No Moar Heroes

[Theodore Rex DX]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29073.html

holy shit

[Marcus]

Wow.... that looks fucking whacky.

[Mordrak]

I don't know if that could contain more awesome.

[wumpus]

Wow.5

[Dave Long]

This has been at the top of my list for a year now. Can't wait.

[Tom Chick]

What are you people, new to gaming? Have you bitches never heard of Suda 51? Sheesh. Next I guess you'll tell me you didn't play Killer 7. Twice.

Unfortunately, No More Heroes didn't exactly pack them into the retail stores when it came out in Japan (http://kotaku.com/gaming/suda51/mini+skirt-or-not-no-more-customers-331771.php). Frankly, I regard that of evidence of the game's brilliance. It's probably beyond the comprehension of the average gamer. Losers.

-Tom

[roguefrog]

I wasn't fully aware that the game basically takes place in a fictional San Diego. Sweet!

[Funkula]

Holy fucking balls. I...wow. I'd heard of this and intended to check it out, but I'm amazed at how funky it is.

I assume it's only for Wii? It's sad, but I'm starting to consider that a detriment.

Oh, and I really like the beret Tom. Looks good on you.

[Hans Lauring]

This is the first Wii game I'm preordering. Looks awesome... and it didn't matter a bit, that the speaker pronounced the weapon beansaber. The city is close to the Mexican border after all... (and anyway all names and story elements sounded JRPG moronic).

[ZekeDMS]

Damn it, so many things I'm wanting on Wii lately. What's it take to find one of the damn things?

I'm digging the overt The Warriors reference certainly, but I figure I'll dig the whole thing.

So, I can get a shirt taht says BAD GIRL or POWER LUNCH, right?

I'm sure it's a different Travis, but I just have to have one.

[Mysterio]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29073.html

holy shit

Stupid IE keeps entering the "Not Responding" state whenever I click on that link. How do I stop IE from freezing up on video playback?

[ZekeDMS]

By telling it Firefox is your default browser.

Hey, I think this is my first totally useless snark post! :D

[Hawkeye Fierce]

Looks incredible. Sorta like Killer 7 mixed with GTA.

[Mysterio]

By telling it Firefox is your default browser.

Hey, I think this is my first totally useless snark post! :D

I wish I had wagered that the first reply would be a Firefox reply. I'd have made a tidy sum of cash! And such a snark reply coming from a fellow Phoenician saddens me... ;-)

[HCode]

Stupid IE keeps entering the "Not Responding" state whenever I click on that link. How do I stop IE from freezing up on video playback?

Install Firefox.

[Eduardo X]

Reminds me of God Hand, though probably without the gay-killing.

[ducker]

interesting... definately a game I'd rent to give it a try.

[Robert Sharp]

Wow. That press event was just sad. But the game looks super-terrific! I think it will do better in the states, but this is the first I've heard of it. I'm starting to think Dave is right. This game should have been hyped on Qt3 for months now!

[The Narrator]

"Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer," TomChick typed. He read it back in a quiet whisper, barely audible even to the woman sitting next to him. So close he could feel her breath on his shoulder. Stirring something animal within him. Something primal. Something condescending. The lengths he would go to win her affection! He said it again. "Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer." She nodded approvingly before taking him by the hand and leading him to the hot tub. "Mrs. Williams," he smirked as he slipped into the water, "you're trying to seduce me."

[Funkman]

"Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer," TomChick typed. He read it back in a quiet whisper, barely audible even to the woman sitting next to him. So close he could feel her breath on his shoulder. Stirring something animal within him. Something primal. Something condescending. The lengths he would go to win her affection! He said it again. "Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer." She nodded approvingly before taking him by the hand and leading him to the hot tub. "Mrs. Williams," he smirked as he slipped into the water, "you're trying to seduce me."

I feel like I've just seen a UFO, Big foot and the Loch ness monster all at once.

[Matthew Gallant]

!!!!!

[Dave Long]

Wow. That press event was just sad. But the game looks super-terrific! I think it will do better in the states, but this is the first I've heard of it. I'm starting to think Dave is right. This game should have been hyped on Qt3 for months now!
The game is already legendary on GAF, and has been for months. I know people don't like when I say how that place is more appropriate for console discussion, but this particular game going totally unnoticed here is all the proof you need.

Three or four months ago I found out where you save the game and fell out of my chair laughing. February. Can't wait.

[Equis]

This thread delivers and then some!

[Mike Cathcart]

I don't know, probably it's not so bad if you didn't know about it until now. I do this thing where I stop reading about games as soon as I know I'm going to buy them and it's really been hard not reading about NMH every time someone posts new pictures or impressions on Dave Long's GAF. I really hope when it does come out that it's not beyond my comprehension, though. That would totally suck.

[Dave Long]

I don't know, probably it's not so bad if you didn't know about it until now. I do this thing where I stop reading about games as soon as I know I'm going to buy them and it's really been hard not reading about NMH every time someone posts new pictures or impressions on Dave Long's GAF. I really hope when it does come out that it's not beyond my comprehension, though. That would totally suck.
I do concur with this post. The less you know, the better this game is going to be when you finally play it.

[Dean]

"Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer," TomChick typed. He read it back in a quiet whisper, barely audible even to the woman sitting next to him. So close he could feel her breath on his shoulder. Stirring something animal within him. Something primal. Something condescending. The lengths he would go to win her affection! He said it again. "Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer." She nodded approvingly before taking him by the hand and leading him to the hot tub. "Mrs. Williams," he smirked as he slipped into the water, "you're trying to seduce me."

It is Christmas!

I've got Killer 7 for GC on the pile to play using the Wii's BC. I guess I should get cracking on that.

[Mike O'Malley]

Woo! Welcome back, Narrator! Now we can resume speculation as to your identity.

[Jab]

Nintendo Power just ran a cover story on it last month, the combat looks to be a bigger portion of the game compared to Killer 7. 1up had a preview of the Japan version, saying that there was slowdown during combat I believe.
There also looks to be abit more replay value in NMH with side missions you can do.

[Alan Au]

Tom, I didn't play Killer 7.

- Alan

[Alan Au]

No, really, I didn't play Killer 7.

- Alan

[Dean]

No, really, I didn't play Killer 7.

- Alan

Uh... It's a trap?

[RobotPants]

Dave Long likes GAF.

[Robert Sharp]

Does anyone else suspect that we will have another thread on this title just because Rex can't spell 'more'?

[BobJustBob]

No Moar Threads!

[unbongwah]

I never finished K7: does that make me a better or worse person than Alan?

[Hans Lauring]

The game is already legendary on GAF, and has been for months. I know people don't like when I say how that place is more appropriate for console discussion, but this particular game going totally unnoticed here is all the proof you need.

Three or four months ago I found out where you save the game and fell out of my chair laughing. February. Can't wait.

This isn't the first thread on QT3 to mention this game, though.

But of course the cool kids on GAF has allready completed the game and moved on...

(and please don't tell us where you save in the game. Sharing something you find funny doesn't compare with the joy of posting something condescending and ending it with 'I know stuff you don't, nyah nyah!')

[Dave Long]

(and please don't tell us where you save in the game. Sharing something you find funny doesn't compare with the joy of posting something condescending and ending it with 'I know stuff you don't, nyah nyah!')
Didn't want to spoil anything.

[Robert Sharp]

Wow, people are sensitive to anything Dave posts! I brought up GAF, not Dave. He just responded. And I thought it was pretty clear that he was avoiding a spoiler while trying to hype the game a bit.

[Andrew Mayer]

Wow, people are sensitive to anything Dave posts! I brought up GAF, not Dave. He just responded. And I thought it was pretty clear that he was avoiding a spoiler while trying to hype the game a bit.

What are you, some kind of Long lover?

[Hans Lauring]

Wow, people are sensitive to anything Dave posts! I brought up GAF, not Dave. He just responded. And I thought it was pretty clear that he was avoiding a spoiler while trying to hype the game a bit.

I'm not people.

[unbongwah]

I know people don't like when I say how that place is more appropriate for console discussion, but this particular game going totally unnoticed here is all the proof you need.
Well, not quite totally unnoticed (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=32648). But based on this poll (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=40596), this isn't exactly a Wii-heavy forum.

Though in our defense, it's not like NMH has gotten a lot of attention from the press (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/933024.asp). And according to that Kotaku link Tom provided, the Japanese don't give a shit about NMH either. I suspect NMH will bomb on the Wii much as Viva Pinata bombed on the X360 - and for exactly the same reason: they don't appeal to their respective platforms' core demographic. Unless you think Wii Granny Gamers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401729.html) are chomping on the bit for Suda 51's latest batshit insanity.

[Andrew Mayer]

GameTrailers has given it a lot of love, FWIW.

I think it'll do okay, but it's hardly the Wii's target market.

[malkav11]

I'm not sure there's much of a base for games like that on any console. Perhaps not on PC, either. Killer7 kinda flopped, after all. And did anyone buy the Samurai Champloo game? (That was awesome both on a Samurai Champloo level and a Grasshopper Studios batshit insanity level.)

[Jab]

How did Samurai Champloo turn out? I only had a chance to play the first few levels of it at EB one day .

[malkav11]

It was kinda like Killer7 - not that great on a gameplay level (though still reasonably enjoyable, imho), but stylistically incredible. Plus you got to fight heavily armed monkey commandos and a giant robot bear. To a funky beat, of course.

[Ed Solomon]

I feel like I've just seen a UFO, Big foot and the Loch ness monster all at once.
Like seeing Elvis wearing chupacabra skin boots.

[Dave Long]

Suda's games are unlikely to ever reach a massive audience, but it's a pretty sure thing that hardcore gamers will want this one. He's said in interviews that he made this game for Western audiences so the Japanese performance probably isn't bothering him all that much.

[roguefrog]

Yeah, promoting the game in person on the streets of Akihabara and no one buys it other than a media dude covering the event wouldn't bother me all that much either.

[Robert Sharp]

What are you, some kind of Long lover?

We had a thing, but it's over now, and it has nothing to do with my current views. Seriously, though, I've gotten onto Dave in the past for his blanket statements about Qt3 members, but his basic point that this forum focuses heavily on PC games and 360 games is right. I just think his delivery could use work.

I also now recognize that Hanzii is not people.

[Andrew Mayer]

We had a thing, but it's over now, and it has nothing to do with my current views. Seriously, though, I've gotten onto Dave in the past for his blanket statements about Qt3 members, but his basic point that this forum focuses heavily on PC games and 360 games is right. I just think his delivery could use work.

Dave's rolled between sane and batshit from the day I first got here, but when he's on his virtual meds I agree that he has some interesting stuff to say.

[Chris]

Woo! Welcome back, Narrator! Now we can resume speculation as to your identity.

Hey, quiet! You will scare him away again.

[roguefrog]

So has anyone here played any Pre-Killer7 Suda51 productions?

It seems like the biggest criticism he gets is the fact that he focus's primarily on the style/story/whatever first and then designs the gameplay second fiddle, which seems to be the case for Killer7. I'm wondering if his other games were handled any differently.

[Andrew Mayer]

I wasn't a big fan of the actual gameplay in Champloo.

[Robert Sharp]

GI has a big write-up for this one this month. I'm still not sure about the aesthetics. I've seen it in action on X-Play and I've seen the stills. I won't let that get in the way of enjoying a good game, if it turns out well, but it might delay my purchase a bit.

Will this be a Wii exclusive? If so, I have to add it to my list of reasons to find a Wii. I've been waiting until they become more easily available, but it gets more tempting all the time. I can't (yet) say the same about the PS3.

[Jab]

I think NMH is going to be a Wii exclusive, I did hear that Suda 51's next game is going to be a 360 exclusive according to an interview on 1up.

[Kirian]

He's got two in the pipeline. An unnamed 360 game and a PS3 game, Kurayami. Neither have publishers, yet.

[Robert Sharp]

Would a Japanese developer of this sort ever consider moving to the states, and focusing on us? It seems like these properties are better sells over here, so why not just use NA (and maybe EU) as the focal point rather than releasing in Japan first?

[unbongwah]

Right, because American publishers have a much better track record than the Japanese for financing batshit-insane games like this.

[Robert Sharp]

Heh. Fair enough. But I'm also thinking about FPS games, or really any game that would be more likely to do well here than there.

[roguefrog]

Goichi-san stated in the 1Up Interview that he is designing NMH for the western market. He doesn't necessarily need to move here in order to do that.

[Erlend Grefsrud]

What really boggles my mind is that a country with a fairly hardcore nerd and comic book culture such as the US still gives even vaguely stylized videogame graphics a wide berth. It's as if the very idea that real-time graphics may one day be photorealistic means that diverting from the shortest straight path to that goal is something to be frowned upon.

Movies get away with being stylized (Tim Burton's movies keeps raking in the dough, at least), and unless your cartoon is designed by John Silver or Genndy Tartakovsky, it's a no-go. I mean, fuck, the current comic aesthetic seems to be inspired by the likes of Silvestri, Liefeld and McFarlane, with steroid-munching über-Nimrods with 40 teeth and several layers of redundant muscle definition all over the place.

So why can't games get away with solid rather than gradient shading?

[Theodore Rex DX]

What really boggles my mind is that a country with a fairly hardcore nerd and comic book culture such as the US still gives even vaguely stylized videogame graphics a wide berth. It's as if the very idea that real-time graphics may one day be photorealistic means that diverting from the shortest straight path to that goal is something to be frowned upon.

Movies get away with being stylized (Tim Burton's movies keeps raking in the dough, at least), and unless your cartoon is designed by John Silver or Genndy Tartakovsky, it's a no-go. I mean, fuck, the current comic aesthetic seems to be inspired by the likes of Silvestri, Liefeld and McFarlane, with steroid-munching über-Nimrods with 40 teeth and several layers of redundant muscle definition all over the place.

So why can't games get away with solid rather than gradient shading?

This is a good question, but there are important exceptions: I think games that aren't aimed exclusively at adult males can get away with it, and sell heaps. They can also get away with more abstract gameplay forms because of the way they present themselves. So what about adult males? I'm guessing, not to mention generalising, but I think a bunch of people who play games are interested in the 'immersive' and 'visceral' qualities over pretty much anything else. Nowadays people really hate stuff that 'takes them out of the experience', and are really unwilling to put up with any kind of abstraction at all, unless it's one that will give them less downtime between dying and coming back. More and more you are seeing people whine and bitch about this stuff, and they never seem to examine why people might make this or that design decision. As long as combat feels right and the gun makes the right sound. Now I sound like a dick, but that stuff is important to me too - I love intestine physics and all-you-can-eat pixels and disco lighting and brown, I really do. I also like variety and smart design that isn't fettered by the weird obsessions and hangups of a tiny few.

One other thing that bothers me here is all the people saying that this might not be right for Wii - what platform in at what point in time in which universe would this game sell well?

[Erik]

Ubisoft just announced a reverse-delay: NMH is shipping a couple of weeks *early* on January 22nd. Sweet.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/843/843635p1.html

[ZekeDMS]

I will do the decapodian joy dance for this news!

[jfletch]

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/wii/nomoreheroes/

[mouselock]

As near as I can tell by checking out the video, I believe this game will have come to stores, left from their shelves, and already passed into the realm of stupidly expensive collector's item by the time I see an unfettered Wii in the wild in the first place.

[Alex Pirani]

I can't wait to play that.

[Erlend Grefsrud]

Videogames are not paintings; beauty here is not in the eye of the beholder -- games are more like cars or motorcycles: comparing them is usually more of a technical matter than anything else. In the case of No More Heroes, a 3D hack-and-slash free-roaming action title, without a doubt the games it should be measured by are Grand Theft Auto III and Ninja Gaiden -- the first for still being the best free-roaming action game we have, and the second for being by far the best 3D hack-and-slasher yet.
Wow. Way to invalidate your entire opinion right there, buster. So every new action game should attempt to be like Ninja Gaiden or GTA, but better, and you assume that every player has the same kind of appreciation for the same set of mechanics? That the same rules and mechanics necessarily dictates the same emotional response in every player?

I really like hack'n'slash action-games, and I respect that Ninja Gaiden is really good mechanically. But I like Devil May Cry 3 and God Hand better. Because I like their representation of combat better. I like Ridge Racer better than Forza, even though there's no doubt about Forza being a finer representation of the driving experience. And so what? There are multiple approaches to representing the same activity, and the representation itself is not significant -- it's the emotion you derive from interacting with the ruleset and mechanics that constitute the representation.

Jesus. I think the duck-billed platypus is a wonder of nature. And that is certifiably a more shit animal than, say, ducks and otters. Because why don't we have sea platypii or Daffy Platypus? POINT PROVEN!!11

[Schazzwozzer]

Wow. Way to invalidate your entire opinion right there, buster.
Yeah, I stopped reading the review right after that sentence.

[Erik]

That early, suspect assertion aside, the review makes some points that sound, objectively, pretty bad. My faith in NMH is shaken. I wish the reviewer had stated some opinion of God Hand so I could commence the triangulation. Two more weeks, and I'll find out for myself I guess.

[Erlend Grefsrud]

Ditto. The review did make me question whether my faith in SUDA51 and GHM was misplaced. But ... there are so many disparate opinions on every single left-field game out there that I'm willing to buy the game and find out myself. In fact, I think NMH might be one of those games I'd rather not read any reviews about. That way, I won't have any preconceptions about what the game will be like, and I'll be able to make up my opinion about what the game is actually like, and not just whether it conforms to my expectations or not.

Reading the rest of the site, though, it seems like these people are primarily hardcore shmup-fans and mechanical über-structuralists. The ultimate game design dogmatics. Which is what I used to be like. And I was really wrong about a lot of games.

[BobJustBob]

People actually read that pagehit-seeking garbage?

[roguefrog]

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/wii/nomoreheroes/

http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=177850

[jim crawford]

Yeah, I stopped reading the review right after that sentence.
You got past "This game fucking sssssssucks"?

[Anaxagoras]

So every new action game should attempt to be like Ninja Gaiden or GTA, but better,
Although I agree with Erlend's post, I gotta say: the above scenario would not actually be a bad thing.

(Ninja Gaiden fanboy here.)

[Jab]

Am I the only one who just found out that Ubisoft was the publisher for NMH, I thought it was Capcom all this time.

Anyway good news about the game being pushed up, if it's anything like Killer 7 it's going to get 7s and 8s from most of the reviewers. The nintendo power cover story on it gives a good indicator on what to expect, and it's going to be a day one purchase for me. Does anyone know of any preorder bonuses for it?

[malkav11]

I'm actually not happy about it being pushed up. I don't have a Wii and I'm not likely to get one in the near future, so more time it's out = more time for it to fade into obscurity and insane eBay prices before I can actually play it.

[Lizard_King]

I'm actually going to buy it in advance of getting a wii (I refuse to be bundlefucked) to avoid any possibility of such a problem. That's how remorseful I am over my delayed purchase of Killer 7, and paying 40$ for a used copy of Etrian Odyssey last week or so really reinforced that. If this game bombs, I don't want that kind of blood on my hands.

[Theodore Rex DX]

I'm actually going to buy it in advance of getting a wii (I refuse to be bundlefucked) to avoid any possibility of such a problem. That's how remorseful I am over my delayed purchase of Killer 7, and paying 40$ for a used copy of Etrian Odyssey last week or so really reinforced that. If this game bombs, I don't want that kind of blood on my hands.

This is the righteous thing to do, and there is no shame in it. I bought Dead Rising and I don't have a 360 yet - I was also mulling over Viva Pinata and then they announced the PC version.

[Dave Long]

Tomorrow! (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24900.html)

[roguefrog]

Help, I don't have a Wii yet.

[Dave Long]

Keep an eye out this coming weekend. I suspect you'll see them at Target, Best Buy, etc. in the Sunday advertisements. Go early!

[Jab]

This is the righteous thing to do, and there is no shame in it. I bought Dead Rising and I don't have a 360 yet - I was also mulling over Viva Pinata and then they announced the PC version.

I've been considering doing that for psp titles that I see on sale even though since I now own a 360 the chance that I'm buying a psp soon is pretty slim.

Re:NMH, I was reading on gamefaqs yesterday that the US version is the only one that has blood in it and that the Euro and Japan versions feature black dust or something in its place. I find it weird that the japanese version is censored (if this is really true).

[Dave Long]

Why do you find tha weird? It's somewhat common. We're the ones with the bloodlust, not them. I swear someone made a pact with Mannoroth in this country.

[Funkula]

Blood for the blood god!

[ducker]

can't wait to hear ppl mention their hands on.

[roguefrog]

Anyone play it yet? I called my local GameStop and they weren't sure how many they were getting or anything.

[Alan Friesen]

Anyone play it yet? I called my local GameStop and they weren't sure how many they were getting or anything.

I live in Canada, so the soonest I'll be able to get it is whenever Amazon.com ships it to my US mailbox across the border. *Maybe* this weekend. Could be worse: if it gets terrible reviews, I can always return it.

[Dave Long]

I thought it was in stores today, but it turns out that it shipped today and will be in stores tomorrow.

Expect to see posts about it tomorrow.

[Rock8man]

I'm definitely waiting for reviews of this one before taking the plunge. I bought Killer 7 based on Tom's Review in CGM, knowing what I was getting into, but I still never expected the gameplay to be so poor that I wouldn't even be able to play the game for over an hour before giving up. I usually have more of a tolerance for quirky titles, but the game just gave me nothing to latch onto in the first hour or so to keep driving me forward. I've played many games where I hated the gameplay, but played for the sake of the story/uniqueness factor (Metal Gear Solid 2, Baldur's Gate, etc.) all the way through the game, and I really thought that's what I was getting into with Killer 7.

After reading that resurrected Killer 7 thread with advice on how to get through the beginning of the game, I might try Killer 7 again at some point. But for No More Heroes, I'll definitely only buy it if the word of mouth here about the actual gameplay is actually positive.

[Andrew Mayer]

Review is up (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29844.html?r=1&type=wmv)over on GameTrailers.

Pretty good news overall.

[Theodore Rex DX]

Fancypants rag Edge gave it a 9, which gives them some credibility.

[roguefrog]

Gamerankings (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/933024.asp)

Looking stellar so far.

[Jab]

X-Play had their review tonight, 5 out of 5. This could be me, but the cel shading looks less pronounced in NMH then it did in Killer 7. They didn't mention anything on side missions, but it looks like gameplay is alot more of a focus then in Killer 7 for those still deciding.

[Dave Long]

It's time for people to put their money where their mouth is, because here you've got a big third party game on Wii. The only good excuse for not getting it is an inability to locate a Wii.

I'm posting from the PS3 when calling you out, too.

[Wholly Schmidt]

What if you don't like the game? I mean, I've never played it, I've never even seen it in motion, so I don't know if I like the game, but surely that's still allowed, right? I mean, you're Dave Long, you hate all sorts of fun stuff. It's only fair someone might not like No More Heroes, right?

[Sockpuppet]

It's got my money as soon as I see a copy. And I resisted Rock Band.

[roguefrog]

What if you don't like the game?

You hate fun?

[Wholly Schmidt]

Crap, I was afraid of that!

[roguefrog]

Uh oh, IGN is working the low end of the scale.

Suda51 calls the game great twice in a few short sentences.
From GameSpot Interview (http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/heroes/news_6184857.html):


SUDA-51: No More Heroes is a really great game. A very amazing game. I think No More Heroes is a great game, there's no other action game like it for the Wii. If it was a band, it would be really energetic, like the Arctic Monkeys.

[Marcus]

Time to hook up the Wii again.

PS Fuck IGN.

[Jab]

Something weird is up at Eb's site. They're offering $5 off any Wii title, and the advertisement shows NMH as counting for it. But when I go to checkout and enter the code in, it's not taking it off. Anyone able to get the coupon to work?

edit: Nevermind, didn't notice that it only applies at checkout.

[Wholly Schmidt]

It's time for people to put their money where their mouth is, because here you've got a big third party game on Wii. The only good excuse for not getting it is an inability to locate a Wii.

I'm posting from the PS3 when calling you out, too.
To clarify my sentiment from before, you're talking to a community that can't even agree on huge hits like Halo or GTA or Mario Galaxy. The closest thing Qt3 has ever come to a consensus is that Portal is great, and the second thing we agree on is there aren't any other games like Portal.

So I can tell you right now that No More Heroes could be the best thing to drop all year for any console, and BobJu--sorry--people are going to complain about it and hate (on?) it.

Don't even think about turning this into a Wii thing. A single great 3rd party game coming out isn't enough to support any kind of argument about putting money where mouths are, or prove our grand Qt3 groupthink conspiracy to quash the Wii. I know you want so bad to carry this cross, but when No More Heroes doesn't sell out across the nation, it's not going to say much more about the state of the Wii than Killer 7 said about the PS2.

[roguefrog]

I would say if you complain about the lack of third party support for the Wii...and don't buy No More Heroes, which is one of the biggest AAA third party titles on the platform, at the bare minimum to help support that side...you suck and need to sell me your Wii.

[roguefrog]

I called three places. Two of them had 1 copy left. One had none.

[GregB]

My review after 40 minutes of playing:


So. Very. Strange.

But it's a good kind of strange.

[flyinj]

This is seriously the jaggiest game I have played in years. It's absurdly jaggy and the visual quality is about 0 on my LCD TV through component at 480p. It makes the first Tiger Woods game on the Wii look like Kameo.

That said, tremendous art design and gameplay so far... so it's somewhat excused.

[Athryn]

This is seriously the jaggiest game I have played in years. It's absurdly jaggy and the visual quality is about 0 on my LCD TV through component at 480p. It makes the first Tiger Woods game on the Wii look like Kameo.

That said, tremendous art design and gameplay so far... so it's somewhat excused.

We're having the same problem, and I posted a thread (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=41704) in hopes of some help, since I thought it might derail it here. If anyone has any suggestions, please help!

[Jab]

Some first impressions:


I'm at the save before the 2nd boss fight, so far the game is strange but it hasn't hit the same level as Killer 7. The hub world sorta feels un necessary to me, driving around on the bike doesn't respond as well as I would have like.

Combat is pretty fun, and my only complaint about it, is there seems to be a slight delay when moving from low to high stance. The slot machine mechanic works pretty well, after each kill a part of a slot machine rolls. Matching 3 icons activates one of 5 super attacks which can basically turn any fight. The cutscenes are pretty weird and I have a feeling it's only going to get weirder. The controls feel spot on, but I have to shift my hand alot to perform evades and to activate the saber charge.

I've notice some slowdown while playing though, also the backdrop for the map on the menu screen doesn't mesh well with the icons imo.

One major complaint I have that's probably directed at Ubisoft is the manual. According to gamefaqs the japanese manual is set up like a comic book , the US manual is pretty much standard black and white with nothing interesting which is a shame.

[flyinj]

We're having the same problem, and I posted a thread (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=41704) in hopes of some help, since I thought it might derail it here. If anyone has any suggestions, please help!

I posted a response. Basically, some games just look like ass on the Wii due to rendering less that 480p and upscaling, coupled with complete lack of antialiasing. And they look even worse on an LCD set... CRTs "bleed" the colors together a bit better, making it much less apparent.

This is definitely the worst case of it I've seen yet.

[MattKeil]

Some first impressions:


I'm at the save before the 2nd boss fight, so far the game is strange but it hasn't hit the same level as Killer 7. The hub world sorta feels un necessary to me, driving around on the bike doesn't respond as well as I would have like.


I had the some complaint early on, but after the third and fourth boss fights the world opens up a lot more with more stuff to do. As I'm the one who wrote the X-Play 5/5 review, obviously that complaint went away.

[roguefrog]

No more No More Heroes for me. Local store is currently out.

[Dave Long]

I just checked my zip in Gamestop and Best Buy's in-store availability checks and all the Gamestops are out while Best Buy still has it.

[Brixtone]

Fantastic, the cold sweats from the fever dream of Killer 7 had just worn off. Time to get crazy again.

[Dave Long]

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE SUNDAE!

[Dave Long]

From GAF...

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u317/apapek/nomopants.jpg

[Jab]

I had the some complaint early on, but after the third and fourth boss fights the world opens up a lot more with more stuff to do. As I'm the one who wrote the X-Play 5/5 review, obviously that complaint went away.


Yeah beat me to it, I'm at rank 7 now and there is alot more to do outside of the rank missions. One thing this game does really well is offer alot of carrots for you, new skills, clothes, beam sabers probably alot more the higher the rank you reach.

So far the rank 7 boss is my current favorite for cutscene and overall style. Something I noticed about the wrestling attacks, are you supposed to move both the nunchuk and wiimote at the same time or go left to right? When the command is to move both different ways it doesn't seem to register them if I move it at the same time.

One thing that is bugging me is that there is no "retry" option if you fail a side job or free mode fight. There doesn't seem to be any reason not to have it and it gets annoying to fail a mission and be unable to continue it right there.

[flyinj]

The boss to rank up to 8 was one of the cheapest, most frustrating bosses I've ever encountered in a game. I died right at the end of the fight 10 times in a row... and if you've played it, you know exactly why. Crappy collision + insta-death attack is not cool.

[Jab]

I heard the same thing over at game faqs.



Spoiler Warning:


What attack is everyone talking about? Is it the rapid fire projectile attack? Or the one that happens if you fail the sword clash? If it's not either then I must have been lucky and avoided it, even though I died 4 times before I got it right.

[ARogan]

Stopped by gamestop on the way home from work. They had one copy (the one they already opened to put the case on display). Oh well I bought it anyways.

I was going to pick up killer 7 on gamecube used but they said they don't even carry gamecube games anymore.

[Chris Nahr]

Unusually, the Edge review (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8767&Itemid=2) is online. They are ecstatic but this doesn't sound like a game I'd want to play.

[Reed]

Strawberry to the Shortcake!

Not very far into it yet, but digging what I've seen - love the style and quirkiness. It may well earn a prized spot in my collection next to Cubivore...

[Jab]

Question, does anyone know how to use different wrestling attacks? I've bought all the videos that I could but I'm still using the same 2 attacks during combat.

[Andrew Mayer]

The Edge review said you get them by defeating bosses.

[Lizard_King]

Only got a little bit further than the tutorial, but man is it sweet so far. Also, apparently the jaggy problem is tv specific (I'm using it with the wii component cables plus a Sharp LC-52D92U LCD). It doesn't look great, but it's roughly on par with the other wii titles I've looked at so far. Certainly not the catastrophe it seems others are experiencing.

The controls, though...really entertaining. I imagine they'll get old, but it's a really enjoyable intro to the system.

[Sockpuppet]

Any other Canadians out of luck on this one? EBs in my neck of the woods aren't expecting any for over a week.

First, they delayed our Rock Band, and I said nothing...

[Fugitive]

I haven't seen it anywhere around here either, and it's not even listed at the big online stores yet.

[Dave Long]

Ubisoft definitely undershipped on this one. It's another Katarmari Damacy.

The eighth ranked assassin is a bitch. Still having a big fucking blast with this game.

[roguefrog]

Lucky you.

[Dave Long]

This is one of those games you have to pre-order or you get screwed. I learned that lesson too many times before.

[Lizard_King]

Stopped by gamestop on the way home from work. They had one copy (the one they already opened to put the case on display). Oh well I bought it anyways.

I was going to pick up killer 7 on gamecube used but they said they don't even carry gamecube games anymore.
It's pretty decent on PS2, and I found that (again) relatively recently for a reasonable price.

[flyinj]

It's pretty decent on PS2, and I found that (again) relatively recently for a reasonable price.

The load times are pretty bad on the PS2, though. 2x and sometimes 3x as long between areas. It gets really annoying.

[roguefrog]

Plus with the cube version you can use your Wii.

[Lizard_King]

The load times are pretty bad on the PS2, though. 2x and sometimes 3x as long between areas. It gets really annoying.
I guess. I didn't know they were better on the gamecube/wii. Ignorance is bliss, and hey, at least I got it for cheap.

[Alan Friesen]

Any other Canadians out of luck on this one? EBs in my neck of the woods aren't expecting any for over a week.

I drove down to Washington state to pick up a copy. One left in stock as of this morning. What a gong show!

[roguefrog]

What's with all these one copy left anecdotes? I was trapped at work so I couldn't get to the the one copy they said they had left in time. :(

[Lee Johnson]

Any other Canadians out of luck on this one? EBs in my neck of the woods aren't expecting any for over a week.

First, they delayed our Rock Band, and I said nothing...
Future Shop's website is showing it available in early February. That's better than yesterday, when they didn't list No More Heroes at all.

[Fugitive]

Does the US version have a French language option? The game itself does according to the FS site, so maybe it was just delayed by the additional localization. (Most games just slap a French manual in and don't change the game itself, though.)

[ARogan]

So I finally tried it really briefly last night (only got through the tutorial). I think I'm really going to like this game. The jaggies don't really bother me. I mean the whole graphical style is a bit retro with that low rez blocky look. The simple solid colors kind of remind me of Out of this World a bit.

Controls weren't exactly what I was expecting (will they ever create a 1:1 mapping between wiimote and a stick/sword/Lightsaber?) but they seem to work well.

My wife walked by while I was playing. She was like "you aren't playing this in front of the kids are you?" Heh finally a Wii game for ME!!!!

I love the crazy deaths. Every time you kill somebody it's like a volcanic eruption of gore and money. It's Vegas in hell. Wow and the motion/animation to recharge your batteries...this is definitely a different kind of game.

Oh and I finally did find me a copy of Killer 7 for gamecube for $8 (went to a different gamestop which did still carry gamecube games. It's a perfect copy, looks new). I'm guessing I probably shouldn't play that one in front of the kids either.

I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with this game later tonight.

[BDGE]

Crap, I forgot this came out. Gonna score a copy this weekend...hopefully.

[DeathMonkey]

Controls weren't exactly what I was expecting (will they ever create a 1:1 mapping between wiimote and a stick/sword/Lightsaber?) but they seem to work well.

I don't think the Wii will ever be able to do this for many reasons, the biggest being there isn't directional resistance. For example, if you swing your lightsaber and get blocked, the game thinks your strike was blocked, but your arm is still moving in a position that the game isn't recognizing/allowing. I think any attempt at a 1:1 lightsaber game will be unsatisfying until this problem is solved.

[Cosmic Hippo]

I don't think the Wii will ever be able to do this for many reasons, the biggest being there isn't directional resistance. For example, if you swing your lightsaber and get blocked, the game thinks your strike was blocked, but your arm is still moving in a position that the game isn't recognizing/allowing. I think any attempt at a 1:1 lightsaber game will be unsatisfying until this problem is solved.This is a reason for any such game not being realistic, but I don't personally think it's quite the reason we'll never see 1:1 mapping in a game.

In my not so humble opinion, the main problem is that the Wii doesn't have any direct method of detecting velocity, only acceleration (through some simple force meters), tilt (gravity solves this one), and the pointing function. Between these three sensory inputs you can get a pretty good idea of the position/velocity of the wii-mote, but if the pointer leaves the sensor you're relying only on acceleration and tilt. Even then, it might be possible to have a decent approximation using some differential equations, but it may not be good enough for this kind of combat game. I'm sure it's something the devs have been puzzling over.

[Fugitive]

I don't think the Wii will ever be able to do this for many reasons, the biggest being there isn't directional resistance. For example, if you swing your lightsaber and get blocked, the game thinks your strike was blocked, but your arm is still moving in a position that the game isn't recognizing/allowing. I think any attempt at a 1:1 lightsaber game will be unsatisfying until this problem is solved.
Well, it's about time we got a new robotic accessory...

("Warning: Do not replace the R.O.B. II's resistance arm with a real blade.")

[Reed]

Had to replay the beginning of the game last night because I assumed the "checkpoints" were auto-saving the game, heh.

Am up to 8th rank now. Still having a lot of fun, just wish the city itself was more fleshed out and interesting.

[Jab]

Finished the game last night at 12 hours , some of the best dialogue is heard during the top 3 . Still have no idea about the story but hopefully Suda 51 will convince someone to make a sequel.

I wish that the wrestling moves were used to more of an effect as by the end I didn't need to use them at all. Also I had trouble dealing with multiple enemies, and I still can't get thru a free mode mission.

[flyinj]

Finished the game last night at 12 hours , some of the best dialogue is heard during the top 3 . Still have no idea about the story but hopefully Suda 51 will convince someone to make a sequel.

I wish that the wrestling moves were used to more of an effect as by the end I didn't need to use them at all. Also I had trouble dealing with multiple enemies, and I still can't get thru a free mode mission.

Were you playing on easy or normal?

[Jab]

Normal also I found alittle exploit for the 8th rank fight that makes things alot easier.

With the wrestling moves I think which side your facing the guy effects what moves, as I finally saw a german suplex attack. Also I can't seem to get the song #9 sings out of my head, on the credits it says that Suda 51 is the one who came up with the lyrics.

[roguefrog]

Is the 8th fight harder than the School Girl parking lot fight in Killer7?

[Lizard_King]

Normal also I found alittle exploit for the 8th rank fight that makes things alot easier.

Well? What is it?

[ARogan]

I just made 9th rank. I'm really enjoying it so far. It's genius and madness all rolled into one. An auto save would be more convenient. At first I didn't realize that blocking drained your energy which left me with an empty battery at the worst times.

I don't quite see the appeal of driving around the city. It feels rather empty. I would almost prefer it to be linear than open world. Just give me a list of side jobs and assassinations I can perform to earn money.

[Lizard_King]

I was fine with the driving until I realized how easy it is to get "stuck" on objects. Now it kind of gets on my nerves. And bumping people is stupidly implemented...why even bother?

But, yeah. The differences in enemy difficulty are all over the map (I just did the baseball stadium assassination)...and much like in wii baseball, I couldn't hit a wii ball to save my life. But I just coast through enemies until all of a sudden some lightsaber suits show up and I have to start dodging like it's a boss fight.

I think I can do one or two missions a day and then I'm done.

[Dave Long]

I really don't understand the complaints about the bike. It's very easy to control. They even made it turn unrealistically so you can corner in tight spaces.

The overworld has more to do than you think. You can drive around finding Lovikov balls, looking for dumpsters and of course visiting all the spots around town where you can upgrade/buy stuff and do missions. It's a nice change of pace from constant hack and slash, sort of pulling the entire experience together coherently. Without it, you'd feel less like you're in Travis' wacko world.

I finally beat Shinobu last night. I just wasn't being patient enough with that fight. Can't play during the day though. This game is definitely not kid friendly. :)

[Jab]

Well? What is it?



Spoiler warning:





For the first half of the fight when you can hit her more then 4 times just keep doing what your best at. When she is down to 1/2 or less you have to change tactics. Instead of attacking alot and only letting 2 of them connect , just swing once or twice when you have the chance to hurt her. Now for the exploit, when she does the jump forward come down slash attack, only hit her once regardless of when in the fight. She always goes into her block animation if you do that, then just hit her with a beat attack and follow it up with a grab to do the most damage. You can repeat this as many times as necessary, but you have to finish all bosses with a slash it seems to kill them.


I've been playing on hard and things are getting crazy, enemies aren't dieing anymore with my full saber combo and the battery drain has left me in alot of bad spots. I got down to one dot of health during the destroyman pre fight section.

[Austin Arlitt]

I don't think the Wii will ever be able to do this for many reasons, the biggest being there isn't directional resistance. For example, if you swing your lightsaber and get blocked, the game thinks your strike was blocked, but your arm is still moving in a position that the game isn't recognizing/allowing. I think any attempt at a 1:1 lightsaber game will be unsatisfying until this problem is solved.

Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy handled that problem quite well. You have direct control (at least as much as the mouse gives you) until the lightsabers clash. Then they go into an automatic lock until they come apart & take the quickest path back to where you were looking with the mouse. I see very little reason why a Wii game couldn't do the same kind of thing. Partial direct control would be better than no direct control.

[Lizard_King]

I really don't understand the complaints about the bike. It's very easy to control. They even made it turn unrealistically so you can corner in tight spaces.
My complaint is specific to the collision detection and how it works. One minute I can squeak through an alley, next minute I'm Austin Powers backing and forthing out of a car I'm stuck on. And thanks to the rev mechanic, that's always extra annoying.

I don't think it's hard. I just think it's boring and irritating.


The overworld has more to do than you think. You can drive around finding Lovikov balls, looking for dumpsters and of course visiting all the spots around town where you can upgrade/buy stuff and do missions. It's a nice change of pace from constant hack and slash, sort of pulling the entire experience together coherently. Without it, you'd feel less like you're in Travis' wacko world.
Yeah, I'm enjoying it more as I find more things to do, and the minigames are weirdly addictive. But I don't like the driving system.


For the first half of the fight when you can hit her more then 4 times just keep doing what your best at. When she is down to 1/2 or less you have to change tactics. Instead of attacking alot and only letting 2 of them connect , just swing once or twice when you have the chance to hurt her. Now for the exploit, when she does the jump forward come down slash attack, only hit her once regardless of when in the fight. She always goes into her block animation if you do that, then just hit her with a beat attack and follow it up with a grab to do the most damage. You can repeat this as many times as necessary, but you have to finish all bosses with a slash it seems to kill them.
Thanks for the tip. It was just jarring after how easily I cut through the masses of enemies before (and the two preceding bosses) to suddenly die twice in a row, and decisively.


I've been playing on hard and things are getting crazy, enemies aren't dieing anymore with my full saber combo and the battery drain has left me in alot of bad spots. I got down to one dot of health during the destroyman pre fight section.
Yikes. When you played on normal, did you do all of the gym sequences and all of that stuff in between levels? I can't imagine not doing it, but I have to ask.

[Jab]

Yep I got all the lovikov balls right after they were unlocked. I ran all the gym training and I bought all the katanas. My favorite is the MK2 because for some reason the MK3 doesn't kill all adjacent enemies when you do a death blow.

[BDGE]

Love this game so far(2 hours in).

Framerate is spotty though, dipping enough that it gives a feeling that this game is pushing the Wii too its knees.

Any tips for driving? Do you eventually upgrade and unlock some special moves for the bike? I noticed the Gametrailers review discussed special gestural moves like drifitng hard through a corner. Can't figure out how to do anything but nitro(Z) and jump(shake wiimote) for now.

Did anyone catch the long monologue spoken during the first prologue boss fight in the game? Travis appeared to be yammering about something for minutes on end, but I couldn't make it out behind all of the lightsaber whooshing and tension of trying not to die.

[Lizard_King]

Yep I got all the lovikov balls right after they were unlocked. I ran all the gym training and I bought all the katanas. My favorite is the MK2 because for some reason the MK3 doesn't kill all adjacent enemies when you do a death blow.

Yeah, that's what I'm headed for as well. Although the lovikov balls are kind of tedious...but I expect to do that, the dumpster diving and all of the digging in one sleepless night and get it over with. I won't bother until I can actually turn them in to someone, which I imagine is soon.

[Justin Fletcher]

I'm playing on mild and still tooling around getting enough money for the 8th ranked battle. Some thoughts:
Have to agree with the bike frustration. Not on the driving, though I definitely suck at that, but on its tendency to get stuck on the scenery. I've twice been in a position where I thought I was going to have to restart from a save and lose a couple hours of progress because I was caught in a place where I couldn't move forward or backward and couldn't get off the bike. Doing an A-B back and forth for about five minutes finally solved the problem, but it is incredibly frustrating.
I continue to loathe the popular game dynamic of having to drive back to a mission agency if you fail a mission. Would auto restarts kill the verisimilitude in a game where you find thousands of coins by stabbing your lightsaber into the ground?
Switching lock-on targets is a pain in the ass. I don't know how you guys hold the Wiimote, but moving my thumb from the A button to Up on the crossbar is a stretch too far. I end up accidentally dodging instead.
What's the secret of the wrestling moves? Most of the time I'm just kicking and punching enemies over and over again without stunning them. I've tried waiting until just before the strike, just after they strike, locked on, locked off, high stance, low stance, and everything in between. When they're stunned seems completely arbitrary, and I can't get above two or three kills in that assassination mission at the stadium where you can only use wrestling moves.
All of that said, the game is weird as hell and I love it. I feel like I'm button-mashing most of the time, but the missions are just interesting enough to allow the game's style to compensate. So far.

[Alan Friesen]

What's the secret of the wrestling moves? Most of the time I'm just kicking and punching enemies over and over again without stunning them. I've tried waiting until just before the strike, just after they strike, locked on, locked off, high stance, low stance, and everything in between. When they're stunned seems completely arbitrary, and I can't get above two or three kills in that assassination mission at the stadium where you can only use wrestling moves.[/LIST]

Have you tried charging your physical attack by holding down B? A charged punch will give you a stun 100% of the time on minions.

[Jab]

With stunning enemies the position they're holding their weapon determines whether a low or high attack will stun them. A charged attack will stun regular enemies, but not the beam saber guys.

For driving, the manual calls it "drift turning" you have to sorta swing the wii-mote left or right while braking and you'll brake while turning 90 degrees. I still can't get it to turn in the direction I want to and don't use it. You guys do know that if you run far enough from your bike and hit the 1 button Travis will get someone to bring his bike to him anywhere.

Last night I switched back to the MK2 and I think it's a stronger weapon compared to the MK3, I'm still not sure what is the difference stat wise between Mk 1, 2 and 3. Also I perfer it's design compared to 3

[BDGE]

Actually to 90 degree drift with the bike you have to 'twist' the wiimote left or right while pushing brake, think similarly to how the manta ray racing in Mario Galaxy controlled for the proper motion. It's become a MASSIVE help in navigating the streets, a quick push of the brake while twisting in the proper direction will do a quick right angle turn, holding it can let you do complete 180's.

When do I upgrade the Tsubaki sword? I've had it and all available parts for the last 4 assassinations and the shop hasn't updated yet. I got the 'special US military secret parts' from rank 6, but after turning it in, nothing was available to buy yet. I can pump up at the gym and get a new wrestling move from the vid store between every major mission, but the weapon shop is not updating. With half the game completed, am I going to get lumped with a few new swords for the endgame that won't get much mileage? Weird progression if so...

Oh and on normal difficulty, wrestling moves feel pretty much required to take down the last couple bosses I've fought(#8/7/6). It's almost like the tactics haven't varied much: dodge whatever big attack they throw out, mash out a combo during their recovery state, wait till they start to block soon after, punch stun them(small window) and grapple-> repeat. Sword combos do such meager damage(even with capped strength training) that you really have to rely on wrestling. Maybe some charge strikes can mitigate things a bit, but that timing is pretty rough, and it drains your beam like mad.

Still like the game, but it's falling into routine mode a bit much, something Killer 7 sidestepped a bit more handilly. Even the rank missions are all merely room clearing attrition matches until the bosses.

[Jab]

That's odd about the weapons, I've read on gamefaqs some people have had trouble with that. All I did was after turning in the plans was to drive around, do the side job and assassination missions and returned and the weapon was done.

[BDGE]

Yea, probably need to do the same. I turned it in and walked right back in and still nothing, but I probably need to just come back after a bit of time doing side missions for cash. I haven't played since that moment, so next time I'll try that.

[ducker]

is there actually a button for block??? Or is it just locking on to a target and not doing anything?

Those mini fights where you're going up against enemies until you take a single point of damage always get me a bit over half way though, with some cheesy sneaky hit.

[BDGE]

Yea, just take no action while locking on to something will auto-block. I think in Sweet difficulty you will even block just standing still with no lock, but Mild requires a lock.

And those mini-missions where you have to take no hits are annoying. Even worse, you can't just re-attempt them upon failure easilly, they respawn only after you've gone or done something else. I suppose they want you to just casually attempt them rather than go all OCD about clearing them out.

[Erik]

I really, really wanted to like NMH. The training and the first mission are both awesome, and when the assassin's high score table popped up, I started thinking it might be the best game ever. But wandering around the boring city on my clunky motorcycle collecting coconuts is just a full on brick wall of funlessness that I don't think I'm going to be able to smash through. Fuck.

[Dave Long]

You have to hold the Z-button to block on Mild difficulty. You will not block otherwise.

The coconut collection and lawn mowing are like 3 minutes long, and it's really no big deal to get enough money for the next assassin match each time. If you give up that easily... man, what games do you actually play beyond the first five minutes?

[Jab]

The best tip that I could find for the free mode missions is to only fight them one at a time, still I'm having a hard time when they throw in gun minions at you. If you can get thru the free mode missions they seem to be a good source of money, I almost finished the last one but of course a lucky hit ruined it.






Slight Spoiler:



Last night I finished the final boss on hard mode, now that was a fight. Even knowing the attack patterns isn't enough if your reaction time isn't fast enough to react. Fair warning, you have to hit the boss over 1000 times and that's not counting getting in wrestling attacks. I think I won with about %35 of my health left.

[ducker]

ok, so it's not just me that's having an annoying time with the 1 hit free missions.

enjoying this game too. It does seem a bit annoying with the same jobs... as long as new ones keep opening up every so often I'll stick with it.

[Rock8man]

This week's Abberant Gamer is about No More Heroes (http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/01/column_the_aberrant_gamer_no_more_complaints.php). Its a really enjoyable read.

And its made me want this game just as much as Tom Chick's review of Killer 7 in CGM did for that game. Must resist temptation lest I get burned twice.

[RepoMan]

"Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer," TomChick typed. He read it back in a quiet whisper, barely audible even to the woman sitting next to him. So close he could feel her breath on his shoulder. Stirring something animal within him. Something primal. Something condescending. The lengths he would go to win her affection! He said it again. "Beyond the comprehension of the average gamer." She nodded approvingly before taking him by the hand and leading him to the hot tub. "Mrs. Williams," he smirked as he slipped into the water, "you're trying to seduce me."
THE MOTHERFUCKING NARRATOR?????

This thread just DELIVERED.

[DeathMonkey]

I finished "mild" today. I loved it. It did get somewhat repetitive near the end, but not enough to diminish my enjoyment overall. I think I loved No More Heroes more as an idea than as an actual game. I feel like it's all about the id/super-ego of teenage otaku, with the assassin mission, porn videos, lolita-type anime characters, wrestling trading cards and videos, and the Star Wars references like the light saber/beam katana.

Spoilers ahoy!





I *loved* the fast-forwarded cutscene at the end. That was genius, particularly with Travis's shocked reactions and the girl's emphatic gestures. The amount of stuff that was flat-out stolen from other places is awful funny as well. One time I thought "is that darth vader with a light saber?" No, it turns out, it's the TIE FIGHTER PILOT with a light saber. The fact that I knew who it looked like made it even funnier/sadder. The star wars ending. The Rocky III ending. The Back to the Future ending.

Edit: I found a video of the fast-forwarded cutscene slowed down. (It might actually have jacked up the age rating if it was included.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22Nkt_fDBc

[jim crawford]

I really, really wanted to like NMH. The training and the first mission are both awesome, and when the assassin's high score table popped up, I started thinking it might be the best game ever. But wandering around the boring city on my clunky motorcycle collecting coconuts is just a full on brick wall of funlessness that I don't think I'm going to be able to smash through. Fuck.
The city really is an insult. There's no gameplay of any kind there; it amounts to a really clunky menu system, like the the 3D computer interfaces that bad movies would show off in the early 90s. It's pretty clear that the designers had no idea what to do with an open city. They included it as a reference to existing gamer culture -- just like every other design element in the game.

[Lizard Dude]

Spoiler:




Just beat this tonight. I can't believe they made a Duke Nukem Forever joke!

[Sockpuppet]

Attention, my Canadian brethren... looks like this is finally available north of the border. Just picked my copy up over lunch at an EB in the GTA. (And I just finished Mass Effect this week, so the timing is perfect to start this up.)

[Alan Friesen]

Oh, that last fricking battle... I'd really like to pass it on mild, but I'm not sure I have the stamina. I got him down to 50% before croaking after 15 minutes. On the plus side, I've become adept at that sidestepping move.