Suda51, a man with arguably one of the largest cult followings in gaming, spoke to Edge about his upcoming spiritual successor to No More Heroes. I say spiritual successor because the game will feature a similar art style and over-the-top action wonderfully drawn by Yusuke Kozaki, who will be on hand providing the aesthetics for this game as well. So far, the game doesn’t have a title, but from the above key art we do know that it will feature a female protagonist.
For those initially wondering if the game was in fact taking place in the No More Heroes world, Suda51 confirmed that this is a brand new IP. He also mentioned that the project has been in development since last November, and while platforms have yet to be specified, he is aiming to bring the game to next-gen consoles sometime in 2014. When asked about specifics, Suda only stated that, “naturally we are interested in developing games for the next-gen platforms. We are investigating the specs and all that right now.”
Another interesting point of note is that the game will feature some sort of online component. When grilled for details, Suda51 remained tight lipped, mentioning that whatever they have planned has never been done before, so it’s impossible to give a comparable example. A online feature of some sort may be a deviation from the tried-and-true (if you could call any Suda51 game one that adheres to a tried-and-true formula) Suda experience were used to, but it’s not inherently a bad thing. Also, given that Suda’s studio Grasshopper Manufacture was recently bought by GungHo Japan, a team who’s specialty lies in their online service, it’s not entirely surprising they’d want to incorporate some sort of social aspect to the project. According to Suda. “This is a title that GungHo Japan and Grasshopper Manufacture is working on together collaboratively so there will be an online feature, because that’s their forte and what they specialise in. On the simplest level it will be social, but the word social is used and misinterpreted a lot these days.” Hmm, a social online component to a hyperstylized over-the-top action-adventure title? You had my curiosity, Suda51, but now you have my attention. I’ll be interested to see how this feature pans out.
Of course, before this project reaches the hands of next-gen gamers everywhere, Suda and co. are still hard at work developing Killer is Dead; which is slated for release this summer for the PS3 and Xbox 360. You can thank the wonderful folks over at Deep Silver and Xseed for purchasing the publishing rights to bring it to US and European shores.
I’m always up for a new project by Suda51. I’ve loved each and every one of his games so far. I’m especially fond of the No More Heroes series, so both Killer is Dead and this new project sound intriguing. It’s also a relief to see that Kozaki will be handling artistic duties, as his work is in no small part responsible for the added wow-factor of the No More Heroes experience. All in all, in the midst of so many smaller studios shutting down, it’s a welcome refresher that Grasshopper Manufacture has manged to stay alive long enough to provide so many memorable experiences.
Are you guys and gals excited to see what Suda51’s got cooking up in that beautifully twisted mind of his? Which of his two upcoming projects are you more interested in? And which of Suda’s prior games is the absolute wonkiest of them all? Let the answers reveal themselves down in the comments section.
