one.

Tooth Paste is the chillest, most poignant beat I've listened to. Therefore, 2's soundtrack wins for me.

Tooth Paste is one of my faves for sure, bizarre name aside, but that's kind of the norm. Along with It's Kill or Be Killed Mix, Dose of Innocence, Money Shot, Subuta.2, Subuta.1, Philistine, Debt Free, Travesty...damn, 2's endgame is loaded with amazing tracks.

From 1, Season of the Samurai, Vioectrolysis, Pleather for Breakfast, Dynamite Rider, Rocket Surgeon, We Are Finally Cowboys, and NO MORE NO MORE HEROES.

And of course, every single remix of the main theme. Okay, categorizing all of my favorite songs was probably a mistake. There's too goddamn many.

Yeah, I know. :p I was going to do the same thing and I looked up a master soundtrack list just to refamiliarize myself. I found a 2 hour video with like 40+ songs listed.

What amazes me is that I still remembered half of those names offhand even though I haven't played the games in years.

Someone on Reddit wrote an analysis of the symbolism in the first No More Heroes .

And someone did the same with No More Heroes 2, proving that, yes, you can indeed find deeper meaning there as well. (Even if some of it is a bit of a stretch.)

edited 27th Apr '18 10:04:35 AM by Berserker88

Bump. This game is seeming more and more playable each time I see it:

Also, plot synopsis from Wikipedia: [1]

Edited by Soble on Dec 27th 2018 at 8:20:30 AM