So, certain people have been very nice to me. They've given me "INSIDER INFO (OMG)" on two of my most anticipated games of 2010; No More Heroes 2 or Bit.Trip 4.

I will not tell you any of the things that I know about these two games. That would be wrong. To do so would make certain people very, very sad.

However, I can't help but tell you what I think about what I know about these two games. It's more than I can stand to keep my thoughts totally bottled up. I mean, I work for a gaming blog fer Cripes sake. I have a compulsive need to share my thoughts about videogames with anyone who is willing to listen.

The people who told be what they told me about Bit.trip 4 and No More Heroes 2 should have known that about me. They should not be surprised to see this cblog com into existence. If they are, I'm sorry.

I am a bad man.

First, Bit.Trip 4-



I love the Bit.Trip games so far, but I have to admit that it was not love at first sight. When I first saw screenshots of Bit.Trip BEAT, I thought "Hey, that looks novel. I wonder if it will be fun?"but if it weren't for the fact that the game was only 6 bucks. I probably wouldn't have bought it.

Of course, if only took a few minutes of play to find that Bit.Trip BEAT is one of my favorites games of 2009. It was a similar event when Bit.Trip CORE was announced. I thought "Huh, that looks different. I'm not sure I'm going to like it, but 6 bucks is worth the risk." Again, the game went on to defy expectation, to the point where I actually prefer it to BEAT. VOID has also gone on to be one of my favorites of the year. When I first say screenshots of the game, I totally didn't get it. It looked like the game was half finished, or just broken. Now that I've played it, I know how visually impressive the game actually is, at least, when it wants to be.

Why am I telling you all this? It's so you really know just how different Bit.Trip 4 is going to be, without actually telling you how its different. From what I've seen so far, I'm sure that I'm going to LOVE Bit.Trip 4. That's not because of my previous love of the Bit.Trip games. Far from it. In fact, I think it's fair to say that it truly wont matter if you've liked or even played the previous Bit.Trip games. Either way, when you see Bit.Trip 4, you will want to play it.

OK, maybe that's not totally true. If the only kinds of games you like are of the Modern Warfare/Uncharted 2/ GTA variety, then you wont definitely be attracted to Bit.Trip 4. I don''t think that should come as a surprise though. The Bit.Trip games so far are about as different from a Hollywood Blockbuster as one could ask for. That still hasn't changed. Well, actually it has... sort of.

Kind of.

I'd say more, but I'm afraid that I'm going to give something away. I just want you to know that Bit.Trip 4 looks sooooooo good. If it turns out to somehow be boring or not fun, it will be my biggest upset of 2010.

Which brings us to No More Heroes 2.



If there was any game that I was sure couldn't go wrong in 2010, it was No More Heroes 2. Despite the quirks and arguable flaws of the original, No More Heroes 1 has gone on to be one of my favorite games ever made. It's one of the few games that gets more fun the more you replay it. The first time I played the game, it took me a while to "get it". Adjusting to the game's totally unique set of "rules" took a while.

It's like that with a lot of great movies and songs too. The first time you hear/see them, you're just trying to keep up. All of the stuff you normally don't have to think about when listening to/seeing a song/movie that "follows the rules" are thrown out the window. It takes some time for the new rules of the thing in question to become second nature. Only after learning the rules by heart will listening to/seeing the song/movie in question become like slipping into a warm, comfy bed. That's how it is when I listen to Stereolab, watch Bottle Rocket, or play No More Heroes now. The first time though, it took me a while to acclimate to each.

I hope that's the case with No More Heroes 2., but I'm not so sure it will be. I found something out about the game that really threw me for a loop. In many ways, it will be a direct continuation of the original with better graphics, and the weirdness turned up to an even higher level. That's great. That's really all I wanted from the game, and in most ways, I'm sure it will deliver.

There is one thing though, one thing that has me worried that the sequel will be too different from the original. Now, historically, I love it when sequels take chances. When people bitch about the Star Wars prequels being too different from the original films, or the new Resident Evil games being too different than the old ones, I always say "Well, if you like the old ones so much, just stick with them. New things are called "new" for a reason. It's because they aren't the things you already have". I never look for a sequel to something I love to completely replace the original. A good sequel is good on it's own merits, and doesn't simply regurgitate the original with a slightly different flavor.

But then there's stuff like the which Martix sequels. They were different from the original, which is good, but they also were missing something that made the original movie great. There was no sense of witnessing reality be peeled away when watching Matrix 2 and 3. They're just... flat. I don't hate them anything, but compared to the original, the Matrix sequels seem like made for TV fan movies. They seem like imitations, not continuations.

Something similar may be missing from No More Heroes 2. It's something I can't say more about, but it's something that has me worried enough that I felt compelled to write this long a rambling blog. Even now, I'm trying to dig around for more info to confirm or deny that my worries are legit.

Even if I find out more stuff, I still wont know for sure until the 26th of January; the game's tentative release date. Until then, I'll be in constant fear of total let down.

OK, enough ranting. Thanks for reading this, whoever you are. It felt good to get all that off my chest.