Topic: No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle

[D_Average]

I went to Mild and haven't turned back.

The second boss battle, the giant football guy, and his groupies, summon a giant mech. Also, the groupies all look the same and have boobie physics. This is the greatest thing ever.

I concur with both sentiments.

[Kytim89]

For some reason No More Heroes 2 is not showing up in my gameplay records on my Nintendo Channel. You know the one where it tells you how many hours you have played a particular game and how many times. I have played nearly two hours worth of the game and still nothing. The first game is on there with 14 hours and 12 plays.

[Mop it up]

For some reason No More Heroes 2 is not showing up in my gameplay records on my Nintendo Channel. You know the one where it tells you how many hours you have played a particular game and how many times. I have played nearly two hours worth of the game and still nothing. The first game is on there with 14 hours and 12 plays.

Is the game listed in the database yet? Is your system set to the correct date and time?

[Stratos]

I'm pretty sure the game is in the database. Are you exiting to the Wii menu before shutting off the system or are you just turning the system off mid-game? That can impact your recorded stats.

[Mop it up]

Has that been confirmed? In my experience, that doesn't make any difference.

[Stratos]

Has that been confirmed? In my experience, that doesn't make any difference.

Really? I thought some people had said that their numbers were off and the only thing that seemed to make sense was remote system shutdown. I'll check my NMH2 numbers on the save file and compare it to my Nintendo Channel totals since I have forgotten to escape to the Wii Menu before shutting down with that game a few times and the number is small.

[vudu]

I don't think a game appears on the Nintendo Channel until it has 50,000 hours of play time logged.

[broodwars]

I finally caved in and picked up the game today, and I'm now Rank 25 on Sweet Difficulty (I'll play Mild my second time through.  I just want to enjoy my first time through).  So far, this game is like they took just about everything I despised from the first game and chucked it out an airlock.  I'm not a fan of all the retro games so far (I don't particularly care for the racing game, as it's extremely hard for me to avoid hitting cars due to the sheer speed and slippery controls of the bike...even if I'm actively trying to avoid them), but they are at least fun where the first game's minigames weren't.  There seems to be a much greater emphasis on presentation this time around, and while it doesn't always come off well (there's frequent framerate droppage in background objects during cutscenes and Travis' beam katana seems to glitch in place for a moment if you change stances while standing) it does look and flow very well on this TV.

And hey, the stupid slot machine bonuses trigger when they can actually be of help this time around.  I've gotten the Tiger 3 times already, Triple-7s once, and Triple-Berries once.

Boss battles can be a bit annoying, though (the rockets and lasers during Rank 50 match were irritating), and there still doesn't seem to be a reason I can see to ever use the low stance when fighting.

[Dirk Temporo]

It does more damage, yo.

[EasyCure]

Be sure to use your Ecstacy gauge in boss battles!!

[broodwars]

Be sure to use your Ecstacy gauge in boss battles!!

Yeah, that was easy enough on the giant robot battle, but against Jukebox O'Reilly I couldn't rack up enough hits in a row to get the Tiger roaring so I could bust out the Omnislash.  I just have to get used to the No More Heroes combat system again.

[EasyCure]

In time, you'll get there. Remember to use the dodge moves in tight spots and try not to go crazy on the combos; get a few hits in, roll away to doge an attack, and back to slashing. You'll get your gauge up in no time.

[broodwars]

Oh Suda 51...it's always 1 step forward, 2 steps back with you isn't it?  You go to all the trouble to program a new playable character with jumping ability, and then set out to give them the worst goddamn jumping abilities I've seen since Castlevania 64.  I managed to beat that "bank" boss on my first try, but barely.  The only reason I had so much trouble with him is that he kept running to higher platforms, which meant having to jump...and miss...and jump...and miss because the jumping's so stiff, all the meanwhile him constantly getting cheap potshots at me.  Also, for some bizarre reason in that battle only the dodge command doesn't work, so he kept pointing his gun in my face and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.  And the new character only has like 3 different lines in the entirety of combat, so you get to hear them all repeated over and over again.  Argh...

Enjoyable game otherwise, though I'm really starting to feel cheated on the number of boss fights now.  It started with 51, then two fights later got reduced to 25, then a few more fights, and then reduced again to 10.  C'mon, Suda...don't say it's a 50-rank game if you're only going to have us fight 13-14.

[Kytim89]

No More Heroes 2 appeared on my games record this morning. I have logged in about 5 hours of game play and I just beat New Destroymen.

[broodwars]

Well, I finished the game.  I maxed full strength and stamina, so once the game just gave me the most powerful weapon in the game (the dual Beam-Katana) nothing posed a challenge ever again.  It makes me wonder why I went to so much trouble to scrounge up the cash for the two beam sabers you can purchase, because I never used them again.

Overall, the game was good and it certainly feels more complete than the first No More Heroes, but the game's still very rough around the core gameplay and Suda 51 still hasn't figured out good level design (seriously, what was with all the pointless walking leading up to the Rank 2 area, not to mention the pointless bike ride to the Rank 3 battle and the godawful camera of the motorcycle battle?  It also felt like 1/3 of the bosses were completely ****ing arbitrary, with no real setup).  The ending just left me with a definite feeling of "wait, what...that was it?"  A fun game, but not one I'm likely to ever replay.

[D_Average]

Well said on the jumping, that level was a mess, with the camera doing its own thing to screw you over as the boss changed platforms.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This game makes me appreciate video games.  Just started tonight.

Playing on Mild.  There's no excuse to play on Sweet if you've played the first one.

[ShyGuy]

The jumping is a pain. Enjoying the return characters, more than I expected. Only disappointing boss to me so far was the one in the prison level.

[EasyCure]

Jumping wasn't as big a problem as I thought it'd be thanks to winy comments. I literally just finished playing both Shinobu stages and beat both Million Gunman and New Destroyman on my first try.

You know, I never really understood the fan appeal of Shinobu until getting to play as her, she's awesome. The game once again fails to mention certain moves though like her dash attack. Its not a big deal but I almost went half that first level not knowing I could do that move.

Have I mentioned I love this game?

Oh and I haven't yet tried the dual weilded katanas yet, but the Peony seems to make it a breeze to kill bosses... from that school girl to dr. Letz shake I used it exclusively as my boss battling sword.

[Stogi]

#50 was the zealot with the boomblaster right?

I'm surprised none of you mentioned this in your tips for stratos (unless I missed it) but you don't have to dodge his missiles.. you can swat them back at him with a well timed hit from your beam katana. It makes the fight SO much easier because it'll stun him long enough to get some good combos in and even one of those "finishers" or two. Also keep in mind that the Dark Side moves work a little different in this game...

In NMH1 you'd get those random power moves depending on the slots that show up when you get consecutive hits/kills, but this never happens in boss fights. With boss fights the only break you could hope for is the "dark side slide" (as I like to call it, which the game never explains) where you could tap left/right on the control stick as you're blocking which would make things go dark and slow-mo as travis would slide around his opponent to unlease a bigger than normal combo. Honestly I don't know how I got thru more than half the game without knowing about it...

Anyway that was the first game. In the sequel your Ecstacy gauge works differently, you'll still get the slots power ups, which still don't appear in boss fights... HOWEVER!...

with enough consecutive hits, without taking damage yourself.. your tiger will fill up to red (with a glowing white border) and you can hit the Minus button whenever you want to perform your Dark Side combos; screen goes dark, lock on your enemy and tap a like a motherfucker. Travis will do some Mattix style combo whee he's just a blur on the screen while your opponent just stands there and takes it like a bitch.

And yes, you can do those it boss fights. Better still, the end of the combo always let's you do a power/finisher slash. I haven't noticed if it kills your battery faster thnan normal or not but..

GOOD players will fight smart and juggle recharging between attacks or retreat to a relative safezone to recharge. Almost every fight has one. For instance for #50, the room where the energy/battery refills are, you can hide behind the wall safely from the Boss' missiles while you do your thing. Without both above tips, I wouldn't of made it past that fat "psychotic ****" Matt.

You're welcome.

*claps*

Pre-edit: Your post reminds me of Grandma's Boy, where he was telling all those kids how to defeat a dragon. "Do you got the magic arrows?"

[EasyCure]

Don't mock me

Oh and in a strange turn of events, I've been able to do that "darkside slide" move twice during one oss fight (against Ryujii). I dunno what gives...

Also some of these boss fights, while awesome,lack the charm of those in NMH1. some of these people don't have any personalities.. like Ryujji

[Jonnyboy117]

NMH2 is on my TV stand, waiting to be started. Too many games!

[EasyCure]

NMH2 is on my TV stand, waiting to be started. Too many games!

Do yourself a favor and pop it open, try out the new minigames at least once, but plow thru the story mode. You no longer need to earn money to enter ranked battles, so you can finish it pretty quickly if you don't spend your time playing the mini games for money/upgrades.

Maybe you're more like me, though, and like taking your time with a game this good. It looks like i've already put 12hrs into this and I think I just made Rank #8 tonight. There was only one boss for me so far that took multiple attempts to beat, so a lot of my playtime is in the minigames just because they're so damn fun!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Sweet/Mild?

CHIPOTLE???

[EasyCure]

Sweet/Mild?

CHIPOTLE???

Dude, Sweet!

Sweet!, Dude!