After three years, Travis Touchdown returns angrier, feistier and hornier than ever. Something rotten has gone down in the assassin infested state of Santa Destroy, and Travis isn't one to miss a fight. On the surface, No More Heroes is about assassins, swordplay and violence. Below the surface, it's a series devoted to understanding and exploring unique characters, interesting themes and eclectic personalities. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle has all this good stuff, but like Santa Destroy, things have changed.
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
If PC is your only platform for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, don't pass it up; if you have a Wii or a Switch, grab it there.
Now available on PC, No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle are both charming games but their ports are awfully basic.
Such a shame! Was hoping they'd be better, but some of the prompts reinforced my fears!
[spoiler-ish]
"Sometime between the cheerleaders and the giant robot fight, I gave up on NMH2 making sense."
----
C'mon. Anyone getting NMH2 should've given up on it making sense the moment it was announced. The first one didn't make a lot of sense, either.
But I sympathize with this reviewer, because it has taken awhile for me to warm up to the game, too. Part of it is only having a menu/map instead of a sandbox (it just helps to have a real overworld, IMO). But the other part are the assassins, and I do think it was intentional the way they're handled this time. In the first game, Travis was just an up-and-comer, fighting for the sake of fighting. The assassins were his peers, and you get all of the trash talking and buildup.
The assassins in the second game are NOT his peers. Hell, Kimmy Howell wants to have his baby (and decapitate him, of course). Travis is a local legend and they know his reputation. He, in turn, isn't just looking for a fight; he's looking to work out his anger and get his vengeance.
...yeah, you know it's a Suda game when you have to analyze its nonsensical plot this much.