Much like the original Wii title this HD port is based on, No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise is a game that had every right in the world to be a cult masterpiece. However, what you get in this HD version may not be what you have been expecting.
The game has received a rather substantial graphical overhaul in Heroes' Paradise, with enhanced character models, particle effects and lighting effects. For what it's worth, the game does look nice. The character models in particular look wonderful, as do the particle effects. It's hard to appreciate either of these things when the game has serious screen tearing and framerate issues, though.
For my money, the graphics here may actually look a bit worse than the original game. Even if this port didn't display framerate issues, the framerate as a whole has been cut to a variable 30fps; half of what the original Wii title ran at. On top of this, all of the deeply contrasted cel-shading effects from the original game are absent. To paint a clearer visual representation, shadows in the Wii version were flat black, with no real shading to be seen. Every shadow that appeared was just black, and it gave the game a very distinct, very appealing look, especially when you're watching everything unfold at 60fps when the game can reach it. The shadows in Heroes' Paradise are actually shaded, and the game loses a lot of its artistic visual aesthetic because of this. For comparison's sake, if the original Wii version were an underground, punk-ethos released manga, then Heroes' Paradise is the big budget, overtly polished, yet often soulless anime adaptation.
The changes don't end with the visuals, however. The audio has taken some pretty substantial hits in the port. The enemies you slice up with Travis' beam katana are missing a ton of dialogue, and it's all been replaced with "My spleen!" and "I don't feel shit!" Virtually every enemy set you encounter will spout the same 3 or 4 phrases, while the Wii version had a ton of variation in what these enemies were saying. It's a puzzling change, and one I don't care for in the least.
This isn't to say that some things weren't improved. Replaying side missions has never been easier thanks to a fast-travel option (something the original game was sorely lacking), and the visual style of the game is certainly more polished. It's up to personal opinion as to whether you prefer the redesigned aesthetic look, but I stand by saying it looks no better or worse than the original; it just looks different.
Aside from the often unnecessary changes this port brought, this is virtually the same No More Heroes we know and love. Gameplay consists of fighting your way through 10 levels to reach incredible end-bosses, then grinding yourself silly for cash in the game's lifeless open-world; rinse, repeat. Personally, I don't mind these things. I can recognize that a lot of the game is repetitive, but despite that, the original No More Heroes is one of my favorite video games of all time. If not for its outright fun hack 'n slash gameplay and exploration mechanics, then for its satire drenched narrative that poked fun of video games and the people who play them. This is one of the most important aspects to No More Heroes as a whole, and thankfully, the narrative survived the porting process unscathed.
The controls here have also been tweaked slightly to accord for Playstation Move owners. For the most part, it mimics the original Wiimote + Nunchuck control scheme rather well, but the problems arise with the PS Move's responsiveness. There are moments in this game that will require you to shake the PS Move quickly to escape certain pitfalls that Travis may find himself in, and it's very clear that the Move just isn't anywhere near as responsive as the Wiimote + Nunchuck combo. Even the motion for recharging Travis' katana battery was changed, and it too isn't anywhere near as responsive. These changes are not only confusing, but puzzling, since they are for the worse.
Alternatively, you can choose to play with the Dualshock 3, which does fare rather well, and controls much like you'd expect any hack 'n slash game on PS3 to handle. I have the same problem with this as I do with playing No More Heroes 2 with the classic controller; it just isn't as satisfying. When you finish button-mashing your way through a long streak of beam katana attacks and enter "death blow" mode to swing your katana through an enemy's body, there's something esoterically satisfying about replicating that motion with a Wiimote. You all but lose that satisfying control mechanic with the Dualshock 3, which opts to use analog stick movement instead of motion controls. Normally, this would be something I would praise, but in No More Heroes' case, it just isn't nearly as satisfying.
When the motion controls aren't nearly as responsive as they should be, and the Dualshock 3 controls aren't nearly as satisfying as they should be, you're left with a game that loses a lot of the appeal it originally had. Sure, the graphics here are objectively of higher fidelity, and it's great that the game runs in widescreen, but it's also missing the contrasted shadows, and there's a severe overuse of bloom effects. The enemy dialogue is certainly hilarious, but not when you hear the exact same 3 or 4 lines throughout a 19-hour experience.
Heroes' Paradise is a game I can only recommend if you haven't already experienced the original No More Heroes. There are far too many instances that things were changed for the worse, and when a shiny new console game can't look as appealing as something that released on the Wii years prior (partly from an artistic standpoint, but mostly for the abysmal framerate), then this just isn't worth picking up if you already own the Wii version. Heroes' Paradise may arguably look just as good, if not better, but considering the hardware it's running on, it should objectively be a better experience, and it simply isn't. Only purchase if you're a hardcore fan, or if you've never experienced one of the Wii's best hidden gems. Otherwise, just pick up the original version, if at all possible.
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