meh
This review contains spoilers
After marathoning every single No More Heroes game over the course of two weeks it's finally time to finish with No More Heroes III. Some people love this game and call it one of Sudas best while just as many deride it and call it an absolute sham of an experience. I'm somewhere in the middle with it however, as while it certainly does shit the bed in a lot of places, its also a pretty decent action game oozing with style.
After how rough an experience Travis Strikes Again was I had no hope for III gameplay wise but I am pleasantly surprised to say that it might have the best gameplay of the entire series. While I do miss beam customization and the grind for abilities is the worst its ever been (seriously why get rid of training), the overall feel of it and revamped mechanics makes it so fun. The slot machine being much more useful and changing up how wrestling moves work creates the fastest paced combat in the series, and the returning skills/death chips make Travis feel very versatile in combat. Another great change is the designated fights that replace levels this time around. In addition to the ATM feature of 1 returning you are also forced to do some minor skirmishes in order to fight a boss. While the locales are a bit generic I generally like this in comparison to levels because of how short and sweet they all feel, never taking too long and being pretty easy to get too in the small hubs this game has. Also this game goes balls to the walls in so many ways and I fucking love it for that, easily being the most stylish Suda 51 game with tons of fun moments throughout (FU is also a phenomenal villain that manages to be consistently entertaining). Little things like the fake intros and VN sections returning from TSA just adds to the overall experience and makes going through the journey worth it.
All that being said No More Heroes IIIs biggest sin is....the fucking visuals. Powered by Unreal Engine 4 (an engine that actually LOOKS GOOD ON SWITCH) the game manages to consistently look like a budget Wii game with character models in particular looking like acid attack victims. Its a real shame because a lot of the alien designs do look great and in the animated cutscenes they really shine but in game its rough. The overworlds also suffer this being pretty empty areas with only sparse things to do (like side jobs or the aforementioned matches). I don't hate this feature as much as others do because the hubs are super tiny but it also could've been axed and nothing would be lost. Speaking of nothing, NMH3s overall narrative is another weak point that feels like a complete clusterfuck, with many things either feeling intentionally screwed over or things just being blatantly unfinished. The assassins are hit with this the most, as a good chunk of them YOU DON'T EVEN FIGHT, being replaced with either nothing burgers (the musical chairs beast) or some odd nostalgia dumps (Kimmy Love and Henry Cooldown). After TSAs pretty solid story this feels like a massive kick in the balls that permiates throughout the 17 hour runtime, with the only saving graces being the aforementioned FU and the pretty solid characterization of Travis, who gets some great moments (like the rap with Kimmy or the entire ending). Finally the soundtrack might be the weakest in the series, with the only tracks I liked being the ramen store theme and Kimmy Loves theme.
NMH3 is a true mixed bag of a title that feels less like the satisfying continuation of a series and more of a shitpost. It does make me curious as to where Grasshopper will go with the series probably never getting a sequel due to Marvelous owning the majority of the IP. Not the worst of the series but certainly not its best outing.
6/10
After how rough an experience Travis Strikes Again was I had no hope for III gameplay wise but I am pleasantly surprised to say that it might have the best gameplay of the entire series. While I do miss beam customization and the grind for abilities is the worst its ever been (seriously why get rid of training), the overall feel of it and revamped mechanics makes it so fun. The slot machine being much more useful and changing up how wrestling moves work creates the fastest paced combat in the series, and the returning skills/death chips make Travis feel very versatile in combat. Another great change is the designated fights that replace levels this time around. In addition to the ATM feature of 1 returning you are also forced to do some minor skirmishes in order to fight a boss. While the locales are a bit generic I generally like this in comparison to levels because of how short and sweet they all feel, never taking too long and being pretty easy to get too in the small hubs this game has. Also this game goes balls to the walls in so many ways and I fucking love it for that, easily being the most stylish Suda 51 game with tons of fun moments throughout (FU is also a phenomenal villain that manages to be consistently entertaining). Little things like the fake intros and VN sections returning from TSA just adds to the overall experience and makes going through the journey worth it.
All that being said No More Heroes IIIs biggest sin is....the fucking visuals. Powered by Unreal Engine 4 (an engine that actually LOOKS GOOD ON SWITCH) the game manages to consistently look like a budget Wii game with character models in particular looking like acid attack victims. Its a real shame because a lot of the alien designs do look great and in the animated cutscenes they really shine but in game its rough. The overworlds also suffer this being pretty empty areas with only sparse things to do (like side jobs or the aforementioned matches). I don't hate this feature as much as others do because the hubs are super tiny but it also could've been axed and nothing would be lost. Speaking of nothing, NMH3s overall narrative is another weak point that feels like a complete clusterfuck, with many things either feeling intentionally screwed over or things just being blatantly unfinished. The assassins are hit with this the most, as a good chunk of them YOU DON'T EVEN FIGHT, being replaced with either nothing burgers (the musical chairs beast) or some odd nostalgia dumps (Kimmy Love and Henry Cooldown). After TSAs pretty solid story this feels like a massive kick in the balls that permiates throughout the 17 hour runtime, with the only saving graces being the aforementioned FU and the pretty solid characterization of Travis, who gets some great moments (like the rap with Kimmy or the entire ending). Finally the soundtrack might be the weakest in the series, with the only tracks I liked being the ramen store theme and Kimmy Loves theme.
NMH3 is a true mixed bag of a title that feels less like the satisfying continuation of a series and more of a shitpost. It does make me curious as to where Grasshopper will go with the series probably never getting a sequel due to Marvelous owning the majority of the IP. Not the worst of the series but certainly not its best outing.
6/10
Thank you Suda, Fuck head
this game is lowkey kind of just crack. suda51 was ABSOLUTELY on something ; but whatever it is, i genuinely loved it.
Perfect way to end a series you're losing the rights to. The video game equivalent of smearing shit all over the walls before getting evicted, but in a way that that's REALLY fun and cool, especially for anyone watching Suda do it. A complete goofy blast, with Suda openly indulging in all his interests, inspirations, and shit he just thinks is cool.
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.
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.
unjustified grinding holds it back
i LOVE this GAME it was the first nmh game i completed, and it was really fun to play!! :DD
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.
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.
HENSHIN
Imma ball 'til the day I fall