The Globe and Mail hammers Ubisoft's actioner for its gratuitous, mindlessly vulgar, and wholly unsophisticated humour. From the story:
It feels as though the dialogue was written with 14-year-old boys in mind. Actually, strike that. It feels like it was written by a 14-year-old boy....
Don't get me wrong; I'm all for a few good sex jokes now and then, but the dirty humour on display here is less Superbad and more, well, just super bad. Dirty can be funny, but there needs to be something subtle, clever, and intelligent beneath, and No More Heroes 2's wit is wholly lacking these three traits.
Titles like this have effectively dulled any shock or frustration I might feel that non-gamers still view the medium as something intended for pubescent boys. Who can blame them when a supposedly "mature" game seems targeted directly at these children?
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is, despite strong play mechanics and nostalgia inducing mini-games, a step backward for video games. Its gratuitous, mindlessly vulgar, and wholly unsophisticated humour is simply intolerable. I'm shocked that anyone over the age of 16 would even sign off on it.
Half-Glass Gaming: "Travis Touchdown is awesome, and he’s a huge reason No More Heroes is so great. That said, series creator and director Suda51 said he would be open to making a spinoff starring fan-favorite Shinobu. And though the series’ fate isn’t entirely up to Suda [as he doesn't own the IP], a sans-Travis entry could definitely work."
NMH seems to revolve around Travis like DMC revolves around Dante, GoW revolves around Kratos, Ninja Gaiden revolves around Ryu, and Bayonetta revolves around well…
It wouldn’t feel right to have these kind of action games to not have their main character in the lead role or not present at all
I totally get the sentiment, and I agree to a certain degree that these character action games feel a certain type of special because they focus on a single character most of the time. That said, given NMH's lore and other rad characters like Shinobu and Bad Girl, I'd say that universe could definitely be explored from a different character's perspective and still be super badass.
@ Crimson
Yakuza 7 plays dramatically different than the other Yakuza games. Judgment hardly even used any plot elements from the other Yakuza games.
@ Sanchez
Many of those other characters & themes revolve around Travis though. Suda even stated the unique setting of NMH is based on Travis. He as a character is too ingrained in the very essence of this series to ever be removed. Suda also stated Travis is his favorite character.
I could see other characters being made playable like in NMH2 and NMH TSA alongside Travis similar to how other playable characters along with Dante have been introduced since DMC1. However not featuring Travis at all doesn’t seem feasible.
In addition one must also consider that NMH as a series has niche sales as if is. Removing the most recognizable face of the franchise wouldn’t work well commercially.
Travis is definitely integral to NMH. I think if a spin-off were made where he's not the playable character, it would still work if he's an important NPC or a core part of the story.
Suda also said he'd be down to make a game where Shinobu is the main character, and she's super popular among the NMH fan base. So while the series is pretty niche, that niche audience has an appreciation for a lot of the characters (especially Shinobu).
So while I don't necessarily disagree with most of your points, I think in terms of a spin-off or a Shinobu-centric game, it could def work.
If PC is your only platform for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, don't pass it up; if you have a Wii or a Switch, grab it there.
Now available on PC, No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle are both charming games but their ports are awfully basic.
Such a shame! Was hoping they'd be better, but some of the prompts reinforced my fears!
People like this cannot be helped.
To actually go there, i think he missed the point of this game.
Cry us a strawberry on the shortcake dude.
"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is, despite strong play mechanics and nostalgia inducing mini-games, a step backward for video games. Its gratuitous, mindlessly vulgar, and wholly unsophisticated humour is simply intolerable."
O wow, i hate DB like this guy.
Why do people think the future of gaming only holds "mature" and "deep" content?
Classic game elements will always be around.
Tetris is still more popular than any mature game.
Should also mention that Suda51 actually artistically puts his games together to actually have merit. This person just isn't seeing that.
Once you recognize that all the pieces of the first game (and the second, really) come together as a commentary on the western gamer, for example, it's hard not to have an appreciation for the game.
He's just hating on whatever he's seeing, which isn't an accurate judgment of the game at all.
...Which goes to show how unfortunate it is that most folks assume there can't be any symbolic merit to video games.
"Its gratuitous, mindlessly vulgar, and wholly unsophisticated humour is simply intolerable."
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Its cheesy on purpose, both in dialog and violence. Like a B-movie. Think Tarantino's Kill Bill.
And someone missed the whole social commentary in the last game, leading to the theme of the sequel.
wtf is wrong with this guy? No More Heroes is one of the most unique games we have surrounded by the FPS flood.
NMH is a breath of fresh air.