{"id":120306,"date":"2020-11-05T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/no_more_heroes_2_desperate_struggle"},"modified":"2020-11-05T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T14:30:00","slug":"review-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle-a-confident-sequel-and-one-of-grasshoppers-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/11\/05\/review-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle-a-confident-sequel-and-one-of-grasshoppers-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle &#8211; A Confident Sequel And One Of Grasshopper&#8217;s Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/830bc3d651d2d\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/830bc3d651d2d\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110085\/large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110085\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" alt=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p><em>Bigger. Better. More.<\/em> Not exactly the watchwords of the original, shockingly audacious <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/no_more_heroes\">No More Heroes<\/a><\/strong>, with its minimal content stretched out across the sweeping, empty landscape of Santa Destroy, memorable for its sheer desolation and entirely in keeping with its satirical take on the \u201copen-world game\u201d. But, as Grasshopper\u2019s splash screen reminds us, <em>punk\u2019s not dead<\/em>. And what could be more punk than taking almost everything that defined No More Heroes and flipping it on its head?<\/p>\n<p>Sure, the fighting is still in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/no_more_heroes_2_desperate_struggle\">No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle<\/a><\/strong>, and it\u2019s been tweaked with new moves and special attacks to make things that little bit breezier and, yes, <em>more fun<\/em>. And from that standpoint, it really is bigger. Better. More. The tiresome-by-design part-time job sections, in which you raised money for your next ranked fight? Gone, replaced by enormously fun 8-bit\/NES style minigames \u2013 including an incredibly addictive variation on the classic <strong>Pipe Dream<\/strong> that we\u2019d honestly love to see expanded into a game of its own.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110083\/large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 900 506'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110083\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Travis\u2019 apartment, too, has been expanded into a fully-traversable space rammed with distractions; there\u2019s a sidequest of sorts involving playing with his cat, Jeane, who has gotten mighty fat in the three years between this game and its predecessor. In addition to this, there\u2019s a <strong>Touhou<\/strong>-style vertical shoot-\u2018em-up game available to play on Travis\u2019 TV, with multiple levels of play. Also new is the inclusion of an additional playable character, who we are choosing not to spoil. Sure, this game is a decade old, but <em>it\u2019s only right<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The free-roaming <em>meandering<\/em> of the near-empty Santa Destroy has been excised, instead opting for a simple but stylish menu \u2013 no more lengthy, uneventful bike rides between objectives. Hopping around to the various important spots in the city is now effortless; once again you\u2019ll be able to buy clothing, work out at the gym, or simply initiate the next ranked battle.<\/p>\n<p>Another change, here, is the complete removal of the monetary charge for said battles. This is a bit of a double-edged beam katana, as while it\u2019s nice to have the freedom to engage in content simply because <em>you want to<\/em> and <em>it\u2019s fun<\/em>, that fabulous air of <em>mickey-taking<\/em> is lost, or at the very least rendered a little toothless. Indeed, the fourth wall stuff here is much more overt, with characters directly addressing the player even early on in a somewhat forced, obvious manner that\u2019s a world away from the relative subtlety of No More Heroes. And yes, we\u2019re aware we just called the ludicrous, absurd madness that is No More Heroes <em>subtle<\/em>. It <em>is<\/em>, okay!?<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110089\/large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 900 506'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110089\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>You can see what we mean when we repeat that mantra; <em>bigger, better, more<\/em>. In some ways, No More Heroes 2 is the absolute polar opposite of the first game, and that\u2019s a mixed blessing. While the gameplay and style remain as brilliantly over-the-top as before \u2013 some sections must be seen to be believed \u2013 we found there was an overwhelming sense of compromise to No More Heroes 2. Again, not in terms of what it offers in content, with which it is <em>full to bursting<\/em>, but in terms of the game\u2019s overall themes and sense of uniqueness.<\/p>\n<p>It would be silly to expect a direct sequel to be as fresh as the first game, naturally, but there\u2019s definitely something missing here that it\u2019s difficult to explain. The fact that the story is motivated by revenge rather than, well, petty egotism, robs the game of some of its anarchic spirit. But then, that\u2019s not really a meaningful criticism, because No More Heroes 2 unambiguously plays better than its big brother in almost every way that makes a good game a good game.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking about it a little more, we\u2019d say that the increased focus on the gameplay at the expense of the <em>meaning<\/em> we saw in No More Heroes is an interesting choice. It loses some of its satirical identity, but again, perhaps that\u2019s the intention. We found ourselves wondering what it all <em>meant<\/em>, if indeed it meant anything at all. Sylvia\u2019s purple prose-ish narration in the early game made us think of bad <strong>X-Files<\/strong> episodes, and we wondered if Suda51 had lost what was left of his mind and firmly kowtowed to his critics with what seemed like a bad self-parody. But it\u2019s actually more interesting than that, because it&#8217;s Suda51.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110086\/large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 900 506'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/110086\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>No More Heroes was about all the ways that games can suck, with its deliberately banal locale, pointless repetition and time-wasting travel. No More Heroes 2 is about all the ways that games are <em>awesome<\/em>. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9, but what we have here is Suda51\u2019s love letter to the medium he gave both barrels in the original No More Heroes. Everything here is so slick, so brilliantly tailored to having a good time, that it\u2019s impossible to take any real umbrage at the removal of features that were clearly designed to be irritating.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that the content in No More Heroes 2 is even more extreme and potentially offensive than the original game&#8217;s, but it&#8217;s all so over the top that it&#8217;s difficult not to take in the Grindhouse spirit in which it&#8217;s presented. It&#8217;s the video game equivalent of an exploitation movie, with all the excess that suggests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>A fine sequel, Travis Touchdown\u2019s sophomore effort turns the mania up to eleven for an unforgettable blood-soaked thrill ride. While it\u2019s a little more generic in terms of its narrative, it makes up for this wholesale with brilliant pacing, fantastic minigames and a whole brace of new, ingenious assassins to cut to pieces. As confident a follow-up as you could ever want, this is Grasshopper at the top of their game. Another fantastic port of a fantastic title.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked) Bigger. Better. More. Not exactly the watchwords of the original, shockingly audacious No More Heroes, with its minimal content stretched out across the sweeping, empty landscape of Santa Destroy, memorable for its sheer desolation and entirely in keeping with its satirical take on the \u201copen-world game\u201d. But, as Grasshopper\u2019s splash [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}