Review — No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again Complete Edition
After causing mayhem on the Nintendo Switch, Travis Touchdown brings the action to PlayStation 4 and PC.
I’ve played my fair share of Japanese weirdness throughout the years. They’re certainly an acquired taste for us Westerners. But once you’ve grown accustomed to them, you’ll start to see the ingenuity and dedication of some developers, like Taro Yoko (NieR), Hidetaka Suehiro (D4 and Deadly Premonition) and Goichi Suda (Suda51), the mastermind behind Killer is Dead and the No More Heroes franchise. This franchise received a spin-off earlier this year on Nintendo Switch with Travis Strikes Again, which now has been ported to PlayStation 4 and PC and includes the two DLC released post-launch: Black Dandelion and Bubblegum Fatale.
A Modern Love Letter
Travis Strikes Again takes place seven years after the events of No More Heroes 2. Travis has withdrawn from the life of being an assassin as he lives in a camper in the woods, where he spends his days playing video games. That is until Badman, the father Bad Girl, an assassin killed by Travis, comes knocking at his door seeking revenge. During their struggle, a special game console called the “Death Drive MK-II” gets activated and both men get sucked into the world of the game of the Death Ball that Badman was carrying. Learning more about this mysterious prototype console, the two men vow to clear the 6 Death Balls which will grant them a wish, in their case the resurrection of Bad Girl.
Clearing these Death Balls is the core of the game as you’ll spend most of your time hacking as slashing your way through the levels of the various games. Each of the Death Ball games brings its peculiarities to the table, from puzzles to drag races and Astroids-inspired sequences. Throughout the game there are also tons of references and direct tributes to classic arcade games from the early nineties and modern independent titles. Heck, even Suda51’s other games like Shadows of the Damned and Killer is Dead serve as an influence. As a whole, Travis Strikes Again clearly is a love letter to the medium of video games, especially indie and retro gaming. The game just oozes with a retro vibe in its presentation, and also features lots of throwbacks to the eighties. Modern indies are also heavily featured in the T-shirts Travis can buy and collect, with designs based on Undertale, Hotline Miami, Mother Russia Bleeds, etc.
Squashing bugs
While the game wears its nostalgia and indie tribute proudly on its sleeve, it sadly fails to create a truly meaningful experience. There’s a lot of humor, the necessary meta jokes included, and the start of each Death Ball game is interesting, but they often outlast their welcome due to the combat design and the overall repetitive nature. Each Death Ball game mostly consists of simple hack & slash levels where you have to kill various types of Bug enemies. Your trusty beam katana has one light and heavy attack, including a jumping variant, so don’t expect to go all combo’ing here. You also have a powerful special and some extra skills that you can unlock by discovering Skill Chips, but they don’t improve the repetitive nature of the combat.
Most of the boss fights are also rather basic and aren’t very memorable in the end. Heck, even now I can’t remember what most of the fights were. The level design is also a mix bag. Most levels are pretty empty and lack detail. And while there is a lot of variation between the different Death Ball games, inside each game the level design is also rather repetitive. There are some standout moments, but I think I could count them on one hand. The option to play through the level in co-op is a nice feature which can relief the tediousness of the gameplay a bit, but obviously you need a co-op partner for this.
Not Mother’s Prettiest
Outside of the Death Drive MK-II, you’ll spend some time in Travis’ trailer buying new T-shirts, liking social media-like posts about ramen shops you can visit inside the games and browse through the database. Lastly, you can also hop on your bike and start another mini game called Travis Strikes Back. Here, the main story of the game is being told through a visual novel-style presentation that seems to come straight out of a Game Boy cartridge. I found this presentation not the most visually appealing and kind of boring at the same time, even if the writers tried to incorporate the expected, often meta humor.
Actually, graphics of No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again are rather a letdown. The CGI scenes and the intro movies for each Death Drive game are pretty awesome, but the rest is rather underwhelming. Hell, in the Death Ball games, you even lose one third of the screen because they used overblown sidebars to display information that otherwise could easily be displayed onscreen. Another thing that tickled my nerves, was the way you recharge your beam sword. To do this, you have to press L3 and then move the right joystick up or shake the controller a few times, all the while you can be attacked. It’s a mechanic that just doesn’t work on the PlayStation.
No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again is a game that has a lot of potential and bolsters many great ideas, but never capitalizes this into something truly great. Its heart is at the right place, the humor and pop culture references are great, and I love the vibe the game gives off. But sadly, the combat sequences feel too repetitive, and the levels fail to keep remain interesting after their initial setup. If each Death Ball game would have more unique features and the focus wouldn’t be on clearing levels full of Bug enemies, Travis Strikes Again would have been infinitely more interesting. Right now, it’s mostly a nostalgia trip for diehard Suda51 fans and lovers of Japanese weirdness.
2,5/5
Reviewed on PlayStation 4.
Download code provided by the Publisher.
