Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes - Suda51 back in the Director's Chair

Is anyone excited for Travis Strikes Again, a Switch exclusive that releases this Friday? It’s the first game to be directed by Suda51 since the first No More Heroes back in 2007 (he co-directed Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse over a decade ago), and appears to be taking a Tron-style approach where Travis is sucked into a cursed console and has to fight his way through seven different glitched out games.

I think Grasshopper must’ve split with GungHo after Let it Die because they’re down to about 15 developers and self-publishing, so this will obviously be smaller scoped project compared to the previous entries. I love Killer 7 and always appreciate the big swings he takes when it comes to style, but Suda’s other games haven’t done much for me, though I’m very interested to see how this one’s received. It sounds like if folks ever want to see a full-fledged No More Heroes sequel, this will have to be a big success, which might be a tall order for this indie side story.

The box art for the retail release that Nintendo’s distributing has art from a dude going by the handle Boneface and looks suitably awesome:

oh yes

I would say no. Not that excited. No More Heroes was merely okay, and I don’t own a Switch.

Very excited. Every Suda51 game I’ve played has at least been interesting even if I’m not sure if it’s good.

I’m looking forward to it. I’m probably about as big of a Suda51 booster as still exists at this point, and the Switch is my new favorite thing, so I’ll almost certainly get it at some point. I’m not sure how I expect to evaluate it as a game per se though. Suda51 games are almost more about the idea of the game than the actual execution of the game itself.

Suda’s weird tone is the main draw for me. The reviews are live and, unsurprisingly, Strikes Again received a pretty mixed reception. Eurogamer really hates it, but others are finding the wackiness more appealing and see it as a return to form for the designer.

Suda super fan Chris Scullion thinks it’s pretty special:

I’ll fight you for the title of Suda51 booster!

I have it pre-ordered. Looking forward to trying it tomorrow night!

I finished the first two Death Balls. I have loved almost everything about the game so far. I’m playing with the Pro Controller so I flip the right stick back and forth to charge up instead of jerking off, but that’s about the only negative I can see to using that over the joycons.

I’ve been trying really hard to avoid spoilers while also looking at some reviews because the game is divisive (as Suda’s games tend to be), and one thing I can say for sure is I’m far from bored, so much so that I have to wonder why Eurogamer’s review is what it is. The reviewer basically says “I grew up and his games didn’t” which is bullshit, because to make a game like this one you have to be able to look at games in a way hardly anyone does and it’s definitely not for kids, while also being for the kid you still have inside you.

Suda is so good at sticking his finger in the eye of the majority of gaming’s design standards while actually using said standards to entertain you that you’d have to be a little grown up to “get it”. That IMO is why there are always these reviews of his games that either A) don’t get it or B) try to act high and mighty like they’re above it. As Travis says so eloquently when you hit R that third time… “FUCK OFF!” to those reviews.

If you’ve played any and I emphasize any of Suda51’s previous games, and enjoyed them, you owe it to yourself to play this one (@tomchick). It’s almost guaranteed to fascinate you and entertain you. I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next…

I’m also loving this. Not usually a fan of aesthetics draped in references, but this one works quite well as commentary on the player, developer, and purpose of the game. The gameplay is simple and exciting, never amazing, but consistently fun enough so far that the insane aesthetics can easily drive my interest. I don’t have a lot of time for video games nowadays so this may take me a while to play through, but I suspect I will play through all of it.

I love the text-based narrative interludes between chapters. They’re surprisingly effective at fleshing out the world and are paced well enough that it hasn’t dragged once, which is quite an achievement. It’s quite novel to see a developer reflect on their studio’s oeuvre in a single game.

Grasshopper just released a new patch that’s dramatically improved the load times for me, and there’s going to be a new opening movie added as a “day 7” patch.

Sooooo… Death Ball five… whoa!!

Finished today.

This game is fucking brilliant!!

@tomchick

I can’t stress enough how much I love this game. Listening to the OST now and it’s just as brilliant as the game itself. I really enjoy playing modern games. Battlefield, Call of Duty, Uncharted, whatever the hot flavor of the week is or whatever is obscure but amazing… but when game developers do what this guy does, it reminds me exactly why I love this medium because you cannot make something so incredibly out there and yet so incredibly satisfying and artistic in every way you can think of… from art, to music, to gameplay to overall emotional effect, especially if you are a fan of this guy’s games.

I guarantee if you play this you will play nothing else like it this year, and probably not until Suda’s next game.

A friend of mineentioned that there are a lot of references to Suda’s less popular works, namely Silver Case, Flower Sun Rain, and Killer is Dead. Can anybody confirm if that’s true?

I kind of want to play Killer Is Dead eventually, given that it’s basically free now, but never bothered finding the time. Is there any reason to play through it before playing this?

I’m in based on Dave’s enthusiastic thumb’s up. Of course it will be a while given I finally unboxed Mr. Switch after it sat there on the floor for months. Late to the party as usual !

I can confirm the entire game is one gigantic goddamn reference. Take that for what it is. :)

You are fine if you haven’t played through everything he’s done. I have not played all of them. I now will play through The Silver Case for sure and basically I want to go back and play everything this guy has ever made because of Travis Strikes Again.

It’s totally entertaining even if you only have a layman’s overview of his company’s past output although obviously the more you know, the more you’ll appreciate the entirety of what’s here.

I just wrapped up world four. Even though it’s not the main attraction, I think mechanically it’s quite a strong beat 'em up, especially for a Suda game, so I’m kinda at a loss as to why many reviewers were underwhelmed by the combat. I guess it would feel boring if players just relied upon basic attacks, but the special skill chips you unlock and find hidden throughout the Death Drive are really cool! The color changing mini-boss you frequently encounter is too damn funny!

An awesome analysis of Travis Strikes Again courtesy of The Gaming Brit, who unpacks where the game fits into Suda’s oeuvre and how it’s a confident return to form for the auteur. Spoilers abound!

Yep. That guy gets it.

I really wish we had more game makers like Goichi Suda, or maybe I really wish we had more people who finance videogames who understood game makers like Goichi Suda? We probably need both.

I cannot recommend this game higher. Travis Strikes Again is going to be really hard to beat for my game of the year in 2019.

oh boy, why has it to be on the Switch … I have too much consoles lying around.