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