I really wanted to like this more than I did.
The hope was that Suda had got his juice back with Travis Strikes Again and we'd have something here that was worthy of being a sequel to the original.
What we got here is a fun albiet very shallow sequel that seems to double down on this series's worst impulses. More "wow that's crazy" shit with millions of references to boot.
I kept waiting as well, everything about the game felt off and it made me feel we were approaching some thematic richness that just in the end didn't end up being there which is a real shame.
I didn't have a bad time with No More Heroes 3, but it's clear that what I want No More Heroes to explore and what Suda wants it to explore are very different and that's alright I guess.

When starting a new game series I usually try to complete the first game first and go down the chronological path of entries to see the evolution.

No More Heroes III is one of the first ones where I've decided to just jump to the most recent one, and it felt appropriate. The game is insane already, so trying to figure out what's even real and canon was an experience that I feel only added to its atmosphere.

NMHIII is a stylish boss-rush/character action game in the vein of old Treasure games. It will never stand still and will pour its creativity through constant genre and artstyle switches.

This game is admitteldy style over substance, but NMHIII is an undisputed king of style and isn't even remotely similar to games that just want to look pretty for 12 hours. The gameplay is somewhat lacking, but I always wanted to see what would come next.

The general structure of the game is quite weak, though, and I wish all the battles you had to do to get to the next boss were optional. Unfortunately, the game never really switches up the required three battles > boss routine and that's its biggest weakness. In-game justification for all of that is collecting money to donate for the next round, but I wish the player had the means to procure the money by any means, as the game's open worlds feature plenty of collectibles and minigames.

It feels weird to want less combat out of an action game, but the small battles are pretty dire, and new enemies stop showing up at around boss 3 out of 10, which make them feel like grinding with the combat system that's so simple.

I can see someone feeling like this game is too wacky, but much like something like the original Deadly Premonition, it puts its whole ass into being what it is so it never really feels out of place, whether you're mowing down intergalactic threats or cleaning toilets (that are an equivalent of Ubisoft's towers in the open world).

I loved my time with this dumb game and I will definitely check out its prequels. Sure, it's janky, it's ugly in places, but it's got so much style and personality that it's hard not to fall in love.