Patrick Waring at GameCloud writes: "I don’t know why Travis Strikes Again exists, but it does, and that’s what I’d call “unfortunate” within the broader context of the series. No More Heroes was a great-but-crude product of its time, and with clever writing, its style of humour can be brought into the modern era. There’s so much to draw from for a new game in the series, and Grasshopper just didn’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. Many series staples were removed in favour of bland gameplay, frustrating and boring design, and some visual and thematic hints that this game might have actually been good had the vision been there. As it exists now, however, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, not even longtime fans. You lose nothing from not playing this… Well, except perhaps the hope of another title in the series."
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Half-Glass Gaming: "Travis Touchdown is awesome, and he’s a huge reason No More Heroes is so great. That said, series creator and director Suda51 said he would be open to making a spinoff starring fan-favorite Shinobu. And though the series’ fate isn’t entirely up to Suda [as he doesn't own the IP], a sans-Travis entry could definitely work."
NMH seems to revolve around Travis like DMC revolves around Dante, GoW revolves around Kratos, Ninja Gaiden revolves around Ryu, and Bayonetta revolves around well…
It wouldn’t feel right to have these kind of action games to not have their main character in the lead role or not present at all
I totally get the sentiment, and I agree to a certain degree that these character action games feel a certain type of special because they focus on a single character most of the time. That said, given NMH's lore and other rad characters like Shinobu and Bad Girl, I'd say that universe could definitely be explored from a different character's perspective and still be super badass.
@ Crimson
Yakuza 7 plays dramatically different than the other Yakuza games. Judgment hardly even used any plot elements from the other Yakuza games.
@ Sanchez
Many of those other characters & themes revolve around Travis though. Suda even stated the unique setting of NMH is based on Travis. He as a character is too ingrained in the very essence of this series to ever be removed. Suda also stated Travis is his favorite character.
I could see other characters being made playable like in NMH2 and NMH TSA alongside Travis similar to how other playable characters along with Dante have been introduced since DMC1. However not featuring Travis at all doesn’t seem feasible.
In addition one must also consider that NMH as a series has niche sales as if is. Removing the most recognizable face of the franchise wouldn’t work well commercially.
Travis is definitely integral to NMH. I think if a spin-off were made where he's not the playable character, it would still work if he's an important NPC or a core part of the story.
Suda also said he'd be down to make a game where Shinobu is the main character, and she's super popular among the NMH fan base. So while the series is pretty niche, that niche audience has an appreciation for a lot of the characters (especially Shinobu).
So while I don't necessarily disagree with most of your points, I think in terms of a spin-off or a Shinobu-centric game, it could def work.
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