| Weiteres Review |  |
Ich habe gerade im Resetera ein weiteres Review gelesen welches noch einmal ganz gut zusammenfasst warum dieses Spiel so gut und schlecht zugleich ist.
And that's a wrap. Got a lot of thoughts. Will try to distil them down to the simplest praise and criticism. Extremely unusual game, one that I can't openly recommend, but would to the right audience.
Its strength was always in creative use of genre blending and experimental scenarios within the framework of a serviceable and, when at its best, very satisfying combat system. The hybrid blend of beat-em-up brawling and genre swaps alongside ruleset gimmicks allows the game to provide interesting, quirky scenarios that use originality and surprise to elevate above the game's other flaws.
Unfortunately its flaws are impossible to ignore. Pacing being the big one, alongside level design, and some unusual quirks in the combat system. Some Death Drive MkII games drag horrendously long while accentuating a level or stylistic gimmick that outstay their welcome. The two biggest culprits are Coffee and Doughnuts with the platforming, and the final level (which I won't spoil) and the combat. The latter seriously went for so fucking unbelievably awfully long that I was painfully tired and exhausted long before it actually ended, and had to force myself through. That is not a good feeling.
At its worst, this level design and use of game systems really feels like totally inexperienced developers pissing away half arsed ideas into My First Unreal Engine 4 Level. Terrible uninventive, repetitive mazes. Bad, unresponsive platforming with awful hitboxes. Stretches of stages that drag out far, far too long for the sake of length or whatever. The game would be ten times what it is if many of these stages were cut short before the gimmicks could wear off.
But the gimmicks are what they are, and elevate the experience. It's hard to discuss without spoiling but there's some legitimately surprising shit in there, outrageously laugh-out-loud twists and narrative beats, and the entire project just oozes personality and style. And that style extends to Grasshopper's boldness in swapping in and out genres, playing with the whole compendium-of-indie-games shtick, and injecting that into the framework of the game.
It's just a shame that the quality of these systems and designs are so widely sloppy and inconsistent. Here's the thing; for all their grungy, clumsy work throughout their history, for all the b-grade game systems and roughness of their projects, I've still always felt Grasshopper's games generally still play pretty well at their worst and are mostly set back by polish, refinement, and other oddities. Travis Strikes Again at its worst is arguably some of the worst game design Grasshopper has ever spat out, where style and originality cannot overcome just outright bad direction in repetition and pacing.
So for that reason, I cannot recommend the game to anyone outright, because if they played it and hated it I could totally see why. It's fucking rough as guts at times, sometimes feeling like amateur hour through and through. But it's also overflowing with style, over the top in its self awareness, and loaded with memorable stuff.
And I stand by what I said earlier; where No More Heroes was a tongue-in-cheek critique of gamers and the culture of gamers, Travis Strikes Again does the same for the process of game development, the culture of gaming and the industry itself, and in particular Grasshopper as a developer themselves.
It's a weird one. Worst No More Heroes by far. Clumsy game systems and awful pacing/design at times. But still very memorable and as a fan of the series, and namely Grasshopper's work as a whole, it was worth every frustrating second I put in and every penny spent on acquiring it.
[https://www.resetera.com/threads/travis-strikes-again-no-more-heroes-ot-directed-by-suda51.93799/page-14#post-17020377]