Everything feels deliberate in No More Heroes, perfectly chosen and presented to the player. Its commentary on otaku culture is pointed and ageless, all the while being quite entertaining. The combat is deceptively simple and very rewarding once fully understood. Every beam katana has different strengths and weaknesses, and I found myself enjoying each one as I unlocked them.

The plot of No More Heroes is a fairly open-and-shut affair: if sequels had never been made, I would have been satisfied and not questioned it. The strength of the plot comes from the incredibly creative cutscenes, which give a lot of personality to each assassin while peeling back the story's layers bit by bit. Of course, some cutscenes are entirely character-focused and still rock: Destroyman's is the obvious pick, but I think the oft-neglected Volodarskii's cutscene is equally awesome.

To me, this all goes back to the deliberate nature of the game. The side-job tedium reflects Travis' pointless climb to the real-life leaderboards of wet work, and the smart writing tells you just enough without spoiling the big reveal. Even so, the player is given plenty of options for the open world segments: finding the Lovikov balls, mastering the bike, shopping, there's a solid variety of things to do outside of jobs.

No More Heroes isn't a very long game, but it doesn't need to be. It has its points and themes spread evenly across its runtime, a story smart enough to know when to end, and streamlined combat that rewards decisive action without being greedy. It's a damn fine game and I'm glad I finally got the chance to play it.