Suda 51 Gets It

Awhile back when playing through No More Heroes I wrote on my blog a letter addressed to Gouchi Suda, merely pointing out what was done well and what detracted from the game. I never expected him to read it but the letter writing process is a good one for politely voicing out your opinions and flushing out ideas.

My main complaints were:

1.that the boss fights were too unforgiving even if you played them to almost perfection

2.the open GTA-esque city was pointless and ate up time

3. The side quests were boring and introduced grinding to an action game…which shouldn’t happen

I’ve pieced together some bits of several interviews and here is what Suda 51 has to say.

Suda51 has also stated that not only will the game world be largely improved over the first game, the sidequests available will be far more varied and will be connected to the main story. The physics and the enemy A.I. will also be improved, to create greater variety in combat. A “Mark II” version of Travis’ motorbike will be featured, along with a driving overhaul. The number of boss fights will increase. There will be 50 bosses, but some will challenge Travis in groups so this does not mean there will be 50 boss fights.

The game’s city has been scaled back a little bit, improved visually with motion blue and HDR lighting. Suda says it’s closer to the game he wanted to deliver originally. Edge says the city is a lot more lively and the streets more populated. He describes it as one-and-a-half times the original.

What’s great about this is Suda 51 has listened, no doubt, to the constructive criticism given to his game. How many game designers admit to mucking stuff up and than offer solutions for it? A handful…maybe. It sounds like the next installment will be free of many the pitfalls. He didn’t hint at any of the boss fights being more forgiving but I suppose we can always hope.

It’s looking like I might just pick up the sequel.