This game's gonna be the shit.

Check out the new videos at IGN.  They talk a lot about it in their Wii-k in Review podcast as well.

EDIT: Gametrailers makes the IGN vids a bit more accessible here.

I love the sense of humor in this game, but it's riding a very fine line between good cheesy and bad cheesy.  I'm also a little tentative about the gameplay.  I'm getting Headhunter flashbacks and that game was so close to being good, but, well, you know.  Here's hoping it works out.

I have faith. I will love this game.

Two more vids are up:

http://www.destructoid.com/two-new-no-m … 7170.phtml

I'm looking forward to giving this game a shot.  However, this game is yet another example of Europe getting shafted:  http://www.destructoid.com/no-more-hero … 8514.phtml

Video of the censored vs uncensored:  http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2007/1 … re-heroes/

Anyone think this is a big deal?

Seems like a pointless exercise to me, though it doesn't affect me directly as I have to import it anyway. It remains to be seen what the fallout of Manhunt 2 is but, personally, I think it will have the opposite effect of what these devs are expecting. I reckon that Manhunt 2 ended up the sacrificial lamb that will take attention off games for a while with people in favour of censorship sit smugly content that the system works. I think most devs who aren't named 'Rockstar' will have little to no problem with censorship unless they invite it.

So this pre-emptive self-censorship seems a little odd.

It's funny the differences in perceived morality from continent to continent.

X-Play just gave their first 5 out of 5 rating of the year to this game. Goddamn, I need a Wii.

Well, I put a little over an hour into this the other night.  Right now, my opinions are mixed.  The style, art design, and music are all really great, but the gameplay is kinda shallow.  I can live with the PS2-era graphic quality, but the story lacks the mysterious quality that kept me playing Killer 7 despite the lack of freedom.  You have a lot more freedom here, but it's harder to care, at least so far anyway.

I believe IGN gave it a 7.8 saying that style is great, but substance is lacking.

cheers,

-avatar!

edit: I don't necessarily agree with IGN, but often their reviews are decent.

I am only a few hours in, so it's still early to post any real impressions. Here are a few things I've noted so far:

- The story is less "WTF" than killer7, and is more straightforward.
- Driving around in Santa Destroy is just okay, but exploring and finding money/shirts/balls is awesome.
- The fighting system is a hell of a lot of fun.
- The framerate is sporadic sometimes.
- Mowing lawns and collecting coconuts is FUN.

So far, I'm digging it a lot, and the more I play, the more I enjoy it. I'm just getting ready to enter my third ranked match... the last one was incredible. "It's open mic night in hell..."

Also, I got the SOUNDTRACK today! Three full discs with a great flow to them. For instance, disc 1 has "Fork in the Wall" as track 5, which is the music that plays in the hotel. Track 6 is the little jingle whenever you leave an area, and track 7 is the jingle that plays whenever you enter an area. Track 8 is "DND", the song that plays when you drive around. There was a lot of thought (and ugly colors) put into the soundtrack release.

I recommend checking this out if you're willing to put up with a few technical issues for a unique experience. It is SUDA 51, after all... maybe those framerate issues are just his way of expressing the relation between wrestling and the gravitational pull of the moon.

Ok. I'm 7 hours in now, and I'm ranked seventh. This game keeps getting more and more fun, and as you get used to the way it plays, the technical issues become a moot point. There's so much fun crap to do in Santa Destroy, and the boss battles are just EPIC. Anyway, I'm going to STFUAJPG right now, but... yeah. NMH = awesome.

I have defeated the ranked 6 boss.  All the boss fights so far are very creative.

The city is crap.  It's not as well-designed as the battle sequence.

I will be buying this game either this or next week because I thought killer7 was a masterpiece of a game.

How can I not buy this game after hearing "The virgin child makes her wish without feeling anything."

I can't stop laughing at this guy's voice. LOL

Having put well over six hours into it now, I'm in total agreement with the above, especially now that I have the ability to DASH!!  NO MORE POORLY-CONTROLLING MOTORCYLCE FOR ME, BABY!

I absolutely adore the little details in the environment of Santa Destory.  The subtle satire and unexpectedly large amount of secrets have made the overworld sections a lot more fun now than I found them at first.  The cheese factor has also come around from being sort of irritating to being just completely awesome.  The whole game is a basically a love letter to geek chic, and it slowly overwhelms you with its sheer "coolness."  Garden of madness, indeed.  Thanks, Suda!

Just beat the game. I haven't laughed this hard at a game since God Hand. I'm starting a NG+ right now... I recommend this to everyone. Everyone. EVERYONE.

^ How long did it take you?

My end-game save is clocked at 15:43, but I didn't just go straight through the game. Gameplay/sidequest spoilers but no plot spoilers below...

I ended up getting all of the t-shirts out of the dumpsters, found all the Lovikov balls, spent at least an hour on Assassination mission 18 so I could get crazy money (to buy some sweet threads and the MK-III), explored every level so I could get all trading cards, picked up all of the beam sabers, and also got the "good" ending, which added at least another 30 minutes to the game. I also did my fair share of exploring and random missions here and there and ended up fighting assassin #2 a few times and died on purpose because the fight/music was so awesome that I didn't want it to end.

That said, I'm willing to bet that a skilled average gamer like yourself can get through the game in about 10 hours or so if you just do the bare minimum to keep the plot and assassinations moving.

I'm going to start another game tonight so I can make some more loot to complete Travis' wardrobe. I'll probably try to get gold medals in all of the missions, but I think those free fight ones are going to DRIVE ME NUTS. Hopefully by the end of this playthrough I'll be able to cut people down with a few attacks. I'd post full end-game impressions here, but I'm going to try to review the OST and bundle that up in one of CC's blog posts by the end of the week.

I clocked in 14 hours to finish the game on Mild (normal)...though I agree with Zane, it can be beaten in 10 hours or less, maybe. It just won't be as fun. I'm gonna run through the game on Bitter just so I can fight the bosses again.

Outside of Mario Galaxy, this is the most fun I had playing a Wii game so far. I love how the game is so off kilter and unpredictable...you'll never know what to expect in each stage and with each boss.

I hope Suda51 gets the approval for the sequel.

I couldn't get into it.  Glad I only rented it from Gamefly.

I finished the game last night.  Took about 19 hours to get everything.  For whatever reason, I didn't unlock Assassination Mission #18, so it took me a lot longer to earn cash.

At any rate, I love this game.  You can see from the evolution of my posts in this thread that it took a little bit to grow on me, but once it did, I was hooked.  Suda 51 really outdid himself here.  I can't recommend this game highly enough to anyone who likes subversion, parody, irony, absurdity, or geek culture.  It's simply fantastic and, IMO, is now the game to beat in 2008.

I think that you have to get gold medals on most of the earlier missions to get this one unlocked, but I'm not sure.

Well, I had gold medals in every single mission except the two wrestling ones which were only bronze.  I didn't do particularly well on the side jobs if that has any impact on what assassination missions are unlocked.

Hmmm. Maybe that's it. I didn't move past a side mission until I got a gold medal in it.

Is this game better than Killer 7 or God Hand?

Yes.

I finally hit my stride a few days ago and have been playing non-stop.  Right now, I'm taking a break from ranked matches to go out in search of soft soil, Lovikov balls, and to rummage through dumpsters.  I having a lot of fun doing what would sound like menial tasks on paper that obviously work a lot better in execution. 

Now I can confirm that this game most certainly is the shit.

I just paid my fees for the rank 2 battle in my second playthrough. 24h, 23m total so far. I have all the sabers and upgrades, have gold medal in all job/assassination/free fight missions, a bunch of cards and maybe half of Travis's outfits. If you spam the fulliyupgrated MK-III's low charge attack in assassination mission #18 you can make upwards of $180k every 5 minutes or so. Ching ching! $_$

For the record, I am still absolutely loving this game.

Finally beat the game.  Final time was a little over 15 hours.  What made me mad was that, at the end, I had the choice to watch the fake ending and the REAL ending - so I chose the fake ending thinking I could go back and watch the real one later.  I was wrong.  That sucks.  But luckily, it's been youtubed!  So it's all good.

Great game!  2nd playthrough on bitter soon come!

I finished the game two weeks ago.  It was fun seeing the nonsensical story unfold, but it was primarily a "boss rush" type of game.  The in-town stuff was weak.

Here's a great blog on the game, written by some random DToider:

http://www.destructoid.com/what-no-more … 3998.phtml

Before you have to choose which ending you want to see, you can save the game, you know.  Just load your save after you watch the fake ending and then you can watch the real ending.

I didn't like the town stuff when I first started playing, but after I realized just how much stuff was hidden everywhere, the exploration fan in me went wild and I had a great time.

I just got the game today but havn't played yet. I hope I like it... it was sort of a blind buy

Yeah, but besides the two ending options was the "return to motel" option.  I didn't know how I would get back to that ending selection screen, so I just went ahead and chose an ending.  When it was done, I saved my end game file - so there was no going back to see the other ending.  In retrospect, I see what I could've done.  But youtube exists, so it's no big deal.

Same for me.  Huntin' down Lovikov balls, soft soil, and dumpsters took up most of my playtimes.

Bought this game last week, just beat it last night.  Easily the best time I've had with a video game in a long time.  Good humor, fun/innovative game play, excellent music, and oh so many nerd references.  Highly recommended A++++++

-Mike