I was introduced to Suda51 through Killer7, and was enamored by No More Heroes and its sequel. After that, I feel like things fell into a bit of a lull. He did a lot post-Desperate Struggle, but I mostly remember Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Killer is Dead.

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy them; it’s more that I really love Killer7 and No More Heroes. Those games, I just found them to be fine. Enjoyable but not extraordinary. But that was a long time ago. My tastes have matured, I'm more open-minded, and I look at video games in a broader way, so I was looking forward to giving Shadows of the Damned another chance with the Hella Remastered version. Some people?? really dig it, so maybe I just wasn’t able to appreciate it properly at th??e time.

Unfortunately, this time it’s no different. Maybe I don’t give my past? self enough credit, because another playthrough has not ?improved my opinion of the game.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch)
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture
Released: October 31, 2024
MSRP: $24.99

I want to start by saying that Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is not “hella�remastered. It is barely remastered??. I’m certain that some things have visually improved, but I don’t think the geometry has been touched. I’d call the textures “cleaned up,�but I’m pretty sure they’re the exact same ones but maybe less compressed. There were moments when it?? would do close-ups of some objects, and the surface was just smeared and blurry. 

Shadows of the Damned wasn’t a terrible-looking game for 2011, but it wasn’t impressive, either. It wasn’t intended as some sort of technical showcase. But why call it a remaster when it just looks like someone turned the settings up from High to Ultra? It has extra costumes and New Game+. It runs at 4K and 60fps. Some? of the visual effects have been improved, but it still looks like Unreal Engine 3 piss. A port is fine, especially for the price. Maybe call it the “Hella Definitive Edition.�But if you want to call it remastered, at least?? put a rug down.

Anyway, Shadows of the Damned is about a guy and his talking gun descending into Hell to make dick jokes for several hours. Not that there’s a problem with dick jokes. Destructoid was founded on the principles of dick jokes. I just w?ant you to be? prepared for what you’re getting into.

Shadows of the Damned plays a bit like Resident Evil 4 if you suck some ??of the production values out of it. You play as demon hunter Garcia Hotspur as he takes his transforming pistol, Johnson, on a road trip through hell to rescue his girlfriend, Paula, from the Lord of the Underworld, Fleming. The goal is to reach a castle that ?always looms on the horizon, the Castle of Hassle.

That’s pretty much all there is to the ??story. You advance level by level and take out some baddies along the way. Much of the narrative meat is actually just backstory. Being a former demon himself, Johnson will explain the workings of the underworld while you occasionally come across books that reveal the pasts of the bosses you face. It’s not ??the most exciting storytelling, but it works. Its goal seems to be attempting a dark fairytale, but I don’t think that comes across very well.

Howev?er, the dialogue between Garcia and Johnson helps elevate it, so long as you can stomach the humor. It is packed with references to sex and genitalia, sometimes through double entendre and other times just overtly. Not all of it hits, and some of it completely missed me, but the duo is charming enough. They may not stop talking about their members and the members of others, but at least guys are able to bond over their dicks.

I wound up enjoying Garcia’s wholesome devotion to Paula. Although she’s heavily sexualized throughout the story,? at one point even showing off her tits, Garcia is mostly just concerned with doing right by her. It’s a subtle trait that sometimes gets lost bene??ath the heaps of dick jokes, but it’s appreciable when it comes up.

When you get into the gameplay of Shadows of the Damned, it winds up being unspectacular. A largely linear affair with a heavy focus on combat without a real hook. A lot of the setpiece??s revolve around a darkness that will envelop the area, which will damage Garcia if he spends too much time in it, but otherwise, it’s headshots and weak points with a bit of do??dging thrown in for good measure.

At least there’s gyro control for aiming. Or there is on the PS5 version, and I assume that’s true for the Switch. It helps in a lot of place?s, especially when you’re grappling with the Big Boner.

Everything about it is a mixed bag. The graphics are often really mundane and drab, then every so often you get an interest??ing character design. But then, even the interesting characters are smudged in dirt, which makes it difficult to really appreciate their design. It’s sort of the product of the generation it was rel?eased in.

The soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) is pretty great, but like everything, it kind of gets lost. It doesn’t stand out as much as it should and winds up being easily forgotten. I??t’s easy to forget that this game was made by some of the industry’s greatest, because it’s just kind of flat.

I’m not the only one who thinks that, and I don’t just mean that by looking at the original run of reviews. The hella original version was published by EA, and if you want a feel for the dysfunction behind the scenes, it’s what gave Suda51 his grudge against former EA CEO, John Riccitiello. Suda hates the guy so much that he named an antagonist in later No More Heroes games after him �Damon Riccitiello. That was his name in Travis Strikes Again. He toned it down in No More Heroes, c??alling him Damon Ricotello, as if that hides the influence.

Shinji Mikami stated back in a 2012 interview with CVG that he thought Suda51’s “heart was broken�by the constant changes EA requested for Shadows of the Damned. He said it wasn’t the game that they had envisioned by the time it came out. It’s not like they could have fixed it in the Hella Remastered version, because they had to change so much. Instead, Suda took some of the early drafts and made the comic Kurayami Dance with Syuji Takeya.

That’s not to say that Shadows of the Damned couldn’t have appealed even with those circumstances. While I appreciate the creative vision and detest the business end of development, it doesn’t always doom a production. But regardless of it, Shadows of the Damned is rather bland, even w??ith its constant dick-waving. Maybe I’m naive, but I can’t imagine it turning out this way without executive oversight. Ob??viously, Suda51 is proud enough about the game to consider it worth releasing again, even if it isn’t exactly a gloss-up.

I gave Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered a fair chance to win me over, but I feel the same way I did when I played it back in 2011: underwhelmed. It’s just now, all these years later, I’m a lot better at analyzing its problems and communicating them. It doesn’t help that the remaster is barely a remaster at all. The buddy r??elationship between Johnson and Garcia as well as Garcia’s devotion to Paula have their charm, and the dick jokes do a lot of heavy lifting. However, it’s difficult to get over just how grey and humdrum the underworld is.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Normally, it would be crass and undignified for me to tell you to "get your Big Boner ready" for a video game. Not so with Shadows of the Damned, the remastered version of which is set to?? l?aunch on October 31, 2024.

Considering the themes and overall aesthetic of Garcia Hotspur's hellish journey �a guy toting a demon bone-shooting Revolver, dubbed the 'Boner' �Halloween is the perfect time for Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered to debut. It'll be available on pretty much everything, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch,? and PC.

Some of the new features are on display in what might already be one of my favorite remaster ??trailers. Check out the new costumes and revel in the absurd credits given to executive director Su??da51 and creative producer Shinji Mikami throughout. 

The trailer also serves as a nice reminder that Shadows of the Damned has enemy designs by none other than Q Hayashida, the manga author behind Dorohedoro. It's obvious when it all comes together.

In addition to those fabulous new out?fits â€?Demonio Garcia, Ocho Corazones, Placa Garcia, and Kamikaze Garcia â€?the trailer? touts New Game+ mode and 4K support. As the trailer reminds us repeatedly, WELCOME TO HELL, PRE-ORDER NOW! Digital pre-orders unlock early access to the game, letting you dig your spurs in up to three days ahead of launch. 

Released back in 2011, Shadows of the Damned is another entry in the storied lineage of video games about getting your girlfriend back from some nasty dudes. With the pedigree behind it, though, it's no surprise that it's also one of the most buckwild of the bunch. It sounds like Suda51 doesn't want to mess with a good thing?, so we'll see if Hell ho??lds up on Halloween. 

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Damned if you Don't

As part of yesterday's Grasshopper Manufacture 2023 live stream, the studio announced that its recently-revealed Shadows of the Damned: Remastered is "probably" going t?o be released o??n "all current platforms."

A typically tongue-in-cheek promo re-introduces us to Mexican demon hunter Garcia Hotspur, who is not only "More terrifying than any demon", but is also "the most determined, devoted man in the world". So form a queue, ladies. The preview then describes Shadows of the Damned as "A nonstop-action love story taking you straight through the deepest ??depths of He??ll". Sweet.

"Coming to all c??urrent platfor??ms," concludes the preview, before adding "Probably."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=THS60cC3768&t=270s&am?p;ab_channel=Grasshopp??erArchives

Elsewhere in the Grasshopper Direct, community manager James Mountain seemingly returns from the dead, while fellow CM Maddie Copp turns up cosplaying as No More Heroes' notorious Bad Girl. It also looks really hot under those studio lights. Of course, "Suda51" himself puts in an appearance, dazzlingly dressed in a lucha mask and green suit, reminiscent of Saints Row villain Killbane. Suda seemed a lot bigger and much more American than you may recall, but that's just your brain playing tricks on you, as it ?was definitely him. Even though he had a different face.

The show closed with a fleeting glimpse of the studio's next game, with viewers treated to what appears to be the in-game menu for the mystery project. While l?ittle can be divulged from the sneak peek, I did notice an "Emerald Flowsion" gauge, at least confirming that Goichi's love for pro-wrestling will continue to make its mark on all of the studio's output.

Shadows of the Damned: Remastered is currently in development for all platforms. Probabl??y.

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No More Secrets

Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio founded by esoteric game designer Suda5?1, is teasing some sort of announcement for June 15, which is the date that its online countdown clock hits Terminus.

While the clock was first started back in March (on the anniversary of No More Heroes, no less), fan @Knoebelbroet spotted that it had recently been updated with a new design, as well as offering a new and definitive date for the mysterious reveal. The timing would sugge??st that the reveal was initially set to take place during this week's Summer Game Fest event, but has now been delayed to the following week.

//twitter.com/Knoebelbroet/?status/1665599011389054978?s=20

So, what is it? Well, the fact that the clock launched on No More Heroes' anniversary could suggest a new entry in Suda51's lurid action-adventure series. That said, there have been whispers that the studio has been working on a new title for some years now �A video shot at the studio itself last year showed an artist working on a grotesque boss character, leading some to believe a new Shadows of the Damned might be in the works. Although it's been a while since we heard anything of the Lollipop Chainsaw remake, Suda51 and his current staff are not involved wi??th that project, so it is unlikely to pe??rtain to that game.

Whatever the ultimate reveal turns out to be, all of the prospects are pretty exciting. And, thankfully, we won't have to wai??t too much longer to find out the?? truth. We will, of course, bring you all of the details from the June 15 Grasshopper Manufacture reveal right here on Destructoid.

Until then, however, let? the speculation commence.

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You secure that shit, Hudson

Rumors continue to circle Suda51's Grasshopper Manufacture in regards to work on one, (or several), as-yet-unannounced horror titles �The latest tidbit floating through the airwaves was that the No More Heroes developer might be working on a new AAA title set within the Alien franchise.

However, this admittedly bizarre meeting of studio and franchise is seemingly untrue, or at least that's the story from Goichi Suda himself. The esoteric game director responded to a tweet about the rumor with little more than a series of question marks �suggesting that if Grasshopper Manufacture were stepping into the iconic world of H.R. Giger's extraterrestria??l beings, then it was news to him.

//twitter.com/suda_51/status/1596118774901805056?s=20&?;t=CVRjWqcGKVLdtSteYdGYbA

Of course, the internet being the internet, this has not stopped die-hard fans from thinking that perh?aps Suda is merely keeping the project under wraps, and that his tweet is a smoke screen to ??keep people guessing. Quite honestly, Grasshopper Manufacture seems a baffling choice of developer for 20th Century Fox to contact with an eye to adapting the famous film franchise, one would assume that it would choose a studio with a less stylistic and bespoke approach to game design.

Either way, you can't blame the fans for being excited. Despite being almost custom designed for gaming, the Alien franchise has had a seriously hit-and-miss relationship with the medium over the decades �with perhaps its best offering being 2014's Alien Isolation. It would be pretty fascina??ting to see what Suda and his crew could make of the franchise's frightening and violent xenomorphic universe?, but it seems that this particular rumor can be laid to rest.

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Well, I'll be Damned

A brief video posted to the Twitter of developer Grasshopper Manufacture has got fans wondering whether a new, horror-themed title is currently in the works at the No More Heroes studio.  The clip sees a developer hard at work designing a grotesque monster described as an "enemy boss" charac?ter.

The "Cultboss" creature �an amalgamation of twisted meat and skulls �looks particularly hellish, which has fans speculating as to whether a new Shadows of the Damned game is in development. Amusingly, asked about their thought process in drawing a 2D image from?? a completed 3D model, the developer candidly admits that they hav??e "No idea" as they have "never done it before".

//twitter.com/Grasshopper_EN/status/1581660988910161921?s=20&??;t=71a7YnTWo3TPJd??FznjwUiA

The video itself is a teaser for Grasshopper Manufacture's media output, which includes its "Dev room shorts" videos, in-house documentaries, podcasts, and other behind-the-scenes content. At some point today/tomorrow, the studio will release a brand new interview with its irrepressible founder Goichi Suda �better known to video game fans by his moniker Suda51.  The interview will see the eccentric game designer reflect on titles such as The Silver Case, No More Heroes, and the studio itself.

?"WATCH OR DIE!" demands the commercial.  Gee, I guess we better all tune in.

As for the origins of this mysterious monster... ??I ?guess we're just going to have to wait and see.

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Blowing minds and blowing chunks

Suda51's new YouTube series gives you something you can't get from everybody, because not every game developer loves the public eye. Despite being as famous (and infamous) as most folks in the industry will ever get, you're not likely to see a new on-camera interview with Minecraft's Notch or FEZ's Phil Fish anytime soon. Putting your perso?nal struggles on display isn't for everyo??ne.

Suda51 has no such misgivings about showing the human side of the creative process. In fact, the very first game company he worked for was called HUMAN, and as he explains in this inaugural chapter of a tell-all interview series, it was Suda'??s soft and heartfelt love of games and p??ro wrestling that landed him the job. That combinati?on of excitement and fear was key to his subsequent success. As he te??lls it, those feelings also led to a fair amount of vomit in his mouth.

//youtu.be/FW0bOm_fYDw

This same mix of thrills, chills, and stomach-turning spills are part of most of his games, from early titles like soon to be rereleased action-and-horror titles like Lollipop Chainsaw, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, and No More Heroes 3. What you make comes from who you are, even if that means tasting a little of your own puke ?now and again.

This new "Creator's File" interview series also marks a rebrand for Grasshopper and Suda51's new YouTube channel. It will feature other members of the company as well, as they talk about their history and experiences in the industry. It's a perfect holdover for fans of the studio as they wait for the announcement of new Grasshopper projects. I've gotten a little of the inside scoop on one of their unannounced titles and it's definitely going to be a?? big hit wit??h fans of Suda's scriptwriting style.

Keep an eye peeled in the video and you may actually see a h??int of what they're working on.

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A date for the drop of its Switch exclusivity

Publisher XSEED Games has locked in a date for No More Heroes 3 on a bevy of new platforms. No More Heroes 3 will hit PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on Octob??er 11, 20?22.

The previously Nintendo Switch-exclusive game now has a date locked in for other platforms, as well as a special "Day 1 Edition" of the game. This version is available for pre-order through the XSEED store for $59.99, and contains a soundtrack, art book, ??and commemorative lic??ense plate.

Store pages aren't live yet for the other versions. XSEED says that more info about the digital editions of No More Heroes 3 will arrive at a later date.

A world without heroes

No More Heroes 3 was released last year, just for the Nintendo Switch. And while it was certainly a return to more of Travis Touc??hdown and his usual action and antics, it also had s?ome technical hurdles to overcome.

Frequent load times were a point of contention in our review, and performance woes seemed to affect the general consensus. There's hope, then, that No More Heroes 3 arriving on platforms with more hardware power to spare could help smooth out t??hose edges. XSEED and Grasshopper say that these new platforms will see improved HD visuals and framerates, as well as faster load times.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=itdHpJ3TVio

But for some other players, this might be their chance to finally experience the next step of Travis Touchdown's journey. Though other games have since been ported around, this finally brings the third entry out to most gaming devic?e??????????????????????????s. It'll be on PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Windows Store. The Xbox versions will support Smart Delivery, too.

For those hoping to finally see Travis leap onto next-gen consoles, the wait's not much longer. No More Heroes 3 hits PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on October 11.

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_{[Art by OThatsRaspberry]}

From mortuaries to millions

Before creating No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, Killer7, and countless others, Goichi "SUDA51" Suda worked in a mortuary. Then, almost overnight, he became a game director. His primary qualification? Confidence. An outsider to the industry, he made waves from the very start, using the otherwise by-the-book Fire Pro Wrestling franchise to tell a s?tory of nihilism and self-destruction.

Twenty-nine years later and he's still doing things his own way. The biggest differen?ce now is, he's got experience on his side. And the money probably doesn't hurt either. Last year, Grasshopper Manufacture (Suda's studio) was acquired by NetEase, a game publisher with an estimat?ed value of 63 billion dollars.

As a massive fan of Suda's work, I was afraid that this change in business partners may lead him to make more conventional games. From the sounds of this interview with Japanese site DenFaminicoGamer, (posted here in English for the first time via a translation from Grasshopper themselves), we won't have t??o worry about that.

This detailed account of his career �packed with exclusive reveals about his past, present, and future �points to this new "NetEase era" being the m?ost exciting, unhinged chapter in his story yet.

DenFaminicoGamer: The reason for this interview is that Grasshopper Manufactu??re has become part of NetEase Games, and have started recruiting staff, but what was the original intention behind the founding of Grasshopper?

SUDA51: During my time at Human Entertainment, I thought of myself as a director. I took over the Fire Pro Wrestling series, handling two games. Next, I was put in charge of the Twilight Syndrome team, which was on the brink of collapse, and reorganized it. Which is to say, somehow or another, I would complete whatever w??ork that the company gave me without fail.

However, after Twilight Syndrome was finished, I did things akin to in-game destruction with Moonlight Syndrome (laughs). Human was a company with a lot?? of freedom, so at the time, I was able to take on a variety of challenges in that manner.

The rea??son I left Human was that I wasn’t able to make my own IP or representative work. I had the constant dilemma of not being able to create an original title. On top of that, I understood that as long as I stayed with Human, that kind of chance would not come easily, so I had to leave. Around that time, the company itself was in decline. There were things like pay delays, and just bad vibes in the air.

However, after leaving Human, I visited ASCII Corporation, who had previously reached out to me, and I intended to enter their company as a regular employee. Then I was told by the people at ASCII, “Now is the time that you could start a company.â€?And thatâ€?™s the story of how I started Grasshopper.

DFG: Was the desire to create your own original IPs and have? your o?wn company something that you had been contemplating for a long time?

SUDA51:Everything was a bit all over the place at H?uman, so I really loved the company itself. The presid??ent was eccentric, and he even hated games.

Human also ran the Human Creative School, which was the world’s first video game school. Ever?y year graduates would enter the company, so our development staff was mostly comprised of people in their twenties. I was 24 when I started at Human, so there was a huge number of staff that were younger than me, like around 22 or so. It was a maelstrom of hot-blooded youth that was almost like a zoo (l??aughs).

I think the great part about that company was the ability to create something from nothing. They were also the originators of pro wrestling games. Ryoji Amano, creator of the soccer games, and Masato Masuda, who was my mentor, were two people who could establish the creative process and create something from nothing. The company was filled with an atmosphere that made it feel like we could rapidly develop new games, and I think we were the top sports game developer at the time. So, I always thoug??ht that I wanted to further in??vigorate the company from within.

However, the president was caught for tax ??evasion, and when I woke in the morning, I experienced what it was like to have cameras from the TV station all over t??he place (laughs). After going through something like that, I thought, “I probably need to get out of here� and it felt like I had shifted gears.

DFG: In r??egard to the specialist school that you mentioned, how did t??he recently graduated students create games?

SUDA51: I didn’t come from the Human Creative School, but the incredible thing about it was that the students made games that were actually released. Some examples are Septentrion [English title: SOS], Dragon’s Earth, and The Firemen (All Super Nintendo games).

So, in that manner, the people who join us from the school had created a game as a team in their school days. It felt like they were already semi-professional when they joined Human, so they seemed less like students and more like cocky kids, thick with self-confidence. Like “Hey, we’ve already made a game, you know.�/p>

You had the old timers and the new grads, an??d there was a l??ot of conflict. I was just dropped in as a mid-career guy. Those days were pretty incredible.

DFG: You called them old timers, but they were also in their twenties, rig??ht?

SUDA51: Yes, they were about the same age. The old timers were in their late twenties, while the new grads were in their early twenties. Even though they were all in their twenties, there was a clash of?? youth.

As I was saying before, the new grads were at the level where they could quickly become leaders. Upon joining, they became the aces of the team. So new projects were quickly completed, one after another. I think it’s quite difficult these days to create a team of you??ng staff, but at that time, it was common for teams of graduates to quickly come together.

The teams were formed, and games were made rapidly. A game that took one year to develop was on the long side, and we were often told to develop things within three months. Waku Waku Ski Wonder Spur [Super Nintendo] was developed in only three mont??hs, and was full of bugs (laughs). I felt bad for the staff in charge.

There was also a game called Yakyuu Ou [‘Baseball King� Planned for release on the Super Nintendo, but was cancelled]. It was a legendary game where the batter would run straight toward third base after hitting the ball (laughs). At the time, Human would hold stand-alone events, and they held one at Sunshine in Ikebukuro where they played Yakyuu Ou on a huge screen. When the pitcher threw the ball and the batter got a strike, the umpire yelled, “Ball!�and there was a commotion in the crowd (laughs). ?They had made quite a mischievous game.

DFG: From your point of view, do you feel like those kinds of mischievous games aren’t around these da??ys?

SUDA51: There certainly aren’t any like that.

DFG: What do you think the reason for that is?

SUDA51: ?These days, we don’t play the numbers game anymore, or rather we can’t. Up until the Super Nintendo era, it was a period where if you just released a game, it would sell. The sales staff were very skilled, and it was as if, no matter the game, they would sell 200,000 copies to stores just to begin with. The sales staff would travel all over the country to entertain, and wine and dine with their clients. It was a rather vulgar time in those days, where regardless of a game’s quality, as long as you had something, it could be sold. I think that was a major part of things.

In ??regard to judging a game’s quality, there really wasn’t anything other? than Famitsu’s cross review. However, it was a time where even if the score was low, the game would sell anyway. So, as long as you had enthusiasm, you could make anything and everything. In a way, I think it was a time where even if you made a dud, you still gathered experience. These days, your career could be finished after even just one failure.

Fire Pro Wrestling was also a proclamation of my creative ability

DFG: I b?elieve that there was a period where you started ??to show your individuality as a director, was that intentional?

SUDA51: Yes, it was intentional. I brought my individuality to the forefront with Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special.

I felt like with the game I made before that, Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout, I was trying to precisely follow in the steps of the previous game, Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2. It was around then that there was a major incident within Human, with the section manager at the time, Shuji Yoshida, quitting the company. I received strong backing with Yoshida-san’s parting words, “I’m quitting, but you’re free to make the next Fire Pro as you see fit, Suda-kun.�My mentor, Masuda, also said to me, “You can do it however you want to, Suda-kun.�/p>

I thought that if I could do whatever I liked, then I would throw in all the things I wanted to do. I think adding a kind of story mode to Fire Pro Special was the catalyst for ?me to start expressing my crea??tivity. I think that was both a beginning, and in another way, a proclamation.

DFG: I see, so that’s where it began. By the way, ??how was it that you came to be a director?

SUDA51: To tell you the truth, I actually once failed the interview section of Human’s entrance test (laughs). However, by chance, that was right around the same time that Daisuke Asako, my predecessor in the Fire Pro team, handed in his let??ter of resignation. There weren’t any people left in the planning department who had deep knowledge of pro wrestling.

That’s when someone who remembered me called me in for another interview??, and? I was hired by the company. My predecessor, Asako-san, was only at the company for three more days, during which he handed things over to me before leaving the company. From that moment on, I was already a director.

DFG: Wha�! You were a director as soon as you ??started? What kind of experience did you have prior to that?

SUDA51: I had done a variety of different jobs. As for what got me involved in the game industry, it was during my time as a graphic designer when I made company brochures and advertisements for Sega as a contractor. Since I was to make advertisements for Virtua Racing, Yu Suzuki invited? me to the AM2 offices. That was my first time seeing a game development environment, and I was shocked.

Up until that moment, I had thought that?? games were made by professors. I always thought the games were made by computer experts who wore white lab coats, but they were actually just ordinary young men and women. Not to mention, they had stacks of things like Nirvana CDs on their desks.

I thought, “Huh, they’re just normal people.�It gave me the naïve idea that even I could do it too (laughs). It was then that the game industry, which seemed so very far away, suddenly felt like it entered my field of view. Or maybe you could say it suddenly felt more realistic. I thought to myself, “Making games as a job. What could be better than that?�/p>

DFG: So, you had never studied pro??gramming or anything like that before then?

SUDA51: Not at all. I had no skills at all. If I had to pick out one thing as a skill, it would have been that my pro wre?stling knowledge was without peer. That was what I really focused on?.

DFG: Before ?that, was there anything that made you interested?? in games?

SUDA51: My interest?? in games comes from alway??s hanging out at game centers when I was a kid.

DFG: So, since the arcade days?

SUDA51: It was the height of the arcade era. After the release of Space Invaders, game ce??nters popped up all throughout the city. There was a place just beyond the highway where one play was 20 yen. I would hang around there d??uring my days off when I was a student.

DFG: You said that you worked as a graphic designer. Did yo?u always have the d?esire to do some kind of creative work?

SUDA51: Hmm, not a clear desire or anything like that. I worked every day in order to keep living in Tokyo, and I also got married quite early, so it felt like the next th?ing was to l?ook for a job with better pay. With that in mind, working in the game industry wasn’t among the types of jobs that I was looking at.

However, I received encouragement from my wife. After working as a graphic? designer, I worked as a temporary employee at a funeral parlor. Undertakers make really good money. People my age were going independent and starting their own companies, and the managers would all drive to work in foreign cars?. Being able to drive dream cars like a Renault 5 Turbo was pretty cool. I gradually rose in rank while I worked as an undertaker, and a number of companies even asked me if I would become a full-time employee.

I also thought that I could make a good living in the industry, so I accepted my fate and told my wife that I intended to become a full-time employee. My wife said to me, “Is this why you came to Tokyo? There’s something else that you want to do, isn’t there?�/p>

“Is there� I guess I want to work on games or something like that.�/p>

“Then you should go for it.�/p>

Then I just happened to see job advertisements for both Human and Atlus in a magazine that I bought. Only those two companies were willing to accept applicants with no experience. I sent in my?? application, but I?? only managed to catch on with Human.

DFG: Why did you come to Tokyo?

SUDA51: I simply wanted to go to Tokyo?? and get away fro??m the countryside. That was really the only reason.

DFG: Did?? you continue to play games even while you worked as a grap?hic designer and undertaker?

SUDA51: Yes, but games were really expensive in those days. One game would cost 7,000 to 8,000 yen. But once the price gradually dropped to around 3,000 yen, it became a choice to either buy a game or one CD. However, I would buy Weekly Famitsu almost every week.

DFG: Why was that?

SUDA51: Because I loved games, of course. If possible, I wanted to play some good games. I also used it to try to convince my wife. I wanted to play the games that got a good score in the cross review (??laughs).

By doing work that went beyond my own scope, I was accepted as director by the staff

DFG: When you interviewed at Human, you didn’t have a??nything specific in mind like? director or graphic artist, right?

SUDA51: Yes, ??that’s right. If they hired me, I was prepared to do anything that they asked me to.

DFG: And then you were suddenly made director as soon as you joined the company. Di??d it feel like fate?

SUDA51: It felt like a gift from the pro wrestling gods. Things were handed over to me in only three days. I also had one of the pl??anning staff assigned to watch over me. In the beginning, it felt like he was the director by proxy, but midway through, everything was entrusted to me. It was like, “Suda-san, you can already do this on your own.�From that point on, I handled things by myself.

DFG: Looking back at it now, did you ever think “Why was I put in charge of all this?�/p>

SUDA51: Since I was put in charge, I was aware that I ha??d to persevere and get through it. T?here were about twenty staff members in the planning department, but only around half of those worked on the actual development. The remaining half were like jobless wanderers, every day they would do things like write proposals and submit things to the section manager.

I wanted to protect my own position, or you could ??say ??that I wanted to survive in this industry. After a few days, I had a hunch that this was the right path for my life. I also thought that I would be able to utilise the know-how from the other work that I had done up until that point.

The manager handed me a cardboard box containing materials for the previous game, Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2, and said, “You have one week to look over these and put together a specification document.�I read through all the materials in one day, and I submitted the specification document in three days. At any rate, I completed the task faster than I was told to. I’m not the Red Comet [Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam], but I knew that I could do the work three times faster than other peop?le. I wanted to succeed and continue to survive within the? planning department.

DFG: So, i??s the work of a director to look over those kinds of materials, and then st??art by following the example of others?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s right. However, I think that I was mor??e skilled than the other staff at things like inputting ?data and designing layouts. I also felt that I could compete well by using the difference in my past work experience. And then just speed, I guess. I thought that I would be in trouble unless I could thoroughly show that I was able to work faster and complete more work than others.

DFG: I believe that the role of a director is the kind of thing that can’t be taught, even if you try to teach it. Therefore, they’re incredibly valuable. When you look at those working as directors these days, many have been dir??ectors from the beginning, or some incident caused them to be thrust into the role, and upon which, they managed to succeed. In that sense, how do you think your sensibility as a director took root?

SUDA51: The first thing that I was conscious of, was just trying to survive at the company. Rather than the idea of “I want to be a director,�it was more “I want to make games at Human,�and “I want to become the best in? the planning department.�It may have been that I had a clear sense of wanting to achieve the goals in front of me, one by one.

DFG: Were there any things that you did to differentiate y??o?urself from other people?

SUDA51: Hmm, rather than doing anything special, I feel like it was just about gaining ??recognition by completing things step by? step.

DFG: In your current position, I’m sure that there are times you assign others to th??e role of director. At such a time, is there a certain something that a person has that prompts you to ?put them into that role? Or are there times where you think someone is lacking in something and that they would struggle as a director? How do you feel regarding those aspects?

SUDA51: I think that those who go beyond the tasks that a??re assigned to them are suited to being directors. Like wanting to do more than you’ve been given, or getting more involved on your own, and doing all the unreasonable things th?at are asked of you.

For example, I’ll do somethi??ng like ask the staff who have never written a scenario before, to try writing one. Some of them will happily complete such a task, and those are the kinds of people that I think could be suited t?o directing. Also, take people who are skilled at drawing. There are those who will just draw things on their own when the designers aren’t making progress. I think they too are the kind of people suited to directing.

To put it another way, it’s the attitude of doing work for the sake of the project, even if it goes beyond the scope of your own abilities. It’s likely that the people around you will see that too. So, you could also say that you’re earning their recognition. I think it’s difficult to be accepted just by saying that you’re the director, but there’s merit to having the staff around you think, “If it’s for this person, I want to give it another go.�/p>

At first, there were a lot of programmers and such that wouldn’t speak with me at all. Which is exactly why I would stay with them as we worked through the night, and when they took a nap, I would go and buy McDonaldâ€?™s for them in the morning. After they woke up, we would engage in small talk as we ate together. I feel like it was a build-up of things like that. Then they eventually acknowledged this strange guy who came out of nowhere as a director. That’s how, one by one, I got them to accept me. It was truly like a gr?assroots effort.

DFG: I see. So, in other words, you would do whateve??r it took to fulfill your role as?? director?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s right. Even handling chores an?d odd jobs without complaint.

Being able to work with Shinji Mikami on Killer7 became an asset to Grasshopper

DFG: In your own mind, when was it that you felt that your games began to receive a strong response? Looking from the outside, I feel like it was with Killer7 that you received worldwide recognition.

SUDA51: Killer7? was definitely the turning point. I think? that being able to work with Capcom, and thoroughly create something with Shinji Mikami was a considerable asset to today’s Grasshopper. The reception from around the world was greater than what we were expecting, and when we completed it, there was a sense that we had made a game that no one had ever seen before. I thought that we had made a game that really fit the word ‘new� and that it was something that would become synonymous with me.

The response was much greater than I expected. While traveling overseas for the promotion of No More Heroes, I heard the praise for Killer7 directly for the first time, and I was a little surprised by it. Also, it was from a different media outlet, but a certain editor-in-chief once said to me, “I was thinking of quitting and giving up on this industry, but when I came across Killer7, I thought that there may still be a future for video games. I’ve decided to keep at it.�That person may have forgotten all about it (laughs), but ?I was elated to hear those words. I wondered if I had really made a game with such power.

DFG: I think that Killer7 was a completely different kind of game to what was popular at the time??. Why was it that you wanted to make that kind of game? Did you try to go against the trends, or was it just som??ething that happened naturally?

SUDA51: When thinking about Grasshopper Manufacture in the long term, I kind of had a vision of how I wanted to proceed. Since we didn’t have a large number of staff, I wanted to start with an adventure game, then a 3D adventure game, then action-adventure�That was the progression ??that I was thinking about how to achieve.

Killer7 was right at the time when we wanted to do an action-adventure game. Since we were doing an action-adventure, and teaming up with Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, I also felt like I had to invent something new. I decided on my own to carry the heavy burden of such a responsibility. So, with the mindset of wanting to newly conceive all aspects of the design, Kiiller7 was what I created.

So that’s why, from the story to the art to the controls, I wanted all of the design choices to be things that had never been seen before. I felt like I was building up the things that I invented, one by one. More so than aiming for a specific thing, I was conscious of Mikami-san while making the game. The whole time I thought to myself, “I absolutely have to make something that Mikami-san won’t be ashamed of.�/p>

DFG: What was it that led to ?you working with Mikami-san at tha?t time?

SUDA51: He suddenly called me out of the blue. Kono-kun [Hifumi Kono, creator of Clock Tower, Neko-zamurai (PS1), Mikagura Shojo Tanteidan (PS1), and Steel Battalion], a co-worker from my Human days, had introduced me to Mikami-san. So, I went to see Mikami-san, and he said, “Suda-san, do you want to make a game together?�My reply was, “Yes, of course.�/p>

DFG: So, it was a request from Mikami-san?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s right. Mikami-san had a high opinion of Human itself. He said, “That company released some outrageous games, but I wonder what kind of people were in the planning department.�It seems that he had been paying attention to us for a lon?g time, and that was also part of the reason he called me.

DFG: Were there things that you learned by working together with Mikami-san and Capc?om?

SUDA51: Yes. For example, when we had completed the prototype ??version, I brought it over to Mikami-san so that he could play the first stage. I was startled when he said to me, “Suda-san, can you increase the speed of the running motion to three times this? Next time I want to see it at triple the speed.�The sensation that I got from playing was the feeling of an adventure game. By tripling the speed, the game became incredibly fast, as you would expect. However, by making that change, suddenly it felt like the rhyt??hm of an action game. “Oh, this is it!�I thought. The feeling or sense of speed was different when creating the game.

I think that Mikami-san’s skill is a result of possessing the ‘sense of action games�that he must have somehow inherited through his genes. Really detailed things such as the way the first step is taken after input, the feeling of speed while running, and notici??ng the one frame delay in the moment you aim. Maybe you could call it the play feel. He pays d?etailed attention to the subtleties of the reaction that occurs at the time of the button input. I truly learned a lot from that, and realised how different action games were.

DFG: So, it was more about looking?? at those hands-on aspects in elaborate detail, rather than things like ??planning?

SUDA51: That’s right. I received a lot of advice.

I also had asked a number of people to help out with the writing, but I was found out by Mikami-san straight away (laughs). “This isn’t your writing is it, Suda-san? That’s no good. You have to write it all yourself.�Then I said, “But it’s fine if I don’t write this part, right?�to which his response w?as, “No. You have to write everything.�That’s how much faith Mikami-san had in my scenario writing ability. It was such high praise that I got a little carried away.

So, I thought to myself, “If the things I write have that kind of power, then it would be wrong of me to not pour all of my energy into my writing.�?You could say that Mikami-san was truly able to get everything out of me. I think that’s how much he wanted to draw out the full potential of Grasshopper. In that sense, I think that he’s also an amazing producer.

DFG: The development period for Killer7 was quite long, b??ut would you say that you continued to rally together with Mikami-san??

SUDA51: That’s right. The development period was extended, sometimes little by little, and sometimes in a big chu??nk. Mikami-san was the one who shouldered all of that, too.

I personally see Mikami-san as my second mentor, and I even received official approval. He once said, “I guess it’s okay if you’re my apprentice, Suda-san�(laugh??s).

The invigorating feeling of an action game is born from devotedly making adjustments over and over

DFG: You previously mentioned the long-term outlook of Grasshopper, but had you already decided in the beginning that you eventually wanted to be making act?io??n games?

SUDA51: Yes. I love action games, so it’s natural to want to make the kind of games I like, right? RPGs don’t really su??it me.

DFG: It’s diffi??cult to put the essence of action games into words, but I think there’s a certain value in that. What are your thoughts about it?

SUDA51: The development of an action game has the feeling of making repeated adju?stments as you search for the sweet spot.

In Mikami-san’s words, “In action games, there are moments when you are rewarded by the gaming gods.�In fact, I’ve also had a number of those moments. There are times I’d be sitting at a progra??mmer’s desk feeling something was strange as I played. We’d c?ontinue to tune it, until all of a sudden, everything just clicks in an instant. For example, just by increasing the hit stop by 10 frames, or expanding the hit detection range by up to 1.5 times and extending the effect, suddenly there’s just a moment of “That’s it!�It’s a feeling of building it up like that.

By adhering to, and repeating the process of adjustment and implementation, you gradually get closer to your mark. I think that’s where the invigorating feeling of action?? games is born. There’s no way that you could make anything interesting by only inserting things just as they are in the pl??anning and specification documents. Things are pretty boring when you are at the stage where you have just put things together for the first time. I think that how much more interesting you can make it from there, is truly the result of steady tuning. So, you can’t really put it into words.

DFG: Did you also check all of those hands-on elements for your latest game, No More Heroes 3, yourself?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s correct. This time, I paid particular attention to the timing of moments of silence, ??and to how music plays in the moment yo??u defeat an enemy.

DFG: I think that the combat in No More Heroes 3 ??has improved remarkably, and I wondered if that was influenc?ed by your return to the forefront as director.

SUDA51: Yamazaki (Ren Yamazaki) and I were both directors, and there were parts that we deve?loped as a pair. Programmer Hironaka (Tooru Hironaka) created the framework for the first boss fight. I think Hironaka is probably the best at making boss fights in the industry, and it was our job to take what ??he had, and gradually tune it, making it feel even more enjoyable and interesting.

DFG: Did you work remotely, even ???up to the final touches for this game?

SUDA51: Yes, we worked completely remotely.

DFG: I’ve heard from many different developers that remote working is fine when you are developing ??the core elements, but that it’s very difficult to apply the finishing touches remotely. What are your thoughts on that?

SUDA51: We tinkered with things remotely as much as we could, right up until the very end of the schedule. As you would expect, I wanted t?o adjust things as soon as I got my hands on them.

DFG: Did you attempt to recreate the ??feeling of sitting right beside a p??rogrammer by keeping connected via Zoom the whole time?

SUDA51: Yes, we did that, and also, I would give instructions in the middle of the ?night, which would be implemented during the day, and then I would check them again. It was like returning to the development style of ten years ago. In particular, things like motion and programming are things that really need to be done side by side, so that’s why it was important for the staff to stay connected via Zoom. We would have our screens up together so that we could work in sync.

DFG: How?? much of that kind of hands-on tuning do you do when the game is still in the prototype stage?

SUDA51: For No More Heroes 3, we did it surprisingly early. The fight with Henry was the first one we completed, and since that was essentially a fight between two human characters, we could use it as an extension of the previous No More Heroes games. With that, we had created one of the main loops of combat, and knew quite early on that we wan??ted to continue in that direction.

From there, we continued to develop the other boss fights, but as the fights were against aliens this time, each fight ended up being completely different. We had to adjust each fight individually, and that took a lot of time. We barely finished prior to the game going gol??d.

DFG: So, the gene?ral framework of the game was already comple?ted in the prototype version?

SUDA51: This time, yes. For No More Heroes 3 it was on the relatively early side, but for other titles, there are times when the game structure is still unfin?ished in the prototype stage.

DFG: Was it due to things that you have cultivated? throughout the series that you were able to complete the framework so quickly?

SUDA51: I think so. However, I had mostly forgotten No More Heroes 1 and 2 (laughs).  You start to forget after so much time has passed, so you need to play them again. With 3, there was a mindset within the team that we wouldn’t lose to 1 and 2.

This time around, the team was almost completely new. You could probably say that it was the team from Travis Strikes Again. However, there were a number of staff that had been involved with the series since 1.

DFG: How many people were in the team?

SUDA51: For Travis Strikes Again, we had less than ten people. There were external staff that also contributed, and we somehow managed to finish it. This time around, for 3, we had 20 core members. Thanks to Bee Tribe also helping out with a large portion, we were able to f??inish the amount of content that was in the game.

Grasshopper-ism is the continual creation of original and inventive games

DFG: Does Grasshopper intend to continue focusing all effort on developi?ng one game at a time, rather than being spread across two or thre?e projects?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s what we’ve done up until now, and I t??hink it’s also the basis for us moving forward.

In the past, there were periods where we were working on multiple projects, but at those times I thought that there weren’t enough directors, which is something you touched on before. Even if you establish multiple development lines, the responsibility falls on us as the developers. That? kind of burden would loom large if we were unable to deliver in the end.

Based on the experiences from those times, and since I a??m the face of Grasshopper, I wanted to first focus on making my own games. Recently, even overseas, they have started calling them ‘Suda games� though I have mixed feelings on that (laughs). But I think it’s clear that the most impo??rtant thing is to first strengthen the team that creates my own games. That then becomes a foundational pillar.

?Of course, I would also like to make some indie games as a way to have the younger staff acquire more exper??ience. I’d like to do both of those things together.

DFG: In that sense, do you see it as something differe?nt to simply increasing the scale of d?evelopment beyond what is necessary?

SUDA51: Yes, that’s right. Right now, we are looking to increase the size of the team to 30 people. Within the next three years, we will first increase to 50, and then carefully add more people up t??o a maximum of probably around 80. At that kind of pace, and considering the training of staff an?d new graduates, it would probably be a little difficult to have a core team of over 80 people. If you go beyond that, you start to lose the ability to function as a team.

DFG: When looking at people who create things, I think there are those that have their own evaluation standards and those that don’t. So, what are the evaluation standards that you have? What kind of decisions led to the creation of games like Killer7 and No More Heroes?

SUDA51: On a serious note, since long ago, I have thought about what the word ‘kaihatsu�[Japanese term for development] really means. I thi??nk that the ‘kai�in kaihatsu comes from the word ‘kaitaku�[to pioneer; break new ground], and that the ‘hatsu�comes from the word ‘hatsumei�[invention]. Therefore, the work that we do is to pioneer and to invent. That idea lies at the foundation of my game creation.

So, it’s the same when I evaluate things. The idea of invention is very important. It isn’t very easy to do nowadays, but I want to invent or create one thing every d?ay. It doesn’t matter if it’s only something small. For example, if I think up a button combination that hasn’t been done in any other game, that’s one kind o?f invention. If I create a new image for a character, that’s one invention. I believe that if you do that every day, then it will lead to the completion of an overwhelmingly innovative game.

It’s good if that creativity can come from within yourself, but I also think that it doesn’t matter who it is that invents something new. No matter if it’s a ve??teran or someone new, if an idea is inventive and interestin??g, then we use it.

That’s very important to me. In particular, with ideas, people who are interesting have the best ones. So, it’s better to not worry about things like pride. If someone presents an idea, it doesn’t matter if they are from completely different departments like a programmer or a composer. If the idea is interesting, then you should use it. I suppose that would be my evaluation criteria. The fact that you are a?? veteran means that you should do away with useless crap like pride.

It is the job of a director to make the most of all of that, and put everything together. Direction is being able to catch the ball, no matte??r the kind of pitch. To be able to handle them all with ease, no matter what kind of monsters come your way. For example, even if you are working with someone outside of the games industry, you should properly work together with that person, and manag??e it appropriately. In the end it’s about the experience of somehow bringing it all together with your own power.

That’s why I want everyone to pitch their balls freely. I choose the best pitches among those, and eventual??ly, I complete one game. I ??feel like I have always continued to repeat that process.

DFG: How do you judge wh??ether? those ideas are good or bad?

SUDA51: It’s whether I find them interesting or not.

There are staff within Grasshopper that have had long careers, including my co-director Yamazaki. So, opinions like “Let’s do this� and ??“I think that’s good� tend to fit together nicely. You could say that ?makes things easier.

Thanks to the studio having been around for so long and having so many veterans t??ogether, I think that everyone has a certain ‘Grasshopper-ism�within them, which can’t be put into words.

DFG: How would you define ‘Grasshopper-ism�or the Grasshopper style that you just m?entioned?

SUDA51: I have no idea (laughs). What I ki?nd of thought by listening to what the staff has said during other interviews, is that Grasshopper speci??alizes in developing original games. It’s a company where it’s normal to create unique games. Looking at it the other way, I guess that means we’re not very good at creating licensed games or working on existing IP.

So, Grasshopper-ism is the contin?ual creation of original games. I think Grasshopper is a group whose specialty is being able to constantly create unique things. That’s a little vague, b??ut I think that’s who we are.

Also, we can relate through things like B movies or cult films, as those are my interests. That’s where Gundam comes into things. For example, if I make a reference to Gundam, but we have younger staff who haven’t seen it, then we watch it together. That’s the kind of culture we have. As another example, I love John Carpenter’s film They Live. So, if I make a reference to They Live, then we all watch the film together. That’s the kind of ?company we are (laughs).

So, I think that everybody gets to enjoy some of my interests, or at least they’re a group that doesn’t find doing that too painfu?l.

DFG: In Japan, there are many game companies that do subcontracted work. They all say that they would like to create original games, but I think it’s become a situation where not many actually have that ability. To put it another way, are there not companies who, like Grasshopper, have the?? resolve needed to create something original? I think that more so than a technological issue, it has more to do with the mindset.

SUDA51: Rather than simply having resolve, I believe that it is ??impossible to create original games unless you change your routine. At Grasshopper, making original games has already become our routine.

DFG: What do? yo?u mean by ‘originals have become your routine�

SUDA51: I guess it’s an atmosphere where you’re not afraid of what kind of pitch may be thrown your way. You wait, ready to catch it no matter what. The thought, “We’re making another strange game, huh?�b?ecomes an everyday thing, and as those d?ays are prolonged, I think that is where you get that feeling of original games.

I often hear that if you continue only creating licensed games and working on existing IPs, then you lose the ability to create original games. If in the moment that you suddenly have some freedom, you think, “No, we can’t do this unless they tell us to,�then that has already become routine. On the other hand, when people who normally work on original games are involved in a licensed game, they ofte??n think, “Why can’t I make it how I want to.�It almost f?eels as though that’s something that gets decided in the early stages of your career.

“From now on, we’re going to take a full swing at each and every ball, and aim for a home run.�/h2>

DFG: What do you think are the s??pecific benefits that you gain by becoming a part of NetEase?

SUDA51: When you are running an independent studio, you can’t help but consider a title to be a single point. The publisher and fanbase differs for each individual game. Since you are creating things as a s??tudio, you have the desire to connect these points into a line. From a long time ago, I’ve been told by various people that since we are a studio known by our name, Grasshopper Manufacture, it’s a waste to not connect that with the fanbase. However, th??at’s something that isn’t so easy to achieve.

When we were in?? discussions with NetEase, we were told, “We don’t want to talk about ??one or two games. To begin with, let’s look at around three titles in ten years. If possible, we would like to continue working together long after that.�I felt that they truly wanted us.

As I said before, I want to create a line with our works, so it was important that this relationship last??ed a long time. We will create our own new IPs, develop our fanbase, and continue to expand. One of our goals is to eventually have the ca?pability to create AAA titles.

As we aim for our ideal image of creating AAA titles with a core ??team of 80 people, NetEase is greatly supporti??ng Grasshopper in our efforts to strengthen the studio.

DFG: I think that when you join a large company such as NetEase, there are often misconceptions like, “They got ??purchased,�or “They’ll get pressured from above,�but it’s actually a little different, isn’t it?

SUDA51: Yes, it’s different.

DFG: The relationship between developers and publishers?? is fundamentally one of order and supply, but in contrast, the relationship between Grasshopper and NetEase is actually closer to that of a venture company and an incubator, right?

SUDA51: Yes, it’s close to that.

DFG: I don’t think that this relationship was properly co?n??veyed to the world. It would probably be better to more clearly explain how it is because of this relationship, that you can continue for the next ten years.

SUDA51: I agree. Th??at’s an aspect that I want to carefully communicate.

The desire from NetEase was, “We are not investing in you just so you make games ?that will sell. We want you to be a fascinating studio, and we want you to create engrossing games.�As a creator, it makes you happy to hear that kind of thing.

They even ??said that they had no problem even if we strike out each time at bat. That means that I can swing as hard as I want (laughs). So, I intend to take a full swing. That’s a blessing for a creator.

I think that I will be able to create about ten more games before I die. So, for each of those te??n at bats, I’m going to take full swings and aim for home runs. I don’t quite know what the definition of a hom??e run would be in this instance, but that’s what NetEase is expecting of us.

DFG: Grasshopper has collaborated with a variety of?? different c??reators in the past. Do you think there will be any change now that you have joined NetEase?

SUDA51: Even for No More Heroes 3, we collaborated with people outside of the games industry. Nobuaki Kaneko participated with the music, and illustrator Masanori Ushiki crea??ted some incredible artwork for us. In the future, we intend to be even more active in pursuing collaborations with such artists. They will provide creative energy from a completely different place to that of our games, and give ??birth to something new. I’d like to keep these waves rolling.

DFG: I get the impression that you are always finding interesting things outside of games and then skillfully incorporating them. I thin??k that it must be quite hard to blend such elements into games.

SUDA51: I actually find that a rather?? fun thing to do. If we only do things on our own, it starts to become familiar practice or a habit, right? However, if you work together with new people, you break?? from those habits and must once again take things on with a more serious attitude. In that way, I think it has the beneficial effect of creating a sense of tension.

Also, it’s incredibly fun to work with some of those fiendish people in other industries. There’s enjoyment in being able to han??dle them, and I have a sort of confidence which never wa??vers.

For me personally, The Silver Case was a game where?? I attempted dealing with that. I incorporated a variety of film techniques into a single game. Though, I guess you could say that work is much easier now when compared to those days, as filmmakers would flatly refuse requests related to video games. There were times when I couldn’t convince them to film anything.

Thankfully, these days they often already know me, so it’s become easier to work without even having to introduce myself. In ot?her words, it would be a waste to not do more. There are many interesting people throughout the world, so I think that it would be a shame to not come together with these people as a family and create things.

DFG: You spoke ?about the confidence that you possess, but what is the reason for that confidence? When people are young, they have a kind of basel??ess confidence. However, as they age, that kind of confidence fades and is replaced by a confidence with a solid foundation. I don’t think that in itself is necessarily a good thing, but what do you think is a good balance between those two different forms of confidence?

SUDA51: I think confidence that has a basis is?? born from experience. It’s a result of all of the different things you go through, including development or management experience.

The baseless part of confidence is kind of like you can no longer throw a 160km/h fastball, but you can still throw a sinker, and you’re more deceptive (laughs). I can’t really handle the large amount of work anymore. I have less time to write scenarios. Even with No More Heroes 3, I was able to write it because I knew I had to do it in a short time. In the old days, there were times when I ?wouldn’t be able to write anything, even if I worked through the night. However, with m??y current lifestyle, I have to write within the limited time that I have. I suppose that I’m adapting to it, or maybe my abilities are becoming more specialized.

DFG: What kind of thi??ngs do you take in and learn these days?

SUDA51: I don’t think that I really take much in. It’s been a long time since I’ve really dug deep and explored for the sake of making somethi??ng. If I decide to ??tackle certain genres in the future, then I think I’d have to delve in and do some research.

These days I don’t think that I really have to push myself too hard. Right now, I think it’s time to take all the things I absorbed while pushing mys?elf in my youth, and think about how I can thoroughly put it all on display. Also, I think it’s natural for me to observe and discover things that I see or feel during everyday life, like the scen??ery or atmosphere of the era.

DFG: When creating something, I think that there are around 100? decisions that need to be made, and that it’s the director who makes those decisions. If around 90 of those 100 decisions are correct, the result is an amazing game. However, there’s a very low probability that you would make all of those choices correctly, so it’s important to have evaluation standards that are very precise. That’s why directors are so vital.

SUDA51: Yes, it’s about judgement. It’s how you decide if somethin?g is the correct choice.

DFG: So, by making judgements based on your own standards, games like No More Heroes 3 are born. Today, I’ve ?once again ??realized that your games owe everything to the fact that you are the one making them. I’m greatly looking forward to the next game that you create.

SUDA51: Thank you. For that purpose, we are actively recruiting, thou??gh it’s nothing large scale. I think there are a lot of people in the industry burning with the desire to create new games. Though, there are probably many people who might think Grasshopper seems a little scary (laughs).

We’re opening an incredibly cool office in March 2022, and I t??hink there will be a surge of app?licants once they see it. So, I think you have a better chance of being hired if you apply now (laughs).

DFG: No More Heroes 3 was the first time in a while tha??t you worked at the forefront in the role of director. What do you intend to d??o in the future?

SUDA51: I’d like to continue on our current course. I don’t think I need to act in a?n executive role anymore. Of course, if our younger staff were to create indie titles, then I would serve as producer.

From now on, I’d ??like to carefully create g?ames, one at a time, so I’d like to encourage like minded people to apply. Now is truly the time.

The post Kill the past, present and future with Suda51 appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/kill-the-past-present-and-future-with-suda51-translated-interview/feed/ 0 319645 //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-switch-exclusive-forever-pc-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-x-physical-version-xseed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-switch-exclusive-forever-pc-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-x-physical-version-xseed //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-switch-exclusive-forever-pc-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-x-physical-version-xseed/#respond Fri, 15 Apr 2022 17:53:08 +0000 //jbsgame.com/?p=317081

PC, PlayStation, and Xbox versions are due this fall

Whether you intentionally held off getting the one and only Nintendo Switch version of No More Heroes 3, or you kind?a just let it slip,?? some great news: it's also coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in fall 2022, including a physical release from XSEED.

There's a lot to praise in No More Heroes III �it's a blast to see Suda51 unleashed like this �but graphics and performance aren't a part of that lovefest. Players just had to tolerate them. The upcoming ports sho?uld be a step up, but whether the game runs "ideally" on these platforms or simply "better than it did on Switch" remains to be seen.

In today's announcement from XSEED Games, the publisher cited "improved HD visuals, framerates, and faster loading times." You hear that, Gold Joe? Time's up.

[caption id="attachment_317104" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{What's inside the No More Heroes 3 Day 1 Edition.}[/caption]

Apart from a digital release on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms, XSEED will be bringing out a physical No More Heroes 3 Day 1 Edition this fall. The boxed edition will cost $6??0 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S with a copy of the game (it's weird to have to mention this nowadays!), a 70-page softcover art book, a CD with "select songs," and a 7"x4" Santa Destroy license plate. The cover art is illustrated by artist Yusuke Kozaki.

When it comes to timed Nintendo Switch exclusives like this, it's almost always a gamble on where they'll end up when the dust fully settles. I wouldn't have predicted an Xbox release for No More Heroes 3, but PS4 and/or PC? Sure. Now are you in, or are you in?

Travis loves to hate FU, and so will you.

The post No More Heroes 3 won’t be a Switch exclusive much longer appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-switch-exclusive-forever-pc-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-x-physical-version-xseed/feed/ 0 317081 //jbsgame.com/killer-badminton-your-new-no-more-heroes-shadows-of-the-damned-crossover/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=killer-badminton-your-new-no-more-heroes-shadows-of-the-damned-crossover //jbsgame.com/killer-badminton-your-new-no-more-heroes-shadows-of-the-damned-crossover/#respond Fri, 01 Apr 2022 15:00:02 +0000 //jbsgame.com/?p=314131

The Wide Wide World of Suda-Sports

Is this another April Fools' joke, or did that c?razy sonofabitch actually go and do it?

Last time w??e interviewed Suda51, CEO of Grasshopper Ma?nufacture, I asked him if he'd ever make a badminton game. Suda was a budding star in the sport back in his early years at school, and those days still mean a lot to him. He told us that if he were ever to do something with badminton, he'd want it to be a massive crossover between all his franchises, including No More Heroes (which his company partially owns) and Shadows of the Damned (which they fully own). Then we laughed, because what are the chances of anything li?ke that ever actually happening?

Well it looks like the chances were pretty good!

[embed]//www.y??outube.com/watch?v=_nTOThc0SLc[/embed??]

Grasshopper Manufacture All-Stars: Killer Badminton is the debut title from Little Grasshopper, the new "all-ages" division of Grasshopper Manufacture. Like Multiversus, WB's upcoming crossover fighter, it looks like Killer Badminton will be free-to-play, but ??with an initially limited roster of characters.

It's just Travis and Garcia to start, which is a little disappointing, but it's nice to see the two finally take a few swings at each other, especially after their proposed franchise-meld in No More Heroes 3 was cut. Shoko from Liberation Maiden, Toriko from Flower, Sun and Rain, and Notorious from Fire Pro Wrestling World: The Vanishing?? also make cameos at the end of the trailer. They may be in the game too, but so far I have?n't seen them.

But is it all a big joke? I don't think so, and not to toot my own horn, but my track record on these kinds of things is pretty spotless. To further add to the game's legitimacy, it looks like Tony Astro, composer of Gold Joe's theme from No More Heroes 3, did the soundtrack for Killer Badminton as well. You can get the full album on Youtube, SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

The post Killer Badminton is your new No More Heroes ?Shadows of the Damned crossover appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/killer-badminton-your-new-no-more-heroes-shadows-of-the-damned-crossover/feed/ 0 314131 //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-sweet-collectors-edition-spicy-crossovers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-more-heroes-3-sweet-collectors-edition-spicy-crossovers //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-sweet-collectors-edition-spicy-crossovers/#respond Sat, 17 Jul 2021 15:00:27 +0000 //jbsgame.com/?p=274315

Another Touchdown for Travis

[Update: Pix 'N Love will be restocking the Collector Edition and the Deluxe Edition (which is signed by Suda51 himself, and sold out in minutes last time) of No More Hereos 3 on We?dnesday, July 21, 16:00 (UK time). if you want? a second shot at either of these sets, get the site bookmarked and get ready to click as fast as you can! Purchasing either one is sure to be a desperate struggle.)

It's been a big week for fans of the No More Heroes series and the larger "Grasshopper Manufacture Extended Universe." Copies of Limited Run's collector's editions of the first two No More Heroes games (featuring art books co-written by yours truly) have begun arriving in mailboxes. The Silver Case 2425, a collection of two visual novels from early in Grasshopper's career, also just made it out to customers. The limited physical edition of that game comes with a special Silver Case comic book that co-stars Midori Midorikawa, a teenage girl who can effortlessly kill a group of horny id??iots.

She was also recently confirmed to be a boss in No More Heroes 3. We can only imagine how she'll end up getting along with Travis, gaming's most notoriously idiotic, horny hero.  Then again, Travis has changed a lot over the years. He even wears a "Fuck Racism" t-shirt in this new game, a decidedly socially con??scious move for a once selfish man. It's anyone's guess as to where this is all going.

There are also hints that No More Heroes 3 will cross over with Killer 7, another one of Grasshopper's rabidly-adored titles. Yesterday, the official site for the game revealed that the text adventure stories from Travis Strikes Again will continue into this new game. One screen from this decidedly retro mode strongly hints at an appearance from  Killer 7's Young Harman Smith. It's a stretch, given that we just have this one screen to go on, but this wouldn't actually be the first time the two games crossed paths. It's also worth noting that the prior text adventures for Travis featured appearances from both Dracula and Epona (from the Zelda? series). In the same scene. So again, anyth??ing's possible.

[embed]//twitter.com/suda_51/status/14100716885??28625666[/emb??ed]

The only thing we know for sure is, the time for this kind of fanciful speculation is almost over. No More Heroes 3 launches next month, and just like with No More Heroes 1, 2, and The Silver Case 2425, it's getting a p?hysical collector's?? edition, this time from Pix 'N Love. I have to guess that they waited to announce this packa?ge until those other special editions from Grasshopper had been delivered. By the looks of it, the timing was perfect. The site actually went down from excessive traffic earlier in the day. It's back up now, so I'd jump on the chance to check it out while you can.

This collector's edition comes with a 96-page art book, four lithographs, and a cardboard sleeve, and wo??uldn't you know it, they're only making 2,000 of them. History has shown that this artbook may end up being the rare first appearance of a new character that will end up being an important boss in some future Grasshopper title, so Grasshopper fans like myself have basically two ch??oices here: buy now or fear missing out.

I bet you can guess which one I picked.

The post No More Heroes 3 gets some spicy crossovers and a sweet collector’s edition appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-sweet-collectors-edition-spicy-crossovers/feed/ 0 274315 //jbsgame.com/contact-ds-game-why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-play/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=contact-ds-game-why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-play //jbsgame.com/contact-ds-game-why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-play/#respond Thu, 01 Jul 2021 21:00:11 +0000 //jbsgame.com/?p=268067

Would you kindly...?

My love for video gaming would not be what it is today if not for the Nintendo DS. While I’ve been a consistent gamer since I was four years old, the scope in which I approached the hobby during the first half of my life was quite narrow. I was pretty much a Nintendo-only gamer who rarely strayed from first-part?y or name-brand AAA titles. That’s just the way the world worked when you were young and had to rely on birthdays, holidays, and rentals with your meager allowance to enjoy gaming.

By the time the Nintendo DS Lite rolled around in 2006, I was earning my own money as a college student and more willing to take risks. So one day, I popped into GameStop and picked up a copy of WarioWare: Touched! It would be my first “weird�game, and after just one weekend with it, I realized my true calling in this hobby would be embracing the st??range.

And embrace I did. Throughout the DS and Wii era, I bought just about every peculiar and unorthodox game that crossed my path. It didn’t matter the quality; I just wanted to play something different than the Marios, Links, and Maddens of my ??youth.

Contact was high on my list of anticipated games for quite some time. That mix of simple, 2D top-screen graphics and ornate, pre-rendered bottom-screen graphics crossed off enough boxes on my weird shit checklist to make it worth paying attention to. The only problem wa?s it was scheduled to release exactly one month before the Nintendo Wii, and any extra spending money I had was being set aside for that. The game finally made its way into my hands two years ago when I scored a cheap UK copy on eBay, and this month, I decided it was time to see what weirdness I’ve been missing all these years.

[caption id="attachment_273003" align="alignnone" width="800"] Image Courtesy of Moby Games[/caption]

If you don’t remember Contact, I don’t blame you. It’s a pretty niche RPG on a console that was chock full of them. Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, the game followed the Professor on the top screen and Terry on the bottom scree?n as they work together to locate the gem-like cells that power the Professor’s? crashed spaceship. Connecting Terry and the Professor is you, the player, who acts as an omnipresent third party to their quest. The Professor is aware of your existence, but Terry is not, and the Professor would rather keep it that way.

The removal of the fourth wall between you and the Professor allows Contact to re-examine what a player’s role is in a video game. Unlike television or fi?lm or literature, gaming involves a level of player agency to drive the experience forward. But that agency is largely not recognized in traditional games. Some in the past have broken the fourth wall, sure, but very few make you a critical part of the story beyond just cont?rolling the protagonist.

Not only is your presence recognized here, but you’re asked to act duplicitously in your role as the connection between the Professor and Terry. Within the first hour of the adventure, it’s easy to tell something is not quite right about this whole situation. A lot of red flags pop up in your private conversations with the Professor, and the layers of truth slowly reveal themselves as Terry collects more cells from increasingly ecclectic islands. While I don’t want to give too much away here, I will say the Professor has a few shades of Bioshock’s Atlas in him, which is striking considering Contact released more than a ??year before Irrational Games�??masterpiece.

[caption id="attachment_273002" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Image Courtesy of Moby Games[/caption]

Contact’s story is certainly weird when compared to its contemporaries, and its gameplay is no different. This is one odd RPG with a real-time combat system you don’t much see in the industry. Terry attacks automatically. Just guide him toward an enemy and press the B button to enter combat mode. Terry will do the rest. As he attacks and blocks, he’ll also level up on his own, meaning the only thing the player really needs to worry about his health and use of special attacks. Terry will learn these on his own through combat but will only use them in battle should you tell him to. If it looks like Terry is about to fall, you can feed him to regain HP or exit combat mode and make a run fo?r it.

In action, the fights here resemble a less visually stimulating version of what was seen in the Japan-only Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, which is better known out west as The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls. In that game, anytime the Prince of Sablé approached an enemy, the two of them would go into a cartoonish clo?ud of fighting without any input from the player beyond using an item or running away. That’s basically what we have here, except fights aren’t limited to just the monsters and animals that dot the land. You can fight any NPC in the game, and doing so will change the course of the adventure and how people look at you. Murder will make you a monster in the eyes of the people, but you never know. Somebody out there mig??ht be looking for a bad boy.

Thankfully, it’s easy to avoid accidentally fighting townsfolk should you want to remain a little goodie two-shoes. All you have to do is refrain from pressing the B button or the fight icon on the touch screen and you should be alright. Still, it’s an unusual combat system and one I wasn’t at all prepared for. In fact, I died fighting the very first creature I came across, like a grandmother playing Super Mario Bros. for the first t??ime. About 20 minutes later, I died again on the first island when I accidentally engaged an enemy far more?? powerful than me.

(And yes, I know I shouldn’t be saying “I died�when it’s been established that Terry is his own character separate from the player. But it makes me feel be??tter to say it that way than to be honest and ?admit I led a man to his death.)

[caption id="attachment_273001" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Image Courtesy of Moby Games[/caption]

So yeah, Contact can be difficult. And when you watch Terry miss hit after hit, it can be a bit infuriating too. Couple that with the fact that many of Contact’s idiosyncrasies are left under-expla?ined, and you have yourself a pretty good recipe for a game people will avoid.

Not to mention, it got stuck with pretty bad timing. In the US, it was released right before several more prominent games for the Nintendo DS, including Pokémon Ranger, Final Fantasy III, Yoshi’s Island DS, and Elite Beat Agents. Add the impending launch of the Wii, and it’s easy to see why this got lost in the shuffle. In Japan, the looming shadow of Mother 3’s release less than a month after Contact hit store shelves might have contributed to its lackluster?? sales.

I might have been ignored back in 2006, but I think the world is ready for another look at Contact. There is just something special about it, from its forward-thinking story to its abnorma??l combat to the fact that its sticker system lets you turn all the enemies on the screen into bunnies that will still try to kill you. It is a supremely strange game, and I’d like there is a better appreciation today for ?those odd titles people in the past were too quick to dismiss.

The post Why did I wait so long to play Contact? appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/contact-ds-game-why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-play/feed/ 0 268067 //jbsgame.com/after-no-more-heroes-3-suda51-will-work-on-a-game-for-buckaroos/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=after-no-more-heroes-3-suda51-will-work-on-a-game-for-buckaroos //jbsgame.com/after-no-more-heroes-3-suda51-will-work-on-a-game-for-buckaroos/#respond Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/after-no-more-heroes-3-suda51-will-work-on-a-game-for-buckaroos/

Why is there a watermelon there?

The upcoming 51st issue of Nintendo Force magazine is dedicated to Suda51, featuring over 30 pages about his games and his career, including a 51-question interv?iew with the man himself. It's a whopper alright, filled with exclusives and surprises, one of which I'm able to share with you here. 

But first, a little context. 

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a 1984 film starring Peter Weller (best known as the original RoboCop) as the titular brain surgeon, rock star, and world hero. A man of Japanese and American decent, Buckaroo considers himself first and foremost to be a citizen of the planet Earth, and alongside his friends (including a lanky Jeff Goldblum in a cowboy outfit!), he must save his home from a cavalcade of alien scum such as John Whorfin (John Lithgow), John Bigbooté (Christopher Lloyd), and John Smallberries. 

It's the kind of movie I assumed Suda51, creator of characters like Travis Touchdown, Mondo Zappa, and Garcia Hotspur, was already well acquainted with. I was wrong about that! But I'm stil??l really glad I brought it up. In fact, o?ur conversation may have influenced where he's headed with his next game. 

NF: This crossover in Smash is just one of many amazing collaborations you’ve been a part of over the years, from team-ups with massive talents like James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), as well as smaller but equally brilliant names like Dennaton (Hotline Miami) and Shawn Alexander Allen (Treachery in Beatdown City), just to name a few. Are there any other creatives that you'd like to collaborate with in the future, like maybe a fashion brand? Or some other artist outside of gaming? Or maybe even work on a film adaptation? Like take on an old Hollywood IP that’s filled with potential like, I don’t know... Buckaroo Banzai?

(At this point Suda asks me to explain what Buckaroo Banzai is, and it takes a while. As I explain, Suda looks up the movie on his phone and laughs a few times, ooh-ing and ahh-ing here and there, presumably at names like "J??ohn BigBoote'" and other more eye-o?pening details about the film.)

Suda: You know, I’ve never actually seen this movie before,? but it sounds right up my alley. Just hearing about it makes me feel like it’s my style, like something I would to??tally be into.

After No More Heroes 3, the next game I’m going to be making is going to be a whole new IP. There’s not really much I can say about it just yet, but I feel it is probably going to be something really similar to what you just described in Buckaroo Banzai. I want everyone to really look forward to it, it’s going to really be kind of, for lack of a better term, a screwed-up game, with lots of just crazy stuff in it. Yeah, I definitely feel a lot of similarity between what I just heard described of Buckaroo Banzai and my upcoming IP.  So please look forward to that. ?? 

The full 51 question interview with Suda51 can be found in the 51st issue of Nintendo Force Magazine. Order before Fe??bruary 22nd for a discount. And be sure to tune into today's Nintendo Direct if you're a fan of Suda's. You won't be disappointed. 

The post After No More Heroes? 3, Suda51 will work on a game for buckaroo?s appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/after-no-more-heroes-3-suda51-will-work-on-a-game-for-buckaroos/feed/ 0 264228 //jbsgame.com/review-no-more-heroes-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=review-no-more-heroes-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle //jbsgame.com/review-no-more-heroes-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/#respond Fri, 06 Nov 2020 18:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/review-no-more-heroes-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/

Return to the Garden of Madness

Despite some earlier attempts at the hobby, I've come to accept that I am not a game collector. I don't have it in me to buy a game with the intention of keeping it forever. I'd rather play it and trade it than keep it on a shelf. However, a few games have warranted return visits over the years, such as my annual trek through Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, for instance, or the occasional dip into the post-game of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Thus, I keep a small binder on my ?shelve to house t??hose old games.

No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle have their own page in that old game binder. Every few years, I find myself gravitating back toward them, usually when I need to let out a lot of anger by cutting some fools in h??alf. But I think now is the time for me to give those old games up for good. Not because I'm over them, bu??t because the Switch ports for both games are so much better than the originals.

Review: No More Heroes, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Switch)
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacturer, Engine Software
Publisher: Xseed Games
Released: October 29, 2020
MSRP: $19.99 each

No More Heroes is really goddamn fun.

That's how Anthony Burch started his review of the original game more than a decade ago, and I honestly can't think of a better combination of words to start a review of this Switch port. It is goddamn fun, even after all these years. Its sequel, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, is still so goddamn fun too. Most everything that was good and? great back on the Wii is still good an??d great on Switch.

I say "most everything" because a lot has happened in the world since Suda51 first introduced us to Travis Touchdown. As a crass, otaku shut-in who spends his days watching porn and wrestling videos -- and his nights staining his anime body pillow -- he's never really been a class act. Jumping back into No More Heroes, I forgot just how poorly he treats the women of the game, either eyeing them purely as sexual fantasies, ?calling them bitches, or acting all chivalrous when tasked with killin?g them, even if an honorable death is what some of them want. 

But that's just the beginning of this hero's journey, and his personal growth through the countless killings over two games results in a well-rounded character. He becomes a man who recognizes his role in the world and the wrongs of his line of work while still occasionally perving out on Sylvia. Though she's able to dish out just as much as he can give. In its own weird way, No More Heroes and i??ts sequel&nb??sp;are not just stories of determination and revenge, but an epic tale of love between two seriously damaged people.

This world is full of damaged goods, and not just the ones you eviscerate with your beam katana. One of the key draws of this series is its collection of killers. Both games task Travis with climbing his way up the ranks with the United Assassin Association, first from the eleventh-ranked spot, then from the fifty-first spot in the sequel. The members of the UAA you're tasked with disposing of are an eclectic bunch of psychopaths. Desperate Struggle has a fun gallery of baddies like Margaret Moonlight and Matt Helms, though I think, on the whole, the assassins from the first game are the superior bunch. It's tough to top someone like Destroyman or Bad Girl or having to fight upside down against a wily magician. While the assassins from the first game edge out those from its successor, Desperate Struggle excels with its level design, which was one of the weakest points?? of the original.

That's probably because everything in the first game had to be tied to the big, empty, open-world map of Santa Destroy. I didn't care for open-world back when this originally released, and time hasn't exactly made its inclusion seem necessary. You still fight one too many bouts at the same damn parking garage and other equally uninspired locations like a subway train, bus, or just a long, straight corridor. Any chance at a properly paced game goes right out the window when you find yourself driving from one side of the map to the other to complete the menial jobs you have to do to buy your way into the next match of the UAA rankings. It quickly feels like unnecessary padding, and while both games are relatively short, Desperate Struggle makes far better use of its brief run time.

But even if I didn't like driving around the city, I will admit the streets of Santa Destroy have never looked so good. The art direction absolutely holds up. Grasshopper and Engine Software have done a fantastic job converting these games to high definition with pretty solid framerates. Unfortunately, those improvements don't seem to apply to anything not in the in-game engine, so pre-rendered cutscenes look fuzzy and unfocused compared to the rest of the visuals. It's particularly noticeable and jarring in Desperate Struggle. ?The fight agains??t Charlie Macdonald and his cheer squad is not a pretty sight.

That's easy enough to get past when the rest of the game is so damn fun to play. Both titles present players with two control options: you can play using the same motion controls found in the first title or go with a standard control option like the one that was introduced in the sequel. I'm a bit of a purest, so any time I was playing in docked mode, I broke out the wrist straps for? my Joy-Con controllers. The motion controls benefit from improved technology here, and I still get a kick out of flinging my arm left to slice some fool in half. I have noticed instances where the controls would be slightly unresponsive, such as when I'm ask?ed to press Y to execute a guy on the ground, but these moments are fleeting.

What's not fleeting is the immense joy I have going through both these titles again. Sure, I think Desperate Struggle is the more well-put-together of the two, but they both have quirks, charms, and moments of frustration that ar??e uniquely their own. I don't care for having to raise money just to progress through the story like you need to do in the first game, but I still get a kick out of seeing Travis mow a lawn or catch fire when I overfill a gas tank. The giant mech battle of the sequel is a massively wasted opportunity, but by unshackling the narrative from an open-world design, the developers were able to flesh out Santa Destroy and its inhabitants.

I've been playing No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for more than a decade now as they never cease to amaze me with their untethered style, violent action, and satisfying combat. With these HD ports on Switch, y?ou can be damn sure I'll be playing them for the next decade as well.

No More Heroes: 8.0/10

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle: 8.5/10

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: No More Heroes & No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/review-no-more-heroes-no-more-heroes-2-desperate-struggle/feed/ 0 7267 //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-powering-up-its-beam-katana-until-2021/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-powering-up-its-beam-katana-until-2021 //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-powering-up-its-beam-katana-until-2021/#respond Thu, 10 Sep 2020 01:39:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-powering-up-its-beam-katana-until-2021/

COVID strikes again

Of all the delays we've seen this year due to the pandemic, this one somehow felt like the most inevitable. Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51 have confirmed the highly anticipated Switch-exclusive No More Heroes III will not see release in 2020. According to the message posted by the developers on Twitter?, COVID-19 resulted in work delays on the title, and rather than rush it out, Suda wants his team to prioritize quality as development gets back on its feet.

An important announcement regarding the Nintendo Switch exclusive title No More Heroes 3.#NMH3 #NoMoreHeroes3 #SUDA51 #NintendoSwitch #TRAVIS #TravisTouchdown pic.twitter.com/ijsz4shnDl

— Grasshopper (@Grasshopper_EN) September 10, 2020

It's not all bad news though. Suda confirmed he'll be working with Darick Robertson, comic book artist and one of the creators of the comic book series The Boys, which has been adapted into a popular show on Amazon Prime Video. Robertson will be providing original illustrations for No More Heroes III, as well as its key art.

Presenting "Demzamtiger & His Master" - a specially commissioned piece for NMH3 by Darick Robertson. pic.twitter.com/hk3FvsGJh7

— SUDA51/須田剛一 (@suda_51) September 10, 2020

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]]> //jbsgame.com/no-more-heroes-3-wont-be-powering-up-its-beam-katana-until-2021/feed/ 0 260067 //jbsgame.com/killer7-is-not-coming-to-switch-according-to-the-studio-that-ported-the-pc-version/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=killer7-is-not-coming-to-switch-according-to-the-studio-that-ported-the-pc-version //jbsgame.com/killer7-is-not-coming-to-switch-according-to-the-studio-that-ported-the-pc-version/#respond Mon, 17 Aug 2020 14:30:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/killer7-is-not-coming-to-switch-according-to-the-studio-that-ported-the-pc-version/

'It was never in development'

Killer7 should probably be on more platforms at this point. Okay, it definitely should.

After living comfortable on just the GameCube and PS2 for over a decade, Grasshopper Manufacture/Engine Software and NIS America got together to make Kill??er7 happen o?n PC: which is one of the most accessible platforms you can dream of.

But their work isn't over, as they need to add a few more modern ports into that mix. Based on a recent LinkedIn listing that dream was on its way to becom?ing a reality, but now that hope seems to be dead according to a new statement from port studio Engine Software.

Speaking to Nintendo Life, the Switch port was "never in development" according to Engine Software rep Ruud van de Moosdijk. They state that "the decision was made not to work on a Switch version," and that t??he LinkedIn listing "should have been changed," and was created erroneously.

Engine Software says that the Switch port "has not come up in conversation" actually, as Suda51 is "quite busy at the moment." The studio says to "never say never," but give??n that it took 13 years to get a lone PC port, it might be a while before we see more Grasshopper games on more platforms.

Turns Out Engine Software Isn't Bringing Killer7 To The Ninte?ndo Switc?h [Nintendo Life]

The post Kil?ler7 ??is not coming to Switch, according to the studio that ported the PC version appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/killer7-is-not-coming-to-switch-according-to-the-studio-that-ported-the-pc-version/feed/ 0 254259 //jbsgame.com/the-let-it-die-team-teased-a-new-title-and-uncle-death-is-in-the-dark/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-let-it-die-team-teased-a-new-title-and-uncle-death-is-in-the-dark //jbsgame.com/the-let-it-die-team-teased-a-new-title-and-uncle-death-is-in-the-dark/#respond Mon, 29 Jun 2020 20:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/the-let-it-die-team-teased-a-new-title-and-uncle-death-is-in-the-dark/

'There's plenty of goretastic freaks with weird tastes'

In a silly video uploaded today, GungHo Online teased "a new title" from the team behind Let it Die.

Uncle Death, the game's mascot, recently went missing. The team tracked him down to "some creepy basement" only to find him sitting beside a little shrine to director Hideyuki Shin, surrounded by cardboard. They informed him that Let it Die passed the six-million-download mark across PS4 and PC.

He seemed shocked. Uncle Death said he was "living it up like a king" when the free-to-play game first took off, but then the "royalty payments started drying up," and the debt collectors began calling. "Think about it, if we have six million ??downloads, shouldn't I be getting a bit more money?"

The skateboarding reaper also claimed he "heard a rumor that the staff who created Let it Die have gathered to create a new title." The devel?opers didn't divulge anything to him (or us), but they closed out the video by saying they're "now accepting mess?ages of encouragement for Uncle Death."

Hang in there, boss. You can't live of?f white bread and single-serving sake cups forever.

@LetItDieTheGame [Twitter]

The post The Let it Die team teased ‘a new title’ and Uncle Death is in the dark appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/the-let-it-die-team-teased-a-new-title-and-uncle-death-is-in-the-dark/feed/ 0 258814 //jbsgame.com/lets-watch-the-new-game-expo-stream-together/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lets-watch-the-new-game-expo-stream-together //jbsgame.com/lets-watch-the-new-game-expo-stream-together/#respond Tue, 23 Jun 2020 13:45:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/lets-watch-the-new-game-expo-stream-together/

It's the stream that lets you keep all your equipment from the last one

With no E3 this year, the gaming community has had to make do with a hodgepodge of different streams, surprise reveals, and sudden announcements that have kept the writing staff of Destructoid on its toes. Some shows have been worth the wait, others not so much. We still have several more to go, but for my money, the New Game+ Expo stream has me the most excited??. NIS America, Atlus, Spike Chunsoft, Inti Creates; these are some of my favorite publishers/develope??rs, and to have them all in one show is worth taking a vacation day from my actual job to enjoy.

The organizers ar??e promising new reveals, announcements, and upda??tes for upcoming projects. With the variety of publishers participating, there's no telling what is in store.

So sit back, relax, and find out the games some of Japan's finest gaming companies are bringing our way. And if anything catches your eye, be sure to stay tuned after the showcase for a full day of streams featuring some of the games? and publishers featured ??in the show.

The post Let’s watch the New Game+ Expo stream together appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/lets-watch-the-new-game-expo-stream-together/feed/ 0 258693 //jbsgame.com/heres-the-streaming-schedule-for-new-game-expo-featuring-atlus-sega-and-wayforward/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-the-streaming-schedule-for-new-game-expo-featuring-atlus-sega-and-wayforward //jbsgame.com/heres-the-streaming-schedule-for-new-game-expo-featuring-atlus-sega-and-wayforward/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/heres-the-streaming-schedule-for-new-game-expo-featuring-atlus-sega-and-wayforward/

A whole day of games

The summer of gaming streams is going full steam as we?? head toward the back half of June. There are still many big presentations to come, including shows from Ubisoft, EA, CD Projekt Red, and more. Of course, the one I'm most looking forward to features none of those publishers and most of the Japanese developers I love.

New Game+ Expo is happening next week, and today, organizers revealed the streaming schedule for the June 23 show. It kicks off at 8:00 am PST with a sh??owcase featuring games from?? Sega, Inti Creates, Idea Factory, and more before switching over to streams from several publishers.

Now, if you're wondering which games will be shown, the official list of reveals and trailers is still under wraps. However, this show teaser put out ea??rlier this week should give you an idea of which publishers are bringing new games, which are updating fans on existing titles, and which of them have surprises in store for viewers.

The entire New Game+ Expo showcase and post-showcase streams will be a??vailable to watch on the event's official Twit??ch Channel.

The post Here’s the streaming schedule for New Game+ Expo featuring Atlus, Sega, and WayForward appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/heres-the-streaming-schedule-for-new-game-expo-featuring-atlus-sega-and-wayforward/feed/ 0 258613 //jbsgame.com/sega-snk-arc-system-works-and-more-join-forces-for-new-game-expo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sega-snk-arc-system-works-and-more-join-forces-for-new-game-expo //jbsgame.com/sega-snk-arc-system-works-and-more-join-forces-for-new-game-expo/#respond Wed, 20 May 2020 14:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/sega-snk-arc-system-works-and-more-join-forces-for-new-game-expo/

Grasshopper will be there too

With E3 calling in sick for 2020, developers and publishers around the world are scrambling to find ways to get the word out about their upcoming games. Some, like Ubisoft, are prepping their own individual events.?? Others, like Nintendo, seem to be content just drip-feeding announcements to fans.

Those strategies are fine, but there's something to be said about having a great big show that brings together some of the finest developers and publishers from around the world. That's why I'm happy Sega, NIS America, Spike Chunsoft, and more have teamed up for New Game+ Expo, or NGPX. Sixteen publishers and developer??s from Japan and North America will join forces for a day of streaming on Twitch, revealing new games and giving new information on previously announced titles. While the game lineup is currently unknown, the list of companies participating is impressive.

I don't know which of those logos excites me more. On the one hand, I won't say no to another dope-as-hell trailer for No More Heroes 3. On the other, the possibility of a new Shin Megami Tensei V trailer, however farfetched, is pretty damn enticing. Plus, I really want to see what Harvest Moon: One World is all about.

NGPX will go live on the front page of Twitch starting at 8:00 am PDT on June 23. The showcase? broadcast will run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm PDT and will include first looks at new titles, trailers,?? live demos, Q&A, and more. The entire presentation will then be made available on the NGPX YouTube page.

The post Sega, SNK, Arc System Works?, and more join forces for New Game+ Expo appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/sega-snk-arc-system-works-and-more-join-forces-for-new-game-expo/feed/ 0 251115 //jbsgame.com/let-it-die-celebrates-six-million-downloads-with-the-announcement-of-a-future-announcement/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=let-it-die-celebrates-six-million-downloads-with-the-announcement-of-a-future-announcement //jbsgame.com/let-it-die-celebrates-six-million-downloads-with-the-announcement-of-a-future-announcement/#respond Mon, 02 Mar 2020 22:30:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/let-it-die-celebrates-six-million-downloads-with-the-announcement-of-a-future-announcement/

Some sort of event is coming

Uncle Death just climbed past yet another milestone, as Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture's Let it Die hit six million downloads. What sort of gift will Uncle Death receive? A gold-plated skateboard? A scythe dec??orated ??with six diamonds?

"To be determined" is the most succinct answer. Grasshopper Manufacture seems a bit caught by surprise, and without any kind of blowout bash ready to go. The developer says "To celebrate the momentous occasio??n, there will be an in-game event to be announced at a later date." An announcement of an a??nnouncement is hardly an inspiring celebration.

Let it Die launched in 2016 as a free-to-play PS4 game. It managed approximately four million downloads before being ported to PC in late 2018. With the two versions at a combined six million downloads, there's still a small-yet-dedicated group of people ascending the tower. They'll get something at some point in the future.

Let it Die Surpasses 6 Million Download?s on PlayStation 4 an?d PC [TriplePoint PR]

The post Let it Die celebrates six? million downloads with the announcement of a future announcement appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/let-it-die-celebrates-six-million-downloads-with-the-announcement-of-a-future-announcement/feed/ 0 256651 //jbsgame.com/this-is-not-a-drill-no-more-heroes-3-hits-switch-in-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-is-not-a-drill-no-more-heroes-3-hits-switch-in-2020 //jbsgame.com/this-is-not-a-drill-no-more-heroes-3-hits-switch-in-2020/#respond Tue, 11 Jun 2019 15:25:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/this-is-not-a-drill-no-more-heroes-3-hits-switch-in-2020/

'Welcome to the Garden of Madness'

Travis Touchdown is back on the job. No More Heroes 3 is coming to Nintendo Switch next year, as announc?ed this morning on the Nintendo Direct E3 broadcast?. Ready to rock 'n' roll?

Travis Touchdown returns to Santa Destroy after a ten-year absence in the latest numbered entry in the No More Heroes series... No More Heroes 3 for #NintendoSwitch is coming in 2020! #NMH3 pic.twitter.com/p3bIUckyzq

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 11, 2019

"Thanks to everyone's support of [Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes], we are finally able to?? make the dream come true," said fashionable game director Suda51. "Thank you all so much!"

The post This is no????????????????????????????t a drill: No More Heroes 3 hits Switch in 2020 appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/this-is-not-a-drill-no-more-heroes-3-hits-switch-in-2020/feed/ 0 239443 //jbsgame.com/it-sure-seems-like-were-getting-a-new-no-more-heroes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=it-sure-seems-like-were-getting-a-new-no-more-heroes //jbsgame.com/it-sure-seems-like-were-getting-a-new-no-more-heroes/#respond Sun, 09 Jun 2019 17:36:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/it-sure-seems-like-were-getting-a-new-no-more-heroes/

No More Heroes 3?

As we get nearer to E3, the teases become more blatant. That's Suda51's angle this morning: Tell the people what they want to hear. "Go to E3," followed by a No More Heroes logo. Simple. Effective.

go to E3. pic.twitter.com/9SafKH33VY

— SUDA51/須田剛一 (@suda_51) June 9, 2019

Why the heck would Suda do this? It seems safe to intuit that there will be, in fact, a No More Heroes reveal at E3. No More Heroes 3? That's the bombshell that would send the studio audience into a frenzy. Switch ports of the first two games? That'd be very neat. Travis in Smash? Only in dreams.

Something is gonna happen though. Now we play the waiting game. We've?? taken Suda's ?advice and are at E3. So, whatever happens, we'll be here to cover it.

The post It sure seems like we’re getting a new No More Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/it-sure-seems-like-were-getting-a-new-no-more-heroes/feed/ 0 247648 //jbsgame.com/dragons-dogma-recruits-travis-touchdown-on-switch/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dragons-dogma-recruits-travis-touchdown-on-switch //jbsgame.com/dragons-dogma-recruits-travis-touchdown-on-switch/#respond Mon, 15 Apr 2019 18:45:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/dragons-dogma-recruits-travis-touchdown-on-switch/

Pawn star

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes has a wardrobe bursting with clothes, and Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen isn't short on Pawns?? to assist the Arisen, but screw it, there's room to squeeze a crossover into both games. The two Nintendo Switch titles are teaming up this month with in-game items.

As revealed by Grasshopper Manufacture's own sharp-dressed man Suda51, Travis Strikes Again will soon let players deck out Travis Touchdown with a black Dragon's Dogma t-shirt. It's essentially the action-RPG's cover art in shi??rt form -- the exact kind of thing gaming companies love to send out as promotional swag that ends up at Goodwill?? -- but I'm not complaining. It's real-world accurate!

The Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen side of this collaboration is admittedly more ??enticing. With the Nintendo Switch version of the game releasing on April 23 (then April 25 in Japan), it's about the perfect time to detail bonuses before launch. On Switch, we'll get our very o?wn Travis Touchdown.

Travis will be available as a Pawn in Dark Arisen, complete with a beam katana. (Well, more or less.) For those of you who have never touched Dragon's Dogma, that means he can join your party and he'll incessantly shout nonse?nse at you per Pawn tradition. T??hese AI characters mean well, they really do.

In the Famitsu video above, you can find the Travis Strikes Again segment at the nine-minute mark. The Dragon's Dogma crosso??ver is discuss?ed further into the presentation, at around 43 minutes.

This is a fun little bit?? of friendly cooperation and I'm here for it. The fact that it's free DLC helps, too. Check the gallery for an up-close look at the t-shirt and the fanta??sy riff on Travis Touchdown.

[Via Siliconera]

The post Dragon’s Dogma recruits Travis Touchdown on Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

]]> //jbsgame.com/dragons-dogma-recruits-travis-touchdown-on-switch/feed/ 0 237102 //jbsgame.com/travis-strikes-again-gets-a-new-game-option/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=travis-strikes-again-gets-a-new-game-option //jbsgame.com/travis-strikes-again-gets-a-new-game-option/#respond Mon, 21 Jan 2019 19:30:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/travis-strikes-again-gets-a-new-game-option/

Travis Strikes Again...and again...and again...

The latest update for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes will be adding a "New Game+" option to the action brawler.?? Upon completi?on of the game, you'll be able to restart the journey with all of Travis and Badman's skills you've acquired. This will let you re-experience the game while continuing to work on upgrading each character.

Along with that update comes a few new T-shirts to unlock. The T-shirts will require you to beat each boss on "Spicy Mode," which is basically the ga??me's version of hard difficulty. That shouldn't be a problem with New Game+. Some other miscellaneous updates have also been added to smooth out the experience, though there haven't been any reports of crashing or glitches.

The update should be available right now. You'll need to exit the tit??le on you??r Switch to apply it.

[NOTICE] The #TravisStrikesAgain #NoMoreHeroes Ver.1.0.1 update has been released. With this latest update, upon clearing the game you will be able to carry over all skills and character levels to a new game with the newly? added New Game+Mode. New bonus T-shirts have been added

— Grasshopper (@Grasshopper_EN) January 21, 2019

for players who have beaten all bosses in S??picy Mode. And, several bugs have been fixed to ensure the smoothest gameplay experience possible. As these updates were originally reported to be ?made available on launch day, we apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience.

— Grasshopper (@Grasshopper_EN) January 21, 2019

Grasshopper [Twitter]

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]]> //jbsgame.com/travis-strikes-again-gets-a-new-game-option/feed/ 0 242811 //jbsgame.com/reviews/review-travis-strikes-again-no-more-heroes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=review-travis-strikes-again-no-more-heroes //jbsgame.com/reviews/review-travis-strikes-again-no-more-heroes/#respond Mon, 21 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000 //jbsgame.com/review-travis-strikes-again-no-more-heroes/

Semi-pro hero

No More Heroes, like its protagonist Travis Touchdown, is a bit of an odd duck nearly 12 ye??ars? removed from its original Wii launch.

His creator Goichi Suda (Suda 51) marches to the beat of his own drum, as does his company, Grasshopper Manufacture. Very few games at the time (and to date, actually) allow players to engage in high-octane anime battles with assassins and mow their lawn in the same beat. Against all expectations it managed to spawn a franchise, leading up to the Switch-bound Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes.

It's still as irreverent as ever.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch)
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture / Nintendo
Released: January 18, 2019
MSRP: $29.99 (digital), $39.99 (physical)

You'll get plenty of fourth wall breakin?g, "what the shit," and "nice work, dickhead" dialogue in the ??first few minutes, just in case you weren't 100% positive that you were playing a Suda game.

Travis Strikes Again eschews most of its story in favor of a Turtles in Time vibe, throwing our hero Travis and his rival Bad Man (who serves as the basis for co-op with some unique moves) into various video game worlds fueled by action and occasionally backed up with puzzles. It does have a story. There's this weird retro visual novel storytelling element that moves the adventure along between the action, and it's required to unlock each subsequent world. Again, Suda ??hasn't lost his touch when it comes to unconventional narratives.

I was thrilled that I was able to experience the No More Heroes madhouse once again. In-game magazine review pages with cheat codes and a full rundown of each world is the best little touch, sidestepp??ing cutscenes in favor of a more nostalgic approach. While some may call it cost-cutting (Suda will probably be the first to admit this), I'd call it clever, as it works for this series. The same goes for the strange real-life grindhouse-esque video that sets up one of the game's major serial-killer villains. It's bizarre in all the right ways and you never know what you're going to see next.

There's plenty of self-deprecating humor sprinkled within, the vast majority of which works. But there are also moments that only accentuate some of Travis Strikes Again's shortcomings. Without giving away too much, there's at least one section that's "unfinished," a source of a series of jokes that tie into the Unreal Engi??ne. The camera ?angles are also frequently a pain, sometimes zooming out so far that you can barely make out what's going on.

Travis' kit is deep enough, as he's equipped with light and heavy attacks and four abilities (you gain more as you continue on) that mix things up. I'm talking everything from offensive single target/area of effect to defensive (healing) powers, with a convenient? "save a build" feature so you can swap and experiment. With that simple addition, Grasshopper manages to elevate the proceedings above the level of a rote mindless beat-'em-up (a fact that's even more e??vident with the unlockable "spicy" difficulty setting after completion).

But it's not the fundamentals that fall apart: it's the environments. One of them focuses heavily on puzzles in a suburban environment, which start off simple then slowly edge into "figure out this maze while a giant instant-game-over skull is chasing you" territory. One universe is basically a string of (overly simplistic) drag races. Another has a weird Sinistar homage that awkwardly isn't a twin-stick shooter (the joke is that this world is unfinished, but would have stuck the landing much better if the minigames were nearly as good as the ones in No More Heroes 2). Then Suda wows us w?ith a few major cameos and a big finish. What an uneven ride!

Throughout my journey I found Travis Strikes Again to be semi-challenging for both the right and wrong reasons. While a swift dodge roll will take care of most of your problems, the odd camera angles can conceal errant shots, some of which chunk your health nicely. Several abilities are also often canceled before they trigger, and it's not clear why. And though I didn't encounter any major bugs like crashes, little issues popped up every now and t??hen. I don't think a lot of that is intentional Grasshopper mojo, but rather, a series of oversights.

Travis Strikes Again has some undeniable lows but the No More Heroes charm and the prospect of co-op lifts it up. Whether it's learning the intricacies of individual types of ramen or watching Travis? curse at a talking cat, this is something that could only be born out of the mind of Suda 51 and his team at Grasshopper.

Go in with an open mind and possibl?y a?? co-op partner.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher]}

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Which one are you wearin'?

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes launches exclusively on Switch today, and anyone who picks it up will notice that there's an extensive ??wardrobe for Travis Touchdown to wear. That's because Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture included t-shirts from a ton of indie games, meaning that we're able to rep a wide range of stuff that we've loved over the years.

We've done the legwork to round up all 55 t-shirts. They're all in the gallery below. Or, you can find it in the lis??t and click through to see only that game's shirt. We're user-friendly like that.

It's kind of neat to see Suda's creation donning all these great indie games -- a simple but cool crossover. Devolver Digital is well-represented, as it seems like nearly the entire Devolver catalog is here in t-shirt form. Also, when we talked with Suda last year at PAX West, he told us his favorite indie game of 2018 was Pato Box. Surprise, surprise: Pato Box made the list of shirts.

Technically, there are 56 shirts in the gallery. That's because we've also included one from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (which you can see here). A lot of people will probably want to check that one out, but it doesn't feel quite right to call Majora's Mask an indie game.

• 2064: Read Only Memories
• Absolver
• The American Dream
• Ape Out
• Bit.Trip Runner
• Blazing Chrome
• Brawlout
• Children of Zodiarcs
• Crossing Souls
• Dandara
• Dead Cells
• De Mambo
• Disco Elysium
• Double Kick Heroes
• Downwell
• Earth Atlantis
• Enter the Gungeon
• Fallen Legion
• Floor Kids
• Furi
• Galak-Z
• Gods Will Be Watching
• Golf Story
• Hatoful Boyfriend
• High Hell
• Hollow Knight
• Hotline Miami
• Hyper Light Drifter
• Just Shapes & Beats
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
• Luftrausers
• The Messenger
• Minit
• Morphie's Law
• Mother Russia Bleeds
• Mulaka
• Nuclear Throne
• Papers, Please
• Pato Box
• Pikuniku
• Pocket Rumble
• The Red Strings Club
• Reigns
• Ruiner
• Salt and Sanctuary
• The Stanley Parable
• SteamWorld Dig 2
• Stifled
• Superhot
• The Swords of Ditto
• Thumper
• Treachery in Beatdown City
• Undertale
• VA-11 HALL-A
• Wargroove
• YIIK: A Postmodern RPG

The post The??se are all the indie game ??t-shirts in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes appeared first on Destructoid.

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Beat 'Em Up action in the game-within-a-game

We are less than a month away from the release of the super-quirky looking action title Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes on Nintendo Switch. Grasshopper Manufacturer has released another trailer?? showcasing on the new title's genre-hopping stages "Coff?ee and Doughnuts".

After a delightfully old-school loading sequence, we see our boy Travis and his frenemy Badman making their way through a side-scrolling action platformer, negotiating tricky jumps and cutting down swathes of enemies. For those who haven't heard, Travis Strikes Again is esse??ntially built up of all sorts of different gaming styles, after its protagonists get being sucked into a possessed console. Thanks, Suda.

You can catch a glimpse of Coffee and Doughnuts below. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes launches on Nintendo Switch January?? 18, 2019. Better charge up t??hat Beam Katana.

The post New Travis?? Strikes Again trailer brings Coffee and Doughnuts appeared first on Destructoid.

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Bad Girl rises from the dead, too

The DLC season pass for Travis Strikes Again just got a whole lot more enticing for series fans. Grasshopper Manufacture has revealed that fan-favorite character Shinobu will be getting her own ?episode post-launch for the new game. As an extra surprise, Bad Girl will also be getting an episode (despite her death being the whole reason this game exists).

The first episode, "Black Dandelion," is expected to release at the end of February and will let players control Shinobu for her own level. It will come with an exclusive ADV part for Badman. The second episode, "Bubblegum Fatale," is set for the ?e??nd of April and will resurrect Bad Girl for a stage. It will also come with an ADV part for Travis.

I??f you grab the game digitally, the season pass will be ava??ilable for $9.99. As a reminder, the season pass is included with the physical edition of the game, so you won't need to worry about grabbing anything extra.

Check out the Season Pass contents for #TravisStrikesAgain #NoMoreHeroes
Season Pass (Additional Content Vol.1 + Vol.2)
Scheduled release: 1/18/2019; Price: $9.99/￡8.99/€9.99 (incl. tax) pic.twitter.com/tTmcN1Fndz

— Grasshopper (@Grasshopper_EN) December 20, 2018

Grasshopper [Twitter]

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