No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/No_More_Heroes_2_Desperate_Struggle.jpg)

I'm finding the sequel to be tougher, weirder, and more streamlined. A short way in, and the brutal boss fights remind me of what people said about Demon's Souls: it stops just short of frustrating, forcing you to learn patience and to hone your skills.

What are your impressions?

Official website
IGN Review

My impressions are that I'm jealous it is out in other countries Curse you, local game distributors!

I'm picking this up today. That IGN review (despite numerous typos) has me pretty excited.

I'm getting this tomorrow as far as I know, but it might not get the playtime it deserves til ive managed to purge myself of mass effect 2 intoxication

I played the first game on Mild ("normal") difficulty and it was tough, but manageable. For this one, I wish I'd done Sweet ("easy") for my first playthrough. Matt Helms whooped me repeatedly, and every boss fight has been finished with a tiny sliver of health.

On the other hand, it's pretty exhilarating.

I haven't played No More Heroes, but this sounds cool. Should I track down the first game first, or jump right into the sequel?

Hehe

However, for every moment of questionable audi, there are dozens upon dozens of amazingly delivered lines, awesome rock and punk music, and hilarious retro bleeps and bloops -IGN.com

Doesn't beat the "Mac truck" one, which has the bonus of calling to mind an Apple store delivery truck, but still. IGN needs to learn how to write.

grobstein wrote:

I haven't played No More Heroes, but this sounds cool. Should I track down the first game first, or jump right into the sequel?

The first game is pretty awesome, but so far it doesn't seem like the second game requires you to have played it. It's pretty insane with or without the added context.

Switchbreak wrote:

I'm picking this up today. That IGN review (despite numerous typos) has me pretty excited.

IGN.com would like to remind you that this game will blow you away.

"Smashes you in the face like a Mac truck"--IGN.com

"It's a game that knocks on your front door, waits for you to answer in a towel and your favorite pair of slippers, rips your head off, and shoves itself down your throat"--IGN.com

O.o

grobstein wrote:

I haven't played No More Heroes, but this sounds cool. Should I track down the first game first, or jump right into the sequel?

The second game is superior in some ways, and the bizarre story definitely does not require having played the first, as is pointed out in a fourth-wall-breaking cutscene near the beginning.

On the other hand, the original is quite fun in its own right, and at this point is way cheaper. I'd give it a shot first to see if you like it, and consider that the second streamlines the way between boss battles, maybe picking it up later.

I made it as far as rank 4 on the "Mild" difficulty but I'm giving up. I'll try on the easier "Sweet" difficulty after taking a break.

The game is fair (if you accept repeated deaths while learning bosses as fair) but brutal for my weak reflexes on "Mild"; even once you know the patterns, you have to be patient and spot on with reacting correctly during the split second they signal their attacks. I got through a couple of bosses in one or two tries, but a few of them killed me twenty times before I squeaked through.

If you got used to using the "dark step" on the first game (a "hidden move" where pushing the joystick left or right at the right moment during an enemy's attack would dodge behind them and slow time) it is still there, but much harder to get and seriously weakened. This game really emphasizes learning the enemy's moves, patiently dodging when required (plenty of unblockable attacks), and learning when you can sneak in a few hits.

The charge attack, especially with the Peony (?) sword you can buy from Naomi, is an enormous help for the average enemies (which are mostly much tougher now) and some of the bosses. You can often get in a melee attack when your sword would be blocked. Your whole arsenal is useful, not just mashing "A."

The battery charge is on a per-sword basis. On some of the aggressive bosses where you burn through battery and can't get a breather to recharge, you can cycle through your sabers to keep your guard up. You are invulnerable during the switch animation (but not while picking which sword to use) which is nice.

Other forums and a video on YouTube I turned to for help lead me to believe that "Sweet" might be too easy, but I would like to see the end of the game. It has been fun and rewarding, but too frustrating and time consuming.

I've been playing through on Sweet. I beat the first one, and found a bunch of the bosses challenging, but I can't for the life of me recall what difficultly I was playing on. I'm still fairly early on (rank 24) but it's been a bit of a cakewalk so far. I'd raise the difficulty, but I don't really feel like going back to the start of the game over again. In a game like this, I don't understand why they wouldn't let you change difficulties on the fly, or at least in between missions. Or would that just be too user-friendly for this designer?

Suda and company have an amazing ability to deliver original, inspired stuff to players, and the shotgun blast of concepts and designs ensure that there's something fresh at every turn. IGN.com

The 8 bit games can pretty much kiss my ass. I'm terrible at them.

The rest of the game is hit or miss so far. I think I'm 24th as well, I appreciate some of the wackiness, but the combat is pretty rote so far.

Certis wrote:

The 8 bit games can pretty much kiss my ass. I'm terrible at them.

What difficulty are you playing on? I wonder if the "8 bit" games have different difficulties as well. Some of them (the bug catching in particular) are't too bad once you've played it a bit and get the hang of it; but I told the strength/muscle training in the gym to kiss my ass around level 3 or 4.

Of course, now that you don't have to pay for the ranking fights, once you've earned money for the two swords Naomi sells (she only ever offers two!) anything else is for the gym and clothing. So you really don't need to do the 8 bit games more than you want to; you can probably hustle enough cash during the missions to pay for everything.

Gave this a two and a half hour spin today after beating Mass Effect 2, and I'm pretty surprised by how little it seems I've dug into the game. Only taken out two bosses, counting the intro. I really dig the 8-bit games, especially Laying the Pipe and Pizza with a Vengeance.

I kinda miss all the personality each boss had in NMH1. Maybe I remember it as more than it was, but these guys seem less significant. Maybe cuz there's more.

Anyone else find the boss in the bank vault (Rank 9, I think) really annoying to play? It's not that it was hard, it's just that the level design and the camera and the movement controls united in an unholy trinity of badness. Add in that the boss moves around the arena in a way that's hard to track with either the lock-on or the mini-map, and he seems to only have a couple different attack moves and always dodges my combos so I never got a chance to satisfactorily wail on him, and it ends up being one of the most obnoxious, tedious boss fights I've played in recent memory.

4dSwissCheese wrote:

Anyone else find the boss in the bank vault (Rank 9, I think) really annoying to play? It's not that it was hard, it's just that the level design and the camera and the movement controls united in an unholy trinity of badness. Add in that the boss moves around the arena in a way that's hard to track with either the lock-on or the mini-map, and he seems to only have a couple different attack moves and always dodges my combos so I never got a chance to satisfactorily wail on him, and it ends up being one of the most obnoxious, tedious boss fights I've played in recent memory.

Spoiler:

I quit at Rank 4 (the "Reaper") but I agree, that was my least favorite fight of the ones I did. The mini-map only showing one level sucked, and having to rely so heavily on the wonky jump with wonky camera sucked, and worst of all I got sick of hearing him repeat the same two lines over and over.

It got a little easier when I realized that I should NOT complete Shinobu's combo, because there is a long pause at the end that lets him get away or get in a flurry of shots. (At least on "Mild.") Stop after three or four slashes. If you're lucky, you can pin him on a balcony or in a corner where you are between him and an elevator; he will dodge around but you can usually get in a pattern of hit him, let him dodge, start hitting him again for several cycles.

I wish I hadn't bought the red beam katana. 300k down the drain. Anyone know the point of it? Peony I think is the name

Blind_Evil wrote:

I wish I hadn't bought the red beam katana. 300k down the drain. Anyone know the point of it? Peony I think is the name

Yes, it's slow, but it does lots of damage. It also gets longer as the rage meter, or whatever it's called (the tiger is the lower right) fills up. I found the running-slash attack you do by swinging the wii-mote while moving particularly effective - both on bosses and groups of normal enemies - since there's no wind up for it. Keep in mind, I played on Sweet difficulty - it may not work as well on the harder ones. (Also, it means except for wardrobe changes and gym upgrades, you have no more need of money).

Anyways, I beat the game today. Some of the later levels are way too long, but there was enough good there to sustain my interest until the end.

I thought it would do more damage, but the green blade seems to do just as much. Might be cuz of the difficulty, I'm on mild.

They really cranked the weird up on this game. Just beat Matt Helms and Kimmy Howell. Strange.

So, anyone sick of the game yet? I want to buy it cheap.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I wish I hadn't bought the red beam katana. 300k down the drain. Anyone know the point of it? Peony I think is the name

For as much as I played on Mild, I found it pretty useful. Because of the increased range, I could stand distant from enemies, and use a charged attacks to leap in and hit them pretty hard without being in their melee range. Actually, it was especially useful for guys with guns, especially as it got longer.

Also for bosses, it helps to have as many katana as possible, so you can just switch when the battery runs out. For the Rank 5 (?) fight his assault does not let up long enough to stand around recharging!

I'm ranked second now, and I am not ready for the end. I love the aesthetic and sensibilities of these games in a serious way.

I'm under the impression that the next game in the series, if there is one, will be on the other platforms. I'd still gladly play them, but I would miss the motion controls, as this is one of the few games that actually get them right (for the most part). Maybe they'll use the Natal and whatever-the-hell, but I'm not sure it'd be the same.

The difficulty seems to have dipped a bit. I'm not sure if it is me being better equipped or getting better at the game, or the actual design, but some of the higher ranked bosses have posed little problem for me (2 and the space guy, forgot his number)

Kinda mad at Travis's decisions though...

Spoiler:

I pretty much hate Sylvia and turning down Shinobu and later banging her (Sylvia) was offputting. Pretty sure she's legal, hah. I guess Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age left me wanting to pick my romance partner. The "DOWNWARD F*****G DOG" part was a riot, though. I'd forgotten all about it.

There's a fine line between satire of poor game design and poor game design.

Shinobu. Mother-f***ing Shinobu. When she showed up I thought, "hey, cool, a ganjuro girl with a katana." When they let me play her I thought, "oh, this'll be a fun change of pace. And hey, look, she can jump."

Of course when they suddenly let a character jump, it means jumping puzzles. The control is not tight enough for jumping puzzles. Neither is the physics interaction or the non-existent camera system. It was indeed a desperate struggle to make it through that level. I must've fallen off the roof 10 times, and do they give you multiple convenient ways to get back up? No. Of course not. There's one way back up and even jumping up that can be a trial.

There were some little scaffolding things that had treasure chests on them and fortunately they had piles of boxes on them so I could get back up on the roof and- OH LOOK I couldn't turn the camera around to see what I was doing and I fell off the goddamn roof again. At least that useless slice of pizza was totally worth it.

Very glad to be done with that part. Very glad.

4dSwissCheese wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

I wish I hadn't bought the red beam katana. 300k down the drain. Anyone know the point of it? Peony I think is the name

Yes, it's slow, but it does lots of damage. It also gets longer as the rage meter, or whatever it's called (the tiger is the lower right) fills up. I found the running-slash attack you do by swinging the wii-mote while moving particularly effective - both on bosses and groups of normal enemies - since there's no wind up for it. Keep in mind, I played on Sweet difficulty - it may not work as well on the harder ones. (Also, it means except for wardrobe changes and gym upgrades, you have no more need of money).

Anyways, I beat the game today. Some of the later levels are way too long, but there was enough good there to sustain my interest until the end.

I love the red beam sword. It's great at crowd control and so far I've been able to hit most bosses from well beyond their own melee range.

Got this for myself for $20 new for Christmas. I was waiting for a lower price and here it is (a year later! )! Anyway, I kinda forgot how cool this game is and after beating the first one I was ready for more. Spruced up controls, getting rid of the GTA style world map, better AI, more bosses to kill, it all adds up to a great product. There were a couple of threads recently about the Wii and the whole 'hardcore' argument, but if you like playing the Wii and don't have this game, you are really missing out. Not for all systems, but specifically if you only have a Wii, No More Heroes 2 really fills a gap in the systems' library.