7.6/10
No More Heroes 3 is not the best looking or the most technically impressive game. It does not tell an incredible story or have the strongest gameplay. But it has way more heart, personality, style and charm than most games.
How do I even begin describing its style and vibe? No More Heroes 3 is a punk game. It’s anti mainstream and proudly does its own thing. It takes7.6/10
No More Heroes 3 is not the best looking or the most technically impressive game. It does not tell an incredible story or have the strongest gameplay. But it has way more heart, personality, style and charm than most games.
How do I even begin describing its style and vibe? No More Heroes 3 is a punk game. It’s anti mainstream and proudly does its own thing. It takes inspiration and shows love for a lot of pop culture things like anime, videogames, films, wrestling and music and at the same time it also parodies this stuff too. It is very self aware, fourth wall breaking and a bit cheeky and I love it. No More Heroes 3 has so many cool ideas in it like for example when it just stops to discuss Miike films. (Hopefully this gets more people into Miike films; I would recommend Gozu, 13 Assassins, Visitor Q, Ichi the Killer, Audition and the miniseries MPD Psycho). Of course there are problems with this approach the main ones being not all the ideas thrown in are excellent or work really well and you are also relying on your audience to just ‘get it’ and roll with it.
Visually No More Heroes 3 is a mixed bag. On one hand it’s really stylish and has some awesome character designs. On the other hand there are a lot quite simple and bland looking objects and locations. I am not a huge fan of the enemy designs and I think the bosses are a bit lacking too, especially when compared to the first two games. The game works well enough and loads quickly, I am definitely glad I waited and played the PS5 version. There was an issue at launch where the trophies were not working but they eventually fixed it. The game is not big budget and does lack some polish.
Gameplay is mostly pretty fun. The combat is solid and looks cool with a combination of sword, melee, dodge, wrestling, a combo counter, skills and slots activated specials. Travis, the main character, has a skill tree and things called Death Glove Chips that allow you to upgrade and personalise your play style as well. Exploration does start to drag and isn’t very rewarding and Travis’ bike isn’t as fun as it looks. There are things to collect and do in the world. There are seeds to plant, scorpions to catch, alien shells, T-shirts, doppelgangers, kittens, capsule toys and Deathman cards. It is a bit much and starts to feel like a chore. There are also defence missions and mini games. The defence missions are just fights and they get repetitive. The mini games are a laugh at first but quickly become repetitive too. This over the top action game can quickly grind to a halt if you do a lot of this at once. Luckily you are not forced to do too much of this but it’s there for the completionists or people that just want a little more. The main story parts and boss fights are great and the gimmicks mostly deliver.
When it comes to the story and characters it is generally a pretty good time. There is a lot here for returning fans but it is still possible for newcomers to jump in and follow along. It is about Travis returning home to face a new threat and that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoilers. Travis and the returning cast are great and the new villain is cool too. Things move along at good pace. Scenes are well directed and the voice actors nail the larger than life characters. It’s not perfect but I enjoyed the journey. The music is good too. Most of the new bosses are pretty forgettable though and as I said not every idea lands. I love No More Heroes 3’s style and humour but I know a lot of people won’t like it.
The problem with playing and reviewing Suda 51 games is they are subversive. A lot of this game’s ‘flaws’ could be deliberate choices. Like the tedious collectables, the ‘chore like mini games,’ the empty open world and bland looking locations. Lots of it could be Suda’s commentary on modern gaming; he is a mischievous creator that likes to take the piss. Some things are obvious and some not so much. It is up to the player to interpret it all and then decide if you like it and think it’s worth it because deliberately bad is still bad but also fun if that makes sense.
I enjoyed No More Heroes 3 enough to play though it more than once and even considered going for the platinum trophy for a while. The biggest issue with No More Heroes 3 is that after waiting this long and when you compare it to the first two games it is a bit disappointing. It just doesn’t hit as hard and is not as memorable as the first two. For No More Heroes veterans and Suda 51 fans it is still a must play. For everyone else I would recommend you play the other games first but if you really want to jump in here then go for it. No More Heroes 3 is nowhere near a perfect game but who cares it’s still cool as f**k.
7.6/10… Expand
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