No More Heroes

 Switch
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 53
  3. Negative: 5 out of 53
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. nusco
    Nov 20, 2020
    5
    No More Heroes is a damn mess.

    Granted, there are reasons why this game is a classic. It does everything in its own way. Some bosses are memorable. The childish humor has an endearing "Tarantino meets anime" vibe, with extreme cartoon violence and dark humor. The fighting is engrossing. When it's fun, No More Heroes is really fun. Most of the time, however, No More Heroes feels like    No More Heroes is a damn mess.

    Granted, there are reasons why this game is a classic. It does everything in its own way. Some bosses are memorable. The childish humor has an endearing "Tarantino meets anime" vibe, with extreme cartoon violence and dark humor. The fighting is engrossing. When it's fun, No More Heroes is really fun.

    Most of the time, however, No More Heroes feels like a bad joke repeated on loop. To unlock the good stuff, you have to suffer through mind-numbing minigames and road trips. Some people say that these design choices communicate the boredom of a third-rate job routine. To me, they feel like the game is trolling me, trying on purpose to be as annoying as possible. I had enough of this supposedly artful experience after the hundredth four-minutes drive to the thousandth two-minutes button-mashing activity.

    I could forgive all that filler, but not the game's mechanical defects. No More Heroes gleefully neglects to teach you some of its essential mechanics. Without that information, the game has a rollercoaster difficulty curve. At the highest difficulty available at start, you can breeze through the first two bosses by mashing buttons, only to slam against a brick wall once you reach the third boss. I had to check the web to realize that the game hadn't taught me how to play yet.

    The promise of the game's boss battles pushed me through. I trooped on, grinding those pain-in-the-ass minigames for hours. I lost half an hour of gameplay because of a crashing bug and the uncooperative save system. I listened to the same terrible sound bites literally thousands of times. I enjoyed the good bosses and the gimmicky ones. I still didn't know whether I was playing a brilliant game or a load of crap. Then, the end of the game steered me hard towards the second option.

    The last level was easy, except that I had to repeat its first few minutes four times in a row, because of a badly clued instakill QTE. Finally I reached the big final twist, that felt like random BS with no connection to the story. And there it was, the final boss battle.

    I'm not easily upset, but the final boss in No More Heroes made me want to scream at the designers. As a developer, I know that it's not that hard to code a camera that keeps two characters on screen in a large empty environment. The camera in this game regularly fails at keeping even *one* of them visible, and it has a passion for sudden changes of perspective that seem designed to make you take the wrong turn. After too many tries, I felt beaten. I'd destroyed most of the game's bosses in one or two tries, and now the last boss had changed the rules of the game, and it seemed nearly impossible.

    So I went to the Internet, and I found yet another fighting technique that the game had never bothered to show me. I spammed that move, and killed the final boss on my first try, without even caring to parry. End of the game.

    That was the point when I accepted that No More Heroes is, simply, broken. I gave it a 5 as a sign of respect for a game that dares to take risks, but be warned that when it's bad, this game is painfully bad. It's the product of a strong creative mind, but it fails on so many levels that it's better left to nostalgic Wii gamers.    … Expand
  2. Kacek1996
    Dec 31, 2020
    7
    No More Heroes on Nintendo Switch.

    So, I'm looking forward to No More Heroes III, but I've never played the first and the second game in the series. When they released both of them on switch I've bought them both without a second of doubt! Since the day I got it I found some time in between and played No More Heroes. I finished it yesterday. It was a hella fun game, but it was a bit    No More Heroes on Nintendo Switch.

    So, I'm looking forward to No More Heroes III, but I've never played the first and the second game in the series. When they released both of them on switch I've bought them both without a second of doubt! Since the day I got it I found some time in between and played No More Heroes. I finished it yesterday. It was a hella fun game, but it was a bit frustrating as well. I haven't mastered the dark side step move... Nonetheless, I completed the game without using it (hit-and-run tactics work here xD). Great soundtrack, fine (but dated) graphics, kind of sturdy movement (and some city/car/NPC bugs) and a ton of fun in game made it a game which is worth to play! Plot was nice, it shocked me a little, but positively. I struggled the most with the samurai girl boss fight, but I beat her on my 8th try. 7/10 nice game, I will play the second installment in the franchise now :D    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best Switch Game of 2020
61
#61 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Cubed3
    Jul 26, 2022
    90
    One of the Nintendo Wii's definitive classics has finally made its way over to the Nintendo Switch. Bolstered by smooth 60fps gameplay and swift load times, No More Heroes is better than ever. Travis Touchdown's ascent to the #1 ranked assassin is as hilarious as it is sincerely gripping, and the core combat never lets up - offering an engaging challenge that follows a tight difficulty curve. Santa Destroy as an open world is uneventful, but it features design sensibilities that aren't seen nowadays while almost serving as a parody of its era (without ever feeling grating). From gameplay to story, No More Heroes is nothing short of marvellous.
    Read full review
  2. Ninty Fresh Magazine
    Oct 22, 2021
    80
    Violent, spunky, and soaked in blood, No More Heroes looks and plays like a dream on the Switch - it’s marred by dull overworld segments though. [Issue #3, p.60]
  3. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 17, 2021
    85
    It's oozing with style and substance, but it's more for people who love connecting with the artist behind their games, and less for those looking for a virtual playground to call their own. [Issue #51 – March/April 2021, p. 16]
See all critic reviews »