Don't forget to like! This one took way more time than I was expecting, depending on it's performance, this might be my last video using the retrospective style.
Naomi has gone full business mindset on this one. She even stops offending Travis every time we go there and just says: "You look prettier when you have money " .
2 details about Jasper Batt Jr I find interesting is that his motivation stems from the Assassination Gigs in NMH and there's 3 of them. And, he's the mascot given his age, appearance and the forms in his fight.😶
The UAA in 2 was established in an official capacity by Jasper and Pizza Batt for the purpose of killing Travis. TSA reveals that the first game's fights were livestreamed and became a sensation that we can infer Pizza Batt capitialized on when it took over Santa Destroy with its urban redevelopment plan. That's why Sylvia resorts to peep shows afterwards, there's no more UAA now that its sole benefactor is dead. I do think the writing is all over the place in this series with plenty of issues but funnily enough the existence of the UAA is not one of them. NMH1 - An elaborate con devised by Sylvia. NMH2 - Televised revival by Pizza Batt to get revenge on Travis NMH3 - Exists in name only and is organized by Damon and Utopinia in order to combat the alien invasion.
I did not mention the justification they gave in TSA because I wanted to present the series with only the information we have in the first 2 games, kind of to simulate the experience most people had when the games were first released. I probably missed the information about the UAA they gave in the second game. You know in which segment it is? I mean there is that scene before number 50 at the restaurant, but if this is the scene, it's kind of careless of them to be subtle about the one theme they should absolutely not be subtle, taking in consideration how important the UAA is to the plot.
@@brbcasterSorry for the late reply I never got notified. The actual justification in game (being NMH2) is super thin, basically only being the restaurant scene, a line about Santa Destroy undergoing a massive redevelopment project (which I infer was by Pizza Batt), and a line from the jack of all trades guy mentioning that the assassination matches are being televised. Since the game's events stem from Jasper and Skelter Helter's revenge plot, the logical conclusion is that Jasper masterminded every facet of it, including the invention of this new UAA. But tbf, I think Suda just really wanted the UAA to still be a thing in the sequel since it's an effective framing device, and he wasn't too bothered by how he was gonna justify it being real this time. So it could be the case that I'm only writing for the game with these conclusions and it is indeed a total retcon. I 100% agree they needed to be more clear on the UAA among other things, I think this series' larger than life characters and themes tend to be a smokescreen for the generally poor writing. But at the very least it isn't much of a stretch to explain the UAA since all the necessary information is there to put it together, regardless if it was originally intended or not.
No problem! I agree. As I mentioned in the video, it’s not something that ruins the enjoyment of the game, I only pointed it out for the sake of analysis. For now, I’m trying to figure out how to talk about TSA story, but I’ll definitely include this correction in the next video. Thanks!
UAA is canonically now a real thing, yes, it was established for real after the success of UAA shitshow of the first game. I do not remember where exactly this was said, but yeah. Anyway, still my favorite one gameplay wise, even if it's weakest narratively, but at least I never hated Jasper Batt Jr. nor the "copeouts", but I am sad that we only got a single fight as Henry. Man, what happened to Henry from TSA on..............................
Yeah, I really don't know where they were going with Henry on the following games, on TSA the guy is unreasonable and on NHM3 he is basically another character, I also don't understand the new look, maybe they have gone too far with the Vergil reference on that one
@@DianaTaffie Wow, I just looked into it, I had no idea he did all that, on one interview apparently he even admits it . He also voiced Raiden from the MGS series.
@@brbcaster Yeah, very sad news those were, and considering the severity of it, it really feels like this might've affected Henry's character due to TSA and 3 being very personal to Suda and very meta, especially TSA.
@@Giornio.b I think it's a great game, but for a different reason of this one. The first impression might seem a bit weird at first due to its different style, but it quickly becomes very enjoyable thanks to the story. It's also where the series truly embraces its identity. Most importantly, it's a tribute to many of Suda's other famous games.
@@brbcaster I finished it today and it was great, the dlc was excruciatingly hard to me tho took me around 5 hours for it alone, the story was amazing to me and I loved how it was basically a sequel to silver case as I also love those. Those bullet enemy’s tho…
@@Giornio.b I think it's my top 2 in the series, I got to a point in the DLC that I almost decided to rush it. I never played Silver Case myself but I basically watched the whole game in the background while playing Kenshi. Yeah, I don't remember the exact name of the enemy right now, I think they looked a lot like a Travis, at the end of the main story the game throws 2 of them at you and it's basically stun lock hell.
Honestly, going after achievements isn't really my thing, but I know some people who won't even touch a game if there's an issue with acquiring them. Thanks for sharing this!
I love NMH2 Desperate Struggle as much as the other games in the kill the past series the hate seems to have died down on the game nowadays most people love it especially with its soundtrack that just kicks total ass
Thankfully, it seems to have ended among the community. However, I think it will artificially return the second this series gets more notoriety from people outside the community, similar to what happened with Berserk. I know these two are very different series both in media and general concept, but both of them have some non-politically correct themes (especially the first two games). Despite Berserk being way more controversial, both series might be treated as if they were the same thing.
I think NMH2's story would benefit from better _context._ As it is, the story jumps through hoops to justify having Travis taking on a series of colorful characters. I ask, _why?_ Just do it, Suda, no one would bat an eye! Instead, Travis is saddled with a shallow revenge plot and a distracting framing device. They want a revenge story? Here it is: Travis is at home, enjoying some finely crafted *_Moe_* when all his support cast from NMH1 come flying through his window in finely diced, juicy pieces. He rumages through the mess and finds a note from Jasper taking credit for the deaths and goading Travis to come find him. Rightly miffed, Travis finds his pants and heads off for Pizza Tower where he _does a Die Hard!_ The game can then use the floors as themed stages, with an assassin guarding the elevator leading up to the next floor. The game can basically follow the same flow as the original, but now without the messy plot spackle. Side missions, Bathrooms, and stores can either be on the floors or in the elevator (imagine a really big elevator!) With the plot centered around climbing up a tower, there's no need for the UAA, you have a logical reason why Travis can't head directly towards Jasper, and you can have some entertaing set pieces, like riding up the side of the buliding on the bike while being chased by Death Parade, and Letz Shake falling though several floors because he's too heavy, allowing Travis skip several fights easy.
Interesting rewriting. A comically large tower would be something believable in the NMH world. It would remove the UAA plot whole, it would force Travis to do all the ranks without the UAA rules, it also gives room for jokes AND would allow Suda to keep his self-reference. I think this motivation would work, the player is bound to like one of the characters that would be killed, instead of killing the one character no one cared or even remembered, but I think there is no way Suda would kill Sylvia, Henry or Shinobu.
@@brbcaster That's the best part, the player will be led to believe Silvia, Shinobu, and Henry are dead only for them to appear later to rescue/pester/challenge Travis. This gives room for new characters to develop while giving the returning ones a chance to shine. This could even allow for a New Game + where you can play as other characters.
@@Armedus I was going to say this would thin the budget, however, I think this idea would be possible, not only because they probably would have some extra cash after cutting the city exploration and keeping the 8-bit mini-game style. They also could use the time they dumped into those unreasonably big dungeons to do this.
Despite its problems i grew up playing this and the first maybe because i was teenager but nmh2 was cool and i can acknowledge its flaws but i dont think it stops me from enjoying it for what it is nmh was a master piece but nmh2 is just fun and goofy and can be campy but i still enjoy it a lot
@@brbcaster i can understand that and honestly for me as someone who didn't play the first game at the time the second game was entry point to this series which was really awesome and badass
Mark my words, the real Henry Cooldown will return in _No More Heroes Forever: Family Wars!_ In all seriousness, wouldn't put it past Suda to pull a major bait-and-switch. After all, didn't "Henry" say he changed after watching Thor? And who is in Thor? _Loki,_ the shape-shifting prince of deception. We're being set up for another rug pull. Just got to wait another decade to find out. Maybe. Hmm....😑
You know... something like this really would be in character for Suda, but seeing how things are going, NMH3 might be the last game of the franchise because of legal problems (Judging by the few things I've seen about it).
@@misterhimura036 Agree. It's pretty shallow and feels like a half-hearted attempt to remake the first. I'm okay with it but it barely moves the needle. I sincerely hope it's not the last entry for the series.
