@zardoz

Is it true? Sources? links? I'd be happy if it's true :O but I'm bad at sensing sarcasm.

I just realised that this game comes out in the US in February. You can count on it failing here too, because everyone will be playing Smash Bros.

I think Suda51's just getting a bad hand dealt to him here. I mean, can this game be so bizzare that no one in Japan wants to even think about touching it?

Regardless, I will buy it on Day 1. I loved Killer7 and this looks to be an equally strange walk off the beaten video game path.

Wow, this is one of the only games on the Wii that interests me at all. Too bad.

I can't say that I am surprised by all of this. NMH seemed like it was doomed to fail from the start which I feel is due to the general lack of interest for Grasshopper Manufacture games whether its in Japan or anywhere else for that matter. I still plan on picking up NMH as I am a big fan of his original games.

From what I have read about people's impressions of NMH:

Pros:

- Beat em up combat is fairly simple, archaic and may feel reptitive, but said to be very fun and intense and has a lot of style.
- Controls are funtional and the mix of button pressing and motion control work really well.
- Game can be pretty challenging at times
- Good use of motion control
- Interesting story with crazy & unpredictable plot twists
- Cool characters and fun boss fights
- Satisfying cut scenes
- Good voice acting and character dialogue
- Cool one-liners from Travis, funny ones from enemies
- Entertaining music
- Original cell-shaded art style
- Weapons upgrades and power-ups
- Different endings (I think there's 2)
- Stylized retro fan service


Cons:

- Ocassionally wonky camera
- Muddy graphics
- Repetive gameplay
- Standard enemies basically look the same, fairly dumb AI
- Open world is pretty barren, does more harm than good
- Motorcycle controls apparently suck
- Some of the side missions are lame
- Several technical issues like frame rate and bad textures and stiff character animation.

Someone over at Neogaf said that the game is pretty straight forward until you get to the 5th assassin rank where it starts to get really cool and the game's last hour is even better. Overall, I think anyone who likes Suda 51 games will enjoy playing No More Heroes despite the game's problems.

Okay wow... somehow, someway, this game has been flying entirely off of my radar altogether until now. I mean, yeah, I've heard the name bandied about for a while now, but never bothered to look into it before. So... yeah, after looking into this a bit, from what I've seen, this might just be a must buy for me.

@nightv

So wait, let me get this straight. That I hold an opinion contrary to yours means that I can't have possibly played the game? How did you come to that conclusion anyway? I must know. :P

I was going to write up this long rebuttal, but then I re-read the opening of your post and realized that it would be pointless even if it was worth it. What are the chances that you're going to accept that I don't like the game and leave it at that, even as I accept that some of you do and don't require justification for it? I wonder.

I didn't think that it was a great game. Or even a mediocre one for that matter. Some of you love the shit out of it. Shouldn't be any big deal one way or the other. Yet is has proven to be just that.

Well, maybe a small deal. :D

Still a bit of a dissapointment that Nintendo is hurting their chances for actual games beyond just the mini-games collections. Even if this had been mediocre, the good third party games have to start somewhere. In before Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Cyberxion brings up a good point.

Nintendo isn't the one to blame as the only involvement it had in third-party games when it is not acting as the publisher, is to just put the game through its approval process. If you want to blame anyone, blame Grasshopper Manufacture and the publisher.

Can we really say that it's all that important a game at this point, not having played it? I think it's a little presumptuous to proclaim poor sales of NMH as being indicative of a bigger problem, when there's a chance it might not turn out to be all that special.

Now if it turns out to be great and the sales aren't good in spite of that, then you can go ahead and say that it's a sad commentary on the state of gaming in general.

Unless you've already played it, in which case, carry on. :P

Yeah, it's the publisher's fault. It's published by a small, new publishing house in Japan, Marvelous. A good comparison would be being surprised that a game published by Majesco didn't make a splash in the states. Only, I must reiterate that it's a NEW publishing house, making the chance of sales even less likely, not the mention the advertising of the TP signing.
Also, the article doesn't say that nobody showed up, only that they didn't show up for the first 20 minutes. You all know that if a game isn't Dragon Quest, Japanese people don't line up for it.
Everybody needs to chill with that whole JAPAN IS GOING DOWN THE SHITTER SUPPORT THIRD PARTIES tirade.

I really wish the entertainment industry didn't revolve around million dollar ad campaigns that somehow work because everyone is an imbecile.

Japanese sales for NMH will pick up once it's been *proven* to be fun. As pretty as it looks [kinda], how it plays and whether it's fun - for actual gamers, not just paid reviewers - remains to be seen.

The latest Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter iterations have sold so well because of their portable status, which is a big deal in Japanese society. Plus, they're fun and challenging [esp. MHF2].

It's all a matter of bad timing. The signing was on the same day as the annual tentacle rape convention.