There has been some time when Goichi Suda brought us his latest new game, where he worked on a leading and creative position. It is better known under the pseudonym Suda51 and especially by games such as No More Heroes, Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer7 or Shadows of the Damned. Now, however, the exclusive Nintendo Switch has embarked on a new project that has long been shrouded with a secret of mystery. Suda played the game a lot, even though we managed to get it done, but it was still quite difficult to imagine what we were doing at last. The game is now almost here, we've gone through it all the time, and it's just that this will be another of his games that polarize the audience.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is a playable spin-off and not a sequel to the No More Heroes series. In the story, however, it follows the previous games, and the events in it have to be reflected in the third part. It does not play in the style of predecessors. Here, a dramatic change has come, and Suda has decided with India's team and indie budget to make India an action game in which it still puts something of its own. This decision itself will not be voiced by many, but there are more contradictory things that will ultimately divide the audience.
Let's start from the story. Travis is no longer a dreaded killer, though he is still fairly well known. However, his former life stopped him from talking, so he got out of hand and lived in a caravan on the edge of a forest where he played games all day. And while he's throwing his bloody past behind his head, not everyone in those 7 years (who have fallen from the events of the two) forgot about what happened. Travis once killed a little crazy Bad Girl, who decided not to love his father. Even though she had her mistakes, Badman decided to trace Travis and take revenge on him. In front of the caravan, he pulls his beloved bat and pulls off the battle, the result of which is unexpected.
Rather, they are directly among them, but they are dragged into their demonic retro console Death Drive Mk. 2, which never came into the market and was created by the secrets drunken doctor Juvenile. Moreover, even in the background of Badman's story lies more than you would expect at first glance. Perhaps this is not just a way of revenge, but for revealing the mysterious possibilities that this console offers. The deeper you get in it, the more you look at the characters, the backdrop of a non-traditional console, and many more things, some of which you would never have expected. The story of Travis Strikes Again is weird. For me in the good sense of the word.
I will go straight to the next thing that personally enchanted me personally, but it does not have to, and certainly does not, suit everyone. You may also have guessed that this is not a traditional and traditional game. It's a meta-game. Here you even play games in the game. But that does not end. If you liked what Deadpool did in the movie (direct communication with the viewer, description of the story, explanation of things, etc.), something similar but more elaborate, you can also find it here. Not only is Travis the fourth wall, its new game is partly also a gambling probe, gaming design, genre tricks and other elements that parody, hyperbolize and otherwise use to their advantage.
I would say that if you are already among the older players and you are interested in the game more than just the consumer entertainment, you will find a lot of moments, hints and elements that you will laugh at or enjoy. The game pulls from the kick of the text in the visual changes that players must click through. He smirked that players want to play, not to read things that do not even care about them (if you do not care, all scenes can be skipped). In addition, it is a Japanese game and localization of that text costs unnecessary money. Suda knew very well when and how he could get a little bit of it. He also did the unfinished game in Unreal Engine 4 (where the game is running) and so on. He was also curious about the bosses because they are not people but only data and they fight for you for various reasons.
But if you do not belong among those who would like to laugh at such things, it will probably all be annoyed by you, for they are really the elements that keep you from playing. So the game points to something by doing it itself and describing it as an unfortunate element of today's game development. Fortunately, at least it is enough that you want to hurt as few elements as possible during the levels, but when you are among them there is a lot of things that either keep you directly as part of the story or you can do it in the form of side activities.
As you progress through the game, you are gradually unlocking not only the game worlds (which I will still be dealing with) but also many other things, whether they are collectible items in levels, or pieces of story over faxes from some characters, or even some characters , with which you can communicate. However, you will spend the most time in the wardrobe as you gradually collect two types of game currency for which you can buy t-shirts for both playable characters. They then dress on the characters and find themes not only Nintendo games but also well-known indie titles. If you like Superhot, you can find his shirt here. The same applies to Minit, Mother Russia Bleeds and indeed many others. A nice bonus.
Let's go to the gameplay itself, but it's not easy to describe it. Let's begin with what is the easiest - cooperation. Travis Strikes Again is built as a cooperative game, and it is its greatest strength. The game is designed in such a way that each player has a single Joy-Con driver. The action is quite simple, you do not need a lot of buttons and if there are too few, you can use some of the elements with a motion control. Travis and Badman move together, and while one lives, the other can always be respawned. It is advisable for the characters to complement each other, which I will return to.
The game offers quite a lot, if we also think about all the things around and a visual novel for a deeper narrative of a strange story, there are still 7 game worlds - 7 Death Balls. You must first get each of them to use it in your Death Drive. And since TSA is inspired by the past, and especially the 16-bit console era (Death Drive itself is a demonic parody of Mega Drive), the individual games (levels) are based on the past. You will find here a version of Trona, also a variation on the Asteroids, but especially a lot of action in hack and slash style, which is once in platform form, sometimes in RPG or top-down. Also, there are no occasional simple puzzles in the environment.
The action itself is really quite simple. Both playable characters have a bat or a sword, so you will not find any weapons at a greater distance. You have a simple attack and a heavy attack. You can combine it with jerks and also with a jump attack. However, you are gradually acquiring new chips to improve your characters. Basic leveling will improve your strength and health, but the chips will add new offensive and defensive capabilities. Each character can have just 4 characters and the characters can not have the same chip at the same time. This is a good idea to complement when one player is backed by a defensive mural or healing, and the other one will attack by laser-controlled bombs and the like. Above all, you can not spam because each has a different cooldown.
The game is not too long, so you will not be able to get the most out of it in the 7 to 8 hours, but you can still steal the hint of stereotype. So while Suda spiked with ideas and links on many fronts, it played a few cards within the action game itself, and although different worlds are different, it's often about getting to some place where the rest of the level closes before you, until you have eliminated all enemies around. There are more games to play, their game in a very varied form or in a very varied way, or some puzzle. And this is repeated. It really depends on how you can get in the couple and whether or not you like a similar game design. It's a downfall, it's fast and fun, but also repetitive.
A special place among enemies has bossovia. Those in the middle of the levels are poisoned. The design is repeated, but they can at least surprise you with the ability to pull you out. Additionally, there is no mention of not underestimating the mid-level boss. Those at the end are already something else. Fights are quite classical and the game is tightening as each boss has to go through several stages. So you have to learn the pattern of their attacks and attack so that you have done the most damage and have traveled only a minimum of wounds. However, they excel especially in the design, which was helped by the British artist Boneface and truly enjoyed them.
Visually, the game could get even more and I do not think so now about the quality of the graphics. This is not the worst for Unreal Engine 4 on Switches and the models of the figures are, for example, fairly decent. The weaker is an art environment that definitely should be a little less repetitive within the given game worlds. I understand the sense of why they look the way they look. But I do not like it. As the game carries in retro style and indie style, it is largely absent by the dubbing, so you are blinking with the texts already mentioned. But when the dabing sounds, Robin Atkin Downes returns to Travis. The soundtrack is worth mentioning, however, music that lacks modern tunes or even chiptuning. Everything exactly in the spirit of how the game is presented. And really that's how it sits.
With Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes have heavy reviewers and it will be difficult for players too. It would be best if the game had a demo, let everyone try to find out whether or not that style would fit. Even from the reviews that fly to both extremes, it is difficult to make a picture. Collaboration works fine, intuitively and simply incorporates simple RPG elements, action has balls and if you appreciate all those links and jokes, this is exactly the game for you. But if these things go out of you, you do not like strange games and you have no one to play with, Travis does not get your heart in this game. Especially from the game you can not expect the sequel to No More Heroes.