Travis is back. With the Nindies Summer Showcase 2017 coming to an end, Nintendo suddenly announced that Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes would be releasing in 2018 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. It will be developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and directed by Goichi “Suda 51” Suda. Check out the trailer below.

The premise of the game is interesting as it sees Bat, the father of Bad Girl (who Travis assassinated in a prior game) taking revenge. Travis will be fighting for his life in six games. In fact, one of the games he’s pulled into in the trailer is Hotline Miami and it seems Grasshopper will partner with other indie developers for the others.

A new No More Heroes title was teased during the Nintendo Switch reveal event in January this year and interestingly, the final title had been hinted at. Still, seeing Grasshopper Manufacture teaming up with other indie developers to bring their games into the universe is pretty cool.

Not much information has been floating around about Grasshopper Manufacture’s Let It Die, created by Suda 51 (the demented mind behind Killer 7 and No More Heroes), since it was announced at TGS 2014.

Thankfully, the developer has provided an update. Along with confirming the free to play title would be out later this year, the studio promised an asynchronous experience unlike any seen in free to play titles till now. PAX East attendees will be the first get their hands on a demo for the game.

Executive producer Kazuki Morishita noted that, “The world we are creating will push the envelope for asynchronous, free-to-play. The trademark Grasshopper visual and narrative flair remains a signature for the title.”

Let It Die is touted as an ultraviolent title that would be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and developed on Unreal Engine 4. What are your thoughts on the game’s progress? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

Sony showed off multiple games last night at their pre-TGS conference, and one of those was Let It Die, the new game coming to the PlayStation 4 from Suda 51, the eccentric game maker and director who has brought us such eclectic games as Killer7 and No More Heroes in the past.

The new trailer shown off for Let It Go yesterday was spectacular. Spectacularly violent. Seriously, dictionaries should just take this video and stick it next to the definition of the word. It’d be enough of a visual aid to convey the meaning right off the bat. Seriously, it glorifies killing in so many imaginative ways, many of which I didn’t even know existed or were possible.

Apart from the glorified violence, the trailer also shows off some gameplay so we can see what the game looks like in action. There’s a whole lot more real footage here than in the E3 trailer, so knock yourself out.

… actually, I shouldn’t say that, or that will certainly be something that they’ll include in the next trailer for the game. Self bludgeoning to death.

It’s just as everyone feared but wouldn’t say aloud: Grasshopper Manufacture’s Lily Bergamo, a PS4 exclusive announced last year, is no more. Actually, the game evolved into Let It Die, a PS4 exclusive that focuses on grindhouse gore and multiplayer combat.

Speaking to Famitsu (translated by Gematsu), it seems the idea was always to create an action game but we won’t be seeing Lily Bergamo protagonist Tae Ioroi ever again.

Goichi Suda then talked more about the game’s multiplayer. Essentially, Let It Die is a free to play title and will allow you to create your own avatar. You customize this avatar by scavenging equipment from enemies and it seems there may be avenue for micro-transactions in that regard. Interestingly, as players die, their data is then harvested and used to create new enemies for other players’ games.

There’s definitely more to know about the game but it’s a shame that Lily Bergamo was retired. What are your thoughts on the transition to Let It Die? Let us know in the comments.

Suda 51 is known for his bizarre creations and Let It Die is no exception to the rule. Based on all those movies featuring a lumbering mutant creature, except having you in the role of said mutant, it appears to be a tribute to grindhouse gore with its hack and slash gameplay. It will be heading to the PS4 – check it out above.

What’s interesting though is that no mention of Suda 51’s other PS4 exclusive Lily Bergamo was made, especially since it was announced less than a year ago to be in development for the console. It’s very likely that the game still exists and is planned for a future release. Regardless, we’re kind of bummed to have missed out on Bergamo this time around.

What are your thoughts on Let It Die? Let us know in the comments below and decide for yourself whether the gore is appealing or not.

Grasshopper Manufacture’s Goichi Suda aka Suda 51 recently praised the development aspects of the PS4, especially with regards to the speed, in an interview with Famitsu. The developer is working on bringing Lily Bergamo exclusively to the console.

“The most impressive one to me so far has got to be ‘speed’. As a video game console, that’s the part the stood out to me the most for the PlayStation 4. We make games, so we want to make them fun, and we also put a lot of effort into making them as appealing as possible. In order to do that, we need hardware that can show ‘speed’.

“When it comes to making games, having this ‘speed’ available as an ingredient really puts us at ease. Even as we currently develop, we can really feel the response of having it available.”

Suda didn’t clarify on what aspect of the hardware offered the speed though. As for Lily Begamo, it apparently came about when GungHo Entertainment CE Kazuki Morishita and Goichi Suda brainstormed for a bit. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the PS4 from its early stages, and decided to challenge this platform, so we decided to develop it for PS4.”

Lily Bergamo is expected to release in 2014.

(Source)

So again, we have a samurai or ninja-esque character who can lay down heaps of damage on groups of enemies. Surely we haven’t seen anything like this before, have we? Regardless, it will be out in 2014, with more details due at this month’s Tokyo Game Show.

Check out our review of Killer is Dead here for more information on what the developer has been up to recently. Will Lily Bergamo be released in time for the PlayStation 4’s launch in Japan on February 22nd 2014, or will it be arriving in the latter half of the year? We’ll find out as the details arrive.

The Fan Edition includes the Smooth Operator Pack, which includes the Episode 51: The Man Who Stole Blood mission, Gigolo Glasses, the mysterious Betty for “access” in Gigolo Mode and police bikini uniforms for Mika and Vivienne. It will also include a poster, the full soundtrack on CD (composed by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka), an art booklet and exclusive packaging.

There’s also the Limited Edition, which retails for £49.99 and includes the Smooth Operator Pack DLC. Overall, the game has seen some pretty limited sales in Japan and lackluster critical reception. Nonetheless, the visuals are amazing and the action is violent enough. Also Gigolo Mode, for those who care. Killer is Dead is available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Killer is Dead sees assassin Mondo Zappa hunting cybernetically-enhanced criminals in the name of justice and flashy blood. Of course, in between missions – and as a part of some of them – Zappa will be able to partake in Gigolo missions to flirt with women. You can use special Gigolo glasses in order to see through the “hearts” (and clothing) of these women to curry favour, and thus garner special gifts.

No, we’re not quite sure if those gifts were worth the trouble or not. At least you can cut up cyber-enemies in flashes of animated frenzy.

Critical acclaim hasn’t been so hot for Killer is Dead, with the Xbox 360 version garnering a Metascore of 61, with the PlayStation 3 version receiving a Metascore of 65.

Players take on the role of executioner named Mondo Zapp, who is tasked to take out criminal and assassins. The game was released on August 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

The groundwork and planning for Killer Is Dead began in late 2009 with development starting in early 2011. The game does have some content which is mature, but vice president Ken Berry thinks the game can appeal to wider audiences.

“It can appeal to a wide group of people, not just our usual core audience that mainly focuses on RPGs. The key will be getting the additional retail exposure at the mass market retailers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, which is essential to branching out to the more casual gamers that may not closely follow gaming news and upcoming releases.” [reference]

The game took inspiration from Transformers: Dark of the Moon with its premise. Goichi Suda stated in an interview that, “When I was creating the script had to do with the moon, earth, and sun. I started with a plot that related those elements, but it wasn’t working out so I took that out. I still wanted to have some kind of focus with the moon.

You know the latest Transformers movie? Nobody has seen the dark side of the moon. There could be a house there with somebody living in it and the main character needs to kill that person, but how do you get over there. That’s how I started creating this game.” [reference]

The game would also rely on Unreal Engine 4 as Suda explained in an interview “As a developer, we’re heavily relying right now on Unreal Engine 4, That works really well with both systems – or in the sense that we could go either way.” [reference]

Story

The story takes place in the near future where the player takes up the role of an executioner named Mondo Zappa. The player gets contracts from the Bryan Execution Firm. This firm is run by a cyborg named Bryan Roses, who commissions Mondo and as you can imagine the player needs to kill various criminal across the world. Due to profession, Mondo does not show himself much in the world and lives a private life.

The game will also involve serious themes like “how far can you protect someone”  and “love and execution”, hence mixing action along with player emotions.

Gameplay

The game is a hack ‘n slash sword play combined with wild gunplay, and even some wrestling thrown in for good measure. The main character Mondo handles a sword with his right hand but has his cybernetic left arm that transforms into different weapons, which include guns, drills and more. In addition, his arm absorbs blood from the people that he slaughters and the collected blood is used for a powerful strike called Adrenaline Boost.

Suda stated that, “One thing we got to do with this game, is you fighting against a Yakuza guy riding a tiger. You’re in Kyoto, among all these old-style buildings, and [hero] Mondo is on this motorbike fighting against a Yakuza on a tiger! And the game’s packed with these sorts of situations, the kind you won’t see in any other game. That Kyoto battle got concepted out surprisingly early on, too; I guess we felt like overseas gamers ought to see what Kyoto looks like”.

He further stated that, “Mondo’s an executioner, not an assassin. You have that ‘execution’ nuance added to the act of murdering your foes. The hero’s job is to wipe out these serious villains, real AAA-class international terrorists. He’s dressed so smartly that you might wonder if he’s actually capable of killing, but once the ‘work’ switch is pulled, his aura completely turns around.

“The story depicts him as a man who just does his job without putting much of any emotion into it. I think Killer7 was the best we could do in art expression at the time it came out, but if we just recreated that, it’d merely seem old at this point. So we really pursued an art style that seemed modern with our shading technology. There was a lot of trial and error behind what you see now.” [reference]

As the player performs more and more combos, your combo level will increase which will give rise to four different finishing moves. They are called as the Final Judgement. They are:

• Assassination
• Slaughter
• Punishment
• Execution

Characters

Mondo Zappa – The hero of the game is  a 35-year-old man hailing from America. As mentioned above he who is hired by the Brian Execution Firm in order to kill criminals around the world. He uses  is his pair of Katanas (Gekkou)  to take his foes down.

Hamadayama – He is Yakuza and yields a Katana and is one of the antagonists in the game. He has a tiger tattoo on his back.

Giant Head – Another enemy in the game, Giant Head is an alien.

Vivian Squall – She is a 25-year-old woman from Europe. She  works in the Brian Execution Firm as Mondo Zappa’s boss. She is a very serious and upto the point kind of person.

Victor – He steals sounds from music makers to create his sound of evil. He can transform himself into a powerful robot.

Mika Takekawa – Takekawa  is Japanese woman who works as Mondo Zappa’s assistant.

Brian Roses – Brian is a 65-year-old American and is the chief of the  Brian Execution Firm. In the past Brian Roses was a executioner himself but now, he is turned himself in to a full fledged Cyborg.

Damon- Not much is known about him except he described as a mysterious man with eyes of madness.

This wiki was last updated on 5th, January 2015.