SUDA 51 and Grasshopper Manufacure

[Spark Of Spirit]

It looks exactly like No More Heroes but with a female protagonist and zombies to me.

No More Heroes had an unlikable otaku jerk as the protagonist that tried to act cool even when he was a total dork and had no idea what he was doing. That's what made him work.

The protagonist here is a cheerleader that does martial arts moves. Not too far off from Buffy the Zombie Slayer.

Obviously, much of the charm is going to come from the dialogue (which is untranslated here) and the increasing insanity of the level design (as in NMH and Shadows of the Damned).

I'm sure the dialogue will be weird, but hopefully the level design will get better than that video. That seemed way too cramped to me.

I'm just not sold yet. I probably won't be until it comes out.

[Daxdiv]

It looks exactly like No More Heroes but with a female protagonist and zombies to me.

I'm getting this exact impression from everything I've seen so far with Lollipop Chainsaw as well.

[Foggle]

Well, I'm not talking about the protagonist here. This seems more like Shadows of the Damned; a "buddy game." Both Garcia and Johnson were likable and uncomplicated characters who played off of each other very well. I'm sure Juliet and Nick will do the same.

Going by what I've gathered from previews, this is footage from the game's first level. Death Metal's stage was equally cramped in NMH, so I'm sure things will really open up and get more interesting later on.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's very possible it could be a great game, I'm just not seeing it yet. 

[Foggle]

That's understandable. I've just never been burned by Suda before, so LC would have to actually look broken for me to not be excited for it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I might take some heat for saying this, but to me Suda has kind of always been more of a style over substance designer. Don't get me wrong, his games are full of great gameplay and each of them offer up interesting and unique mechanics in their own rights, but I've always felt that the focus of his games has been put far more on the weirdness of their design than on just the gameplay.

As for the level design, I have played a few portions of No More Heroes 1 and 2, and aside from having a somewhat open hub world between missions, its not like it had the most creative level design either. It was pretty linear and straightforward from what I played of it, so I don't see how this is necessarily a big step back from that.

This game certainly doesn't look like best action game ever material, or even Suda's best game for that matter, but it still looks pretty damn fun to me, personally. Its at least got to be a better action game than Ninja Gaiden 3 is. I challenge anyone to look at how boring that game's level design looks and then go back to watch that Lollipop Chainsaw preview gameplay and not feel that it looks like Super Mario-fucking-Galaxy in comparison to that shit.

[Foggle]

I might take some heat for saying this, but to me Suda has kind of always been more of a style over substance designer.

It really depends on the game in question, but yeah, his most popular games are definitely style over substance when it comes to actual design. What truly sets them apart from other super-crazy games (like Saints Row 3 and NeverDead) is that the writing is always phenomenal. NMH 2 and Shadows of the Damned are clever and witty while Killer7 and NMH 1 have tons of interesting subtext and hidden meanings to really get you thinking.

His less popular and import-only titles (Flower Sun and Rain, Silver Case, Fatal Frame 4, etc.), however, have a lot more to offer in terms of substance in game design.

This game certainly doesn't look like best action game ever material, or even Suda's best game for that matter, but it still looks pretty damn fun to me, personally. Its at least got to be a better action game than Ninja Gaiden 3 is. I challenge anyone to look at how boring that game's level design looks and then go back to watch that Lollipop Chainsaw preview gameplay and not feel that it looks like Super Mario-fucking-Galaxy in comparison to that shit.

You hit the nail on the head there.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I might take some heat for saying this, but to me Suda has kind of always been more of a style over substance designer. Don't get me wrong, his games are full of great gameplay and each of them offer up interesting and unique mechanics in their own rights, but I've always felt that the focus of his games has been put far more on the weirdness of their design than on just the gameplay.

As for the level design, I have played a few portions of No More Heroes 1 and 2, and aside from having a somewhat open hub world between missions, its not like it had the most creative level design either. It was pretty linear and straightforward from what I played of it, so I don't see how this is necessarily a big step back from that.

This game certainly doesn't look like best action game ever material, or even Suda's best game for that matter, but it still looks pretty damn fun to me, personally. Its at least got to be a better action game than Ninja Gaiden 3 is. I challenge anyone to look at how boring that game's level design looks and then go back to watch that Lollipop Chainsaw preview gameplay and not feel that it looks like Super Mario-fucking-Galaxy in comparison to that shit.

I agree he's "style over substance" when it comes to action games, which is why I'm not big on this game since I don't really enjoy the "style" he's going for here. I've never really enjoyed the "cheerleader fights supernatural creatures" angle as it has always involved very boring characters and plots. However, No More Heroes, Shadows Of The Damned, and Killer7 were very big on original characters and plot ideas as well as the quirky game mechanics which made the games even better than they would otherwise be- which would be slightly above average action games.

I don't really want to buy NMH with a cheerleader. So I hope Suda convinces me that I should want it.

Tecmo already convinced me to stay away from Ninja Gaiden 3.

[Eddy]

I don't know, judging from all the trailers I've seen I think Lollipop Chainsaw has just as much as that Suda charm as any other Suda 51 game.

[Foggle]

I don't know, judging from all the trailers I've seen I think Lollipop Chainsaw has just as much as that Suda charm as any other Suda 51 game.

Agreed. The trailer that really sold me was the one where Juliet lobs severed zombie heads into basketball hoops, then the vocalist from Mindless Self Indulgence pops up, attacks using giant swear words, gets cut in half, and pulls himself back together whilst yelling "YOU THINK THAT HURTS ME!?"

[Foggle]

So Lollipop Chainsaw has 19 unlockable costumes, including the Japanese pre-order bonus and system exclusive ones. The other 5 (including the Evil Dead one) are western pre-order bonuses and will probably be released as DLC later.

Glad to hear that most of the costumes will be unlockables, as they should be.

[Eddy]

If it were a Capcom game the costumes would be yours for an additional $20!

[Foggle]

Indeed. I'm really proud of Warner Bros. here, as they've been known to price gouge on extra costumes in the past (Arkham City, anyone?). I'm only really interested in the Evil Dead outfit, but this is great news for those who liked the stuff that was previously thought to be Japan-only.

[Eddy]

So this game is pretty damn awesome.

That boss fight with Zed, holy crap.

[Foggle]

Yeah, it's fucking great. Like I said in the Now Playing thread, this might actually be Suda's best since Killer7. The humor is even more spot on than in NMH and Shadows, the gameplay is surprisingly addicting, the locations and events are very creative, the music is ace, the bosses are some of the best of all time, the mini-games are fun, and there's lots of extra content to unlock. It's downright amazing.

The Ash costume really should have been the default, though. I can't imagine using anything else!