It's worth noting that in my playthrough of the first No More Heroes, I was oblivious to Suda 51's insertion of themes and statements on gaming, and gamers themselves. I was awakened to Suda's complexity as a developer after reading a great article that analyzed No More Heroes brilliantly by Cowzilla3 (now the editor Matthew Razak). It drew connections between the blandness of the world surrounding Travis and the way some gamers tend to see the world; hyper-visualizing certain aspects of it and ignoring others. The article was exceptionally well written and a fair amount of work was put into it, and it inspired this one. Being newly aware of Suda's penchant for under the surface messages, I began the second game with open eyes.

No More Heroes 2 delivers a number of interesting insights on gaming today. It stands as a monument to gaming's increasing complexity as a medium for entertainment and a medium for expression. It takes us on a journey from video games' infancy, to it's present.This is where No More Heroes 2 shines, more than anywhere else.

Travis hasn't grown much from the first game and is still the same person that the player left him as in the first game. The promise of sleeping with Sylvia at the end of his climb to the top rank initially inspires him to fight once again, but it is the assassination of his best friend, Bishop, that sends him on his most recent blood-fueled rampage through the rankings.

Bishop had no pivotal role in the first No More Heroes beyond being the owner of a video shop that you may or may not go to throughout the course of game. He never truly interacted with Travis, and didn't seem to have any purpose beyond simply being a shell behind a counter. The decision then to have his murder be a motivational tool to inspire Travis to fight his way through what was potentially five times as many more ranks as the previous No More Heroes seems a bit hamfisted and hardly believable. And this is no accident.

The game outright professes its beginning as simple and little more than an excuse to wield laser swords in Travis' hands once again. This is highly reflective of the beginning of video games.

In Galaga, your mission is simple: shoot, don't get shot, get points. In Dig Dug you play as a character with a hat that is supposed to eliminate monsters from underground. This didn't exactly revolutionize story-telling. The story in these early games receives much less focus than sheer gameplay and a means for simple but effective entertainment. This is precisely where No More Heroes 2 begins. Those guys killed this guy. You knew this guy. Kill those guys. It's simple, and it gives you a reason to play the game. Nothing too deep. But just as gaming progressed beyond simplicity, so does No More Heroes 2.

The story gains depth as monologues by Sylvia begin to add a sense of mystery to the game. Travis begins to value the thrill of a good fight, but more importantly, the honor of a good death. Story takes a role just as central to action. Ranked fights become less interesting as Travis becomes more self-absorbed in the thought of ending the battle by beating the 1st ranked assassin. He no longer fights each individual battle as if it were his own, they have become nothing more than shallow steps on his way to the top. His sight blurs red with the blood of those fallen, friend or otherwise, yet his mind burns green, telling him to go, onto rank one--onto victory and revenge in one.

When others attempt to help him he gets angry, believing it is his job and his role to defeat those in his way. With this self-absorption the game worlds become increasingly bland, and increasingly lonely. On his way to the second rank battle, there is a significant time where Travis is forced to walk a long and empty street within the game. At the end of this solitary and silent march there is a large graffiti on the side of one of the buildings of only himself, and yet another level of cut-and-paste enemies. The second ranked assassin has gone down the same proverbial road as Travis, asking only that, upon her death, she would not be forgotten.

Such a level of complexity in storytelling was not even hinted at when the game began. But as you draw closer and closer to the end, a new layer of complexity reveals itself, and Travis becomes a much more involved character. This is where games currently are as a medium. At a level where their complexity has evolved and their legitimacy in any number of categories is still pending. Games still haven't reached that Rank 1 fight, saved the day and gotten the girl. But they are well on their way.