1. What makes Travis' Schpeletiger new is that it is now twice as long (in addition to the better controls).
2. This has already been verified, but there have been doubts and concerns as to how Grasshopper is going to have 50 unique bosses, from their appearance to actual fighting capabilities. Suda explains to EDGE that basically there is nothing to worry about as they incorporated both the original NMH development team and the NMH2 team (many members being of both teams including the character creator) to brainstorm and according to Suda they had no problems shooting out several ideas and characters from that.
3. The name of the "schoolgirl assassin" we all know about is Kimmy. How appropriate. Suda also mentions that Kimmy wants to keep Travis "all to her self." Possible Misery references?
4. At the end of every boss fight, a 2D image of Travis will walk from one end of the screen to the other to hop onto the Schpeletiger and drive off, accompanied by some new piece of midi music.
5. The idea of Travis using other weapons, even projectiles, was considered by Suda, but ultimately canned as Suda says that the sword/beam katana is what Travis should always use. Suda calls Travis the "modern samurai."
6. It was implied that Bishop actually does not die or get killed off, as the article explains that Bishop will have a bigger role to play in the game. At the same time, Suda says that "Travis is fighting for himself" not for anyone else. Travis is fighting for revenge, but perhaps for someone else other than Bishop?
7. Speaking more specifically on the city, Suda explains that Travis had actually left Santa Destroy for those three years, and it wasn't until he came back that he had seen how much it had changed. Where Travis had gone is not said. Only a portion of the original city will be traveled, based on fan responses on the first game. The streets and sidewalks will be much more busier and cars will "get out of the way" of Travis' bike. There are construction signs and lights everywhere. One of the fighting grounds will be a "new school", "construction yard", and a graveyard. Not sure if the school is new in the sense that it is an additional one to the Santa Destroy High School or if it is just a remodeled SDHS.
8. There are still side jobs such as coconut collecting and a new one involving plumbing. Suda explains that he still wants the player to feel like he has to work hard to play the game as that is what it means to be a punk. Otherwise, he says, there is a disconnect between the videogame world and reality. Still, the side jobs are still improved and provide humor as well as entertainment.
9. It is confirmed that Destroyman comes back as a cyborg as wanting revenge against, who else, Travis.
10. Finally, the bosses themselves: it will not be as difficult, time consuming, and at times boring to collect enough money to advance to the next boss fight. In fact, Suda purposely wanted to mix things up to keep it from getting repetitive by having Shinobu and Henry as playable characters and, at times, fighting more than one boss fight, sometimes one right after the other, and sometimes simultaneously.
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My fear is that the combat would be as repetitive as the original and of course the boring overworld remains.
They need to revamp the combat focus a lot more on defense and parrying, probably add more weapons than just that sword.
My hope is that the game features wildy imaginative boss battles. Killer 7 and NMH had some stand outs, usually the ones that aren't traditional sword battles. I want the game to be filled with surprising mini games, I loved the part where you turned the wiimote sideways and played a 2D game.
It had me at the women being thrown.
I actually like the combat in the game, I think its very well done control wise, defending works well too. It's better than Madworld in combat terms. I am worried about the jobs which were boring as hell and are returning now. And the overworld, which I hoped they would just cut.
But more than anything polish is what I am worried about. I want a stable freaking framerate for one.
IGN-preview
Many of the daily job missions from the first title have been converted into spectacularly old-school 2D games sure to please the retro fan in all of us. Although the open world nature of the first title has not been sacrificed, Touchdown will no longer need to run through it to collect coconuts to gain money; this takes place in a classic 2D game, alongside ones that allow him to shoot, race and even prepare food as a chef.
The combat stage throws Travis into a few fights against just as many enemy types and the controls will feel largely familiar to those of you who played the first game. the AI is noticeably improved -- you can cycle between your lock-ons by tapping the Z button, which works adequately most of the time.
When you go on the offensive, it's no joke. Developer Grasshopper Manufacture has expanded upon the already fast and intuitive fight system created for the original game. You can very satisfyingly string together katana and melee combos -- two or three swipes of your beam and then a swift kick to the chest will send an enemy crashing into a wall. It feels great. Travis will yell, "You're weak!" and "You're a joke!" as foes scream "Help me, boss!" before being dismembered in bloody sprays of gore.
press the 2 button and the character will cycle between single and double beams; Travis will dual wield if you choose the latter. In the video featurette, you will also notice that he eventually gains access to a larger katana beam, which possesses greater reach, but is also heavier
The demo comes to a close during a vicious fight with a boss character seen in previous footage. He's half rapper and half Celtic clansman and carries a ghetto blaster on his shoulders that transforms into a protective shell of speakers for his arms. Yeah -- it's definitely a Suda 51 game. As Travis enters the room, the enemy is flanked on both sides by beautiful afro women. The two exchange words like, "'I've got a shit ton of anger to work out!" Shortly after, the boss unexpectedly picks up his women and hurls them both at the antihero. Within seconds, the ladies are cut limb from limb -- twisted collateral damage and the penalty for standing in the middle of the two fighters as they clash beams.
Although too brief, this glimpse into No More Heroes 2 has me incredibly excited to play more. I always thought the original game had fun gameplay mechanics and an amazing style, but lacked polish. The sequel -- at least so far -- seems to add in the extra finesse, from the streamlined combat to the sparkly visuals, enhanced by little extras like bloom lighting. Also, it's worth noting that the framerate is rock steady throughout both stages, which is hopefully a sign of things to come.
Few extracts^^^
The trailer and more videos are at the IGN preview link up top.