No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

[tapedeck]

I was the same. Everyone was hyping the first one and so I bought it and never really liked it. The overworld did my head in and the bike controls didn't help. Then doing jobs over and over was dire.

However, playing till the next awesome showdown was where the carrot was but I just couldn't forgive the sloppy mechanics beore the showdowns.

 

However, with a streamlined menu taking away the barren city, and retro 2D jobs (which are optional to increase your strength/stamina/buy upgrades). I figured I'd import it and give NMH:2 a real chance from the off.

 

I'm glad I did as it is one of the most artistic, funny, rewarding and enjoyable games Ive played in years. It annihilates the first title completely and is possibly Suda's most accessible game. A real treat. Hopefully it isn't censored to death.

Edited February 7, 2010 by tapedeck

[Owen]

I'm sure it'll be April/May, hoping earlier for you guys. VGP have shipped my preorder already!

 

Quoted myself..because i'm right! NMH2 will be released in April for Europe.

[marcel]

Quoted myself..because i'm right! NMH2 will be released in April for Europe.

 

And for you blood hugry people, we will get the uncensored version (confirmed in press release and newsletter). So blood for you all at the end of april: peace:

[Gold Panda]

In april? Why do we need to wait so long? Oh man, now I need to buy me some games that keeps me busy til this one comes out.

[marcel]

im happy they put it on an april release date, or else it would suffer from the great lineup for Q1:

 

bioshock and crystal bearers in februari

Silent hill shattered memories ,red steel 2, FF13, Resonance of faith, fragile dreams in march

 

and only monster hunter 3 (and now no more heroes 2) is on my list for april

 

Edit:

Also Rising star games stated the following:

Q:Recently I saw people on the net complaining about a clothing bug in NMH2 that clears out your closet and returns bought items to the Area51 store. Could it be that Grasshopper took the game back into development to get rid of this huge bug, and thus delaying the European release? For a bug as big as that to occur in a videogame these days is unforgivable really.., so I'd understand if they decided to fix it before having another shipment of bugged games go out to all the waiting gamers in Europe/Australia.

 

A:We had a couple of extra months -ish development time and therefore the game is more polished than the US version.

 

I don't have any specifics to hand at present, but I'm sure more detail will emerge soon.

Edited February 11, 2010 by marcel

[D_prOdigy]

Suda seems pretty committed to keeping the franchise on the Nintendo platform

 

GI: You've made comments about the No More Heroes series continuing on a new platform. Do you expect to make a No More Heroes 3? And do you think No More Heroes 2 might eventually be rereleased on Xbox 360 like the original in Japan?

 

Suda: If there is a chance to continue No More Heroes, I am interested in making NMH3. I personally think that NMH is a game for Wii, so I would be very happy if I could make a game for the Wii’s successor, whenever that might be. I was not involved in the production of the 360 version of NMH1, so I don’t know anything about that.

 

Interesting how he pretty much confirms that the HD ports weren't a creative decision. I mean... We KNOW that they weren't and it was clearly a financial thing, but Marvelous were obviously trying to hint that it was more, yet Suda seems to have had none of it.

 

Link

[mr_bogus]

Yay! Suda51's regained his extra notch on my respectometer

[Strange Cookie]

Bloody hell (), that's awesome news! That deserves a crazy High Five!

 

 

From what I've seen from the US-cutscenes, I just can't see how some scenes would be censored and still make sense. I'm not one for overly violent game, but this is hardly realistic.

 

April can't come soon enough! :p

Edited February 12, 2010 by Strange Cookie

[Owen]

AWFUL UPDATE ALERT!

 

The game has been delayed till May 28th 2010 in Europe!

 

No offence, but a 4 month delay this day and age is completely unacceptable in my opinion (which has already been released in America, i must add), also...this will be 'another' third party game which deserves success which will be totally over-shadowed by 'Red Dead Redemption' and 'Alan Wake'...in my personal opinion, their digging their own graves....

 

Not forgetting the launch of Prince Of Persia at the cinema and the game being released too, which i personally think will be pretty big!

Edited April 6, 2010 by Owen

[marcel]

AWFUL UPDATE ALERT!

 

The game has been delayed till May 28th 2010 in Europe!

 

No offence, but a 4 month delay this day and age is completely unacceptable in my opinion (which has already been released in America, i must add), also...this will be 'another' third party game which deserves success which will be totally over-shadowed by 'Red Dead Redemption' and 'Alan Wake'...in my personal opinion, their digging their own graves....

 

Not forgetting the launch of Prince Of Persia at the cinema and the game being released too, which i personally think will be pretty big!

 

The month may was already confirmed a view weeks back. Im not blaming them for wanting to polish the game even more, they are going to remove some glitches, bugs en framerate issues.

 

The May 2010 date is completely fine, in my eyes red dead redemtion is really for those who like western gta games and there arent a whole lot. The only game i would consider competition is alan wake but thats not even the same genre or even the same console.

[Guest Captain Falcon]

Well that sucks - I'd booked the day off work as well...

[Owen]

The month may was already confirmed a view weeks back. Im not blaming them for wanting to polish the game even more, they are going to remove some glitches, bugs en framerate issues.

 

The May 2010 date is completely fine, in my eyes red dead redemtion is really for those who like western gta games and there arent a whole lot. The only game i would consider competition is alan wake but thats not even the same genre or even the same console.

 

Ok, it was confirmed for April 2010..May has never been mentioned before, espicially not end-of..also removing some glitches, bugs and framerate issues..is great, sure..but 4 months? the game must have been buggy as hell for the American release (and i have the game and i don't believe it is!).

 

If you believe 'Red Dead Redemption' won't be a huge hit, and not many people like western 'gta' games..i would honestly think again!

 

It's nothing about genres or consoles...i'm talking about the all-formats chart..you can't keep going by the wii-only chart..obviously this will do well in that, like Red Steel 2 will...it's a wii-only chart..to me, big hits are those which make top 10 in the all-formats chart, something this will struggle with now because most people have a PS3/360 with a Wii...and they will pick RDR or Alan Wake over this!

 

Like i said..i have the game, it's excellent, i actually don't know why i'm so dissapointed...just seems unfair to Europe to me..but hey ho!

[Guest Captain Falcon]

In all fairness, even without the likes of RDR and Alan Wake, this game is never going to make much of an impact in the charts.

[Owen]

In all fairness, even without the likes of RDR and Alan Wake, this game is never going to make much of an impact in the charts.

 

You think? I think it has appeal myself...i like to see great games do well, thats all.

[marcel]

Ok, it was confirmed for April 2010..May has never been mentioned before, espicially not end-of..also removing some glitches, bugs and framerate issues..is great, sure..but 4 months? the game must have been buggy as hell for the American release (and i have the game and i don't believe it is!).

 

If you believe 'Red Dead Redemption' won't be a huge hit, and not many people like western 'gta' games..i would honestly think again!

 

It's nothing about genres or consoles...i'm talking about the all-formats chart..you can't keep going by the wii-only chart..obviously this will do well in that, like Red Steel 2 will...it's a wii-only chart..to me, big hits are those which make top 10 in the all-formats chart, something this will struggle with now because most people have a PS3/360 with a Wii...and they will pick RDR or Alan Wake over this!

 

Like i said..i have the game, it's excellent, i actually don't know why i'm so dissapointed...just seems unfair to Europe to me..but hey ho!

 

Im almost sure that even with an empty april and march month (on all consoles) the game would still not sell extremely well. Its a niche title, a verry good niche title. But niche games have a small audience, it will never make millions because it has such a weird kind of humor (that i really like). Just like muramasa, little king's story and fragile dreams they are all GREAT niche titles, but they are not going to move a million copies and the developers know that.

 

And i beleave that some niche titles do well, but thats only 2 out of the 20 niche titles, but i would really like to see no more heroes 2 ( or any other niche title) selling a million copies.

 

But thank god that developers do make these cooky games bacause i love them:love: and i do beleave that if the wii didnt excist in its current form(but more like the 360s power with motion controllers) we wouldnt have got these great titles because there to expencive to make on a 360 like machine.

Edited April 6, 2010 by marcel

[Guest Captain Falcon]

You think? I think it has appeal myself...i like to see great games do well, thats all.

 

I'd love it to do well I really would - I think the original is fantastic and I've heard nothing but positive stuff about the new one but much like Marcel, I think it's just too niche for the console.

 

Launching a week after Monster Hunter Tri wasn't exactly the best place to be either. That's another gamer's game yet the marketing push it's going to have could well steal some of this game's attention.

 

Maybe that had some bearing in the choice to move it.

[LostOverThere]

Launching a week after Monster Hunter Tri wasn't exactly the best place to be either

Or, uhm, literally 2 weeks before Super Mario Galaxy 2 in Europe.

[mr_bogus]

What's all the fuss about - anyone who played the first in Europe probably imported a US copy anyway, just just import this one too :p

[azazel]

I played the first one and loved it...

The only reason I'm waiting for the European release is to support Rising Star to bring more Japanese games here... But I wont be at her side for much if she keeps delaying games for so long.

Is the localization so difficult? Does it take 3 months? Really?

[marcel]

What's all the fuss about - anyone who played the first in Europe probably imported a US copy anyway, just just import this one too :p

 

How is that possible?, freeloader has been blocked by an update and there is no new version. And im all against homebrew (mostly used for pirating games) thats what destroyed the ds market, so thats no option for me.

 

And if rising star games fixes the game, im not complaining. And now that alan wake has moved up from may 21st to may 14th.

[Owen]

What's all the fuss about - anyone who played the first in Europe probably imported a US copy anyway, just just import this one too :p

 

I imported it and i'm moaning...whats wrong with me? haha

[Dante]

51 things you didn't know about Suda51

 

Suda51 is the man behind some of the maddest games to grace Nintendo consoles, including Killer7 and the No More Heroes series. He's the closest thing the industry has to a rock star, and when we interviewed him recently, we asked him to tell us 51 things that we wouldn't know about him and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. This is what he revealed...

 

He was born in Japan's Nagano prefecture. "It was a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and snow."

 

He hated it. "Since I was little I was always thinking about escaping."

 

He doesn't have any sisters.

 

He's not particularly close to his family. "When I moved to Tokyo, I didn't have any relatives or anything. I left my family behind to follow my dreams of making games. I stay away from my family - although now I have my own family. Make sure you mention how much I love my wife!"

 

It took him ages to get into the games industry. He had dozens of jobs before he broke into the world of gaming employment at the age of 24. Immediately before getting his first gaming job, making wrestling titles for Human Entertainment, he was working as an undertaker, which he hated.

 

Being an undertaker made him think about how he portrays death in games. "I'm probably one of the few game developers that's actually seen a dead body! I've always wanted people to experience death in my games in a powerful way."

 

He's a huge wrestling fan. "I started out writing wrestling games. I felt that no one else knew as much about wrestling as I did, which gave me a lot of confidence."

 

Suda was a shoegazer. When working on his first game, Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Final Bout, he obsessively listened to the ten-minute-long song Grasshopper by Oxford indie band Ride. "I'd work till midnight, listening to that song on repeat. That's why I eventually named my own studio Grasshopper Manufacture, because things only got made thanks to that song!"

 

He struggled to get people to listen to his ideas at first. "I was 24, the other people in the team were also very young, so we found it difficult to get our bosses to listen to our ideas. After I had some success, it became easier. My knowledge eventually convinced people to trust me."

 

 

He wanted to celebrate his first game sale with a hug. "When my first game hit the shops, it felt unbelievable. On release day I stayed in the games shop all day. When people were checking out the game on the shelf, I was standing behind them, almost whispering 'Buy it, buy it, buy it...'. When someone finally did, I wanted to hug them. Of course, culturally, you can't really do that in Japan, but I really wanted to follow them home and give them a big hug. I was so happy."

 

His second game featured a highly controversial ending. "After fighting his way to the top, there was nothing really left for the wrestler to achieve. So I had him -----------"

 

He was sad the first No More Heroes wasn't popular in Japan. "No More Heroes 2 hasn't even been released in Japan yet. I really hope it is soon."

 

The Beam Katana used by hero Travis Touchdown isn't inspired by Star Wars. "It's actually inspired by Spaceballs!"

 

He didn't want to make another No More Heroes game. "After No More Heroes, I felt I'd told the story I wanted to tell."

 

Fans convinced him otherwise. "Once I got lots of requests from the fans that wanted to play a sequel, I sort of wanted to find out what happened next to Travis myself. Which is how the sequel came about."

 

He's sorry we didn't get the gory version of No More Heroes in the UK. "I wanted to make sure you guys got the more extreme version this time!"

 

No More Heroes 2 was inspired by a Yakuza movie. "Battles Without Honor & Humanity is referenced a few times - it was a huge influence on this game, and Killer7. It's directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who's probably most famous in the west for Battle Royale."

 

 

He wouldn't hang out with Travis Touchdown in real life. "He's too violent! Maybe if he promised not to kill anyone."

 

He really wanted Travis to appear in a Smash Bros game. "Can you imagine him taking on Mario?"

 

He thinks Sylvia Christel is his best female character. "In the past, I've never felt that I've been very good at female characters, but Sylvia is the first character I've been really happy with."

 

Sylvia's based on a famous actress. "Last time she was more Scarlett Johansson. This time I wanted her to look a bit like Kiera Knightley. Only with bigger breasts."

 

Her name is taken from slightly a less famous actress. "Yes, her name's a tribute to Sylvia Kristel!" She appeared in various, er, special grown-ups' films in the '70s and '80s.

 

He loves movie directors. "I put Miike Takashi in No More Heroes 2. I'd love to see him make a game. He works so fast, it'd only take him a week!"

 

The hotel in No More Heroes is also a movie reference. "It's modelled after the room Guy Pearce stays in during Momento."

 

He loves anime. "Our publishing company in Japan is Marvelous Entertainment, who do a lot of popular anime shows. I always wanted to do an anime show with them. I finally got to do it when I made No More Heroes 2."

 

His in-game anime show is called Bizarre Jelly. "I wrote the scenario myself. It's sort of a parody of Pretty Cure, which is an anime about magical schoolgirls. I had to laugh when I saw it for the first time, the characters' breasts were so big!"

 

Travis uses Bizarre Jelly catchphrases when he kills someone. "He's so obsessed with the show, he steals their lines! 'Raspberry chocolate sundae!'"

 

Bizarre Jelly was supposed to be in the first game. "I didn't get the idea until near the end of the first game, but they said we'd run out of money. This time we made sure we had the money up front."

 

His biggest regret about the No More Heroes series is a musical one. "I really wanted to include the Stranglers song that inspired the title in this second game, but the rights are just so expensive."

 

No More Heroes 3 won't appear until the next generation of Nintendo console has been released. "As long as this one sells enough copies!"

 

He's an Anglophile. "I saw England as a magical place. In fact, London was the first place I ever went to visit overseas - it inspires me so much."

 

He'd like to set a game in England - but not London. "To be honest, The Getaway really put me off, so I'd rather set a game in Manchester, in the Factory Records era."

 

British music was his first love. "In high school, my friend was a really big fan of the band Japan [who were, ironically, from Lewisham - Music Ed]. So I really got into them, and New Romantic bands like Duran Duran, then bands like Joy Division and The Smiths."

 

He used to dress like a New Romantic. "I actually dressed like Duran Duran - I had the hairstyle and everything."

 

The Cure is the band he'd have most liked to have been in. "Third guitarist at the back, just behind Robert Smith."

 

He's putting together a band. "I'm actually trying to start a band at the moment, called The Temptation."

 

They're not going to have much of a setlist. "We're only going to perform one song - Temptation by New Order. We might do different versions though, reggae, punk, electronic and so on."

 

He wishes that money wasn't such a barrier to creativity. "I'd love to make a game like Trainspotting, with a really amazing soundtrack of bands I love. But it would be so expensive just to get the music rights."

 

His favourite alcoholic drink isn't sake. "I drink it a lot, with friends, but I prefer wine."

 

He once saved Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami from drinking shame. "Once the president of Capcom invited Shinji Mikami and myself out for drinks, and Mikami-san drank so much wine he threw up. I had to secretly carry him out of the bar!"

 

He recently lost all his clothes. "They lost my bags on the flight from Japan. I had to go clothes shopping as soon as I landed."

 

 

Ironically, despite being temporarily shirtless, he has his own fashion label. "I love making cool clothes!"

 

His favourite writer is Franz Kafka.

 

He once tried to make a game based on the existentialist's work.

 

He didn't know that fans had translated his unreleased-in-the-west Fatal Frame IV. "Really? I had no idea! That's so incredible! I'm so glad people can play it."

 

He'd like to make a Killer7 sequel some day. "Unfortunately, Capcom own the rights, so it'll probably never happen."

 

He wants game developers to have a more punk attitude. "Just creating something is punk to me. The very first time I played a videogame, I was so shocked at the feelings I had, and I always want other people to feel that when they play my games."

 

He really likes the Burnout series. According to Criterion's server logs, he's put over 700 hours into the game.

 

His all-time favourite game is Another World.

 

He feels that making games is a battle. "I have really innovative ideas, but people don't always accept them. So it's a constant battle between compromising my ideas, or pushing them through."

 

No subjects are off limits when it comes to creativity. "I don't think there are any limitations. If it was too gross for me, than maybe, but if the publishers let me do it, then I'd probably do it anyway. I guess there is a line, but I've never hit it."

 

He won't tell us anything about his upcoming EA collaboration that also involves Shinji Mikami and Silent Hill producer Akira Yamaoka. "Will I tell you anything about it? No! Haha."

Edited May 2, 2010 by Dante

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

I completely forgot about this game.

 

I love the part where he talks about wanting to follow people home and hug them.

[Fused King]

Suda51, that's a good guy

and

he's totally right about money hindering creativity.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Oh my god.

 

He mentioned Shoe-gazing, Joy Division, The Smiths and Scarlett Johansson...

 

This guy would be my best friend in the world if we ever met.

 

Shoe-gazing! So impressed.