Overall an incredibly fun experience, I highly recommend it for fans of the series. if you're not a fan of the series and want to get into this game, I don't think this one is a great starting point, only because of how much it relies on elements from previous games, including Travis Strikes Again.
As for the game itself, the combat is incredibly satisfying and the narrative and themes are interesting and incredibly fun. However, I don't think it lives up to No More Heroes 1 for me, at least from a thematic and character perspective. I still really like the more positive spin this game takes on Travis and Suda's belief on video games as a medium, but I'll always love the characters (particularly the bosses) and the meta critique of video games the first game had to offer much more.
One change I did not understand was the change to mission structure. In every NMH game prior to this one, you had to run through a mini gauntlet before getting to the boss. This gave a good feel to the area and made the fight getting to the boss just as entertaining as the boss itself. In this title, there are several separated maps where you fight off a group of enemies at least 3 times, then you go fight the boss. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of this change personally.
Also, as several other people have pointed out, the game doesn't run very well at all in the open world sections, though in small combat arenas, the game runs beautifully.
Besides that, everything else was still incredibly fun and fulfilling. If you do play it I highly recommend using the motion controls. I didn't when I played the originals, but playing with them here was absolutely the correct choice, it will enhance your experience incredibly.
As for the game itself, the combat is incredibly satisfying and the narrative and themes are interesting and incredibly fun. However, I don't think it lives up to No More Heroes 1 for me, at least from a thematic and character perspective. I still really like the more positive spin this game takes on Travis and Suda's belief on video games as a medium, but I'll always love the characters (particularly the bosses) and the meta critique of video games the first game had to offer much more.
One change I did not understand was the change to mission structure. In every NMH game prior to this one, you had to run through a mini gauntlet before getting to the boss. This gave a good feel to the area and made the fight getting to the boss just as entertaining as the boss itself. In this title, there are several separated maps where you fight off a group of enemies at least 3 times, then you go fight the boss. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of this change personally.
Also, as several other people have pointed out, the game doesn't run very well at all in the open world sections, though in small combat arenas, the game runs beautifully.
Besides that, everything else was still incredibly fun and fulfilling. If you do play it I highly recommend using the motion controls. I didn't when I played the originals, but playing with them here was absolutely the correct choice, it will enhance your experience incredibly.