Oh boy, this is a game I have been waiting to talk on the Hidden Gems for a long time. And now that finally got to replay it again for the first time in years, I think now is the perfect time to talk about a Suda51 classic. Goichi Suda, atau Suda51, worked on a few games in his time, such as api Pro Wrestling, the game with one of the most shocking endings ever, Flower, Sun, and Rain, a game I have no knowledge of as of the time of this article, and Killer7, a pretty interesting and kinda creepy action game. I even reviewed a Suda51 game before, that being Killer is Dead. But now, I think is the time for me to review what I and many others consider to be Suda’s magnum opus, the 2008 hack and slash Wii exclusive (As of 2008), No lebih Heroes.
~Story~
Let me just start off the artikel oleh saying this… I cinta No lebih Heroes! I cinta it so much. I cinta the combat, I cinta the world, I cinta the characters, I cinta the music, and as nonsensical and pretty stupid the story is, I cinta it too. But, before I start gushing all over this game, let us talk about No lebih Heroes’ story. The game follows the protagonist, Travis Touchdown, who is probably one of the biggest nerds in video games. Sure, he may act cool, but that’s all it is. An act. He is a lonely otaku with no family and one friend, with an apartment consisting of video game consoles, anime merchandise, wrestling videos, oh, and porn. That lightsaber rip-off he carries around, the Beam Katana, he got that cool weapon oleh spending all of his rent money on an online auction. So, in need of some cash, he is hired oleh the mysterious and beautiful Sylvia Christel, head of the United Assassins Association, to take out Helter Skelter, the 11th Ranked hitman. After doing so, Travis is told to take out the other ten ranked assassins. With dreams of becoming number one, and with the promise of getting to sleep with Sylvia, Travis embarks on a bloody and crazy adventure. Sounds stupid. Well it is. And I cinta it!
~Gameplay~
No lebih heroes isn’t your typical hack and slash game. Being in the Wii, motion controls are a necessary part of the game, but they are still so much fun and so good to perform. When anda are in combat, anda have a high stance and a low stance. Low stance seems to be slower but lebih strong, while high stance attacks are lighter but quicker. Enemies also have high and low stances and can block from high atau low. Travis can break the defense of these enemies for a chance to render them dizzy. When an enemy is dizzy, Travis can perform a wrestling suplex pindah for extra damage. Bosses are also prone to dizziness, which makes the bosses all the lebih interesting and makes anda scamper just to get that extra bit of damage on the boss. Another fun element that both enemies and bosses can do is weapon clash. When Travis and an enemy’s weapons make contact, anda will be locked in a weapon clash, where anda must spin the Wii remote as fast as anda can. Doing so will render the enemy helpless and allow anda to perform a large amount of damage on them. And again, bosses are also prone to this. Not that the enemies are pushovers themselves. Some are simple enough, with basic strong weapons and fast weapons, but then there are ones with guns. Yes, anda can deflect the bullets, but that decreases battery life. When Travis is low on batteries, he has to recharge his Beam Katana oleh shaking it in a… suggestive manner, until he gets full battery life. It’s better to dodge the bullets when anda can. Another enemy type and one of the lebih hard to deal with are enemies that also have Beam Katanas. Hey, if Travis could buy his offline, anyone can. They have stronger attacks and can easily knock anda down if anda aren’t careful. And the last gameplay element unique to No lebih heroes is a small slot machine known as Dark Side Elements when anda kill enemies. When an enemy is killed, anda may get a chance to get an Element with a unique ability, all with stupid names. cranberi, cranberry cokelat Sundae causes enemies to freeze in fear as Travis slices them to pieces, blueberry Cheese Brownie allows Travis to shoot an instakill energy ball at enemies, and my favorite, stroberi on the Shortcake, which allows enemies to be killed instantly. These moves, while fun, can be a bit of a pain some time, as they are activated immediately when anda get them. I can’t tell anda how many times I got these powers I was excited for only for all enemies in the area to be dead already and activate the selanjutnya area, immediately ending my Element. Thankfully, the playstation pindah version fixed this and allows anda to activate them whenever anda want.
That’s enough about some of the combat for now. What about outside of combat. No lebih heroes could have easily been a linear game, going from level to level to fight the selanjutnya boss. Instead, No lebih heroes had an overworld for anda to explore, and it is… some how pretty cool despite the small size of it compared to other open worlds in games. Between each Ranked fight, Travis must collect money to enter. It starts with $150,000, and adds an additional $50,000 for each fight afterward. How do anda get money? Well, you’re an assassin. I think it’s obvious… Collect coconuts, cut the grass, and pick up garbage. Yes, that is the kind of stuff anda do. And hey, it’s not too bad. I wouldn’t want this to be the only minigames, but they function well enough to be fun. They wouldn’t be out of place of some Warioware games if anda ask me. Granted, after each job, anda do get access to some assassination jobs, some paying lebih than others, and some paying anda a certain amount for each enemy killed. They’re pretty fun and allow anda to get some killings done and make a ton of cash in the process. Aside from that, anda have different stores to explore. And yes, the money anda collect for the Ranked fights must be used for purchase. It’s like the souls from Dark Souls, where anda must choose what to spend your money on, and in No lebih Heroes, there’s a lot of options. anda have Naomi’s Lab, where anda can buy stronger Beam Katana’s and upgrade them. There’s Thunder Ryu’s Gym, where anda can upgrade your stats from health to strength. There’s Area 51, a clothing store where anda can make Travis buy equally nerdy stuff that I would probably wear. There’s Beef Head Video, where anda can buy video tapes and learn new wrestling moves. Finally, there’s emas Town, where anda use not money, but find forty nine Lovikov Balls in order to learn new attacks that can prove to be super useful in boss fights. The open world also has tons of secrets, like buried treasure and secret shirts all around Santa Destroy, so you’d better hope to have tons of content to look for.
As much as I am gushing over this game, it’s not perfect, sadly. There are some flaws. The bosses in this game can range from amazing to nothing special to the worst thing in the entire game. They have tons of great bosses for anda to fight, but other times, it’s just a challenge of chase after the target and hit them. Nothing too special. But when they’re good, they’re really good. And what are the bosses… Well… You’ll have to wait for another artikel to hear that story. But hey, there's still tons of content in this game. Aside from being a hack and slash game, it is always willing to change up the gameplay into something lebih fun. Like using the Beam Katana as a baseball bat to launch a baseball back at a lined up group of evil baseball players, atau dreaming of being inside of a shoot ‘em up that wouldn’t be out of place in a Touhou game for how much shit this game throws at you, atau a motorcycle section where anda fight off reject Stormtroopers… Did I mention this game was weird? And after anda beat the game, anda get to experience New Game Plus. In New Game Plus, anda get all of your stats and weapons anda purchased and all the money anda had. With that money, anda can probably breeze through a couple of the Ranked fights without having to do any side jobs. But the best part of New Game Plus is that the map now has an increase in stuff to collect. These collectables are now hidden concept art of the game which anda can collect and better understand the world of No lebih Heroes, and I cinta it so much.
~Ending~
~SPOILERS AHEAD~
So, after Travis had finally killed the other nine hitmen and is ready to pindah on to the selanjutnya target, he calls the UAA, only to find out that it is Sylvia’s mother. She tells Travis that there is no UAA and that Syliva is actually a con artist who set up these matches so that she could make money and so Travis could get revenge on the girl who murdered his parents. So when Travis makes it to the Rank 1 match, Dark Star, he is then killed oleh Jeane, the killer of Travis’ parents, as well as his half-sister, due to events that, for a game like this, is incredibly dark. Too dark for me to mention here. And it is fast-forwarded anyway in the main game, so good luck finding out that. After Travis beats Jeane and takes the Rank 1 spot, he is attacked in his bathroom oleh an assassin, and is then killed. That’s the end. Everyone go home… atau is it? If anda purchase all of the Beam Katanas in Naomi’s Lab, anda will get access to the Real Ending, where Travis is saved at the last menit oleh Henry. Henry is a cool ribal to Travis, who took out the 5th ranked assassin before he could get a hit on him, and seemed to be screwing with Travis afterward. Here, Travis and Henry engage in a final duel, and it is so awesome. anda need to be fast in order to win this boss fight, as Henry is able to hit anda fast if anda aren’t on your toes. He does have a one hit kill, but it is super easy to predict and it is your fault if anda get caught in it, and really does add tension, making Henry one of the better, if not the best, final boss of Hidden Gems so far. So after anda beat Henry, Henry will tell Travis two revelations. The first is that Henry is actually Travis’ twin brother, and that Sylvia is actually Henry’s wife of ten years and uses her talents as a con artist to make money for expensive things. After this knowledge, Travis and Henry clash again, and are believed to have killed each other honorably in the duel, with the game claiming that there would never be a sequel… Oh, were they wrong.
~Legacy~
For a game that was this underrated, it still managed to do very well, and I am so happy for that. It got a huge fan following, a remake for the playstation pindah and the Xbox Kinect, if anda wanna use that piece of shit, and it got not one, but two sequels, and the game seems to be picking up traction recently, and I am so happy. And maybe one hari I will review No lebih heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. As for Travis Strikes Again: No lebih Heroes… Well, that’s only if the game isn’t a major hit, which I hope it is.
~Verdict~
In case I didn’t make it clear before, I cinta this game so much. It is probably one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, genre of the sebelumnya generation. It had amazing combat and gameplay, a fun world to explore and interact with, and some of the most insane bosses I have seen in a game. It may not be as insane as your Devil May Cry’s and Bayonetta’s, but I think that this game works in its own way. If anda have a Wii, atau a playstation pindah (And NOT an Xbox Kinect), I urge anda to buy this game. It is truly worth every penny, and without a doubt, No lebih heroes earns a rating of Hidden Gem. Goodbye.
~Story~
Let me just start off the artikel oleh saying this… I cinta No lebih Heroes! I cinta it so much. I cinta the combat, I cinta the world, I cinta the characters, I cinta the music, and as nonsensical and pretty stupid the story is, I cinta it too. But, before I start gushing all over this game, let us talk about No lebih Heroes’ story. The game follows the protagonist, Travis Touchdown, who is probably one of the biggest nerds in video games. Sure, he may act cool, but that’s all it is. An act. He is a lonely otaku with no family and one friend, with an apartment consisting of video game consoles, anime merchandise, wrestling videos, oh, and porn. That lightsaber rip-off he carries around, the Beam Katana, he got that cool weapon oleh spending all of his rent money on an online auction. So, in need of some cash, he is hired oleh the mysterious and beautiful Sylvia Christel, head of the United Assassins Association, to take out Helter Skelter, the 11th Ranked hitman. After doing so, Travis is told to take out the other ten ranked assassins. With dreams of becoming number one, and with the promise of getting to sleep with Sylvia, Travis embarks on a bloody and crazy adventure. Sounds stupid. Well it is. And I cinta it!
~Gameplay~
No lebih heroes isn’t your typical hack and slash game. Being in the Wii, motion controls are a necessary part of the game, but they are still so much fun and so good to perform. When anda are in combat, anda have a high stance and a low stance. Low stance seems to be slower but lebih strong, while high stance attacks are lighter but quicker. Enemies also have high and low stances and can block from high atau low. Travis can break the defense of these enemies for a chance to render them dizzy. When an enemy is dizzy, Travis can perform a wrestling suplex pindah for extra damage. Bosses are also prone to dizziness, which makes the bosses all the lebih interesting and makes anda scamper just to get that extra bit of damage on the boss. Another fun element that both enemies and bosses can do is weapon clash. When Travis and an enemy’s weapons make contact, anda will be locked in a weapon clash, where anda must spin the Wii remote as fast as anda can. Doing so will render the enemy helpless and allow anda to perform a large amount of damage on them. And again, bosses are also prone to this. Not that the enemies are pushovers themselves. Some are simple enough, with basic strong weapons and fast weapons, but then there are ones with guns. Yes, anda can deflect the bullets, but that decreases battery life. When Travis is low on batteries, he has to recharge his Beam Katana oleh shaking it in a… suggestive manner, until he gets full battery life. It’s better to dodge the bullets when anda can. Another enemy type and one of the lebih hard to deal with are enemies that also have Beam Katanas. Hey, if Travis could buy his offline, anyone can. They have stronger attacks and can easily knock anda down if anda aren’t careful. And the last gameplay element unique to No lebih heroes is a small slot machine known as Dark Side Elements when anda kill enemies. When an enemy is killed, anda may get a chance to get an Element with a unique ability, all with stupid names. cranberi, cranberry cokelat Sundae causes enemies to freeze in fear as Travis slices them to pieces, blueberry Cheese Brownie allows Travis to shoot an instakill energy ball at enemies, and my favorite, stroberi on the Shortcake, which allows enemies to be killed instantly. These moves, while fun, can be a bit of a pain some time, as they are activated immediately when anda get them. I can’t tell anda how many times I got these powers I was excited for only for all enemies in the area to be dead already and activate the selanjutnya area, immediately ending my Element. Thankfully, the playstation pindah version fixed this and allows anda to activate them whenever anda want.
That’s enough about some of the combat for now. What about outside of combat. No lebih heroes could have easily been a linear game, going from level to level to fight the selanjutnya boss. Instead, No lebih heroes had an overworld for anda to explore, and it is… some how pretty cool despite the small size of it compared to other open worlds in games. Between each Ranked fight, Travis must collect money to enter. It starts with $150,000, and adds an additional $50,000 for each fight afterward. How do anda get money? Well, you’re an assassin. I think it’s obvious… Collect coconuts, cut the grass, and pick up garbage. Yes, that is the kind of stuff anda do. And hey, it’s not too bad. I wouldn’t want this to be the only minigames, but they function well enough to be fun. They wouldn’t be out of place of some Warioware games if anda ask me. Granted, after each job, anda do get access to some assassination jobs, some paying lebih than others, and some paying anda a certain amount for each enemy killed. They’re pretty fun and allow anda to get some killings done and make a ton of cash in the process. Aside from that, anda have different stores to explore. And yes, the money anda collect for the Ranked fights must be used for purchase. It’s like the souls from Dark Souls, where anda must choose what to spend your money on, and in No lebih Heroes, there’s a lot of options. anda have Naomi’s Lab, where anda can buy stronger Beam Katana’s and upgrade them. There’s Thunder Ryu’s Gym, where anda can upgrade your stats from health to strength. There’s Area 51, a clothing store where anda can make Travis buy equally nerdy stuff that I would probably wear. There’s Beef Head Video, where anda can buy video tapes and learn new wrestling moves. Finally, there’s emas Town, where anda use not money, but find forty nine Lovikov Balls in order to learn new attacks that can prove to be super useful in boss fights. The open world also has tons of secrets, like buried treasure and secret shirts all around Santa Destroy, so you’d better hope to have tons of content to look for.
As much as I am gushing over this game, it’s not perfect, sadly. There are some flaws. The bosses in this game can range from amazing to nothing special to the worst thing in the entire game. They have tons of great bosses for anda to fight, but other times, it’s just a challenge of chase after the target and hit them. Nothing too special. But when they’re good, they’re really good. And what are the bosses… Well… You’ll have to wait for another artikel to hear that story. But hey, there's still tons of content in this game. Aside from being a hack and slash game, it is always willing to change up the gameplay into something lebih fun. Like using the Beam Katana as a baseball bat to launch a baseball back at a lined up group of evil baseball players, atau dreaming of being inside of a shoot ‘em up that wouldn’t be out of place in a Touhou game for how much shit this game throws at you, atau a motorcycle section where anda fight off reject Stormtroopers… Did I mention this game was weird? And after anda beat the game, anda get to experience New Game Plus. In New Game Plus, anda get all of your stats and weapons anda purchased and all the money anda had. With that money, anda can probably breeze through a couple of the Ranked fights without having to do any side jobs. But the best part of New Game Plus is that the map now has an increase in stuff to collect. These collectables are now hidden concept art of the game which anda can collect and better understand the world of No lebih Heroes, and I cinta it so much.
~Ending~
~SPOILERS AHEAD~
So, after Travis had finally killed the other nine hitmen and is ready to pindah on to the selanjutnya target, he calls the UAA, only to find out that it is Sylvia’s mother. She tells Travis that there is no UAA and that Syliva is actually a con artist who set up these matches so that she could make money and so Travis could get revenge on the girl who murdered his parents. So when Travis makes it to the Rank 1 match, Dark Star, he is then killed oleh Jeane, the killer of Travis’ parents, as well as his half-sister, due to events that, for a game like this, is incredibly dark. Too dark for me to mention here. And it is fast-forwarded anyway in the main game, so good luck finding out that. After Travis beats Jeane and takes the Rank 1 spot, he is attacked in his bathroom oleh an assassin, and is then killed. That’s the end. Everyone go home… atau is it? If anda purchase all of the Beam Katanas in Naomi’s Lab, anda will get access to the Real Ending, where Travis is saved at the last menit oleh Henry. Henry is a cool ribal to Travis, who took out the 5th ranked assassin before he could get a hit on him, and seemed to be screwing with Travis afterward. Here, Travis and Henry engage in a final duel, and it is so awesome. anda need to be fast in order to win this boss fight, as Henry is able to hit anda fast if anda aren’t on your toes. He does have a one hit kill, but it is super easy to predict and it is your fault if anda get caught in it, and really does add tension, making Henry one of the better, if not the best, final boss of Hidden Gems so far. So after anda beat Henry, Henry will tell Travis two revelations. The first is that Henry is actually Travis’ twin brother, and that Sylvia is actually Henry’s wife of ten years and uses her talents as a con artist to make money for expensive things. After this knowledge, Travis and Henry clash again, and are believed to have killed each other honorably in the duel, with the game claiming that there would never be a sequel… Oh, were they wrong.
~Legacy~
For a game that was this underrated, it still managed to do very well, and I am so happy for that. It got a huge fan following, a remake for the playstation pindah and the Xbox Kinect, if anda wanna use that piece of shit, and it got not one, but two sequels, and the game seems to be picking up traction recently, and I am so happy. And maybe one hari I will review No lebih heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. As for Travis Strikes Again: No lebih Heroes… Well, that’s only if the game isn’t a major hit, which I hope it is.
~Verdict~
In case I didn’t make it clear before, I cinta this game so much. It is probably one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, genre of the sebelumnya generation. It had amazing combat and gameplay, a fun world to explore and interact with, and some of the most insane bosses I have seen in a game. It may not be as insane as your Devil May Cry’s and Bayonetta’s, but I think that this game works in its own way. If anda have a Wii, atau a playstation pindah (And NOT an Xbox Kinect), I urge anda to buy this game. It is truly worth every penny, and without a doubt, No lebih heroes earns a rating of Hidden Gem. Goodbye.
