See I hated the gameplay of NMH. I really enjoyed how Killer7 actually played, it's a unique kind of game in that sense and it really feels like nothing I've played before or since. Whereas NMH was just a third person action game, a genre I'm not overly fussed on.
Think I'll be waiting for a Steam sale then.
Quoting myself, but my impression of the gameplay from the 360 version:
Gameplay-wise it's most similar to something like No More Heroes of Lollipop Chainsaw. First, I would suggest this to be a game you play on a harder difficulty, it's one of those games that had a sweet difficulty spot for me on Hard, and most agree that Normal and Easy are pretty easy. There was an unlockable difficulty as well, and apparently this PC version is adding another new difficulty level as well. It's a beat-em up, and the enemies that you fight are known as Wires. They often have pretty good shielding, and goal is to either break through their shields or get to an angle to hit them, and then load-out on them, but in a mindful manner. You have a weak, a medium, and a strong sword attack, which you can mix together for different combos, and later on, new attacks. You have a gun that gains new functions later into the game (like turning into a drill or laser), you can throw enemies into the air for aerial combos, like in Lollipop Chainsaw you can stun enemies to make them far easier to kill, you can charge attacks, and can dodge enemy attacks. If you dodge enemy attacks a few split seconds before they hit you, you'll trigger a mode where everything turns black and red and you're given a few seconds to just wail on the enemy with sword strikes. Outside of fighting, the stages do throw things like exploration at you in some stages, segments where the gameplay changes for a bit, bosses, and the like. To be noted is that the bosses are all varied and fun to fight, probably the highlight of the game honestly.
...
Actually, while I'm doing this, here's my full impression for Killer is dead based off of the 360 release.
I haven't played it on PC yet obviously, but here was my impressions of Killer is Dead, which I played on the 360 last year.
Killer is Dead is the newest Grasshopper Manufacturer game, with a bit more involvement from Suda51 this time than his last few games, and music composed again by the ex-Silent Hill composer, Akira Yamoaka.
Killer is Dead follows an assassin named Mondo, who's role is that of a mostly level-headed task taker who is a ladies man, but maybe not as cool as he likes to play it off. Killer is Dead is a bit weird, in that the story is deceptively simple and you'd be forgiven if you think some of it is just pure nonsense (Alice in Wonderland? Unicorns?). However, there is actually a plot here that goes fairly deep into mythology and folk stories, and if you're not paying attention to the dialogue or actions of one of the several characters in the game, it's very likely you may finish the game being none the wiser to what just happened (let's just say the ending is a bit odd and a lot of the characters actions and motives are hardly explained upfront). That said, I actually did end up liking the story and characters mostly, and it did get to some interesting discussion and debates in previous threads elsewhere on the game. Apparently the Steam version includes new files to help explain things a little better, so hopefully that helps those who sort of jump to the conclusion the game is nonsense, though. But it's that sort of story.
This probably is a better choice to bring to Steam. I don't think it's the best Grasshopper game out there (I prefer Shadows of the Damned out of recent games myself), but it is actually very pretty in a stylistic way and the original game suffered from screen-tearing fairly consistently and frame rate drops from 30fps, and as the game is fast-paced, 60fps and fixed screen-tearing should do wonders.
Gameplay-wise it's most similar to something like No More Heroes or Lollipop Chainsaw. First, I would suggest this to be a game you play on a harder difficulty, it's one of those games that had a sweet difficulty spot for me on Hard, and most agree that Normal and Easy are pretty easy. There was an unlockable difficulty as well, and apparently this PC version is adding another new difficulty level as well. It's a beat-em up, and the enemies that you fight are known as Wires. They often have pretty good shielding, and goal is to either break through their shields or get to an angle to hit them, and then load-out on them, but in a mindful manner. You have a weak, a medium, and a strong sword attack, which you can mix together for different combos, and later on, new attacks. You have a gun that gains new functions later into the game (like turning into a drill or laser), you can throw enemies into the air for aerial combos, like in Lollipop Chainsaw you can stun enemies to make them far easier to kill, you can charge attacks, and can dodge enemy attacks. If you dodge enemy attacks a few split seconds before they hit you, you'll trigger a mode where everything turns black and red and you're given a few seconds to just wail on the enemy with sword strikes. Outside of fighting, the stages do throw things like exploration at you in some stages, segments where the gameplay changes for a bit, bosses, and the like. To be noted is that the bosses are all varied and fun to fight, probably the highlight of the game honestly.
Also there's the controversial sections where you hit on girls by ogling them. You do these sections to receive upgrades and items. This is a case where they are as offensive as you make them out to be. They're ridiculous, over-the-top, and honestly seem if you want to look at it that way sexist to both genders to me, but they're often too silly for me to take seriously. Typically Mondo makes a lot of heavy breathing sounds and odd comments "Great!" as you try to avoid getting caught, the girls talk about odd topics, and the scene where you two go and have sex are... I don't want to spoil them, but they're ridiculous. Typically they get sillier and more over-the-top without actual nudity as they go on (each girl has three different scenes that happen, and different items.upgrades to give).
The music by Akira fits the games mood well. Not his best work ever in my opinion, but there are some stand-out tracks, but unfortunately I can't find most of the music online (there was only a small partial soundtrack released that didn't include my favorite songs, and apparently no full gamerip has been done yet). The voice acting is good, but there is one character who's voice you're either going to like or its going to seriously grate on you.
Outside of boss battles, what this game probably does best is style. The game has a very stylistic look to it, but the style doesn't just stop there. Cutscenes, though sometimes hard to fully grasp on what's going on, at least are entertaining and stylist. Some cutscenes are even animated, with the animated cutscenes often telling fantasy-like stories that are important to the mission or objective at hand. The menu is stylish. The moves are stylish. Basically this game has a very complete stylish look to it, which for those aesthetic gamers out there, really does add lot, and is very well done and consistent, but still packs surprises as the games and areas continue forward.
It's not the best of the best or even my personal favorite of Grasshopper's titles, but I did enjoy the game as a stylistic beat-em up with a surrealistic folklore edge, There is some replayability here with some extra missions to play through, various costumes for Mondo and other main characters, unlockable skills, difficulties, and the like, and a story mode that lasts about 6-9 hours. Like all of Grasshopper's games, it's a love it/hate it affair, but not bad for this type of game to finally be coming to Steam.
