Just wanted to get my impressions of No More Heroes out here before the hype behind it gets old.

STORY

If you're remotely interested in NMH, you already know the backstory. You play Travis Touchdown, an otaku who has come into possession of a lightsaber and has been thrust into the UAA. Not necessarily his original plan, but he decides to play along and go for the #1 spot. I just got to the #7 ranked fight, and there are hints of a deeper plot, but so far there haven't been any twists.

GRAPHICS

NMH does not try to have what most would consider to be "quality" when it comes to graphics. The poly count isn't exceptionally high, the view distance is nothing to brag about, and at times there is slowdown. Where they excel though is in pure style. If you are a gamer/otaku at heart, you will love what you see in NMH, which is cel-shading, pixelated icons/powerups, and unique characters.

GAMEPLAY

This is the only part that truly matters, and to be honest, there are definitely places where NMH does not shine as brightly as it could. The camera system isn't all that great. The open world portion of the game isn't nearly as fleshed out as most other open world games are, and the way Travis controls and moves doesn't mesh very well in that environment. The "jobs" you do in order to pay the entry fee for ranked fights often consist of the mini-games that most "gamers" think are plaugeing the Wii right now, and are often tedious rather than fun.

BUT! Don't let all that negative turn you off of NMH! The part of the game that involves killing IS FANTASTIC! Travis is equipped with a number of methods of inflicting pain which keeps the fights engaging. You have your standard attacks, a move to stun enemies, and while an enemy is stunned, you also get wrestling moves. You'll see some reviews state that its possible to breeze through fights by mashing "A" and wildly swinging the controllers around, but that is not the case. In one on one encounters, perhaps, but those don't happen often, and the enemies WILL interrupt your combo and punish you if you aren't on your toes. The actual ranked encounters of which I've been through 3 of so far, are unique (in character and style of fighting) and have a different weaknesses to exploit.

MISC

Part of the open world portion of NMH is the ability to do some collecting. Some of the things you're able to acquire include new clothing (Travis has a pretty awesome sense of style, BTW), new lightsabers and upgrades for them, "perks" that aid in fighting, upgrades to your combo and strength, and probably more that I haven't seen yet. Honestly, the open world portion for me is just a means of getting to the ranked encounters, but the unlockables do help me justify spending a little extra time gathering money and "Kolokov Balls".

CONCLUSION

There's really not more to say except that the game is directed toward a specific group of people, and for those that fit that mold, it will be highly entertaining. I hope that others will be able to enjoy the game as well, but seeing how other Wii titles have done so far, I doubt it. As for me, I'm loving the experience so far and hope its able to stay as entertaining throughout the rest of the game.