No More Heroes III

For all its appealing idiosyncrasies, No More Heroes has lost some of its urgency and, with that, its potency. [Issue#363, p.116]

Grasshopper jumbles together the conventions of the hack and slash with a slew of other ideas, and, if it all hangs together, it’s precisely because of the Hang: the relaxed air of logorrhea and pop cultural reference that wafts through it.

None of us will ever be as questionably cool as neighborhood otaku a**hole Travis Touchdown, nor have a world that sings and flashes to his tune as we dance around swinging a laser katana. Nor will we be flooded by such an incredibly preserved imagination of cool 80’s and 90’s nostalgia. But we can pretend for a few minutes! That’s the fun of a video game like No More Heroes 3, right?

No More Heroes is back with another extravagant adventure made for its fans. It is a good game that improves over the previous entries, but very poor on the technical side.

No More Heroes 3 can count on a funny story, absurd characters, an impeccable direction and very solid fights. At the same time, however, the promise of an open world worthy of this name is betrayed to say the least, with some of the worst levels ever seen in recent years.

We can appreciate flashy action and grindhouse exploitation nature of No More Heroes 3 for what it is, but it kept the camera on the boring parts a little long for our liking. Still, if you’re looking to continue the weird assassin adventures of Travis Touchdown, then the chores are also probably worth doing to see how the escapade unfolds.

If someone hasn’t kept up with Travis over the years, I’m not quite sure No More Heroes 3 would be the game to introduce a newcomer to the saga. However, it does feel designed with those familiar with the series in mind. The character direction, humor, style, combat, minigames, and even free map all call back to things that made the last few games stand out. Past UAA members will likely relish this new opportunity to rise through the Galactic Rankings.

No More Heroes III is just more of the same. This game feels a decade old and like it was made for its most hardcore fans. It has all the same charm, humor, and fun gameplay, but also the same issues, mainly the dreadfully boring open world and repetitive structure. Those who played both of the two previous mainline games will know exactly what to expect here in No More Heroes III. There isn’t much evolution between them and this, and maybe there doesn’t need to be. But I still wish that the game would have matured a bit more along with its audience after all these years.

No More Heroes 3 has moments of pure genius and a lot of fresh and brave gameplay ideas, but is technical disaster that even the hardcore fans can't stand.

No More Heroes 3 is a love letter to gaming culture that lacks underlying mischief, opting instead for cozy familiarity.

The reality is that Suda51's new work for Nintendo Switch is the shadow of the No More Heroes it once was, where brilliant ideas, follies, memorable moments and the heinous combat system itself are watered down in a mediocre techno-playful context - and devoid of rhythm.

As a game in the series, No More Heroes 3 is the best one yet, with a tight story, great gameplay and excellent OST and voice acting. But with very bad graphics and dated open world gameplay, it falls way below the send off Travis Touchdown deserves.

While fans of the series will enjoy seeing the final No More Heroes story that ends SUDA51’s incredible run with Travis Touchdown, it’s impossible to ignore the game’s faults. It’s fun, but suffers from many issues that make this game seem like a work in progress. Poor movement and driving controls, a clunky camera, and dated graphics plague what could have been a much better game if SUDA51 was more willing to adapt to the capabilities of modern systems.

When No More Heroes III is good, it’s really good, and I keep finding myself wishing other action games played like it from time to time. But when I really sit down and think about playing the game, it’s tough to remember any particular moment outside of the boss fights because they all blended together; my strongest memories are those of frustration as I desperately struggled to push through the bullshit to get to the stuff that was actually fun. Even the game’s style and technical performance are wildly inconsistent between the sublime combat and sterile overworld. It feels half-baked in the most literal sense, with one half being cooked to perfection, and the other half still cold from the freezer. I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m the one doing something wrong, because I’m just not sure how a game can be so incredibly good, and yet so very bad.

No More Heroes III is a game of a different time. While its simple combat and its unique style still set it apart, its hidden age does more harm than good.

The combat is very meaty, boss fights are properly varied and the absurd story is one of the strongest points of the game. However, No More Heroes III is very uneven and got stuck in the past decade both in terms of gameplay and design. Actually, the series regressed in some aspects. Goichi Suda obviously ran out of ideas an is chasing his own tail. [11/2021, p.62]

Since 2007, little has changed in the formula of No More Heroes. The third volume is no exception. No More Heroes III is rough, fast, bizarre and brutal. And that makes the game simultaneously great and frustrating.

As fun as it is to venture into a location called ‘Call of Battle’, a bombed out city with retro-FPS vibes, there’s nothing new it brings outside of aesthetics. Without any sort of detailed traversal or environmental interaction it all feels like you’re running around an overworld in an early 3D game from the late '90s. And with that one could argue that No More Heroes has always been about style over substance. The series’ unique blend of action and over-the-top self referential insanity is here, but one can’t help but wonder if that’s enough? Wonder how great a Suda51 joint could be if the mechanics and feel matched the virtuoso style on display.

Like the best punk records, No More Heroes 3 is a grower. Its messy and unpolished gameplay can be completely offputting, but a scrappy, anarchic joy courses through it. For those with a love for gaming’s weirder side and nostalgia for a time where most games were endearingly unpolished, this will suit nicely. For many modern gamers, though, reaching the best sections will require more patience than it’s worth.

A better game than the earlier spin-off but Travis Touchdown’s time is clearly over, even if he is still able to provide some entertainingly odd boss battles.

I'm glad we have No More Heroes 3. This is Suda51 to a tee: a wonderful and utterly ridiculous celebration of otaku culture and the series he's built up over the years. Travis' fourth-wall-breaking smart mouth makes me smile incessantly, despite how stupid it can be - and it can be very stupid indeed.

No More Heroes 3 is exactly what fans of the series have been waiting for – an authentic sequel that continues the story of Travis Touchdown. If you loved the previous games, you’ll love this. However, it doesn’t offer anything new to improve on the series’ flaws,, meaning anyone who isn’t a devotee may want to try the original first to see if its quirky, sharp-tongued style is for them.

Another crazy circus of characters by Goichi Suda, but this time even the beam katana of Travis Touchdown can't save No More Heroes III from falling down to the bottom of the chart.

No More Heroes III is radical, punk and messy experience with a unique personality that will indeed please players who have been seduced by the first episodes on Wii - despite theirs flaws that are still those of this third game. 10 years have passed since No More Heroes 2, and as many games have successfully been walking on the same path, breaking codes and brilliantly combining content and form, it's surprising that Suda 51 did not give more scope to his title to sublime its personality.

No More Heroes 3 is an amusing but extremely uneven sequel only likely to appeal to Suda 51 diehards – and even for that audience, it takes several steps backward from the likes of No More Heroes 1 and 2. Combat can occasionally find its flow, particularly during its entertaining boss battles, but poor technical performance and the barebones tedium between them make this a lackluster homecoming for Grasshopper Manufacture’s flagship series.

No More Heroes III is a hugely mixed bag with loads of fantastic boss fights, but an atrocious open world that lets it down.

No More Heroes III is like two games in one, and if you’re happy enough to play mundane mini-games in an open world that’s awful to look at, you can break through to some compelling, exciting combat. A bizarre and always entertaining story is here, too, but this one really does feel like it’s made just for the fans.

I wish I could be a bigger fan of No More Heroes 3. There's a lot to like about it, from its enjoyable combat to its solid character design, and even the story setup is absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately for every given thing I liked, there was just as much that I disliked, and its visual fidelity holds it back for far too much of its runtime. If you’re like me, jumping into the third game in a series you’ve never touched before, there’s probably more than enough to turn you away. However, mega-fans of the series will likely find a lot to love.

Unfortunately, No More Heroes 3 misses the mark. This episode is sorely lacking in ambition and does less well than its predecessors released ten years ago. Too bad, because his combat system has taken off in the meantime. But its dated structure, its dubious artistic direction, its unspecified bosses and its writing frankly not at the level of the license come to spoil the party. This leaves a boring action game that does a lot to make it look cool, but never quite gets there.