History VideoGame / TravisStrikesAgainNoMoreHeroes

''Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes'' is the third entry of the ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' series, developed by Creator/GrasshopperManufacture as usual and released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on January 18, 2019, with ports for UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and PC via Steam launching October 17, 2019. Notably, it is being directed by Creator/Suda51, whose last directed game was the original ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' over 10 years prior, and includes collaborations with various indie developers in the form of [[AndYourRewardIsClothes licensed in-game T-shirts]]. Despite taking place and continuing the story after the first two games, ''Travis Strikes Again'' is not ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'', and is instead a smaller-scale game that tells a somewhat different story.

** [[spoiler: The entire ''Serious Moonlight''/''Damned: Demon Knight'' is a huge one to EA and their meddling with ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'', right up to the changed in what type of game it was supposed to be and the entire stage being even more glitched out than usual due to the somewhat buggy nature of some sections of the game, including ''pop-in''.]]

* FinalBoss: In the demo, Travis immediately assumes that Dr. Juvenile, who created the Death Drive MK II, will be the final boss of the game. [[spoiler:Turns out he was right, though the exact context behind the fight is much more complicated. This is subverted with the existence of the second DLC, which is technically the conclusion of the story, as Silver Face becomes the final opponent Travis faces. Silver Face's rage over being relegated to DLC and most people who finished the basic version of [=TSA=]] not even knowing he exists ends up turning him into the hardest boss in the game. In the Complete Edition, which already contains all the DLC by default, Travis points out that he gets to be the actual final boss in this version of the game, which hypes him up enough to power him up to the same degree.]]

* FinalBoss: In the demo, Travis immediately assumes that Dr. Juvenile, who created the Death Drive MK II, will be the final boss of the game. [[spoiler:Turns out he was right, though the exact context behind the fight is much more complicated. This is subverted with the existence of the second DLC, which is technically the conclusion of the story, as Silver Face becomes the final opponent Travis faces. Silver Face's rage over being relegated to DLC ends up turning him into the hardest boss in the game.]]

** When Travis enters a game world, he appears in a sphere of electric light similar to a [[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]].

** A large number of the Skill Chips are named after Franchise/{{Gundam}}s. Some of the skills themselves further reference their namesake Mobile Suits, such as [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 F91 Chip]] creating clones to distract enemies and [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Shining Chip]] "grabbing" its target.

** The "Death Drive Mk. II" is an in-universe predecessor to the Death Drive 128 from ''VideoGame/LetItDie'', and its mysterious nature and backstory is inspired by ''VideoGame/{{Polybius}}''.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Dr. Juvenile's struggles with game development directly parallel [=Suda51=]'s, with certain games having very explicit parallels with his works. The ''Travis Strikes Back'' segments are filled with direct sendups to his visual novel games, while the ObviousBeta nature of the later games aligns with Suda's struggles with game development in recent years. [[spoiler: This comes to a head in the ''Serious Moonlight'' level, which many critics theorize is a way for Suda to come to terms with the infamous level of ExecutiveMeddling that ''Shadows of the Damned'' got from its publisher EA.]]

** Every Death Drive game opening scene has a different art style, including [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]]-style CGs, vector-esque graphics and live-action video segments, with some elements of these carrying over into the games themselves.
** Other examples include monochrome green and pseudo-[[Videogame/MetalGearSolid CODEC]]-style interface for the "Travis Strikes Back" segments, and [[spoiler:minimalist pixel art for the scene on Mars in the epilogue]].
** The "Day 7 Patch" emulates [[spoiler:the cel shading style of ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'']].

** Shigeki Birkin was a character who only appeared in a ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' spin-off story that was left unfinished. [[spoiler:He finally returns as Badman]].

* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:Silver Face of ''Killer Marathon'' is one of Garcian Smith from ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}''. Both are not quite the badasses that their respective games initially make them out to be: Garcian prefers to let the other personae of the Smith Syndicate kill, since he himself would "never hurt a fly"; and Silver Face is actually very squeamish and averse to physical exertion.]]

** ''[[Music/DavidBowie Serious Moonlight]]'': Originally conceived as an open-world action-RPG, but due to the game's troubled production and Dr. Juvenile not being able to develop the game as she initially intended, the name was changed to ''Damned: Dark Knight''. [[spoiler:Travis is surprised to learn that it is a sequel to ''Videogame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'', starring Johnson as the protagonist.]]
** The final Death Ball is [[spoiler:''CIA''. It's not actually a game, but a backdoor into the actual Central Intelligence Agency headquarters, where Dr. Juvenile and the Death Drive AAA await. The CIA agents appearing as Bugs is a result of the Death Drive Mk.II [[MindScrew Mind Screwing]] the player's observation; the agents' bodies appear afterward in the hallways as pixelated sprites of dead Russian gangsters from ''Hotline Miami''.]]

* FranchiseKiller: Discussed InUniverse during the second sequence of "Travis Strikes Back". Jeane tells Travis how players would be upset over the visual novel segments when they were expecting an action game, only for Travis to say he doesn't care about how they feel. In response, Jeane tells Travis to expect the game to bomb and never see an actual third game. Though of course, VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII is still happening.

* GratuitousJapanese: Travis will say "Itadakimasu" and then "Gochisosama deshita" before and after eating at a ramen stand. Not exactly unheard-of behavior for an OccidentalOtaku of his generation. Badman also speaks in Japanese when eating ramen, [[spoiler:although it's {{Justified}} in his case, since he actually ''is'' Japanese (and his accent is more fluent than Travis's).]]

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Bad Man is a drunk-off-his-rocker assassin wearing a leather mask. {{Justified}} according to Badman Strikes Back, as his face is apparently severely damaged and requires the mask to keep it in place, like a retainer for crooked teeth.

** The animation that plays when Travis acquires a Skill Chip from clearing a game is parody of the item-get pose from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', complete with a soundalike jingle. Collecting a Skill Chip while exploring the games presents a small 8-bit Travis sprite in the style of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda the original NES game]] holding up the Chip.
** One of the visual novel segments features a company named Texas Bronco, a nod to Andrei Ulmeyda's t-shirt from ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}''.

** [[spoiler:Serious Moonlight]] is actually one to [[spoiler:''Videogame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'', revealing its true name and nature upon being booted up]].

* VideogameCaringPotential: If you choose to rescue Jeane every time she wanders off into the Death Drive, you'll be rewarded with a special Skill Chip that grants temporary invisibility.

** The 'Day 7' patch, which reveals that [[spoiler:Bad Man is Shigeki Birkin, a character from [[VideoGame/Killer7 killer7]] AllThereInTheManual content, and was given the first Death Ball by Dan Smith, who knows who Travis is and wants him dead.]]

* ArtShift: Every Death Drive game opening scene has a different art style, including [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]]-style CGs, vector-esque graphics and live-action video segments, with some elements of these carrying over into the games themselves.

--->'''Travis''': ''(recoiling)'' Nice work, dickhead!

''Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes'' is the third entry of the ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' series, developed by Creator/GrasshopperManufacture as usual and released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on January 18, 2019, with ports for UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and PC via Steam coming at a later date. Notably, it is being directed by Creator/Suda51, whose last directed game was the original ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' over 10 years prior, and includes collaborations with various indie developers in the form of [[AndYourRewardIsClothes licensed in-game T-shirts]]. Despite taking place and continuing the story after the first two games, ''Travis Strikes Again'' is not ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'', and is instead a smaller-scale game that tells a somewhat different story.

** On the back of Travis's jacket is "[[Music/{{Survivor}} Eye of the Tiger]]" transliterated into katakana.

** ''Jeane'' also inexplicably speaks after spending the last two games just being a normal house cat. Tsukiyono Akari is the only one who is freaked out by this.

** ''Jeane'' also inexplicably speaks after spending the last two games just being a normal house cat. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Absolutely no one comments about this]].

* RealityEnsues:
** Much like the case of Skelter Helter and Jasper Batt Jr. in the previous game, there are people connected to the people that Travis has killed and [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes their relatives]] [[ItsPersonal are likely to be pissed about it]] -- in this case, Bad Man.
** [[invoked]]Travis lampshades that due to the SequelGap, not everyone in the audience would know who he is, what's going on, or how it came to this.
** Often times the characters decide to make concessions on whether to fight or not or how the story should be told based simply on the game's limited budget.

Seven years after the events of ''[[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle Desperate Struggle]]'', a ghost from the past returns to hunt down retired assassin Travis Touchdown: Bad Man, the bat-toting, beer-chugging father of Bad Girl, who's out for a personal vendetta against Travis for murdering his daughter. Tracking down Travis to an RV in the middle of nowhere, Texas, he attempts to kill him, but Travis gets the one-up on him and the two clash. In the midst of the fight, a mysterious "phantom" game console known as the "Death Drive Mk. II" in Travis' possession activates, transporting the two of them within. According to an urban legend, collecting (and beating) the console's six games, stored in eye-shaped cartridges called "death balls," will grant the owner a wish, enticing Bad Man to attempt to complete Travis' collection with him (and play through the games in the virtual world of the console) to use that wish to bring Bad Girl back to life.

* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Father, Like Daughter]]: Bad Girl's father fights much like his daughter; with a baseball bat and plenty of beer on hand. He even re-anacts some of her animations. [[spoiler:This actually leads to Badman and Bad Girl deciding to part ways after the later is properly wished back to life. After all, Badman never taught Charlotte to be an assassin, and Charlotte never knew that her dad was becoming a psychotic assassin, so each had become almost unrecognizable to the other.]]

* TopDownView: Some levels uses an overhead view perspective.

* FranchiseKiller: Discussed InUniverse during the second sequence of "Travis Strikes Again". Jeane tells Travis how players would be upset over the visual novel segments when they were expecting an action game, only for Travis to say he doesn't care about how they feel. In response, Jeane tells Travis to expect the game to bomb and never see an actual third game. Though of course, VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII is still happening.

''Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes'' is the third entry of the ''No More Heroes'' series, developed by Creator/GrasshopperManufacture as usual and released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on January 18, 2019, with ports for UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and PC via Steam coming at a later date. Notably, it is being directed by Creator/Suda51, whose last directed game was the original ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', and includes collaborations with various indie developers in the form of [[AndYourRewardIsClothes licensed in-game T-shirts]]. Despite taking place and continuing the story after the first two games, ''Travis Strikes Again'' is not ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'', and is instead a smaller-scale game that tells a somewhat different story.

The game is divided between the Death Drive games themselves, which play out as action gameplay with optional co-op, and adventure game VisualNovel type chapters which show how Travis and Bad Man acquire the Death Balls in the real world.

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Per series tradition, Travis will be able to collect a variety of different t-shirts, with many of them this time based on real-life indie games.
* ArcNumber: Seven. It's the number on Badman's default t-shirt from his baseball days, seven years have passed since the events of the last game, there are seven Death Ball levels in all, [[spoiler:Garcia Hotspur]] was killed after being shot by seven holy bullets, and [[spoiler:Dan Smith from ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'']] appears in the second intro cinematic added via the "Day 7 Patch".

* BreatherEpisode: Overall, compared to prior games, this one leaves out Santa Destroy entirely and centers on a much more personal conflict about Travis and Bad Man being forced into an OddCouple situation, as they deal with a cursed video game console.

** The epilogue of the first ''No More Heroes'' teased a new character (a child named Jeane) and the prospect of their existence being addressed in the sequel, but ''Desperate Struggle'' completely ignored this point. In the DLC postgame, this is ''finally'' addressed, after ten years.
** Shigeki Birkin was a character who only appeared in a ''killer7'' spin-off story that was left unfinished. [[spoiler:He finally returns as Badman]].

** The final Death Ball is [[spoiler:''CIA''. It's not actually a game, but a backdoor into the actual Central Intelligence Agency headquarters, where Dr. Juvenile and the Death Drive AAA await. The CIA agents appearing as Bugs is a result of the Death Drive Mk.II [[MindScrew Mind Screwing]] the player's observation; the agents' bodies appear afterward in the hallways as pixelated sprites.]]

* GratuitousJapanese: Travis will say "Itadakimasu" and then "Gochisosama deshita" before and after eating at a ramen stand. Not exactly unheard-of behavior for an OccidentalOtaku of his generation. Badman also speaks in Japanese when eating ramen, [[spoiler:although it's {{Justified}} in his case, since he actually is Japanese (and his accent is more fluent than Travis's).]]
* HailfirePeaks: ''Killer Marathon'', the globe trotting sports murder title, is essentially the game's version of this, as it sees you going from a shopping center, to a wild western setting, to space, to a coral reef, and finally returning to the big city. [[spoiler: This is because the game is actually a composite of multiple pinball tables.]]

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Bad Man is a drunk-off-his-rocker assassin wearing a leather mask. Justified according to Badman Strikes Back, as his face is apparently severely damaged and requires the mask to keep it in place, like a retainer for crooked teeth.
* MeaningfulName: The console Death Drive is likely a reference to [[UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud Freud]]'s psychoanalytical theory of the "death drive," which describes humans' natural compulsion to destroy other things and themselves. Fits in well with Travis' life as an assassin, and the DeathSeeker tendencies of much of the game's cast.

** [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/KillerIsDead Mondo Zappa]] briefly appears after killing Count Dracula, giving a Death ball to Travis before telling him to leave.]] Later on, [[spoiler:a girl named Juliet who claims to have abandoned her past appears in a chapter called [[VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw Hell's Chainsaw]]]].

The game is divided between the games themselves, which play out as action gameplay with optional co-op, and adventure game VisualNovel type chapters which show how Travis and Bad Man acquire the death balls in the real world.

* ArtShift: Every Death Drive game opening scene has a different art style, including UsefulNotes/PlayStation 1-style CG, vector-esque and live-action video segments, with some elements of these carrying over to the games themselves.

* BabiesEverAfter: Travis off-hand mentions having a child and a wife that he had left behind so they wouldn't get continually threatened by the assassins coming for him. [[spoiler:This is more fully addressed in the second DLC. Turns out he had two kids with Sylvia, one being his daughter Jeane, the girl who appeared in TheStinger of the first game, and the other being his son Hunter.]]
* BackFromTheDead: Bad Man plans to use the Death Drive Mk. II's fabled wish-granting powers to resurrect his daughter. [[spoiler:It actually works...sort of. Due to the fact that one of the Balls (the fake ''Killer Marathon'' ball) is basically a dud, she comes back in the form of Bad Dog (or "Bad Girl Dog", as labelled in the credits), a puppy with the attitude of an infantile Bad Girl. It's played straight in the second DLC--though she retains her regressed personality as Bad Dog--with Travis {{Lampshading}} the whole thing.]]

** For the DLC: [[spoiler:After clearing the finished version of ''Killer Marathon'', Badman is finally able to properly wish Charlotte back to life (after the previous attempt ended in her [[CameBackWrong coming back as a dog]]). Unfortunately, it had been so long since they had seen each other that they are both no longer recognizable as father and daughter: so much had happened since they were together, Shigeki Birkin is now Badman, and Charlotte Birkin is now Bad Girl, both psychotic assassins. As such, the two agree that it's time they parted ways. Nevertheless, Badman is happy to have been able to see his daughter alive once more.]]
* BoringButPractical: The 00 Skill Chip gives either character access to a dash move. It doesn't do any damage or expand the offensive toolkit, but its low cool down makes for a handy evasive maneuver and a way to make timed puzzles much easier.

* BrutalBonusLevel: The real ''Killer Marathon'' Death Ball, which only exists in the postgame in DLC. It's a significant step up in difficulty from the entire rest of the game.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Dr. Juvenile's struggles with game development directly parallel [=Suda51=]'s, with certain games having very explicit parallels with his works. The ''Travis Strikes Back'' segments are filled with direct sendups to his visual novel games, while the ObviousBeta nature of the later games aligns with Suda's struggles with game development in recent years. [[spoiler: This comes to a head in the ''Serious Moonlight'' level, which many critics theorize is a way for Suda to come to terms with the infamous level of ExecutiveMeddling that ''Shadows of the Damned'' got.]]

** ''Electric Thunder Tiger II'', a cyberpunk-styled action game, and a sequel to Travis's favorite game from his childhood.

** ''Killer Marathon'', which contains within it the original ''Death Drive'', a shooter not unlike ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}''. [[spoiler:''Killer Marathon'' itself is unfinished and thus extremely short. Later in the DLC (or post-game content in the PC version which includes all the DLC) a finished version is found, and it's quite ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin... except for its actually being a pinball game.]]
** ''[[Music/DavidBowie Serious Moonlight]]'': Originally conceived as an open-world action-RPG, but due to the game's troubled production and Dr. Juvenile not being able to develop the game as she initially intended, the name was changed to ''Damned: Dark Knight''. [[spoiler:It is a sequel to ''Videogame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'' starring Johnson as the protagonist.]]
** The final Death Ball is [[spoiler:''CIA''. It's not actually a game, but a backdoor into the actual Central Intelligence Agency, where Dr. Juvenile and the Death Drive AAA await. The CIA agents appearing as Bugs is a result of the Death Drive Mk.II [[MindScrew Mind Screwing]] the player.]]

* IKnowMaddenKombat: Badman was once a legitimate and promising professional baseball player until he was kicked out of the leagues for drunken misconduct during games. With few other skills apart from being able to slug things with a baseball bat, he became an assassin shortly after his forced retirement.
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Father, Like Daughter]]: Bad Girl's father fights much like his daughter; with a baseball bat and plenty of beer on hand. He even re-anacts some of her animations.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Bad Man is a drunk-off-his-rocker assassin wearing a leather mask. Justified according to Badman Strikes Back, as his face is apparently severely damaged.

'''Travis:''' Now quit making this shit confusing! They need to know about the most bad ass assassin in video games!\\

-->[[spoiler:'''Bad Man''': Did you just call Charlotte a "fuckin' mutt"? You just signed your death warrant. I'm gonna kill you!]]

* ArcNumber: Seven. It's the number on Badman's default t-shirt from his baseball days, seven years have passed since the events of the last game, there are seven Death Ball levels in all, [[spoiler:Garcia Hotspur]] was killed after being shot by seven holy bullets, and [[spoiler:Dan Smith from ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'']] appears in the "Day 7 Patch" intro cinematic.
* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler:The Death Drive Mk.II, along with a previous game system, the Death Drive AAA, were co-opted by the CIA for the purpose of making a CloneArmy by gathering biometric data through the Mk.II's controllers and 3D-printing supersoldiers that could be controlled through the AAA. Klark and Dr. Juvenile filled the Mk.II full of bugs and scattered the Death Balls to thwart the CIA. By collecting the Death Balls and clearing the games, Travis would potentially be an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom as he would essentially debug the Mk.II, reactivate the AAA, and allow the CIA to create its clone army.]]

** Other examples include monochrome green and [[Videogame/MetalGearSolid CODEC]]-style interface for the "Travis Strikes Back" segments, and [[spoiler:minimalist pixel art for the scene on Mars in the epilogue]].

* BackFromTheDead: Bad Man plans to use the Death Drive Mk. II's fabled wish-granting powers to resurrect his daughter. [[spoiler:It actually works...sort of. Due to the fact that one of the Balls is basically a dud, she comes back in the form of Bad Dog, a puppy with the attitude of an infantile Bad Girl. It's played straight in the second DLC--though she retains her regressed personality as Bad Dog--with Travis {{Lampshading}} the whole thing.]]

** For the DLC: [[spoiler:After clearing the finished version of ''Killer Marathon'', Badman is finally able to properly wish Charlotte back to life (after the previous attempt ended in her [[CameBackWrong coming back as a dog]]). Unfortunately, it had been so long since they had seen each other that they are both no longer recognizable as father and daughter: so much had happened since they were together, Shigeki Birkin was now Badman, and Charlotte Birkin was now Bad Girl. As such, the two agree to part ways. Nevertheless, Badman is happy to have been able to see his daughter alive once more.]]

* BrutalBonusLevel: The real ''Killer Marathon'', which only exists in the postgame in DLC. It's a significant step up in difficulty from the entire rest of the game.

->'''Travis Touchdown:''' [[SequelGap I've been away a long time]]. There's a new generation of gamers out there! Let me at least introduce myself--\\

** In the reveal trailer, Travis personally introduces himself to the audience as the result of his long absence. Bad Man also [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou literally breaks the fourth wall]], also known as one of Travis' lenses.