No More Heroes 2 does have some redeeming qualities. The visuals are improved, the boss fights are mostly more fun and creative, the soundtrack is arguably better than NMH1's. The opening hour promises more violent action, horny dialogue and intriguing narrative of a somewhat darker tone.
But then it doesn't take long for everything to start coming apart at the seams. Let's address the elephant in the room first -- Santa Destroy's no longer explorable and has been reduced to a list of shops, missions and side jobs. It's not like the city in NMH1 was particularly fun to explore, but it gave you with an opportunity to settle down and get a sense of this place. Santa Destroy used to have character, and now it's just a barely recognizable monochrome map screen. More importantly, city exploration helped with the original game's pacing. Having to earn money to enter the next proper level provided the player with some down time to wind down and goof off. Go dumpster diving, find lost cats, search for collectibles, do combat challenges. And this kind of work ethic was a tangible foundation of one of the game's themes.
None of that is present here. Jobs are still there (now functioning as cute and somewhat fun NES-style mini-games), but they only serve as a way for the player to earn money. Where to spend that hard-earned cash? Well, there are two swords for sale, one of which could even be considered useful. You can buy new clothes, but that also comes with another disappointment. Airport51 now sells goofy themed outfits and shirts you can barely see under the jacket. Part of the fun of going all "fashion souls" in NMH1 was that it reflected Travis's personality. Of course he'd be happy to proudly wear a MIAMI BASS t-shirt under a tacky white jacket. But a "nerd" or cyber goth outfit? That's Silent Hill bonus content levels of comedic.
The aforementioned broken pacing means that the player will go through the levels quickly, barely stopping in-between. And since the gameplay in the levels is mostly just mashing through waves of goons, it's doesn't take long to start feeling burnt out. The designers try their best by introducing different types of baddies and mixing them, but by the end they just give up and have you cut through an endless stream of enemies that all take way too long to kill. One of the end game levels starts with a 10-minute section of just fighting waves of dudes in a parking lot. That's it.
At least those levels lead to generally quite good bosses that never fail to put a unique spin on the usual fights. They're not always challenging, but my monkey brain still appreciates the spectacle. But herein lies my main complaint. In NMH1 all bosses were an important part of the narrative. Engaging with their personalities and various outlooks on killing as an activity served as a boost for Travis's tangible character growth. In NMH2 you get flashy and colorful characters that are mostly just archetypes of various facets of the entertainment industry, and that's about it. Not much of a foundation for thematic exploration. In fact, the interactions with the assassins are generally so brief the game tries to provide intriguing background info in disconnected monologues given by Sylvia in cutscenes, not in a dialogue with Travis.
NMH2 actually takes on quite a few things narratively -- Travis is confronted with the consequences of his actions in the first game, not just in the way of a revenge plot that kicks things off, but also in that he has become a proper figure of myth, an inspiration to many "performers" that want in on the new assassination entertainment craze and to wearied souls that just want to find an out of this vicious circle of bloodshed. Travis is no longer a goofy otaku that he was a game ago. I mean, he still jacks off to anime and occasionally acts as a gullible oaf, but he's mostly proper cool now, no longer posing. He's a knight on a noble quest, and in the end he gets the girl and finds paradise. And this is fine. After all, NMH1 did lay down considerable growth for his character. But it doesn't feel like Travis has moved anywhere internally throughout this journey. In fact it's his relationships to other people that make progress instead. There's a romantic attachment to Sylvia, an unwanted mentor position with Shinobu, and begrudging respect shared between Travis and Henry. It's almost as if this thread of Travis finally making a set of close connections should intersect with the ongoing exploration of grief and revenge that takes most of the place in the plot, but there's no connective tissue here.
A lot of the game feels like it's missing something, be it weapons, open world exploration, level variety or thematic focus. NMH2's development cycle was infamously rocky, with Suda being mostly hands off with the game and some aspects having been changed almost last minute. And there's an occasional glimmer of detail that shows this game never quite reached its aspirations in full. Travis's motel suite is getting redecorated with every collectible you find. Every shop can be fully explored for no real reason. Santa Destroy is mostly finished in the credits sequence. Hell, there are two bonus characters with unique movesets that are barely utilized. Unfortunately, this isn't quite enough to excuse the flaws the game has. And quite frankly the last hour or so of your playthrough is guaranteed to leave a sour aftertaste. But I can't help but think it would not be fair to dismiss the game outright. It's jank but not soulless.
But then it doesn't take long for everything to start coming apart at the seams. Let's address the elephant in the room first -- Santa Destroy's no longer explorable and has been reduced to a list of shops, missions and side jobs. It's not like the city in NMH1 was particularly fun to explore, but it gave you with an opportunity to settle down and get a sense of this place. Santa Destroy used to have character, and now it's just a barely recognizable monochrome map screen. More importantly, city exploration helped with the original game's pacing. Having to earn money to enter the next proper level provided the player with some down time to wind down and goof off. Go dumpster diving, find lost cats, search for collectibles, do combat challenges. And this kind of work ethic was a tangible foundation of one of the game's themes.
None of that is present here. Jobs are still there (now functioning as cute and somewhat fun NES-style mini-games), but they only serve as a way for the player to earn money. Where to spend that hard-earned cash? Well, there are two swords for sale, one of which could even be considered useful. You can buy new clothes, but that also comes with another disappointment. Airport51 now sells goofy themed outfits and shirts you can barely see under the jacket. Part of the fun of going all "fashion souls" in NMH1 was that it reflected Travis's personality. Of course he'd be happy to proudly wear a MIAMI BASS t-shirt under a tacky white jacket. But a "nerd" or cyber goth outfit? That's Silent Hill bonus content levels of comedic.
The aforementioned broken pacing means that the player will go through the levels quickly, barely stopping in-between. And since the gameplay in the levels is mostly just mashing through waves of goons, it's doesn't take long to start feeling burnt out. The designers try their best by introducing different types of baddies and mixing them, but by the end they just give up and have you cut through an endless stream of enemies that all take way too long to kill. One of the end game levels starts with a 10-minute section of just fighting waves of dudes in a parking lot. That's it.
At least those levels lead to generally quite good bosses that never fail to put a unique spin on the usual fights. They're not always challenging, but my monkey brain still appreciates the spectacle. But herein lies my main complaint. In NMH1 all bosses were an important part of the narrative. Engaging with their personalities and various outlooks on killing as an activity served as a boost for Travis's tangible character growth. In NMH2 you get flashy and colorful characters that are mostly just archetypes of various facets of the entertainment industry, and that's about it. Not much of a foundation for thematic exploration. In fact, the interactions with the assassins are generally so brief the game tries to provide intriguing background info in disconnected monologues given by Sylvia in cutscenes, not in a dialogue with Travis.
NMH2 actually takes on quite a few things narratively -- Travis is confronted with the consequences of his actions in the first game, not just in the way of a revenge plot that kicks things off, but also in that he has become a proper figure of myth, an inspiration to many "performers" that want in on the new assassination entertainment craze and to wearied souls that just want to find an out of this vicious circle of bloodshed. Travis is no longer a goofy otaku that he was a game ago. I mean, he still jacks off to anime and occasionally acts as a gullible oaf, but he's mostly proper cool now, no longer posing. He's a knight on a noble quest, and in the end he gets the girl and finds paradise. And this is fine. After all, NMH1 did lay down considerable growth for his character. But it doesn't feel like Travis has moved anywhere internally throughout this journey. In fact it's his relationships to other people that make progress instead. There's a romantic attachment to Sylvia, an unwanted mentor position with Shinobu, and begrudging respect shared between Travis and Henry. It's almost as if this thread of Travis finally making a set of close connections should intersect with the ongoing exploration of grief and revenge that takes most of the place in the plot, but there's no connective tissue here.
A lot of the game feels like it's missing something, be it weapons, open world exploration, level variety or thematic focus. NMH2's development cycle was infamously rocky, with Suda being mostly hands off with the game and some aspects having been changed almost last minute. And there's an occasional glimmer of detail that shows this game never quite reached its aspirations in full. Travis's motel suite is getting redecorated with every collectible you find. Every shop can be fully explored for no real reason. Santa Destroy is mostly finished in the credits sequence. Hell, there are two bonus characters with unique movesets that are barely utilized. Unfortunately, this isn't quite enough to excuse the flaws the game has. And quite frankly the last hour or so of your playthrough is guaranteed to leave a sour aftertaste. But I can't help but think it would not be fair to dismiss the game outright. It's jank but not soulless.