Recently Played: No More Heroes 2 - Desperate Struggle
By Sarumarine 7 Comments
No More Heroes 2 online for 15 dollars means a sure sale for me. I beat it recently, so I thought write it up.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Better Beam Katana Action: The Game)
 Then there's Travis Touchdown... who actually develops as a character by the end of the game. I'm not sure if that undermines the concept No More Heroes was going for in the first place, but it's interesting none the less. I'm still on the fence about it. |
Hackin' and Slashin'
If you don't know (although it seems unlikely), this game is brought to you by Suda 51 who also had a hand in the extremely bizarre Killer7. Usually these games have tons of personality and style while being a little rough when it comes to gameplay. Desperate Struggle has mostly ironed out that issue. Assassin ranking challenges roll out one after another. You no longer have to grind quirky mini-games to get enough cash to kill guys. What mini-games there are have been turned into NES-style 8-bit throwbacks that I found completely awesome. For the most part, they're optional. Cash will get you clothes, weapons and upgrades for strength and stamina, but it's entirely possible to play through the game without touching any of it. Not that it's recommended. Bosses might not take fifty million hits to kill this time around, but they have plenty of highly damaging moves that will catch you unaware the first time out. What I'm saying is that a little breathing room is nice. Kill, Killer
Like No More Heroes, this game is a boss game. Fighting expendable henchmen is not the heart of the matter, but rather like an appetizer before the main course. The best part is the quirky boss encounters that come in the form of the Assassin Ranking Battles. Of course, these people are not so much assassins but loud, noticeable psychopaths with crazy weapons. You have a guy with a boombox that transforms into mechanical hands, a girl who uses anti-material rifles with scythe blades attached to the butt stocks, an old man with a gold plated luger that shoots money, and much much more. I enjoyed the cast of killers that Travis goes up against. There are a few standouts, a few familiar faces, and some bland ones. Overall, the assassins are fine but maybe not as memorable as the first game. You may feel different. Also, I really miss the boss intros that used the artificial voice, a quip from the assassin and a mean guitar lick.
The Awesome  Her boss song "Philistine" is a definite guilty pleasure in this game. It's not a great song, but it's funny and pulls the double duty of characterizing Margaret instead of the cutscenes that usually sandwich a boss fight. I'd like to think Margaret is way better at killing people than carrying a tune. |
The Cool  Now that Letz is actually a boss... well, expectations will always fall short of reality. Dr. Letz Shake is pretty funny with his phallic design and verbal tick. But unlike Margaret, chasing him all over the room was not fun. Especially with all the waiting between his countdowns and earthquake attacks. I really wanted this to be more fun but... what can you do. Question mark. |
The Terrible  Considering how things go in No More Heroes 2 is, this might be completely intentional. Rich white man is rich. But as it stands, he is such a boring boss fight. It also doesn't help that he repeats his very few lines of dialogue over and over again. The only thing saving this encounter from being a total chore is that you fight him with Shinobu. His boss theme wasn't bad either. But man... lackluster character to be sure. |
The Motherfucking Frustrating  I realize it may be a fluke, maybe I was off my game, but man... I beat 2nd rank Alice in one try. Fighting Matt Helms was like headbutting a fucking brick wall. There's really no good way to approach him. At a distance he throws fire bombs that double as landmines, and up close he just cracked me in the face with his axe whenever I tried to roll out of the way. In the end, I got lucky and beat him with one little pixel of health left. He feels more like a boss from the first game than anything else. Do not want. |
The End of Travis 'effing Touchdown?
Lastly, we have Travis. The way I see it, he's not a good character by any stretch (not that this game makes it a point or anything) but he's entertaining with the things he says. At least the guy is enthusiastic about his goals and murdering people. However, toward the end of the game he kinda (ever so slightly) shifts toward character development which is a tall order considering how terrible he is. Essentially he's cool with killing hundreds of thousands of people in order to have sex with a woman who may or may not be french. Which works in the context of the game because it's all about being completely over-the-top with just about everything. It's a little jarring to hear him going on about "we're people too" and feeling sorry for bisecting other assassins. Maybe I found it a little unconvincing. It's hard to say. No More Heroes was pretty adamant about NOT having a sequel... but here we are. Maybe by the third game, Travis will move from cartoon character to full fledged human being. That might be interesting to see. Great Music Though
Aww, true dat. Kill or Be Killed
Boys in the Bank
Steel Diamondback
Losing Bowel Control
Philistine