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I KNEW there was a connection with Margaret and Alice. Seeing the very similar surnames in the credits got me thinking, but not being able to see the pictures...I hear the book she burns is a Killer7 reference.
The end of the Alice battle struck a chord with me, since I've played another Grasshopper Manufacture game, Contact, which dealt with a similar idea (is data alive?). I may blog about this. :O
The end of the Alice battle struck a chord with me, since I've played another Grasshopper Manufacture game, Contact, which dealt with a similar idea (is data alive?). I may blog about this. :O
I am loving all of these analysis Holmes. Beat me to the punch with my analysis but I do hope to compare and contrast our findings once I eventually get around to posting. But I think someone said it last time but it really is to see someone looking into NMH2 as an artistic creation and attempting to pull back the layers to find the deeper meanings. Awesome as always Holmes!
This, along with its precursor, are easily among the best articles I've seen on the site. Can't wait for part 3.
I hate to spoil the story for myself but these write ups and this game is just too interesting. Hopefully this will get ported like the first one.
Another interesting article.
Personally, my favorite boss battle was with Margaret and my favorite boss cut scene is easily New Destroyman's.
Personally, my favorite boss battle was with Margaret and my favorite boss cut scene is easily New Destroyman's.
Hey, way to tackle New Destroyman head on, Holmes. I was really disturbed by this part and no one else has really even wrestled with the weirdness and misogyny of the character yet. I'm glad to see you bring it up in such a thoughtful way. Thanks for shedding some light on it.
Abso-goddamn-lutely brilliant, Jonathan. These two boss analyses were beautiful, bravo. Though I feel the second game fell short of the first's greatness, I can't but help love the imagery that Suda puts into his writings (even if penning the storyline was all Goichi did for this game).
I completely missed that Vladimir's ties were cut.
I completely missed that Vladimir's ties were cut.
Interesting interpretation of Suda 51's creation. As anyone who has seen the infamous Gamefaqs Killer 7 analysis article will know, Suda 51 has a way of making games that really screw with gamers' heads.
Or who knows, maybe there really is no symbolism in Suda 51's work and he's just f*cking with us.
Or who knows, maybe there really is no symbolism in Suda 51's work and he's just f*cking with us.
I appreciate the articles. I didn't really enjoy No More Heroes 2 as much as I was hoping, but looking into the series further I'm finding some really cool stuff.
Lookin' forward to the conclusion.
Lookin' forward to the conclusion.
@ SquawkDerby- Care to elaborate?
Or anyone else see where he's coming from?
@ Everyone else- Thanks for reading that thing. I'm not sure I even like what I wrote, but there it is. It's amazing what having a deadline will cause you to come up with.
Or anyone else see where he's coming from?
@ Everyone else- Thanks for reading that thing. I'm not sure I even like what I wrote, but there it is. It's amazing what having a deadline will cause you to come up with.
@ Holmes.
Evidently a very well recieved article. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, the fact that you analysed anything by Suda51 and came out the other side vaguely sane shows that you have major cojones!
Evidently a very well recieved article. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, the fact that you analysed anything by Suda51 and came out the other side vaguely sane shows that you have major cojones!
"The lo-fi, humble trappings of Santa Destroy are being wiped out by Jasper Batt's company. This is a parallel to the gaming industry, where the types of low-budget, small developer games that used to be everywhere are slowly getting choked out by the EAs and the Activisions of the gaming world. That's something that Travis, or at least, the player, is supposed to care about."
Really ironic when you consider that Grasshopper is currently working on something with EA.
Really ironic when you consider that Grasshopper is currently working on something with EA.
I love these pieces you are doing I'm glad that we can deride so much thought from Suda's games I really hope that there will be more No More Heroes to come.
I have to say, I thought this was much more confident than Part 1. Very good read.
Regarding Alice, there was another thing that I think ties into the "Non-player character" theory: the photos that she starts burning seem to show off a secret life that the player knows nothing about, but apaprently exists. That, however, doesn't really matter to Travis or the player, so she is burning them, because once she dies, there won't be any record of her life.
When I run over someone in GTA, that pedestrian may have had his/her own personal life, but it doesn't matter at all to me, so that secret life may as well not exist.
Honestly, though, with Suda51 taking something of a backseat for NMH2, I'm wondering if a lot of this is just nonsensical ass-pulling. I like to think that it isn't, though.
Regarding Alice, there was another thing that I think ties into the "Non-player character" theory: the photos that she starts burning seem to show off a secret life that the player knows nothing about, but apaprently exists. That, however, doesn't really matter to Travis or the player, so she is burning them, because once she dies, there won't be any record of her life.
When I run over someone in GTA, that pedestrian may have had his/her own personal life, but it doesn't matter at all to me, so that secret life may as well not exist.
Honestly, though, with Suda51 taking something of a backseat for NMH2, I'm wondering if a lot of this is just nonsensical ass-pulling. I like to think that it isn't, though.
@ Trebz- I tend to think that there was more nonsensical ass-pulling in the original No More Heroes.
And good point about the photos. Alice couldn't have a personal life and be a videogame boss at the same time, and that's a sacrifice we should respect.
Damn, I sound so serious!
And good point about the photos. Alice couldn't have a personal life and be a videogame boss at the same time, and that's a sacrifice we should respect.
Damn, I sound so serious!
Bravo Mr. Holmes. Bravo. I love the articles, even if I would argue different things, and maybe my interpretation is different, specially on the relation with Bishop. As it was well said, Travis has shown that he cares, and while little is shown that visceral reaction of his makes me think that there was something more.Personally, i wouldn't bring the bike through the whole city to a shallow relationship. They are friends, but Bishop seems to keep his distance from the more personal aspects of Travis' life, as delegating the porn movie return date to en employee and not minding the killing, his only relation with it maybe being the present in this game, Rose Nasty, which may be very well a collector item. They keep some space for their own. Also, a lot of the relation are developed offscreen, as happened with henry, to whom he more or less seems to have come to an understanding, as they didn't look for each other so ferosiously in this game.
Also Bishop was his link with something else. Even if their relationship was lacking depth, every other character that he knows is related to the asesination world. Bishop may very well be his only way to look away form the madness of killing. Wich seeing the game realtes to the change of tone, as while assesiantion and normal life parts were balanced out it the first game, making the killing almost seem as a gme, here it is something real, more than the standard life of a citizen, which is now downplayed and even seen as more of a gmae, with the 8-bit style gmaes for that part of his life.
Well, maybe i'll blog about this, and my own interpretations, as it is a game that deserves this.
Waiting for the third entry of this.
Also Bishop was his link with something else. Even if their relationship was lacking depth, every other character that he knows is related to the asesination world. Bishop may very well be his only way to look away form the madness of killing. Wich seeing the game realtes to the change of tone, as while assesiantion and normal life parts were balanced out it the first game, making the killing almost seem as a gme, here it is something real, more than the standard life of a citizen, which is now downplayed and even seen as more of a gmae, with the 8-bit style gmaes for that part of his life.
Well, maybe i'll blog about this, and my own interpretations, as it is a game that deserves this.
Waiting for the third entry of this.
Excellent article Jonathan. Can't wait for part 3. I just finished the game last night, you were right in your initial review, the game requires a second playthrough to fully wrap your head around what's going on in the game.
great article. the bits about Mimmy and Ryuji were especially interesting. I do have one complaint (well, two, but both about the same segment) though, with regards to the segment about Alice. I'm not really sure where the GTA comparison comes from, but when playing that level, it seemed pretty clear to me that it was intended as a satire on Silent Hill 2. It started off with that fixed camera walk down the empty street with very Silent Hill-esque ambiance. also note that that segment has no enemies, which is a pretty clever jab at SH2's tendency to include large empty segments of linear path without anything actually going on in them. After a segment of combat through the city, you enter a dim apartment building, similar to the first indoor level of SH2, albeit simplified. you then leave the other side of the apartment building, which gave me the same "why didn't I just walk around it?" feeling I got from the Silent Hill games. and, of course, the level ends with you climbing up the fire escape of a building and fighting a woman on the roof, which for anyone who played SH2 all the way through, is more or less self explanatory. Anyways, feel free to disagree with me (it's just my interpretation, after all).
My other issue with the Alice segment is that it never really addresses the similarities between Alice and Holly Summers from the first game. I'm still working out the actual meaning, but I did notice some things when thinking back on it. From the prosthetic legs (Alice has a lot more, of course) to the characters' distinct wisdom, to their acceptance of death, not to mention their request for Travis not to forget them, There's definitely something there that you may have overlooked.
anyways, despite my criticisms, I'm really looking forward to part 3. The ending was one of the parts of No More Heroes where I felt that, from reading forum posts, the majority of players really missed the point of. A fact which saddens me because I found it to be an extremely moving way to complete Travis' own personal journey.
My other issue with the Alice segment is that it never really addresses the similarities between Alice and Holly Summers from the first game. I'm still working out the actual meaning, but I did notice some things when thinking back on it. From the prosthetic legs (Alice has a lot more, of course) to the characters' distinct wisdom, to their acceptance of death, not to mention their request for Travis not to forget them, There's definitely something there that you may have overlooked.
anyways, despite my criticisms, I'm really looking forward to part 3. The ending was one of the parts of No More Heroes where I felt that, from reading forum posts, the majority of players really missed the point of. A fact which saddens me because I found it to be an extremely moving way to complete Travis' own personal journey.
Jonathan thank you so much for writing this story and the one before it. Its so fun and interesting to think about the game in this way, even if our guesses are way freaking off. I havent bought the game yet, but i still wanted to read this because i love No More Heroes so much. I know when i finally play the game for myself i'll think back to this post , and the ones like it, to come to my own conclusions about the game, and appreciate it it all the more. The fact that destructoid has stories like this is one of the reasons i come back to destructoid again and again.
@Aaron:
The GTA feel comes very much form the urban/gang theme that is portrayed in the whole stage, or at least that was where I think it came. Still I think it is very interesting, as yes, the atmosphere of the stage has a SH feel to it, more so when you think that Alice's theme song, Twilight, was composed by the same man, reinforcing the eerie feeling that makes this stage close to the mythical terror saga. But then again the city enviroment and the waves of enemies seem more like a GTA game.
The GTA feel comes very much form the urban/gang theme that is portrayed in the whole stage, or at least that was where I think it came. Still I think it is very interesting, as yes, the atmosphere of the stage has a SH feel to it, more so when you think that Alice's theme song, Twilight, was composed by the same man, reinforcing the eerie feeling that makes this stage close to the mythical terror saga. But then again the city enviroment and the waves of enemies seem more like a GTA game.
Brilliant article, sir. I'm also trying to make my own analysis, and I have a different perspective about a few bosses - contact me if you're interested.
The million gunman part was enlightening, to say the least, I was really stuck on this one.
The million gunman part was enlightening, to say the least, I was really stuck on this one.
"He may have killed Jasper's family for cash in the first game, but that doesn't seem to be something he'd do now."
This had me rolling on the floor laughing, partially because I don't own a chair, but also because it was funny.
I finished the game tonight just so I could finish reading this article without spoilers.
Some of the analysis it doesn't seem like you've contemplated long enough, but as you've said- deadlines, and still overall I really liked these two articles. Really, there aren't too many video game news stories I'll read that are this long... well, except the Blatantly Better ones.
This had me rolling on the floor laughing, partially because I don't own a chair, but also because it was funny.
I finished the game tonight just so I could finish reading this article without spoilers.
Some of the analysis it doesn't seem like you've contemplated long enough, but as you've said- deadlines, and still overall I really liked these two articles. Really, there aren't too many video game news stories I'll read that are this long... well, except the Blatantly Better ones.
@ neoREgen- Do you think I'm exaggerating how much Travis hates the idea of killing for no reason by the end of the Alice fight? Maybe I am.
I guess we'll see in the sequel, if it ever gets made. Remember kids, get at least of of your friends to buy No More Heroes 2. It's good for them.
@ Phanto- I really hope you make a cblog about your perspective on NMH2, but if not, I'd be happy to hear about them via PM.
@ Aaron- I would have never thought of SH2. To me, that open sequence in Alice's stage is about 2 things; cinematic pacing, and the sudden revelation that you have established yourself as the ruler of a city, for better or worse. Those are the 2 things that GTA prides itself on, and pretty much the only 2 things that I like about the series.
Still, that's not to say that your idea about SH2 is wrong. I just don't see it as clearly as the GTA connection.
As for Alice and Holly, while they both definitely illicit sympathy and respect, I think the two characters are pretty different. While Holly has had to turn part of herself into a machine out of necessity, Alice uses her extra limbs to over-achieve.
Also, Alice looks like she's becoming a giant bug. If MGS4's Beauty and the Beast crew had a spot for a scorpion, Alice might pass the audition. Holly, on the other hand, still appears human. She just looks like she's been broken by the world.
So Alice is what happens when you sacrifice everything to become number one, while Holly is more of an example of a PTSD victim.
That's just my take anyway. Maybe I'll think differently after I have some coffee.
@ ScottyG- In a good way?
@ kurokotetsu- I think you're right about Bishop. He did represent Travis's link to the "regular" world, and there is something to be said for the fact that it was severed.
I guess his death would have meant more to me (and to Travis?) if he was a character from the first game that I liked a bit more. Thunder Ryu's already dead, but maybe Naomi? Maybe even Sylvia?
That's not to say that Bishop's death is meaningless to me. I guess it just doesn't feel that emotional, more like Travis wanted revenge on principal alone.
I guess we'll see in the sequel, if it ever gets made. Remember kids, get at least of of your friends to buy No More Heroes 2. It's good for them.
@ Phanto- I really hope you make a cblog about your perspective on NMH2, but if not, I'd be happy to hear about them via PM.
@ Aaron- I would have never thought of SH2. To me, that open sequence in Alice's stage is about 2 things; cinematic pacing, and the sudden revelation that you have established yourself as the ruler of a city, for better or worse. Those are the 2 things that GTA prides itself on, and pretty much the only 2 things that I like about the series.
Still, that's not to say that your idea about SH2 is wrong. I just don't see it as clearly as the GTA connection.
As for Alice and Holly, while they both definitely illicit sympathy and respect, I think the two characters are pretty different. While Holly has had to turn part of herself into a machine out of necessity, Alice uses her extra limbs to over-achieve.
Also, Alice looks like she's becoming a giant bug. If MGS4's Beauty and the Beast crew had a spot for a scorpion, Alice might pass the audition. Holly, on the other hand, still appears human. She just looks like she's been broken by the world.
So Alice is what happens when you sacrifice everything to become number one, while Holly is more of an example of a PTSD victim.
That's just my take anyway. Maybe I'll think differently after I have some coffee.
@ ScottyG- In a good way?
@ kurokotetsu- I think you're right about Bishop. He did represent Travis's link to the "regular" world, and there is something to be said for the fact that it was severed.
I guess his death would have meant more to me (and to Travis?) if he was a character from the first game that I liked a bit more. Thunder Ryu's already dead, but maybe Naomi? Maybe even Sylvia?
That's not to say that Bishop's death is meaningless to me. I guess it just doesn't feel that emotional, more like Travis wanted revenge on principal alone.
Mostly a bad thing. I guess the big question is how much is this this stuff forced down your throat (like it was in the first game) as opposed to being a silly over the top game where you wail on stereotypes.
It sucks living in the crappy EU and still waiting for a release date while i spoil all the rankings for myself.
Thanks for this great post, and pardons for an incoming wall of text. I didn't like this game's story as much as I wanted so I was very interested in reading a critical assessment like yours. My major problem with the story and characters was that it seemed to me, as a narrative tale, Suda51 bite off more than they could chew. I personally believe the strong conceptual meta-gaming focus came at a cost to the story.
I'll keep myself, for the sake of everyone's patience, to describing the last fight with Jasper Batt Jr., as I found it the most egregious in meta-gaming vs. a powerful narrative story.
You made a very good point about Pizza Batt being a construct about bigger game developers. His fight is set over three very predictable, deliberately clichéd phases. That this is the guy that’s putting the unique (to some extent) 8-bit games in San Destroy out of business is very telling (although 8-bit mini-games is sort of clichéd in itself now). The pointlessness of revenge could even be gathered from the goofiness of the fight, as you stated, this guy thinks he’s Batman. You can’t take him seriously, he’s worked out this big revenge plot but he’s just a kid playing with toys, a foil to Travis playing with light sabers and robots in a very clear way.
So if that’s their point, fine, but they did effectively mutilate any semblance of emotional power the story should have at that point. This is the big revenge fight and it ends with Travis cutting a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon up. No conclusion, no last chance to take pity on what appears to be a kid. After all, revenge doesn’t end does it? It just continues. He might not be killing for money anymore but that was already established in the beginning because he left the UAA. It undercuts the half of the emotional consequences of revenge that they had been trying to make.
The worst part was that the three heads turned out to be replicas (two at least). Talk about deflating any emotional power. They disclose the secret right before the only hard part of the entire fight! Bishop wasn’t much of a character in the first one anyway, but when I saw those three trays I thought “Damn, Suda51, you cold bastard, you’re not afraid of anything! I’m going to tear this guy a new one!”
So what’s so bad about revenge again? It’s sure to get an NPC nobody cares about from a previous game killed? Frustratingly, since this is Suda51, you can argue that’s also deliberate, you’re killing for a completely architected reason. Someone else is only forcing your character to care. But at a certain point that kind of circular logic doesn’t hold water with me anymore. If there’s one thing I learned from reading Lucky Wander Boy is that there’s no limit to what can be read into a game. That Suda51 does try to say a lot only makes it more difficult to pick it apart. There was a lot of noise in their message and it’s always hare to tell what was intended and what wasn’t.
By contrast, the first game ended in two ways. The regular ending, in my opinion, the more powerful of the two, was a fateful meeting of two people, serious in both real revenge and their history together. It made you question what Travis knew and didn’t know getting into the competition and his motivations at a subconscious level. Was he searching for Jeanne all along or just fate? The second ending was a throw up to video games, a tongue and cheek show down that ended with funny reference to the concept of sequels. Both showed a bit of funky irreverence and deconstructing of video game tropes. Neither, however, seemed to contradict the plot or mess with the story out of boredom. There’s always some room for messing with the player, players can laugh at themselves, but when developers mess with the story, they do it at the expense of the story.
In any case, the plot is still head and shoulders above most of the stuff out there and your post is definitely a must read for people interested in the undercurrents of the game. Perhaps if there’s an NMH3 it will bring NMH2 into a greater overall narrative
I'll keep myself, for the sake of everyone's patience, to describing the last fight with Jasper Batt Jr., as I found it the most egregious in meta-gaming vs. a powerful narrative story.
You made a very good point about Pizza Batt being a construct about bigger game developers. His fight is set over three very predictable, deliberately clichéd phases. That this is the guy that’s putting the unique (to some extent) 8-bit games in San Destroy out of business is very telling (although 8-bit mini-games is sort of clichéd in itself now). The pointlessness of revenge could even be gathered from the goofiness of the fight, as you stated, this guy thinks he’s Batman. You can’t take him seriously, he’s worked out this big revenge plot but he’s just a kid playing with toys, a foil to Travis playing with light sabers and robots in a very clear way.
So if that’s their point, fine, but they did effectively mutilate any semblance of emotional power the story should have at that point. This is the big revenge fight and it ends with Travis cutting a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon up. No conclusion, no last chance to take pity on what appears to be a kid. After all, revenge doesn’t end does it? It just continues. He might not be killing for money anymore but that was already established in the beginning because he left the UAA. It undercuts the half of the emotional consequences of revenge that they had been trying to make.
The worst part was that the three heads turned out to be replicas (two at least). Talk about deflating any emotional power. They disclose the secret right before the only hard part of the entire fight! Bishop wasn’t much of a character in the first one anyway, but when I saw those three trays I thought “Damn, Suda51, you cold bastard, you’re not afraid of anything! I’m going to tear this guy a new one!”
So what’s so bad about revenge again? It’s sure to get an NPC nobody cares about from a previous game killed? Frustratingly, since this is Suda51, you can argue that’s also deliberate, you’re killing for a completely architected reason. Someone else is only forcing your character to care. But at a certain point that kind of circular logic doesn’t hold water with me anymore. If there’s one thing I learned from reading Lucky Wander Boy is that there’s no limit to what can be read into a game. That Suda51 does try to say a lot only makes it more difficult to pick it apart. There was a lot of noise in their message and it’s always hare to tell what was intended and what wasn’t.
By contrast, the first game ended in two ways. The regular ending, in my opinion, the more powerful of the two, was a fateful meeting of two people, serious in both real revenge and their history together. It made you question what Travis knew and didn’t know getting into the competition and his motivations at a subconscious level. Was he searching for Jeanne all along or just fate? The second ending was a throw up to video games, a tongue and cheek show down that ended with funny reference to the concept of sequels. Both showed a bit of funky irreverence and deconstructing of video game tropes. Neither, however, seemed to contradict the plot or mess with the story out of boredom. There’s always some room for messing with the player, players can laugh at themselves, but when developers mess with the story, they do it at the expense of the story.
In any case, the plot is still head and shoulders above most of the stuff out there and your post is definitely a must read for people interested in the undercurrents of the game. Perhaps if there’s an NMH3 it will bring NMH2 into a greater overall narrative
Thanks for this great post, and pardons for an incoming wall of text. I didn't like this game's story as much as I wanted so I was very interested in reading a critical assessment like yours. My major problem with the story and characters was that it seemed to me, as a narrative tale, Suda51 bite off more than they could chew. I personally believe the strong conceptual meta-gaming focus came at a cost to the story.
I'll keep myself, for the sake of everyone's patience, to describing the last fight with Jasper Batt Jr., as I found it the most egregious in meta-gaming vs. a powerful narrative story.
You made a very good point about Pizza Batt being a construct about bigger game developers. His fight is set over three very predictable, deliberately clichéd phases. That this is the guy that’s putting the unique (to some extent) 8-bit games in San Destroy out of business is very telling (although 8-bit mini-games is sort of clichéd in itself now). The pointlessness of revenge could even be gathered from the goofiness of the fight, as you stated, this guy thinks he’s Batman. You can’t take him seriously, he’s worked out this big revenge plot but he’s just a kid playing with toys, a foil to Travis playing with light sabers and robots in a very clear way.
So if that’s their point, fine, but they did effectively mutilate any semblance of emotional power the story should have at that point. This is the big revenge fight and it ends with Travis cutting a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon up. No conclusion, no last chance to take pity on what appears to be a kid. After all, revenge doesn’t end does it? It just continues. He might not be killing for money anymore but that was already established in the beginning because he left the UAA. It undercuts the half of the emotional consequences of revenge that they had been trying to make.
The worst part was that the three heads turned out to be replicas (two at least). Talk about deflating any emotional power. They disclose the secret right before the only hard part of the entire fight! Bishop wasn’t much of a character in the first one anyway, but when I saw those three trays I thought “Damn, Suda51, you cold bastard, you’re not afraid of anything! I’m going to tear this guy a new one!”
So what’s so bad about revenge again? It’s sure to get an NPC nobody cares about from a previous game killed? Frustratingly, since this is Suda51, you can argue that’s also deliberate, you’re killing for a completely architected reason. Someone else is only forcing your character to care. But at a certain point that kind of circular logic doesn’t hold water with me anymore. If there’s one thing I learned from reading Lucky Wander Boy is that there’s no limit to what can be read into a game. That Suda51 does try to say a lot only makes it more difficult to pick it apart. There was a lot of noise in their message and it’s always hare to tell what was intended and what wasn’t.
By contrast, the first game ended in two ways. The regular ending, in my opinion, the more powerful of the two, was a fateful meeting of two people, serious in both real revenge and their history together. It made you question what Travis knew and didn’t know getting into the competition and his motivations at a subconscious level. Was he searching for Jeanne all along or just fate? The second ending was a throw up to video games, a tongue and cheek show down that ended with funny reference to the concept of sequels. Both showed a bit of funky irreverence and deconstructing of video game tropes. Neither, however, seemed to contradict the plot or mess with the story out of boredom. There’s always some room for messing with the player, players can laugh at themselves, but when developers mess with the story, they do it at the expense of the story.
In any case, the plot is still head and shoulders above most of the stuff out there and your post is definitely a must read for people interested in the undercurrents of the game. Perhaps if there’s an NMH3 it will bring NMH2 into a greater overall narrative
I'll keep myself, for the sake of everyone's patience, to describing the last fight with Jasper Batt Jr., as I found it the most egregious in meta-gaming vs. a powerful narrative story.
You made a very good point about Pizza Batt being a construct about bigger game developers. His fight is set over three very predictable, deliberately clichéd phases. That this is the guy that’s putting the unique (to some extent) 8-bit games in San Destroy out of business is very telling (although 8-bit mini-games is sort of clichéd in itself now). The pointlessness of revenge could even be gathered from the goofiness of the fight, as you stated, this guy thinks he’s Batman. You can’t take him seriously, he’s worked out this big revenge plot but he’s just a kid playing with toys, a foil to Travis playing with light sabers and robots in a very clear way.
So if that’s their point, fine, but they did effectively mutilate any semblance of emotional power the story should have at that point. This is the big revenge fight and it ends with Travis cutting a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon up. No conclusion, no last chance to take pity on what appears to be a kid. After all, revenge doesn’t end does it? It just continues. He might not be killing for money anymore but that was already established in the beginning because he left the UAA. It undercuts the half of the emotional consequences of revenge that they had been trying to make.
The worst part was that the three heads turned out to be replicas (two at least). Talk about deflating any emotional power. They disclose the secret right before the only hard part of the entire fight! Bishop wasn’t much of a character in the first one anyway, but when I saw those three trays I thought “Damn, Suda51, you cold bastard, you’re not afraid of anything! I’m going to tear this guy a new one!”
So what’s so bad about revenge again? It’s sure to get an NPC nobody cares about from a previous game killed? Frustratingly, since this is Suda51, you can argue that’s also deliberate, you’re killing for a completely architected reason. Someone else is only forcing your character to care. But at a certain point that kind of circular logic doesn’t hold water with me anymore. If there’s one thing I learned from reading Lucky Wander Boy is that there’s no limit to what can be read into a game. That Suda51 does try to say a lot only makes it more difficult to pick it apart. There was a lot of noise in their message and it’s always hare to tell what was intended and what wasn’t.
By contrast, the first game ended in two ways. The regular ending, in my opinion, the more powerful of the two, was a fateful meeting of two people, serious in both real revenge and their history together. It made you question what Travis knew and didn’t know getting into the competition and his motivations at a subconscious level. Was he searching for Jeanne all along or just fate? The second ending was a throw up to video games, a tongue and cheek show down that ended with funny reference to the concept of sequels. Both showed a bit of funky irreverence and deconstructing of video game tropes. Neither, however, seemed to contradict the plot or mess with the story out of boredom. There’s always some room for messing with the player, players can laugh at themselves, but when developers mess with the story, they do it at the expense of the story.
In any case, the plot is still head and shoulders above most of the stuff out there and your post is definitely a must read for people interested in the undercurrents of the game. Perhaps if there’s an NMH3 it will bring NMH2 into a greater overall narrative
Many apologies for the double post. "Fails at blogging" indeed, is there any way to get rid of that second one?
HOmes, I don't know if I will ever play this game, but it is good to read insightful analysis by someone who is passonate on the subject.
great read, holmes. i actually just finished the game and came here right away to read this. i was saving the second part of the article to avoid spoilers. great stuff. can't wait to see what suda 51 does next.
this game really needs to be played on the wii though. i'm sure suda could make a great game on any console but this game is the first game in ages that made me remember why i own a wii.
and i have no clue what the fuck squawkderby is squawking about. different races/genders have different perspectives cuz of different experiences. duh!
this game really needs to be played on the wii though. i'm sure suda could make a great game on any console but this game is the first game in ages that made me remember why i own a wii.
and i have no clue what the fuck squawkderby is squawking about. different races/genders have different perspectives cuz of different experiences. duh!
@ ScottyG- I don't think that they hit us over the head with any of this stuff. If you read just about any other review of NMH2, you'll hear that the game is "a wacky, ultra-violent romp filled with blood and boobs" or something to that effect.
I'm sure most people who played the game didn't read into it at all, not were they prompted to. Actually, that's the main complaint I'm hearing about NMH2, that "it doesn't try hard enough to make you think". Obviously, that wasn't much of a problem for me, as I'm still thinking about the game all the time.
@ Squakderby- Trust me, I agree with you more than you probably think. I've long thought that the way people tend to make an issue out of race for the sake of making an issue out of it only perpetuates racism.
That said, I do think that people generally have different experiences depending on where they grow up, and what race, gender, sexual preference, etc, they are. That's why, in this instance, I do think it would be interesting to hear what a black woman would say about Shinobu and her boss fights. The developers of this game were trying to put themselves in the shoes of a black woman when they created Shinobu, just as they tried to put themselves in the shoes of a white man when they created Travis. I mean, it's not Precious or The Color Purple or anything, but still, NMH2 does make a genuine effort to give us the perspective of a black woman, something no videogame has really done before.
Is it so crazy (or "subtly racist" as you call it) to put a particular value on what black women might think of the first game ever made to (temporarily) star a black woman? Would you be saying that if I wanted to know what people who live in a nursing home thought of Bubba-Hotep, or what a Serbian immigrant thought of GTA IV?
And yeah, I would absolutely "cry out" to hear the perspectives of white males on Travis Touchdown, if it weren't for the fact that every single review or analytical post I've ever read about No More Heroes was written by a white male. Not that I have anything against white males. In fact, some might even say that I'm a white male, though that's debatable in some circles.
In short, ignoring race/gender/sexual preference is great when it comes to how you treat other people, but when analyzing movies/book/videogames/art/and narrative device, you'd be missing part of the picture if you ignored anything, don't you think?
Also, I don't think I ever brought up "racism" or "misogynism". Sounds like you might have brought some baggage of your own to this party.
Still, you make a valid point and I'm glad you spoke up. Just in case you don't read this, I'll send it a long as a PM as well.
@ SuperFlounder- Amazing comment, worthy of it's own blog. I don't see anything wrong with you saying it twice.
In response, I'll say that I felt a lot of of emotional power from the game's ending, more than the first one. The severed heads bit actually hit me pretty hard, which was a surprise. I didn't think I had grown to care about Sylvia, Henry and Shinobu, but seeing them dead (even just for a second) showed me (and Travis) that I did. That's all their deaths needed to do, so bringing them back to life a few minutes later was actually fine by me.
As for cutting a giant Thanksgiving Day parade balloon in half, yeah, it's silly, but it's fantastic symbol for a cliche-but-touching ideal; the little guy finally getting one-up on Goliath. Blimp-Jasper is how I see Bobby Kotick. Now, I'm not saying that I want to see the man cut in half, but I would not mind one bit if Grasshopper Manufacture somehow put Activision out of business. That's some symbolism I can get behind.
And the stuff that happens after the battle, the free fall, the realization of paradise, and the rescue of "whore Sylvia" from her fall from grace, all awesome stuff.
This comment's pretty long too. Better PM it to you too, just in case.
I'm sure most people who played the game didn't read into it at all, not were they prompted to. Actually, that's the main complaint I'm hearing about NMH2, that "it doesn't try hard enough to make you think". Obviously, that wasn't much of a problem for me, as I'm still thinking about the game all the time.
@ Squakderby- Trust me, I agree with you more than you probably think. I've long thought that the way people tend to make an issue out of race for the sake of making an issue out of it only perpetuates racism.
That said, I do think that people generally have different experiences depending on where they grow up, and what race, gender, sexual preference, etc, they are. That's why, in this instance, I do think it would be interesting to hear what a black woman would say about Shinobu and her boss fights. The developers of this game were trying to put themselves in the shoes of a black woman when they created Shinobu, just as they tried to put themselves in the shoes of a white man when they created Travis. I mean, it's not Precious or The Color Purple or anything, but still, NMH2 does make a genuine effort to give us the perspective of a black woman, something no videogame has really done before.
Is it so crazy (or "subtly racist" as you call it) to put a particular value on what black women might think of the first game ever made to (temporarily) star a black woman? Would you be saying that if I wanted to know what people who live in a nursing home thought of Bubba-Hotep, or what a Serbian immigrant thought of GTA IV?
And yeah, I would absolutely "cry out" to hear the perspectives of white males on Travis Touchdown, if it weren't for the fact that every single review or analytical post I've ever read about No More Heroes was written by a white male. Not that I have anything against white males. In fact, some might even say that I'm a white male, though that's debatable in some circles.
In short, ignoring race/gender/sexual preference is great when it comes to how you treat other people, but when analyzing movies/book/videogames/art/and narrative device, you'd be missing part of the picture if you ignored anything, don't you think?
Also, I don't think I ever brought up "racism" or "misogynism". Sounds like you might have brought some baggage of your own to this party.
Still, you make a valid point and I'm glad you spoke up. Just in case you don't read this, I'll send it a long as a PM as well.
@ SuperFlounder- Amazing comment, worthy of it's own blog. I don't see anything wrong with you saying it twice.
In response, I'll say that I felt a lot of of emotional power from the game's ending, more than the first one. The severed heads bit actually hit me pretty hard, which was a surprise. I didn't think I had grown to care about Sylvia, Henry and Shinobu, but seeing them dead (even just for a second) showed me (and Travis) that I did. That's all their deaths needed to do, so bringing them back to life a few minutes later was actually fine by me.
As for cutting a giant Thanksgiving Day parade balloon in half, yeah, it's silly, but it's fantastic symbol for a cliche-but-touching ideal; the little guy finally getting one-up on Goliath. Blimp-Jasper is how I see Bobby Kotick. Now, I'm not saying that I want to see the man cut in half, but I would not mind one bit if Grasshopper Manufacture somehow put Activision out of business. That's some symbolism I can get behind.
And the stuff that happens after the battle, the free fall, the realization of paradise, and the rescue of "whore Sylvia" from her fall from grace, all awesome stuff.
This comment's pretty long too. Better PM it to you too, just in case.
@ SquawkDerby- And I am genuinely glad that you brought up your opinion. The more you talk about it, the more I think we agree on the topic.
I wish I had written the post in a better way. If I had, I think it's likely that you would have seen from the start how much we see eye-to-eye on the whole idea of race and gender.
Thankfully though, you brought up your opinion, which gave me the opportunity to respond to it, and in doing so, clear up what I meant in the first place.
And yeah, Jasper is really tough on Bitter, though I actually thought New Destroyman was worse.
The very worst though is Jasper on Deathmatch. There are no checkpoints in the battle, so you have to kill all three forms on the same life bar. I came close once, bu that was out of at least twenty tries.
I know it probably doesn't unlock anything to beat him, but I'm still compelled to do so. I'll probably keep trying until I die.
Anyway, thanks again for reading this thing in the first place, and taking the time to exchange ideas with me. It means a lot.
I wish I had written the post in a better way. If I had, I think it's likely that you would have seen from the start how much we see eye-to-eye on the whole idea of race and gender.
Thankfully though, you brought up your opinion, which gave me the opportunity to respond to it, and in doing so, clear up what I meant in the first place.
And yeah, Jasper is really tough on Bitter, though I actually thought New Destroyman was worse.
The very worst though is Jasper on Deathmatch. There are no checkpoints in the battle, so you have to kill all three forms on the same life bar. I came close once, bu that was out of at least twenty tries.
I know it probably doesn't unlock anything to beat him, but I'm still compelled to do so. I'll probably keep trying until I die.
Anyway, thanks again for reading this thing in the first place, and taking the time to exchange ideas with me. It means a lot.
This was fantastic to read. Your analysis on each of the bosses actually opened up a few new layers for me. It's just a Travis says - the assassins are, for the most part, "fucked up," and yet they're still human (save for New Destroyman, kinda), and therefore have their own individual desires.
However, I have to disagree with your statement of Travis and Bishop's friendship and how there was never one to begin with. Yeah, Touchdown does care deeply for the city and the state it's become since his departure, and Bishop was sort of his whipping boy through NMH 1. But there's a reason why they threw his head through Travis's window, and not that strange guy's that visited his grave. There's a reason why he screamed out his name, and why he's pretty much pissed all up to the final boss fight. Bishop was his friend, and more than likely the only friend he ever knew. Hell, it was Bishop who got Travis those dual-katana.
That's just what I think. Bishop was Travis' only friend, and to me, that's the only reason why I'm taking him through each kill-fest to make it to the top.
However, I have to disagree with your statement of Travis and Bishop's friendship and how there was never one to begin with. Yeah, Touchdown does care deeply for the city and the state it's become since his departure, and Bishop was sort of his whipping boy through NMH 1. But there's a reason why they threw his head through Travis's window, and not that strange guy's that visited his grave. There's a reason why he screamed out his name, and why he's pretty much pissed all up to the final boss fight. Bishop was his friend, and more than likely the only friend he ever knew. Hell, it was Bishop who got Travis those dual-katana.
That's just what I think. Bishop was Travis' only friend, and to me, that's the only reason why I'm taking him through each kill-fest to make it to the top.
Your essays on the No More Heroes 2 bosses are reminiscent of the literary analysis essays I read/write for school. The difference is that yours is far more interesting. XD
@ LegendPenguin- You know, I can't argue with that. The game showed me that Bishop was Travis's best friend, and that Travis was upset that Bishop died, so that has to be what happened. Maybe the game is trying to tell me that even if Travis doesn't show his feelings to his friends, that doesn't mean he isn't extremely attached to them? Hmmmm, had to say.
I just get the sense that Bishop is supposed to represent more than "a best friend". Little "Mom and Pop" video stores are dying relic of a simpler time. That time is what I think Bishop represents.
Maybe it would have been better if instead of Pizza Batt, it was Netflix Batt, or if Bishop ran an arcade instead of a video store? Or maybe that would have been too obvious?
@ The NoMoreHero- I really appreciate that. Hopefully someday, more teachers will make No More Heroes required reading/playing for their classes.
I just get the sense that Bishop is supposed to represent more than "a best friend". Little "Mom and Pop" video stores are dying relic of a simpler time. That time is what I think Bishop represents.
Maybe it would have been better if instead of Pizza Batt, it was Netflix Batt, or if Bishop ran an arcade instead of a video store? Or maybe that would have been too obvious?
@ The NoMoreHero- I really appreciate that. Hopefully someday, more teachers will make No More Heroes required reading/playing for their classes.
I think that there's always room to bring gender/race analysis to a medium. As a white male I may not see the same context in the same content so to speak. That being said, while I believe there is some misogyny displayed in the characters, I'm not sure if they constitute a statement that Suda51 was trying to make. In fact I think while he tries to make many cultural, or post-modernist angles in the story, gender/race is ambiguous. As a boss individually, Destroyman, is a powerful statement on misogynistic males who condescend and intimidate women with shaming names, or think of them that way without saying it. It's uncomfortable primarily because he doesn't focus on condescending to her technical skills as an assassin, like Million Gunman does, but rather focuses on calling her sexually shaming names. I don't think anyone here has ever seen a guy rip into a women for not being about to slice up people up with a katana, but I'm sure we've all seen or heard a guy call a women a slut as a way to intimidate or put her in her place. That being said, I'm not sure if Destroyman is supposed to be a statement about gender or Suda51 was just showing a character being his character. After all, that kind of behavior, is in the end obviously very bad in our culture. In many stories, in video games, scifi, etc., writers lazily use traits as overt sexism or racism as a catch all for "THIS IS A BAD GUY, YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE HE SAID THE N WORD!!!11!!" The fact that only Destoyman's "inner monologue" says these things is what makes it a ultimately interesting scene. I'll have to watch it again for left brain vs. right brain analysis.
As for Million gunman, I honestly see race as a factor only in that in the context of our society, and the culture that the West exports to other cultures around the world (Japan), people who are rich and cultured a more generally represented as white guys. Other than that I don't see him as anything more than a mash up of Bond tropes. The golden gun, his accent and clothing all reminded me of bond. The fact that level itself is a sort of spy and espionage themed also made me think of Bond films. His tactic of retreating through doors, very much like a bond villain. He does condescend to Shinobu but more from a "you're just a girl" perspective. You have to realize, he's probably sort of pissed when he sees her like Destroyman, all the assassins are looking forward to fighting the Crownless King, not his lackeys.
I just don't think gender/race was a point in this game. Frankly, if it was, how using the dismemberment of two blameless groupies in the fight with Colin fit into all this. Travis doesn't really seem to care that much, he could have just MOVED, but he chose to cut through them instead. Ofcourse, when he actually has to kill some white cheerleaders who actually were in the ranking and did intend to harm him, he shows some misgivings. I just don't find that cohesive with a game that's really interested in the politics of black sexual female identity.
As for Million gunman, I honestly see race as a factor only in that in the context of our society, and the culture that the West exports to other cultures around the world (Japan), people who are rich and cultured a more generally represented as white guys. Other than that I don't see him as anything more than a mash up of Bond tropes. The golden gun, his accent and clothing all reminded me of bond. The fact that level itself is a sort of spy and espionage themed also made me think of Bond films. His tactic of retreating through doors, very much like a bond villain. He does condescend to Shinobu but more from a "you're just a girl" perspective. You have to realize, he's probably sort of pissed when he sees her like Destroyman, all the assassins are looking forward to fighting the Crownless King, not his lackeys.
I just don't think gender/race was a point in this game. Frankly, if it was, how using the dismemberment of two blameless groupies in the fight with Colin fit into all this. Travis doesn't really seem to care that much, he could have just MOVED, but he chose to cut through them instead. Ofcourse, when he actually has to kill some white cheerleaders who actually were in the ranking and did intend to harm him, he shows some misgivings. I just don't find that cohesive with a game that's really interested in the politics of black sexual female identity.
@ SuperFlounder- Do you mean Nathan Copeland when you refer to "Colin"? Nathan and his afro babes?
The way I saw that fight, Nathan threw the women at Travis, then attacked Travis through the women. Nathan definitely treated them like objects (in this case, throwing weapons), and likewise, Travis treated them him an attack. That does work to establish Travis as a heartless bastard, something that I think gradually changes through out the game. However, I don't get the sense that it says anything about misogyny. It does say that Nathan doesn't care about his companions, and Travis doesn't care about anybody.
And I agree that Million Gunman has some Bond Universe-like traits. The question is though, what does the Bond reference mean? Is it done just for fun, or is it trying to say something?
Do you think that Bond and his villains represent cartoonish exaggerations of many of the traits we as asociety associate with the rich and upper class? If so, what does that mean in relation to Shinobu? In the Million Gunman level, she basically breaks into a bank, ignores the money, and goes on to behead a money-obsessed English gentlemen who calls her "sir" once his head has been removed. That's pretty damn weird, isn't it?
Maybe it's all meaningless and random, but even as I'm writing this now, I'm coming up with possible interpretations of what this scenario could be saying. A Bank is a place where people put their valuables to keep other people from getting access to them. Shinobu breaks though that. She gets to where the stuff that many people value above all things (money) is held, where she does battle with an enemy who is constantly trying to stay as far away from her as possible, only attacking her from a distance.
It's Shinobu's task to close the distance. The breaks in and gets close, closer than the high class guy wants. Does that say something about her? Does that say something about what she's doing in this game, (temporarily) taking the starring role of the game away from Travis?
It may not have been intended to say anything, but it says something to me.
The way I saw that fight, Nathan threw the women at Travis, then attacked Travis through the women. Nathan definitely treated them like objects (in this case, throwing weapons), and likewise, Travis treated them him an attack. That does work to establish Travis as a heartless bastard, something that I think gradually changes through out the game. However, I don't get the sense that it says anything about misogyny. It does say that Nathan doesn't care about his companions, and Travis doesn't care about anybody.
And I agree that Million Gunman has some Bond Universe-like traits. The question is though, what does the Bond reference mean? Is it done just for fun, or is it trying to say something?
Do you think that Bond and his villains represent cartoonish exaggerations of many of the traits we as asociety associate with the rich and upper class? If so, what does that mean in relation to Shinobu? In the Million Gunman level, she basically breaks into a bank, ignores the money, and goes on to behead a money-obsessed English gentlemen who calls her "sir" once his head has been removed. That's pretty damn weird, isn't it?
Maybe it's all meaningless and random, but even as I'm writing this now, I'm coming up with possible interpretations of what this scenario could be saying. A Bank is a place where people put their valuables to keep other people from getting access to them. Shinobu breaks though that. She gets to where the stuff that many people value above all things (money) is held, where she does battle with an enemy who is constantly trying to stay as far away from her as possible, only attacking her from a distance.
It's Shinobu's task to close the distance. The breaks in and gets close, closer than the high class guy wants. Does that say something about her? Does that say something about what she's doing in this game, (temporarily) taking the starring role of the game away from Travis?
It may not have been intended to say anything, but it says something to me.
wow. this is one of the smartest articles I've ever read on a gaming site.
who are you and why aren't you in charge of your own magazine?
I am now...
1. heading immediately to read part 1.
2. downloading both pages for future NMH reference.
3. anxiously anticipating part 3.
4. did I meantion anxiously?!
kudos.
PS - the only part I disagreed with: it's never shown on screen, but I believe NMH-related media has said that Bishop is Travis' "one and only true friend." not sure on the details, but I would assume that means he really was important to Travis.
maybe Travis valued the -simplicity- of their shallow relationship as it was one of the few non-effed-up relationships in his life? maybe?
who are you and why aren't you in charge of your own magazine?
I am now...
1. heading immediately to read part 1.
2. downloading both pages for future NMH reference.
3. anxiously anticipating part 3.
4. did I meantion anxiously?!
kudos.
PS - the only part I disagreed with: it's never shown on screen, but I believe NMH-related media has said that Bishop is Travis' "one and only true friend." not sure on the details, but I would assume that means he really was important to Travis.
maybe Travis valued the -simplicity- of their shallow relationship as it was one of the few non-effed-up relationships in his life? maybe?
@ Joe L- Wow, thank you so much! Part three might be covered by my friend and co-worker Matt Razak. It's yet to be determined.
As for Bishop, I'm just going off Travis's relationship with him in the first game, which is pretty limited. You're right though, I could have been interpreting the whole thing wrong.
As for Bishop, I'm just going off Travis's relationship with him in the first game, which is pretty limited. You're right though, I could have been interpreting the whole thing wrong.
@Holmes
Whoops, yeah, my mistake, Copeland. I think what you've read into the Million Gunman fight is on the mark. I think the difference here is that where I would label it all under characterization of a protagonist and boss, you also find some symbolism in it. Which is valid, since I agree there's creative and corporate symbolism in the character of Jasper Batt, Jr., after all, and sexual/personal symbolism in Sylvia. I just personally didn't take away any symbolism from the Million Gunman fight, when taken in the context of the entire game. His odd decapitated uttering, to me, just signified his complete subjugation to the proven better warrior. The odd gender pronoun, may be weird translation, or to further symbolize acquiescing.
The treatment of the afro babes in the Copeland fight, however, do relate to misogyny in my opinion, though not overtly. It's like, to me, how there's the old 80's horror movie rule that states that the sluts never make it to the end. Many feminists would point out that since these two women are sexualized, and obviously sexually active with Copeland, that their value would be predictably marginalized in their depiction. And they are, played off like that, their heads rolling about in a manner that I don't think is supposed to invoke pity. By bringing this up I don't mean to say that Suda51 intended to say anything about sex/gender/whatever, its more like he just didn’t deconstruct what was actually going on there. Travis does indeed change from his overtly murderous mindset, in the next fight in fact, but fact that the death of those two particular innocent people doesn't seem to play a part in it I found sort of telling.
Still, I'm frankly just sort of glad there are still games being made that cause people to think about these kinds of things at all, in between button mashing anyway. Can’t wait for part 3.
Whoops, yeah, my mistake, Copeland. I think what you've read into the Million Gunman fight is on the mark. I think the difference here is that where I would label it all under characterization of a protagonist and boss, you also find some symbolism in it. Which is valid, since I agree there's creative and corporate symbolism in the character of Jasper Batt, Jr., after all, and sexual/personal symbolism in Sylvia. I just personally didn't take away any symbolism from the Million Gunman fight, when taken in the context of the entire game. His odd decapitated uttering, to me, just signified his complete subjugation to the proven better warrior. The odd gender pronoun, may be weird translation, or to further symbolize acquiescing.
The treatment of the afro babes in the Copeland fight, however, do relate to misogyny in my opinion, though not overtly. It's like, to me, how there's the old 80's horror movie rule that states that the sluts never make it to the end. Many feminists would point out that since these two women are sexualized, and obviously sexually active with Copeland, that their value would be predictably marginalized in their depiction. And they are, played off like that, their heads rolling about in a manner that I don't think is supposed to invoke pity. By bringing this up I don't mean to say that Suda51 intended to say anything about sex/gender/whatever, its more like he just didn’t deconstruct what was actually going on there. Travis does indeed change from his overtly murderous mindset, in the next fight in fact, but fact that the death of those two particular innocent people doesn't seem to play a part in it I found sort of telling.
Still, I'm frankly just sort of glad there are still games being made that cause people to think about these kinds of things at all, in between button mashing anyway. Can’t wait for part 3.
I think that your claim about Travis not caring about Bishop isn't entirely true. While it's true that Travis and Bishop had a very limited relationship (video rentals and bike delivery) I think that's supposed to be the point. Before Shinobu and Henry came into the picture, Travis thoroughly lived the life of a lonely Otaku. Bishop was the closest thing Travis had to a real friend. The only other time Travis had flipped out like that when someone died was in the first game when Speed Buster killed Thunder Ryu. I think Bishop's murder was meant to establish the idea that there was more to Travis than the murdering sociopath for those who either hadn't played the first game or had forgotten about the events of the first game.
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