With the oncoming release of Travis Strikes Again, I figured I'd use this opportunity to create a thread for those that are unsure of what this game is exactly. There's been a lot of misinformation and general confusion going around which I hope to quell by offering a sort of comprehensive info roundup. I'll be updating this thread with any new information as it comes out.
Please don't remove this thread. It's absolutely imperative that it stays open considering how much confusion there is surrounding this game. I wouldn't want people to pass on it because Nintendo and Suda keep showing off the first game. I'd like to use this thread as a sort of means to answer questions people have on TSA.
Travis Strikes Again is the third entry in iconoclast gamemaker Goichi "Suda51" Suda's No More Heroes series. Announced at the Nintendo Presentation 2017 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, Travis Strikes Again chronicles the titular protagonist and otaku assassin Travis Touchdown and his fate seven years after Desperate Struggle. Now a recluse living with his cat Jeane in a trailer, a former baseball player turned assassin by the name of Badman seeks to kill Travis as revenge for killing his daughter in the first game. As the two clash, they're sucked into the Death Drive Mark II video game console.
Stuck in the console, the pair's only way out is to fight their way through seven different games and facing each game's respective bosses. Urban legends surrounding the Death Drive state that the first person to complete all games is given a wish. Badman hopes to complete all the games to resurrect his beloved daughter.
Travis Strikes Again is largely an isometric hack-and-slash deviating from the previous two entries. The player is given the option to go through the game as either Travis or Badman. While Travis makes use of his trusty beam katana, Badman wrecks havoc with his trusty bat. Both Travis and Badman have access to unique special attacks and super moves.
In the game, players will have to collect 24 skill chips, some for Travis and a few for Badman. You'll get to choose 4 chips to take with you when entering a game world. By holding the left bumper and combining it with a face button, Travis can place the skills the player has earned into slots. According to GameInformer, Travis has a skill that can call in an airstrike and Badman has one that allows him to slow enemies down.
As Travis and Badman strike enemies, they lose power in their weapons, just like in the original No More Heroes games. In the Wii titles, Travis had to shake the controller up and down to recharge. That functionality is retained here, by holding in the left analog stick and shaking the controller, Travis regains beam saber functionality in pips. This can be done with any of the game's supported controllers, like the joycons, dual-joycons, Pro controller, or handheld mode. Thankfully, aside from the single-joycon option, all other controllers let you just press in the left analog stick and then oscillate the right analog up and down to charge. It's quite a bit more consistent, especially in the heat of battle.
Travis Strikes Again can also be played with a friend where one assumes the role of Travis and the other Badman, simply pass them a joycon and get going! If players choose to play in co-op, they will have access to specific co-op charge attacks moves that can be performed together.
Travis Strikes Again runs at 60fps.
The main enemies that the reluctant duo face in Travis Strikes Again are bugs - physical manifestations of video game errors and the like. Killing bugs provide Travis/Badman with LB$ which presumably they can use to buy shirts and upgrade abilities.
How Travis Strikes Again's gameplay loop works is as follows
- Travis/Badman must find physical copies of the games (Death Ball) in Adventure Mode
- You enter the game world
- Beat it
and repeat.
Adventure Mode (pictured above) is stylized as an old-school visual novel style adventure game. It will be split into six different text adventures called "Travis Strikes Back" and offer completely different content from the main game. The adventure mode has been described as a lot more comedic in tone to the rest of the game and will likely contain that classic Suda humor we all know and love. A large part of the game will be during adventure mode.
There seems to be this common misconception that the game is simply you running through these worlds but there are moments for downtime too just like the previous games. You are free to explore Travis' trailer at any time.
Players can choose to chill in Travis' trailer and engage in activities such as eating Ramen, admiring your wardrobe or playing with Jeane. Oh, and we can't forget this, can we?
In Travis Strikes Again, Travis and Badman are faced with seven different games that they must beat. From open-worlds, to racing games, each one is different from the last. Suda took inspiration for the games from certain games that he played in his childhood. For example, you can clearly see the Zero4 Champ influences in Gold Dragon GP. Each game has their own respective bosses that the player must beat in order to proceed. There have been six confirmed so far with a secret seven in the works. Each game has a certain amount of levels in them to complete.
Credit to Booga for shedding light on some of the games here.
Electric Thunder Tiger 2 - Isometric hack-and-slash, 4 levels + 1 boss arena shown off so far
Coffee & Doughnuts - 2.5D Side-scroller. 2 levels shown-off so far
Killer Marathon - An overhead, Smash TV style arena survival game with a TV game show aesthetic. Might have sections where you play pinball. For reference, Smash TV looks like this.
Golden Dragon GP - An RPG/story based racing game akin to Zero4 Champ with a Tron-style aesthetic
Life is Destroy - Puzzle-horror in which you have navigate a quaint residential area while avoiding traps and fighting enemies. Has live-action cutscenes.
Serious Moonlight - Suda describes this as an AAA game with an open-world. It is the largest and lengthiest of the games.
Secret Seventh Game - Takes place in a modern city revolving a demon hunter who uses a golden gun. Said character appears in a game-within-a-game. Suda states it is linked to Killer7 somehow.
When Travis Strikes Again got announced, there was this large misconception that Travis would be venturing into six different indie-game worlds. That is not the case. Instead, the indie collaboration is in the form of shirts from various different indie games that Travis can wear. However, Hotline Miami is the exception to this rule which will have deeper integration within the game itself. This Hotline Miami illustration of Travis done by Dennis Wedin will appear in the game in some form.
It is unknown at this time whether Badman can equip shirts. Initially, Suda was aiming for 51 shirts (lol) but now they're closer to 60. Supposedly there's a few ones from AAA games we haven't seen yet.
Suda and Nintendo approached the different indie developers in order to collaborate with them. Suda originally planned on recreating some indie games in Travis Strikes Again but came to the realization that it would require double and triple checks in order for it to be true to the original. Something like this would add to development time considerably which is why it was scrapped.
(the GOAT)
Q: Release Date? Pricing? File Size? Is there a season pass? What's the post launch like?
Travis Strikes Again will release on 18th January 2019 for the small and meagre price of $40/£30 (physical). Note that the physical versions of the game are all pacakaged with the season pass code which is why they're considerably pricier. Digital buyers have access to two variants, standalone or a bundle edition which includes the season pass. They're £24.99/$30 and $40/£34.99 respectively.
The game is 5.6GB and two sets of DLC are planned. Details will be announced at a later date. Suda states that long time NMH fans will be happy with the DLC. There are also plans to work in a separate adventure mode for Badman into the DLC.
There may potentially be another season pass according to Suda in his interview with Jonneh
Q: How long is Travis Strikes Again?
A: Thanks to salromano, we know that Travis Strikes Again will be as long as the previous two entries. Nintendosoup are convinced the game is around 10 hours.
Q: Is there a pre-load? When can I pre-order?
A: The pre-order and pre-load is live now on the eShop!
Q: Do I need to play the first two games to enjoy this one?
A: Nope, not at all! Suda has stated that he's designed this game in a way that accommodates newer players and brings them into the series. You don't necessarily have to be aware of Travis' previous exploits to understand the plot of this game. The aim is to use this game as a jumping-off point for a potential No More Heroes 3.
Q: Is there voice acting?
A: There is partial voice acting. Robin Atkin Downes will reprise his role as Travis Touchdown.
Q: Who's publishing this game?
A: Grasshopper Manufacture is self-publishing this game. Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe will be distributing the physical version.
Q: Why isn't this No More Heroes 3?
A: Because Suda has gone on record to state that he's been wanting to work on a new project with a smaller-sized development like the GhM of old. A project of this scale allows him to have full artistic freedom in crafting the game he wants to make without any restraints. Suda still sees him and GhM as indie developers which is why Travis Strikes Again imbues that indie spirit.
Q: How many people are developing this game?
A: There isn't a concrete number but Suda has described the team's size as "small". Probably 10-15.
Q: Who's composing this?
A: DJ Abo and DJ 1-2. There's been speculation that Masafumi Takada (composer of the previous games and other GhM projects) has cooked up a special track for this game but those claims are unsubstantiated so take that with a grain of salt.
Q: Why is Unreal Engine being plastered all over this game's marketing and universe?
A: Other than the fact that the game is being built in UE4, the in-universe explanation for why Travis has an Unreal Engine shirt is that the game's being made for the Death Drive MK-II have actually been built in UE4 which is really fucking meta. Epic Games have given Suda and GhM the all-clear to do this which is neat.
Q: Who's the amazing artist behind the promotional material?
A: That's b0neface. British-born artist who's worked on various different stuff. When it comes to video games, he did the sublime Hotline Miami JP cover.
Q: Can this game be played with a single joy-con?
A: Yes!
Q: Is this still in?
Q: When can we see more of the game before launch?
A: Suda will be livestreaming it on Famitsu's YouTube channel next week. He'll be making a huge announcement.
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