Enter the garden of madness, remember? That was Sylvia’s trademark in No More Heroes 1; well, she’s back, Travis is back, and it’s more over the top than before. Ever wanted to dual wield a beam katana while slaughtering supernatural enemies? Desperate Struggle got you covered. Let’s dive deeper into the rabbit hole with No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Three years after Travis Touchdown was ranked #1 by the United Assassins Association, he finds himself falling down the ranks to #51. To make things worse, another assassin—Skelter Helter—swears revenge against Travis for his brother’s death. In part one, you killed a random assassin named Helter Skelter, so at least we know that his family is original in name picking. Fueled by his own desires and a thirst for vengeance, the ultimate Otaku assassin unsheathes his beam katana once again and plunges headfirst into an all-new battle!
For a recap on the story of No More Heroes 1, I kindly direct you to my review on said game. Let’s dive a little deeper into the story of No More Heroes 2, though.
Storytime! No More Heroes 2!
No More Heroes 2 is told through cutscenes following Travis’ journey, interspersed with scenes of a woman at a peep show dictating the story’s events to an unknown observer. After killing Skelter Helter, the game takes a dark turn. A group of criminals kill Travis’s best friend, Bishop, and throw his head through Travis’s window in a paper bag. Travis, seeking revenge, asks Sylvia to set up the next fight. Sylvia tells him that the one who ordered the killing was Jasper Batt, Jr., the CEO of Pizza Bat and first-ranked assassin. In the first game, Travis stopped three different Pizza Bat attempts to expand into Santa Destroy by assassinating the CEOs. In the three years since, with Travis out of the picture, Pizza Bat successfully opened a headquarters in Santa Destroy and bought out practically every business in town. Travis resolves to climb to the ranks to get a chance for revenge on Jasper.
Gameplay:
There are notable differences between NMH1 and NMH2, but the basics are luckily still the same. Let’s discuss combat first, since it’s similar to that of No More Heroes, with mechanics such as wrestling moves and deathblows returning. There are four beam katanas, which Travis can freely switch between in the middle of battle, each with different properties. For example, the Peony is a large and heavy sword with a wide range, and the Rose Nasty consists of two-beam katanas, which Travis dual-wields.
Next to being able to play with Travis, there are two sections in which Shinobu (your self-proclaimed protege) and Henry (your long lost brother) are playable, both of whom have different capabilities from Travis. Shinobu can jump, and her section contains some platforming elements. Although it’s a fun gimmick, it can be a little irritating to coordinate her jumps on smaller platforms. Henry, on the other hand, has the ability to make a quick dash in all directions. Oh, and did I mention you can fight in a giant Mech that makes Gundam looks like little baby toys.
One change I really applaud was the deletion of the overworld from the first game. You can quickly hop from one place to another, ranging from a new gym, Naomi’s lab, a clothing store, and a wide range of minigames (= side jobs). Another welcoming change was the deletion of the entry fees to enter ranked battles, allowing to progress through the game more quickly. Travis’s minigames can gain money and become stronger are 8-bit style games, in genres including action, puzzle, and racing. They seem easy at the start but then become really, really hard after level 2/3 (depending on the game). Another added feature is the “Deathmatch” mode, allowing the player to replay any of the bosses once the game has been completed.
Weird addition?
Like I mentioned in the review of the first game, No More Heroes has always been a weird one on the original Wii, and Suda51 felt probably the same since he stated In a 2009 interview with Kotaku that he had no intentions of doing a sequel, but he had a change of heart due to the strong sales of the original. “I originally didn’t want to make another No More Heroes,” he said, “The game was supposed to be a one-off dealio, but when the title did well, sequels do happen. And boy, aren’t we glad it did.
Next to the gameplay change, the sequel got a graphical upgrade and looks much more shell shaded (like the early Borderlands game). Fighting feels more fluid, and the option to change between katana’s mid-fight changed the battles in a good way. The last fight in NMH1 was challenging if you took the wrong katana, so an option to quick-draw another katana is awesome. Oh, and no more bloodless edition either; this is one gorefest, so don’t play this with your little ones around; trust me. The kiddy gloves have come off, and they don’t hold back.
Conclusion:
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle polished everything I found annoying in the first game while staying true to itself. The fourth-wall-breaking, Suda51 humor and re-occurring characters from the first game are all there (in one way or another). The addition of playable characters and actual growth of Travis as a human being brings the game to a higher platform and claim the top 1 spot in my top three of Travis games. If you haven’t played No Mores Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle before, then you need to brush up on your Travis skills as soon as possible. Oh and boot up part 2.5 of course.
