Thread by @ozzzzzzzzz_

The main antagonist of Travis Strikes Back (the VN portion of TSA) who also shows up in that new NMH III trailer is Damon Riccitiello. The second name Riccitiello is interesting as the CEO in charge of EA while GhM were developing SotD was called John Riccitiello. Thread.

Obviously the parallels are there. Shitty silicon valley CEO types but it runs deeper than that. As some of you may know, SotD was published by EA back when Riccitiello (who now works for Unity) was CEO. #NMH3

The original SotD was known as Kurayami. A psychological horror game which was heavily inspired by Franz Kafka who Suda greatly admires.

Riccitiello and the shitty execs at EA however notoriously forced Suda to change up Kurayami’s game concept, as they believed it did not fit the mold of that ‘western style’. The type to make a lot of money. Take a look at these images.

If you’ve played TSA, then you know that Riccitiello is the guy that owned the only known copy of Serious Moonlight (before Travis beats the everloving shit out of him), which turns out to be the sequel to the actual, real Shadows of the Damned.

What’s interesting is that Damon (EA) was on the Serious Moonlight team and would constantly object to Dr. Juvenile’s (Suda) game design decisions, much like what happened in real-life between Suda and the big wigs over at EA who forced him to pump out a game that wasn’t his.

Suda absolutely isn’t subtle with any of this at all, but I think what’s great is that TSA and now NMH III mark the start of a new arc in not only the company’s history, but Suda’s too. @suda_51

Kurayami may have never seen the light of day, but you can read Kurayami Dance which is a manga written by Suda and drawn by Syuji Takeya based off the Kurayami Suda wanted to make in the end. It contains a bunch of references to Suda and GhM’s previous works too.

Link over here 👉 believeinthe.net/kurayami.html

Also just some No More Heroes III speculation here, but in TSB, Uehara turns on Travis and has the same aura that Damon has when he swears to gain revenge against him. This might be one of the 'powers' that FU alludes to in this trailer as mind-control would allow Damon to -

get to the top of the corporate ladder and eventually become the CEO of Utopinia who have heavy presence in Santa Destroy. Notice how the pillar and the aliens also have that weird aura thing? I’m super curious to learn if FU gave him more than just mind control…

Big ups to @GhenryPerez for the SotD/EA screens. Please watch their amazing video on Shadows of the Damned to learn more about the story behind the game's development.

Just another thing before I end this off. So you know how I mentioned that Riccitiello is the current CEO of Unity, right? Well, I don't think it's a coincidence that Suda went out of his way to advertise their direct competitor’s own Unreal Engine in literally all facets of TSA

First off, TSA was developed using Unreal Engine, the game’s promotional art depicts Travis wearing an Unreal Engine shirt and you literally have to collect Unreal Engine logos in the game to unlock t-shirts.

Staff at Epic Games were given a special thanks in the credits alongside a whole host of others

Hell, there’s even a greybox level in place of the Killer Marathon game when it wasn’t released with the default UE materials and assets that the game pokes fun at.

But seriously, please go play Travis Strikes Again when you get the chance. It might not be the best game of the year for most but it’s certainly my favourite. It represents Suda’s own experiences as a game dev, his frustrations with this shitty industry post-NMH, and –

that yearning to return to the director’s seat, to be ‘punk’ again and not just some suit. TSA being the first game directed by Suda51 in 11 years is no surprise as the game is very much both a celebration and retrospective of Suda and GhM these last 12 years.

TSA is a love-letter to all the punks of the game industry that don’t fit the mold of ‘mainstream’. The punks that are still rockin’ and making their dreams come true despite all the horror stories that come out every other day.

Making video games is difficult as illustrated by this saga but we do it anyway because of that underlying passion and drive. To make things that bring a smile to the faces of others. And TSA epitomizes that to a T.

So much of Suda’s pain and anguish as a game creator has been distilled into TSA and it’s very much a celebration of video games as it is a scathing criticism of the industry at large. Travis’ dialogue and Juvenile as a character throughout TSA sheds light on Suda’s true feelings

Dr. Juvenile was a superstar, very much how Suda was after Killer7 and No More Heroes broke out in the west only for her career to deteriorate. But despite that, she would continue to create what SHE wanted to and express her vision as a game creator. That's inspiring.

What makes TSA so poignant is that while it’s deeply personal to Suda, many of the same frustrations apply to a lot of us, in any creative field! This decade was rough for GhM but they’ve made a spectacular comeback, and I know you’ll make yours too. Stay cool peeps. 👉😎👉

@NonTrotski She absolutely is the author avatar and I love how the game is unabashedly aware of that, even down to the little things like Juvenile giving you tips as you make your way through the various Death Drive games, and her developing the sequel to her favourite games SotD.

@NonTrotski It all mirrors Suda's own experiences really well