After nine years, Travis Touchdown is slated to make his chiliad return in No More Heroes 3 , releasing in just a few short weeks. While there has been much anticipation for Grasshopper Manufacture'southward upcoming activity game, it comes after somewhat of a break for the developer. No More Heroes iii besides follows Travis Strikes Once again: No More Heroes, a somewhat controversial title for the studio, with mixed critical and commercial reception.

What many returning fans of Goichi "Suda51" Suda's action series don't realize every bit hype for No More Heroes 3 reaches a peak is that, based on all of the promotional material, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes essentially acts equally the extended prologue to the upcoming sequel. This is true in regards to both gameplay and narrative, with some of Travis Strikes Again's major gameplay mechanics already presenting themselves in the trailers, and the sequel'due south story acting equally a directly sequel to the spin-off title. For gamers excited forNo More Heroes 3 that haven't yet played Travis Strikes Over again, here is why that should change before the sequel releases.

How Travis Strikes Again Sets Up No More Heroes 3

While Travis Strikes Again is worth a playthrough mainly because it is a surprisingly engaging beat-em'-upwards with Suda'due south unique flair for bending genres, most fans are likely interested in knowing how exactly it sets up the long awaited sequel to No More than Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. The game focuses on Travis' self imposed exile after condign the number 1 ranked assassin in the earth. As he lives out his days in the outskirts of Texas, he is tracked downward by an ex-professional baseball role player, Badman, begetter of Bad Girl, a dominate from the first No More Heroes game who is looking for revenge later Travis assassinated her on his quest to go the top assassinator.

Equally Badman catches up to Travis, he and Travis are sucked into a canceled video game panel that Travis has acquired, known as the "Death Drive Mk 2." The console was created by a designer known as Dr. Juvenile, who created six games known as the "Death Balls," which when nerveless will grant whatsoever wish (an obvious Dragon Ball reference). Travis and Badman course a truce to revive Bad Girl when all of the balls have been collected. The story is told through visual novel sequences dubbed "Travis Strikes Dorsum," which detail the events leading up to the game. These sequences involve Travis traveling the world looking for the various Death Balls as he encounters characters such as Mondo Zappa from Killer is Expressionless, Kamui Uehara from The Silver Example, and Juliet Chesterfield, the No More Heroes universe's version of Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw, retroactively canonizing the fact that all of Suda51'south games take identify in the aforementioned universe.

1 of these visual novel sequences features Travis and his cat Jeane acquiring a Death Ball off of an entrepreneur known as Damon Riccitiello, who is the CEO of Utopinia corporation and was developing a game known equally Serious Moonlight with Dr. Juvenile. What'south important about Damon'southward introduction in Travis Strikes Once more is that he is expected to exist a major villain in No More Heroes 3. He even acts as the master focus of the now iconic 2019 Game Awards trailer that revealed his relation to FU, the leader of the Galactic Superhero Corps. and the master villain of No More than Heroes 3.

In the visual novel sequence introduced in the game's DLC, Travis reunites with his amateur, Shinobu Jacobs, who was featured equally a playable graphic symbol in No More Heroes iii, and discovers that she has been running a dojo in the years since his absence. Most surprising, it'due south revealed that Travis married Sylvia Christel in the time since No More Heroes 2'due south catastrophe, and the two take had ii kids, a young boy named Hunter and a girl named Jeane. The game likewise teases the return of Henry Cooldown, Travis' twin brother who fans have speculated has been brainwashed leading into the events of the third game.

It's fair to fence that with the heavy focus on bridging the gap between No More Heroes 2 and 3, Travis Strikes Again's story is arguably more important heading into No More Heroes 3'southward than the last numbered installment in the series. The game likewise successfully ties No More than Heroes into the Impale the Past universe of Grasshopper Industry'southward titles that started with The Argent Case, withal it is the true meaning backside Travis Strikes Once again'southward story that makes information technology a must play for fans of Suda51'southward games, or even video games as a medium.

What Travis Strikes Again Represents

Beside existence instrumental to the story set up to pay off in No More Heroes three, Travis Strikes Again represents a major motility frontward for Goichi Suda and his team at Grasshopper Industry. Following the release of the showtime No More than Heroes, Suda51 took a step back from directing the studio's titles, instead allowing other directors to lead projects such every bit Shadows of the Damned, Killer is Dead, and  fifty-fifty No More Heroes 2: Drastic Struggle. Suda instead took on creative or executive roles for these projects, ultimately reducing his involvement in the actual direction of the games the studio was producing. With Travis Strikes Over again, Suda decided that information technology was time to render to the director's chair, taking inspiration from indie games such as Hotline Miami, which influenced the t-shirts the player can customize Travis with throughout the game.

In taking inspiration from indie games, Suda reduced the team at Grasshopper Manufacture to a staff of only 20 developers, returning the studio to its grassroots product pipeline information technology had utilized on titles such every bit The Argent Case and Flower, Sun, & Rain. The story of Travis Strikes Once more takes on a lot of themes from some of Suda's earlier titles, most key of which being the concept of "Kill the Past." After all, Suda used the game itself equally a style of metaphorically killing his own past and returning to the director's chair having learned from his by titles. In the game'south opening, Travis is forced to kill Electro Triple Star, the hero of a video game he grew upward loving. Travis is left noticeably guilt-ridden by this, frustrated with the direction his life has turned.

Later on in the game, Travis travels into a game Dr. Juvenile never finished developing called Serious Moonlight, which is congenital on actual template avails used in Unreal Engine 4. Before long into development, this game morphed into a game chosen Damned, a sequel to the 2010 Grasshopper Manufacture championship Shadows of the Damned, topped by appearances of protagonists Garcia Hotspur and Johnson. This entire level can be seen as an allegory for the development of the original Shadows of the Damned, as Suda has voiced his frustrations with the projection's development in recent years - claiming publisher EA forced the studio to develop the game in a way that was unfaithful to the creator's original vision.

Information technology's considering of sequences like this that many have considered Travis Strikes Again'due south subtext to be that of Suda51's ain return to the manager'south chair, with Suda51 coming back after watching the success of indie developers finding success with his punk game design philosophy. It'south because of this interesting backstory, besides as setup for the next game, that Travis Strikes Once more is a must play for fans of the series going into No More than Heroes 3.

No More Heroes 3 will release exclusively on Nintendo Switch on August 27th 2021.

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