Spring wants to get here so bad. These last few days were gorgeous in NJ. By gorgeous I mean 50 degree weather…but that’s a lot better than sheets of snow and ice. I’m with you Spring…get here soon!
I hope that wherever you are or whatever you did this weekend, it was a blast. You deserve some rest and relaxation, I know you do! School, work or in-between…we can all use a break. I’m going to soak up this last bit of the weekend with some sleep, and kick off Monday nice and refreshed! See you all in a few, short hours. – RMC
Back on schedule with a review for you guys! Rest assured — this whole month is booked! No More Heroes 2 today, Mega Man 10 next week, followed by Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, and Cave Story to cap off the month. Please let me know via PM or in the comments, etc., what games you’re interested in me reviewing in April. I know there are some games from this month I’m missing out on until then.
In case you somehow missed it, PLEASE check out my new podcast! You guys are all invited to participate, and I’m confident this is a podcast that has enough traditional and new ideas to interest a wide variety of you guys with a unique format, so please give it a listen, participate in Episode 2 this month, and spread the word! I even am thinking of doing special small episodes for my reviews. Check that out at the end of this one!
Also, check out a podcast I appeared in this week: Dark Weres!
No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle
-Strawberry on the Shortcake-
Time played: About 9 hours
Obtained: Rented via Gamefly
Notes: Played w/Wiimote & Nunchuk on Mild (Normal) difficulty)
-Returning to Santa Destroy-
The original No More Heroes was heralded as a flashy, stylish action game for the older, core gamers on Wii. It was met with so-so sales, but clearly the development team was passionate about Travis Touchdown and the downright bizarre world he resides in, because a sequel was put together that oozes with attitude, and it’s a game worth experiencing — though you might be left confused by the end as to what, exactly, was just experienced.
Travis, having put aside his gig as a world-class assassin, has gone back to bumming around in the Motel “No More Heroes,” complete with Mexican wrestling masks and anime figurines. He’s let his cat get fat and his status as a top-ranking warrior who vanished back into obscurity has given him a mysterious aura of mythological proportions: the otaku who rose to the top only to ride off into the sunset, never to be heard of again. That is, until the head of his best friend is delivered to his apartment. Enraged, Travis sets out to seek revenge for his friend, who had no involvement in his duels. Much to his dismay, the one who killed his friend awaits him at the top of the new rankings that have cropped up and become the premiere sport in Santa Destroy.
From the first time you boot up the game, No More Heroes 2 breaks the fourth wall by instructinng you: “Before you start your ‘Desperate Struggling,’ you should drop a mad save,” and promptly creates a save file for you while Travis plops himself on a toilet and elicits a groan of relief. For the unintiated, this franchise is known for its incredibly blunt and crude humor — even saving your game is humorous, as it’s done by going to the bathroom. Your sword’s battery is displayed by a pixelated phallic symbol, and recharging the sword requires you to shake the remote as Travis elicits sexually pleasurable moans. Despite the downright offensive material that is often thrown about, the game manages to create a lot of cinematic flair and indie film vibes, from the way it seemlessly starts the story from first boot-up to scene transitions to its interesting art style, which has been updated from the original title and looks more fluid and interesting. The soundtrack is a blast, from its retro-gaming tunes to its rock riffs to its electronic/techno songs and the occasional over-the-top pop song.
Clearly, this is a title that is trying to appeal to your senses while simultaneously making you “WTF” and “OMG” at a steady rate. If I’m frank, there were more than a handful of moments while playing this game in which my thoughts inevitably led to the idea, “Oh, this is what being on acid must feel like.” It really is crazy-strange stuff, but it’s generally entertaining. The issues that hold it back, however, are still lingering from the prior entry.
To its credit, No More Heroes 2 does improve on the gameplay of its predecessor in about every way. The bland, uninspired sandbox city of Santa Destory has been transformed into a stylish overhead menu, allowing quick and easy access to shops, money-making missions, and the next section of the main story. The pacing here is much more focused, letting players press on as quickly as they like, or take some time to tackle side stuff as they see fit. Money is not required to activate the next Ranking Battle (thank God) so all money you earn in the side jobs can be put toward upgrading Travis’ outfit (which gets reflected in all cutscenes), buying some new swords, or training at the gym to improve attack power and health.
As another neat twist, the minigames for earning money are (almost) entirely 8-bit games designed to play like NES titles, complete with the sound of a cart being blown and jammed inside a console to the title screen wiping down and fun chiptunes and 80’s era graphics taking over. Most of the games are pretty enjoyable for the short bursts they are designed to be played for, and they range in variety: shooting, platforming, racing, timing and puzzle-based games. They’re a stroke of genius that wonderfully compliments the franchise’s pixelated menu elements and sound effects. It’s all much more engaging than mowing lawns, at any rate. Did I mention there’s an anime shooter you can play a level of, watch the anime intro that goes along with the tie-in game, and you can play with your cat to help it lose weight — in-between brutally murdering people, of course.
What’s unfortunate is that despite all of these original, humorous, and just plain cool choices in presentation, No More Heroes is still flawed in its main mechanic: combat. It’s just too freaking repetitive for its own good. Even with the few alterations to your beam swords (I prefer dual-wielding, myself), they change the properties and attack types that Travis has, but ultimately it all still comes down to mashing the attack buttons over and over, and maybe deciding to dodge out of harm’s way now and again. It’s not even that combat can get real old real fast, it’s that there are so many instances where a level just drags on for far too long, throwing nothing at you but mindless waves of the same enemies over and over again. As fun as ruthlessly dicing people up and watching their blood comically spray every which way is, it gets boring doing it the same four ways over and over again. Wrestling moves up being about the same thing but with slightly different prompts. And the voice effects became grating by the end. Travis’ “What da f***?” when he gets knocked down is funny the first couple of times, but after the 50th time I was wishing there had been more contextual-based dialogue mixed in to keep things fresh. Speaking of mixing things in, you do get to play as Travis’ brother, Henry, for a single, very whacked-out boss battle, which is kind of fun. Players also get to take on the role of the incredibly puffy-haired Shinobu, the samurai chick whom Travis spared in the original title. She’s become Travis’ self-appointed pupil. She’s kind of cute and funny with her naivity, and her play style is a little different — but dear God, trying to navigate the few “platforming” elements the game requires with her was just plain aggrevating.
Aggrevating is, alas, the best word that can be used with certain elements of No More Heroes 2 and its combat. It has a novelty to it, and that novelty wears thin when the same audio cues are slammed at you, the same two combos are mashed ad nauseum, and you have to fight with the damned camera on a regular basis.
-My No More Hero-
No More Heroes 2 lives up to its original and surpasses it in terms of style and crazy factor — you can tell the people who made this game genuinely had fun making it. It’s a product of passion. But most of the boss battles didn’t feel quite as interesting as they could have been, as if the development team was just going through some kind of rinse-repeat motions in creating some of them. The story, while intriguing and interesting at times, is just downright weird and nonsensical. This was hilarious at some points but at others unsatisfying, leaving me to wonder if I was just missing something or if I wasn’t supposed to understand what I was experiencing.
If you’re up for some crude, lewd attitude wrapped around slick presentation and over-the-top humor and style, No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle is definitely worth checking out, just be prepared for some frustrations on the technical side of things.
-High Score-
8/10
I’m thinking of making Same SkyCast segments for my review. Here’s the one I whipped up for this review! Do bear in mind that it has spoilers since it’s designed more for folks who already played the game. Please feel free to have spoiler-filled discussion on the boards!
Here is the original post:
GoNintendo ‘End of Day’ thoughts – No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle review by D3stiny_Sm4sher
Yes, I realise it’s a terrible, punishable headline, but it’s early for me, what do you expect? 
Anyway, just wanted to post a quick note to share some credit with azsapphire who designed today’s banner. Many of you were asking/hoping for something celebrating de Blob, and he rose to the occasion for you, so be sure to rise to the occasion of some comment love.
