Hands on with Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, interview with Suda 51

Let it Die is the last major release from Grasshopper Manufacture and is something that I dove into during the majority of 2017 (A year end PlayStation recap showed that I had spent over 700 hours on the free to play title.) The game was actually in the process of holding a 1 year anniversary event that offered daily rewards, so being at PAX East created a curious dilemma. So while I didn?t bring a Playstation 4 to Boston, I added a significant weight to my luggage by dragging my laptop so I could log in via Playstation Remote Play feature to collect my daily rewards during the trip. So to say I have a dedication or even a problem would not be too off.

When I was contacted days before the start of PAX East by the PR firm handling Grasshopper?s latest release Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, it wasn?t hard for me to move appointments to accommodate their event at the show. Nestled in the Nintendo booth, TSA: NMH is a slight departure from two other titles in this series. You are no longer climbing the ranks of United Assassin’s Association. The majority of the action takes place inside the Deathdrive Mk2 a video game console which Travis is pulled into. It should also be noted that Travis will not be going alone, Badman, the father of one Travis? victims during his ascent to the top of UAA?s ranks. They have to forge an uneasy alliance if they want to survive in the video game world. Our demo took place in the world of Electro Triple Star, and on his neon streets the duo are accosted by creatures that explode into clouds of pixels pixels when defeated. It is here where we managed to see some hallmarks of the series show themselves in this 3rd entry. The beam saber still needs to be charged in the suggestive thrusting action and the duo will need to visit the toilet to save. Energy can recovered by visiting a ramen stand. The boss of this demo, Electro Triple Star is fought in a arena which goes through several phases. Sadly I was not able to take on the boss itself as I had some time booked to speak with the head honcho of Grasshopper Manufacture, Suda 51. So courtesy of his translator here are some questions we asked.

Gaming Age: What made you bring it No More Heroes back to the Nintendo Switch?
Suda51 (via Translator): There?s a lot of good hardware out right now, but the Switch is revolutionary, so he feels that it is the time to bring Travis back now

GA: I noticed that Travis was sporting a Hyper Light Drifter T-Shirt, Is this purely a fashion only feature?
Suda51 (via Translator): Fashion only, but we will consider other implementation. We?ll see how development goes. We?re working with an indie size dev team so it depends on their output. Nintendo decided to back them as a Nindie because of the size of the game.

GA: Since it is a Nindie, will we see the traditional Travis behaviors in this title. I.e. saving via the bathroom and wrestling moves?
Suda51 (via Translator): Those elements will be present and Travis will be able to do up to 12 different suplexes! You will be able to slot the suplexes into your special moves. This demo starts you with 4 suplexes and you unlock more as you go through the game.

GA: We saw the Death Drive Mk2 logo during the boot up…does this leave room for a certain sunglasses wearing, hooded skeleton man (Uncle Death from Grasshoppers F2P PS4 title Let it Die) in Travis Strikes Again?
Suda51 (via Translator):  Uncle Death is an entity from the Death Drive Mk 1.8. This is the Mk 2, but you will see the man behind the Death Drive series Dr. Juvenile.

GA: Is there a release timeframe for Travis Strikes Again?
Suda51 (via Translator): This year.

GA: Thank you for your time!

So expect Travis Touchdown?s latest this year exclusively on the Nintendo Switch!