Why I used to love Santa Destroy

 Critique, Open World Action Games  3 Responses »
Feb 202010
 

In Suda 51’s No More Heroes, I loved the city of Santa Destroy. That’s a controversial position, because Santa Destroy bored almost everyone else to tears — the excision of the city from the sequel, Desperate Struggle, was met with almost unanimous praise. Judged strictly by its impact on the gameplay, the town had few redeeming features, and there’s not much point in disputing that. But Santa Destroy had value to No More Heroes in other ways. In excising it, the sequel lost something. So, what was wrong with Santa Destroy? Part of the challenge it posed for players was [Read more…]

It’s just lines and colors

 Critique, Open World Action Games  2 Responses »
May 072008
 
It's just lines and colors

Anyone picking up No More Heroes will wonder just what the hell it is that he’s playing, because like creator Suda Goichi’s previous game killer7 it defies easy categorization. That prompts a question, though: why should we want to categorize these games? Does figuring out what bin to drop a game into make the world easier to interpret, or do our categories, and the conventions that come with them, impose meaningless constraints on our appreciation and enjoyment of art? Early and late in No More Heroes Suda breaks the fourth wall—a sign that the game is trying to say something [Read more…]