The epitome of missing the point.
Travis' character is pitifully written, where the original clearly paints him as a pathetic loser that thinks he's cool, the sequel ditches this in exchange for an explicit player fantasy where he canonically gets the girl and sheds some blood in the name of revenge for a character that really wasn't given much depth prior.
The gameplay is barely an improvement to the first, as every boss fight devolves into walking away and baiting them to attack, because if you play hyper-aggressively they'll dodge ad infinitum.
At the very least, the music still bangs, but I can't really give it much outstanding praise outside of that.
Travis' character is pitifully written, where the original clearly paints him as a pathetic loser that thinks he's cool, the sequel ditches this in exchange for an explicit player fantasy where he canonically gets the girl and sheds some blood in the name of revenge for a character that really wasn't given much depth prior.
The gameplay is barely an improvement to the first, as every boss fight devolves into walking away and baiting them to attack, because if you play hyper-aggressively they'll dodge ad infinitum.
At the very least, the music still bangs, but I can't really give it much outstanding praise outside of that.
The lack of an explorable world as well as a smaller list of other activities outside of the main story drag this game down for me. But this game still has some of the Suda51 charm despite him not actually being super involved, still worth playing if you liked the first just not quite to its level.
The spectacle of excess fuelling Desperate Struggle is exactly what No More Heroes avoided in the first place ; it's vulgar without being subversive and cynical without the tender humor to match.
It's desperate that they struggled to put in the open world aspect of the original game. The open world was clunky with many limitations, but it created this world of Destroy City this second installment never acchieved. It rather felt like completing level after level until you're finished, nothing more. That was a huge drawback for me.
The retro style games were fun for a while, but I consider this to be a small extra.
The fighting is hilariously fun, although it repeats and is always the same towards the end.
Sure, there is obvious sexism in this game, keep that in mind considering it.
I'm looking forward to playing No More Heroes 3, nonetheless!
The retro style games were fun for a while, but I consider this to be a small extra.
The fighting is hilariously fun, although it repeats and is always the same towards the end.
Sure, there is obvious sexism in this game, keep that in mind considering it.
I'm looking forward to playing No More Heroes 3, nonetheless!
If someone tried to make No More Heroes from scratch only with what they could vaguely remember as a guide this is the game they would make.
No More Heroes 2 is a game That I adore from an aesthetic perspective. Kicking in the gate with far improved visuals, awesome character designs, and some nice improvements to the combat, but still manages to bungle things so badly that I found myself thoroughly disappointed. The game was not directed by Suda, and was made primarily for fans of No More Heroes 1, and therefore, took a lot of feedback from them. Personally I think Suda’s games operate best when following a specific theme to the detriment of all else, with careful curation and focus leading to a very focused experience. No More Heroes 2 is anything but focused. With annoying bossfight bloat, removal of the overworld, Travis’s character being pulled in two contradictory directions, and making the side jobs feel less meaningful and somehow more tedious. The game becomes far less consistently enjoyable than No More Heroes 1.
The devs seemed to want to simultaneously progress Travis’s character, while also clinging desperately to the original’s devices. Travis’s characterization in the game, which is half of its focus, is schizophrenic at best. They wanted their cake and to eat it too, making him become a better person without giving up parts of what defined him in the original. Put simply, they wanted him to grow, but didn’t want him to change, which just makes the experience a frustrating mess.
The combat improvements are one of the highlights of the game. Travis feels cleaner, crisper, and more precise to control than ever. Powerups feel more powerful and meaningful, and the different beam katanas have somewhat different movesets. You also play as other characters in the game for brief periods, which are all fine except one, entirely due to their levels having infuriating platforming sections.
The side jobs on the other hand, have hit rock bottom. While a cute idea to turn them all into NES style games, I found them to waste more of my time than the side jobs in the first game, and were often less profitable. I found none of the games fun, but nor did I think they served any neat purpose like they did in the original, further adding to the sluggishness of the game. These minigames also plagued the gym, making the workout sessions frustrating to complete just to improve Travis’s stats.
I got a bad feeling quite early in my playthrough of the game that it seemed to fall into the trap of “more is better” seeing as the game features 14 boss fights (15 in the PS3 Remake) in comparison to No More Heroes’s 10 (11 if you count the secret boss). While not every boss in the original was stellar, all of them felt meaningful and well utilized. Whereas in No More Heroes 2, most of the fights have fled my memory soon after fighting them. Many ranging from either incredibly easy, to incredibly annoying. I found that only about four of the fourteen fights to be any fun or at all challenging. Even so, It felt incredibly disappointing that these amazing character designs and moments didnt get more fanfare and polish, any build up or characterization. Almost all of them are one note, gimmick fights that have no real meaning or impact. The final boss was the most egregious of all the bosses in the game, leaving me with an incredibly sour taste in my mouth.
The best part of the game is by far its soundtrack. While the mixing of at least the Switch Port is god awful, almost all of the tracks in isolation are such a stellar improvement over the original that they honestly stand alone in making parts of the game at all tolerable to get through, I recommend giving it a listen even if you have no interest in playing the game.
I wont say that I hate No More Heroes 2, but I did find it to be one of the most frustrating examples of unrealized potential and bungling of a character I had come to enjoy. If you are interested in a deeply flawed game that still has some vestiges of that Suda magic, I’d say give it a try, maybe you’ll like it more than I did.
The devs seemed to want to simultaneously progress Travis’s character, while also clinging desperately to the original’s devices. Travis’s characterization in the game, which is half of its focus, is schizophrenic at best. They wanted their cake and to eat it too, making him become a better person without giving up parts of what defined him in the original. Put simply, they wanted him to grow, but didn’t want him to change, which just makes the experience a frustrating mess.
The combat improvements are one of the highlights of the game. Travis feels cleaner, crisper, and more precise to control than ever. Powerups feel more powerful and meaningful, and the different beam katanas have somewhat different movesets. You also play as other characters in the game for brief periods, which are all fine except one, entirely due to their levels having infuriating platforming sections.
The side jobs on the other hand, have hit rock bottom. While a cute idea to turn them all into NES style games, I found them to waste more of my time than the side jobs in the first game, and were often less profitable. I found none of the games fun, but nor did I think they served any neat purpose like they did in the original, further adding to the sluggishness of the game. These minigames also plagued the gym, making the workout sessions frustrating to complete just to improve Travis’s stats.
I got a bad feeling quite early in my playthrough of the game that it seemed to fall into the trap of “more is better” seeing as the game features 14 boss fights (15 in the PS3 Remake) in comparison to No More Heroes’s 10 (11 if you count the secret boss). While not every boss in the original was stellar, all of them felt meaningful and well utilized. Whereas in No More Heroes 2, most of the fights have fled my memory soon after fighting them. Many ranging from either incredibly easy, to incredibly annoying. I found that only about four of the fourteen fights to be any fun or at all challenging. Even so, It felt incredibly disappointing that these amazing character designs and moments didnt get more fanfare and polish, any build up or characterization. Almost all of them are one note, gimmick fights that have no real meaning or impact. The final boss was the most egregious of all the bosses in the game, leaving me with an incredibly sour taste in my mouth.
The best part of the game is by far its soundtrack. While the mixing of at least the Switch Port is god awful, almost all of the tracks in isolation are such a stellar improvement over the original that they honestly stand alone in making parts of the game at all tolerable to get through, I recommend giving it a listen even if you have no interest in playing the game.
I wont say that I hate No More Heroes 2, but I did find it to be one of the most frustrating examples of unrealized potential and bungling of a character I had come to enjoy. If you are interested in a deeply flawed game that still has some vestiges of that Suda magic, I’d say give it a try, maybe you’ll like it more than I did.
It's been a while since I played a sequel to a game that missed the point of its predecessor as much as this one does.
Starts pretty strong with a few good levels, a great new mechanic (ecstasy), and some interesting plot hooks. Not to mention they got rid of the worst part of NMH1 - the open world segments. I also think the soundtrack is generally better than the first game, It's Kill or Be Killed is a banger! Eventually you even get to play as some fan favorite characters which is legitimately exciting.
Unfortunately, by the time you take back control of Travis my honeymoon period with this game was completely over.
In NMH1 there's a level that was 1 hallway and then a cutscene, because of the themes of that game it was easy to read it as satirical and look past how boring the actual level was. Almost every level in NMH2 at this point seems to have evolved from that single joke stage from the first game i.e. they're all just slightly different textured hallways.
As the budget for level design seemed to completely run out and the game started to bore me I began to realize that the writing is also a massive step down. The witty satire of the first game seems almost completely lost here. The writers seemingly abandoned everything that made Travis Touchdown such an interesting character in order to make him Video Game Protagonist One-Liner Man. No longer does Travis throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way, no longer does he talk about his favorite pornos, no longer does he seem to get off the violence he perpetrates. Instead, NMH2's Travis Touchdown simply says cool shit, waxes poetic about how he doesn't want to kill anybody, and girls fawn over him for doing so.
I think the problems with this game can be summed up with a single scene. Before fighting one of the last bosses this new, sexier, cooler Travis Touchdown even goes as far as to call himself the "No More Hero" in what may be the most embarrassing title drop in video game history. The title of No More Heroes was absolutely drenched in thematic importance, you could interpret it 100 different ways, and even Suda himself didn't want to tell you exactly what it meant. However, in one fell swoop the writers of NMH2 reduce it to a cool title that Travis gave himself, stripping it of all the nuance and subtlety.
Overall, I'd say this game had a lot of promise but completely squandered it in my eyes. It's possible I'm reading too much into a lot of this stuff, or even missing something in regards to the thematic intentions of this game, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Could see myself playing the first couple levels again, but not much else.
Starts pretty strong with a few good levels, a great new mechanic (ecstasy), and some interesting plot hooks. Not to mention they got rid of the worst part of NMH1 - the open world segments. I also think the soundtrack is generally better than the first game, It's Kill or Be Killed is a banger! Eventually you even get to play as some fan favorite characters which is legitimately exciting.
Unfortunately, by the time you take back control of Travis my honeymoon period with this game was completely over.
In NMH1 there's a level that was 1 hallway and then a cutscene, because of the themes of that game it was easy to read it as satirical and look past how boring the actual level was. Almost every level in NMH2 at this point seems to have evolved from that single joke stage from the first game i.e. they're all just slightly different textured hallways.
As the budget for level design seemed to completely run out and the game started to bore me I began to realize that the writing is also a massive step down. The witty satire of the first game seems almost completely lost here. The writers seemingly abandoned everything that made Travis Touchdown such an interesting character in order to make him Video Game Protagonist One-Liner Man. No longer does Travis throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way, no longer does he talk about his favorite pornos, no longer does he seem to get off the violence he perpetrates. Instead, NMH2's Travis Touchdown simply says cool shit, waxes poetic about how he doesn't want to kill anybody, and girls fawn over him for doing so.
I think the problems with this game can be summed up with a single scene. Before fighting one of the last bosses this new, sexier, cooler Travis Touchdown even goes as far as to call himself the "No More Hero" in what may be the most embarrassing title drop in video game history. The title of No More Heroes was absolutely drenched in thematic importance, you could interpret it 100 different ways, and even Suda himself didn't want to tell you exactly what it meant. However, in one fell swoop the writers of NMH2 reduce it to a cool title that Travis gave himself, stripping it of all the nuance and subtlety.
Overall, I'd say this game had a lot of promise but completely squandered it in my eyes. It's possible I'm reading too much into a lot of this stuff, or even missing something in regards to the thematic intentions of this game, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Could see myself playing the first couple levels again, but not much else.
there's a reason i finished this about 2.5 times
Nowhere near the worst game I've ever played, but outside of two boss fights, definitely one of the most disappointing, especially as a sequel.
MRAZQ TEEEEEE! MRAZQ TEEEEEEEE! MRAZQ TEEEEEEE! MRAZQ TAZI TUPA IGRA UJASNA E DANO NMH3 E PO-DOBRA
DOWNWARD
FUCKING
DOG
FUCKING
DOG
nmh 2 did some things right and some things wrong. grinding for money is removed which is great. however it makes you ignore the side content. now i can see why they did this because it's really lacking here. although the 8-bit minigames certainly felt unique. the addition of new playable characters is cool but you barely use them??? only for like a level or two. it just feels like they were added to make a selling point for the game. one HUGE improvement is the OST. oh my god it's so beautiful, much better than the first game. in terms of gameplay it's more polished and refined here, combat feels much faster. it's a fine game and it certainly does better in some aspects than nmh1 but nmh1 is still the better game in my opinion.
playing this game is self harm
Shinobu is hot
It's been a bit since I replayed this game while going through my GhM marathon, and it's given me a lot of time to think about this game. I originally played it around six years ago after playing the original game and back then I really liked it; now I can see that was just me being a stupid kid.
Before going into the stuff I don't like, I'll go over the stuff I actually like. First and probably the best thing about this game, the OST is amazing and every track in this game is stellar, I probably like this more than the original's OST. I also think the game looks nice, especially in places like the first boss fight with the snow falling on Santa Destroy (though this could be because I REALLY love snow aesthetics in games). The port to the Switch is also really nice but that's more so on Engine Software and not the people who made the game. And finally, getting to play as Shinobu and Henry was really awesome even though you had to do shitty platforming as Shinobu and only play as Henry for one boss.
Now that that's out of the way, onto the shit I hate. First, the gameplay is a huge step down from the original's. The combat feels nowhere near as satisfying with it feeling way floatier and the enemies being way more annoying in my opinion. The side jobs are wayyyy worse with barely any of them being fun besides the ones that are basically rip offs of other games. Thank God they're not mandatory, but to me the side jobs in the first game are part of what made it so memorable. Having to work your ass off to get to the next boss fight or get your next beam sword makes it feel more satisfying. Speaking of beam swords, in the first game if you got all of them you unlocked a secret boss who was insanely cool and easily the best fight in the game. In this game there is something similar, but the first is way less cool with the only thing cool about it being the stage which is only somewhat cool, hopefully 3 does something cool with that character. There are also entire 15-20 minute sections just fighting enemies, sometimes in the same room which just isn't fun. Next is the plot, in this game Travis goes on a revenge quest to kill the people who killed his best friend, but the thing is that the people who actually killed him are basically non-existent to the plot and are relegated to optional side missions which start to repeat towards the end. Even Suda himself says that he would go back and change this. Speaking of Suda, him not directing this game is a huge let down. I'm not opposed to people other than Suda directing things at GhM or even in Kill the Past, but I feel like if he did direct this game it would have turned out a lot better. And finally, the final boss. Most of the boss fights in this game range from just okay to kinda bad, but the final boss is probably the worst thing this company has ever put into their games. The first phase isn't really fun and the second phase is one of the most broken bosses I've experienced in a game with moves that can keep you in the corner of the arena for a good while. Also the boss himself isn't a good villain with his only motivation for hating Travis coming from optional side content from the first game. Also this is just a nitpick but I think it's way funnier if Travis is a virgin instead of him actually fucking Sylvia.
In conclusion, this game is kinda a mess with some pretty good elements. I've been thinking a lot of I should recommend people skip this game and go straight to Travis Strikes Again cause it honestly doesn't have any bearing on that game. I guess if you REALLY wanna play it, go for it, it's not the worst game ever and it even has some good bits. But if you have no interest in this game, don't feel like if you need to to understand the later games in the series.
Before going into the stuff I don't like, I'll go over the stuff I actually like. First and probably the best thing about this game, the OST is amazing and every track in this game is stellar, I probably like this more than the original's OST. I also think the game looks nice, especially in places like the first boss fight with the snow falling on Santa Destroy (though this could be because I REALLY love snow aesthetics in games). The port to the Switch is also really nice but that's more so on Engine Software and not the people who made the game. And finally, getting to play as Shinobu and Henry was really awesome even though you had to do shitty platforming as Shinobu and only play as Henry for one boss.
Now that that's out of the way, onto the shit I hate. First, the gameplay is a huge step down from the original's. The combat feels nowhere near as satisfying with it feeling way floatier and the enemies being way more annoying in my opinion. The side jobs are wayyyy worse with barely any of them being fun besides the ones that are basically rip offs of other games. Thank God they're not mandatory, but to me the side jobs in the first game are part of what made it so memorable. Having to work your ass off to get to the next boss fight or get your next beam sword makes it feel more satisfying. Speaking of beam swords, in the first game if you got all of them you unlocked a secret boss who was insanely cool and easily the best fight in the game. In this game there is something similar, but the first is way less cool with the only thing cool about it being the stage which is only somewhat cool, hopefully 3 does something cool with that character. There are also entire 15-20 minute sections just fighting enemies, sometimes in the same room which just isn't fun. Next is the plot, in this game Travis goes on a revenge quest to kill the people who killed his best friend, but the thing is that the people who actually killed him are basically non-existent to the plot and are relegated to optional side missions which start to repeat towards the end. Even Suda himself says that he would go back and change this. Speaking of Suda, him not directing this game is a huge let down. I'm not opposed to people other than Suda directing things at GhM or even in Kill the Past, but I feel like if he did direct this game it would have turned out a lot better. And finally, the final boss. Most of the boss fights in this game range from just okay to kinda bad, but the final boss is probably the worst thing this company has ever put into their games. The first phase isn't really fun and the second phase is one of the most broken bosses I've experienced in a game with moves that can keep you in the corner of the arena for a good while. Also the boss himself isn't a good villain with his only motivation for hating Travis coming from optional side content from the first game. Also this is just a nitpick but I think it's way funnier if Travis is a virgin instead of him actually fucking Sylvia.
In conclusion, this game is kinda a mess with some pretty good elements. I've been thinking a lot of I should recommend people skip this game and go straight to Travis Strikes Again cause it honestly doesn't have any bearing on that game. I guess if you REALLY wanna play it, go for it, it's not the worst game ever and it even has some good bits. But if you have no interest in this game, don't feel like if you need to to understand the later games in the series.
travis part 2
nmh 1 but even better with more fun characters and more epic music
nmh 1 but even better with more fun characters and more epic music
I liked this game. Following the events of the first game (which are brazenly dismissed by Travis in the first hour) we go on another adventure to climb the leaderboard and become the #1 assassin. At first, I was cautious about the existence of a No More Heroes 2 - especially as it wasn't written by SUDA51. In reality, this games storytelling is just pretty good. It's nowhere near as impressive or as thought-provoking as the original, but watching Travis appreciate fighting and killing, and the solemness as death as the story goes on bolsters his development from the first game in a satisfying way. The combat is even better than the first game, and is still so satisfying. All in all, this is a good game. I had fun with it.
+I get that the open world of the original is meant partially as parody, but honestly I'm glad they removed it from this one. cuts down on the fluff and filler for sure
+I personally think ignoring much of the latter half of the first game's plot works to the sequel's benefit. then again, I'm not sure how they would've even rationalized a sequel otherwise...
+on that note, this game is much easier to follow than the first. the narrative trickery is kept to a minimum, and the fourth-wall breaks are much more tasteful in this game as well. I think this series is better off as just stupid fun without the thematic trappings of the original
+dual-wielding beam katanas... entirely a game-changer. like actually so fun to use
+I really like the NES-style side jobs and gym minigames, they overall have more depth than the brainless minigames from the original (though the scorpion job came back for some reason)
+overall I prefer the bosses in this game over the first, and there's more of them too. many of the bosses remind me more of shinobu from the first one, with many ways to approach the battle and new moves as the fight goes on, except without the OHKOs and other frustrating gimmicks from the first. I actually felt like I was having a proper swordfight in a few of them!
+in fact, most of the frustration from the first one overall is gone. there's no long hallways of gunmen anymore, no damage sponge boss encounters (or rather, the peony alleviates that)
+in terms of progression it feels like the fat has been trimmed tremendously. there's no need to continue playing the side jobs once you've gotten both weapons and all the gym upgrades, so you can blast through combat sequences after that
+the tiger transformation in this game rules, and also speeds up many of the long endgame levels
+the run of bosses from ryuji to alice is so good. it really makes you wish the first game had something similar
-combat still retains many of the issues of the first game, specifically how poorly the camera behaves with lock-on. I may be wrong but I think there were many more destructable environment objects in this one, and you can easily get caught
-some of the bosses feel very underdesigned, especially in the first half. letz shake, cloe walsh, and million gunmen especially felt like unfinished pushovers
-how did they fuck up a motorcycle battle, like it's really not fun (boss battle afterwards is quite good though)
-getting to play as shinobu is very cool, too bad her platforming is stiff and frustrating
-getting to play as henry is very cool, too bad your first time using him is in a boss battle with no time to learn his combos or get a feel for his dash
-no gardens of madness call... the boss battles in general are given very little lead-up, which is a big drop down from the first game. I'm neutral on the peep show sequences as well
-the level pacing is a little funky, with the first half of the game having very short pre-boss levels and the second half of the game having very long ones. I don't mind the length though, I'm happy to slice-and-dice, and I put up with the same thing in the yakuza games
this game does a solid job trimming the fat from the first, improving the main draw of the game (the interesting bosses), and giving fanservice to those who loved the original. it's still very rough around the edges, but I'm just glad the first one got a worthy follow-up that capitalized on the unique world and designs to make something that is a joy to play. I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it (god no) but I had a fun time blowing through this one in a weekend
+I personally think ignoring much of the latter half of the first game's plot works to the sequel's benefit. then again, I'm not sure how they would've even rationalized a sequel otherwise...
+on that note, this game is much easier to follow than the first. the narrative trickery is kept to a minimum, and the fourth-wall breaks are much more tasteful in this game as well. I think this series is better off as just stupid fun without the thematic trappings of the original
+dual-wielding beam katanas... entirely a game-changer. like actually so fun to use
+I really like the NES-style side jobs and gym minigames, they overall have more depth than the brainless minigames from the original (though the scorpion job came back for some reason)
+overall I prefer the bosses in this game over the first, and there's more of them too. many of the bosses remind me more of shinobu from the first one, with many ways to approach the battle and new moves as the fight goes on, except without the OHKOs and other frustrating gimmicks from the first. I actually felt like I was having a proper swordfight in a few of them!
+in fact, most of the frustration from the first one overall is gone. there's no long hallways of gunmen anymore, no damage sponge boss encounters (or rather, the peony alleviates that)
+in terms of progression it feels like the fat has been trimmed tremendously. there's no need to continue playing the side jobs once you've gotten both weapons and all the gym upgrades, so you can blast through combat sequences after that
+the tiger transformation in this game rules, and also speeds up many of the long endgame levels
+the run of bosses from ryuji to alice is so good. it really makes you wish the first game had something similar
-combat still retains many of the issues of the first game, specifically how poorly the camera behaves with lock-on. I may be wrong but I think there were many more destructable environment objects in this one, and you can easily get caught
-some of the bosses feel very underdesigned, especially in the first half. letz shake, cloe walsh, and million gunmen especially felt like unfinished pushovers
-how did they fuck up a motorcycle battle, like it's really not fun (boss battle afterwards is quite good though)
-getting to play as shinobu is very cool, too bad her platforming is stiff and frustrating
-getting to play as henry is very cool, too bad your first time using him is in a boss battle with no time to learn his combos or get a feel for his dash
-no gardens of madness call... the boss battles in general are given very little lead-up, which is a big drop down from the first game. I'm neutral on the peep show sequences as well
-the level pacing is a little funky, with the first half of the game having very short pre-boss levels and the second half of the game having very long ones. I don't mind the length though, I'm happy to slice-and-dice, and I put up with the same thing in the yakuza games
this game does a solid job trimming the fat from the first, improving the main draw of the game (the interesting bosses), and giving fanservice to those who loved the original. it's still very rough around the edges, but I'm just glad the first one got a worthy follow-up that capitalized on the unique world and designs to make something that is a joy to play. I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it (god no) but I had a fun time blowing through this one in a weekend
After finishing and liking the first game, I started playing Desperate Struggle really excited, and for the most part I think this game is better than the first one. The combat is faster and more fluid compared to NMH1, the stages in general are also an improvement, the bosses are even better. The soundtrack is great, the double beam katanas are badass, the minigames are really charming with NES aesthetics in this one. The thing I didn't like is how the story creates more questions instead of answering the ones already on my mind, I will play the next games and I hope for some answers.
Really fucking disappointing game. It opens up strong and leads you to believe it'll be a better experience than the original-- it looks better, feels better, seems to have stronger design in general, but then it just kinda gets bad? Shout out to Margaret Moonlight though
The start of the game was solid and very promising but everything after that was just kind of mediocre
A weak sequel to a great game. For me, all the "pointless" things in NMH had, well, a point. The banality and (false) meritocratic nature of work, regardless if you're an assassin or a coconut catcher, have been replaced with more "efficient" ways to interact with the world. Efficient, and deeply annoying.
The worst part however, is the writing. No more surreal, absurd characters, just South Park jokes,with a few hits here and there.
The worst part however, is the writing. No more surreal, absurd characters, just South Park jokes,with a few hits here and there.
A great OST to a sequel that loses some of what makes the original great
yeah it was a DESPERATE STRUGGLE to finish this one alright
Everyone hating on this reveal how they don't understand what makes the game TRULY shine; Shinobu in that outfit. God damn! Come to think of it, Travis in this? He's a lil saucy too. That hair is styling. Also the music is pretty good. You know what, I'll kick it up a half star just because.
It's close, but as usual I like the sequel more despite it's less focused game mechanics (mainly the dodge change).
Definitely not perfect, but an absolutely mad expansion of the first game.
There is no reason not to play this if you loved 1.
Definitely not perfect, but an absolutely mad expansion of the first game.
There is no reason not to play this if you loved 1.
this game makes me so fucking mad its comprehension of the original is just baffling
also the literal only reason i beat it was to listen to the soundtrack more
also the literal only reason i beat it was to listen to the soundtrack more
As a follow up to the first game, No More Heroes 2 is pretty dissapointing as it's just less of an interesting game. Story feels totally unnecessary and doesn't do enough interesting things for me.
Travis joins the assassination gig again because he does and he vows to climb to the top to get revenge on the guy who killed BIIIIIIIIISSSSSHHHOOOPPPPPPP!!! and that's kinda what you get at the end. There's some intriguing cut-aways throughout the game with a mysterious figure but they turn out to be Sylvia and it's all revealed to be a sequel bait that doesn't really land for me. The most charitable thing I can do for the story is through a reading of the reason why Travis is in the assassination game again is because there's a No More Heroes 2 and having to go through another assassination gig is what leads to him having second throughts about the treatment of the video-game characters he has no kill and be done with UAA gives the story a kiiiiinda interesting meta angle that may or may not be intended but even then, I still find it hard for me to defend the second game's story as anything meaningful.
Also the cut open world and lack of a buy in for gigs totally kills the two sided nature of the first game where a lot of the time you were doing repetitve chores to be able to afford your fantasy basically. I can see why they did it but the game is totally missing something from the first game because of it. It's a trade of character for ease and enjoyment.
And ultimately that's what makes 2 so different from 1. It's doing the same game as 1 but it lacks a lot of the character or uncommon characteristics.
...That being said, I'd be lying if I said I still didn't enjoy myself. The music is great thanks to Akira Yamaoka. Graphically the game looks amazing upscaled to 1080. Sylvia has MULTIPLE OUTFITS! SHINOBU IS PLAYABLE!! They even spent money on a dang fake full OP to the in-game anime that Travis loves! Also, even though I just complained about the pacing, I can get the appeal of turning No More Heroes into a purely boss rush game with weird boss design and track after the next.
No More Heroes 2 is a bit of a conflicting game for me because overall the game is a downgrade from No More Heroes 1 on most fronts and it's nowhere near being a cult classic for me. On the other hand though, the game still does carry a lot of the original's spirit and you could probably still get a good time out of it.
Travis joins the assassination gig again because he does and he vows to climb to the top to get revenge on the guy who killed BIIIIIIIIISSSSSHHHOOOPPPPPPP!!! and that's kinda what you get at the end. There's some intriguing cut-aways throughout the game with a mysterious figure but they turn out to be Sylvia and it's all revealed to be a sequel bait that doesn't really land for me. The most charitable thing I can do for the story is through a reading of the reason why Travis is in the assassination game again is because there's a No More Heroes 2 and having to go through another assassination gig is what leads to him having second throughts about the treatment of the video-game characters he has no kill and be done with UAA gives the story a kiiiiinda interesting meta angle that may or may not be intended but even then, I still find it hard for me to defend the second game's story as anything meaningful.
Also the cut open world and lack of a buy in for gigs totally kills the two sided nature of the first game where a lot of the time you were doing repetitve chores to be able to afford your fantasy basically. I can see why they did it but the game is totally missing something from the first game because of it. It's a trade of character for ease and enjoyment.
And ultimately that's what makes 2 so different from 1. It's doing the same game as 1 but it lacks a lot of the character or uncommon characteristics.
...That being said, I'd be lying if I said I still didn't enjoy myself. The music is great thanks to Akira Yamaoka. Graphically the game looks amazing upscaled to 1080. Sylvia has MULTIPLE OUTFITS! SHINOBU IS PLAYABLE!! They even spent money on a dang fake full OP to the in-game anime that Travis loves! Also, even though I just complained about the pacing, I can get the appeal of turning No More Heroes into a purely boss rush game with weird boss design and track after the next.
No More Heroes 2 is a bit of a conflicting game for me because overall the game is a downgrade from No More Heroes 1 on most fronts and it's nowhere near being a cult classic for me. On the other hand though, the game still does carry a lot of the original's spirit and you could probably still get a good time out of it.
This review contains spoilers
This game... kinda bums me out? I played this right after the original and honestly, it isn't as good. Now, that seems like an understatement, so before I say my negatives lemme just say I still loved this game. The boss design of this game was fucking amazing, the writing was on par with the original, and GOD the soundtrack of this one slapped just as much as that first one.
Having said that, the game was a bit dissapointing. With the lack of entry fees to get to bosses, the game felt shorter than the original despite having even more fights. As well as this, the job system itself seemed a little useless, as now, unlike the original, there isn't a bonus for buying all the beam katanas (and besides you get probably the best katana just by playing the game) so all you really need money for is maybe buying one of the katanas (two of which are just... not worth it LMAO), going to the gym, or buying clothes (the clothes options too seem less good than the first game's but that might be me)
While playing the first game, I certainly had my issues with the overworld, but I didn't think they needed to scrap it all together for two, because the removal of the overworld also helped make this game feel so much shorter than one. As well as this, the extra playable characters, while cool, are still disappointing. Shinobu's stages rely on a platforming mechanic which is... really shitty, and Henry only gets ONE BOSS FIGHT despite being by far one of the coolest characters to play as.
Overall? Still a kickass game, but not as good as the first. Let's hope NMH 3 reclaims that glory.
Having said that, the game was a bit dissapointing. With the lack of entry fees to get to bosses, the game felt shorter than the original despite having even more fights. As well as this, the job system itself seemed a little useless, as now, unlike the original, there isn't a bonus for buying all the beam katanas (and besides you get probably the best katana just by playing the game) so all you really need money for is maybe buying one of the katanas (two of which are just... not worth it LMAO), going to the gym, or buying clothes (the clothes options too seem less good than the first game's but that might be me)
While playing the first game, I certainly had my issues with the overworld, but I didn't think they needed to scrap it all together for two, because the removal of the overworld also helped make this game feel so much shorter than one. As well as this, the extra playable characters, while cool, are still disappointing. Shinobu's stages rely on a platforming mechanic which is... really shitty, and Henry only gets ONE BOSS FIGHT despite being by far one of the coolest characters to play as.
Overall? Still a kickass game, but not as good as the first. Let's hope NMH 3 reclaims that glory.
This is somehow wayyy worse than the first game