Love Will Tear Us Apart, again
No More Heroes III is a very strange game. It's more No More Heroes people long yearned and waited for. What? Was it 11 years since No More Heroes 2? Do not try to look it that way, rather it was just 3 years after Travis Strikes Back in case you are really into Grasshopper and Suda51. This is not an easy game to talk about, at least for me as I have very conflicting feelings towards it.
It takes the best aspects of No More Heroes, with the overall improvements found in No More Heroes 2 combat and the Death Glove's abilities added from Travis Strikes Back. So, this is for me the most fun combat No More Heroes ever had and probably one of the core aspects the team at Grasshopper focused on during it's development. It is really fun on a fundamental level, never gets old on sequential playthroughs or any combat sequence that is. But this is just the combat, aspects such as the open world and the mini-game do not hold much of the importance as they once had in the first game. It is sparse, messy, unorganized but the open world is somehow still beautiful underneath it's ugly appereance. As while it doesn't convey exactly what it wants to communicate, it's clumsiness and overall silly, empty yet full of personallity appereance makes it seem like an honest to heart attempt at making an open world. Ambition when the budget is not high, in a console that isn't particulary made to handle a load this heavy. A recipe for disaster that to some extent was fixed in the prior home-console release.
As a tradition in Grasshopper titles, the presentation is as distinctive as it is very in line with Grasshopper. It is bold, rash but most importantly confident of itself and knows were to go regardless what throws at you. It is not afraid to surprise you, nor afraid to show it's true intentions. There is passion plastered all around it. To me, this is a direct contrast to Grasshopper's "Dark Age" as while their signature style was still there, it was afraid to be seen, didn't hold enough meaning or was totally turned down in favor of cohesion with the base game visuals. No More Heroes III embraces it's wacky but endearing presentation with open arms and runs with it, as far as possible without looking back.
As far as the story goes, it's a direct contrast to Travis Strikes Back seemingly confined but personal adventure. This time is an over the top alien invasion over not just Santa Destroy but the world itself. Sets the tone perfectly, and doesn't get much deeper than that. As usual in Grasshoppers work, there are undertones that don't get explored directly but are hidden and left for interpretation. And this is exactly why I love talking about Grasshopper titles so much. It is not without it's flaws though, or rather bits that seem unfinished or aren't fleshed out for the most part. Things that flat out doesn't get explained and appear out of thin air, expecting you to care or have previous knowledge of it. Midori, Kamui, Blackhole, Bishop's brother know Travis, but he doesn't know any of them. So it comes out a bit akward, extending some of that fanservice Travis Strikes Back lefts us. It's like being in a party up late at night, most people left but you are left with a couple of strangers and old friends to share drinks with. What is important is the narrative that unfolds all the way to the end, and there is a lot to unpack there just as No More Heroes did back then. In No More Heroes the rank, and the assasins were and work around Travis arrival. It was the sign of his future, or what he could be in that world of assasins but in No More Heroes III everything works for FU, as everything centers around him. See the contrast? FU is number one on his very own rank on a contest he suddenly came up with while invading earth. FU is Travis if he never had fight to make it to the top, because he was aready up there from the beginning. The assasins bend their knee to FU for different reasons that get explored as the story goes on. In fact, Travis goes for FU not only becuase he's annoying but as an act of revenge. It is close enough of what No More Heroes 2 did back in the day. Simple, but it works at the end of the day. Travis Strikes Back already stablished "most" of the principals that would mold No More Heroes III story, go play it if you haven't.
Suda51 and the No More Heroes series go a long way, and the games made him more known here in the west. It was this sucess that leaded into giving this franchise a try once again with No More Heroes 2, and serve his reflection in Travis Strikes Back. No More Heroes is Suda51's son or the embodiment of everything he likes mashed into one product. This is the end of the series, one that was never meant to be more than a one-off job but ultimately grow bigger as we know now. And it is strange because every single game from this franchise feels different from each other with something that makes them unique and standout from each other and don't pile up as "This, but better" as most franchise tend to do. III's wacky ending doesn't tell me that this is specifically the end, but the start of something different. A new era of sorts. It's like sending your kid to college on another city far off were you live from, making sure as a father that everything would be ok before his eventual departure. Over the top, as high as it can be to make sure all of what the team wanted is fullfiled as ridiculous as it might sound.
Go out with a bang!
No More Heroes III is a very strange game. It's more No More Heroes people long yearned and waited for. What? Was it 11 years since No More Heroes 2? Do not try to look it that way, rather it was just 3 years after Travis Strikes Back in case you are really into Grasshopper and Suda51. This is not an easy game to talk about, at least for me as I have very conflicting feelings towards it.
It takes the best aspects of No More Heroes, with the overall improvements found in No More Heroes 2 combat and the Death Glove's abilities added from Travis Strikes Back. So, this is for me the most fun combat No More Heroes ever had and probably one of the core aspects the team at Grasshopper focused on during it's development. It is really fun on a fundamental level, never gets old on sequential playthroughs or any combat sequence that is. But this is just the combat, aspects such as the open world and the mini-game do not hold much of the importance as they once had in the first game. It is sparse, messy, unorganized but the open world is somehow still beautiful underneath it's ugly appereance. As while it doesn't convey exactly what it wants to communicate, it's clumsiness and overall silly, empty yet full of personallity appereance makes it seem like an honest to heart attempt at making an open world. Ambition when the budget is not high, in a console that isn't particulary made to handle a load this heavy. A recipe for disaster that to some extent was fixed in the prior home-console release.
As a tradition in Grasshopper titles, the presentation is as distinctive as it is very in line with Grasshopper. It is bold, rash but most importantly confident of itself and knows were to go regardless what throws at you. It is not afraid to surprise you, nor afraid to show it's true intentions. There is passion plastered all around it. To me, this is a direct contrast to Grasshopper's "Dark Age" as while their signature style was still there, it was afraid to be seen, didn't hold enough meaning or was totally turned down in favor of cohesion with the base game visuals. No More Heroes III embraces it's wacky but endearing presentation with open arms and runs with it, as far as possible without looking back.
As far as the story goes, it's a direct contrast to Travis Strikes Back seemingly confined but personal adventure. This time is an over the top alien invasion over not just Santa Destroy but the world itself. Sets the tone perfectly, and doesn't get much deeper than that. As usual in Grasshoppers work, there are undertones that don't get explored directly but are hidden and left for interpretation. And this is exactly why I love talking about Grasshopper titles so much. It is not without it's flaws though, or rather bits that seem unfinished or aren't fleshed out for the most part. Things that flat out doesn't get explained and appear out of thin air, expecting you to care or have previous knowledge of it. Midori, Kamui, Blackhole, Bishop's brother know Travis, but he doesn't know any of them. So it comes out a bit akward, extending some of that fanservice Travis Strikes Back lefts us. It's like being in a party up late at night, most people left but you are left with a couple of strangers and old friends to share drinks with. What is important is the narrative that unfolds all the way to the end, and there is a lot to unpack there just as No More Heroes did back then. In No More Heroes the rank, and the assasins were and work around Travis arrival. It was the sign of his future, or what he could be in that world of assasins but in No More Heroes III everything works for FU, as everything centers around him. See the contrast? FU is number one on his very own rank on a contest he suddenly came up with while invading earth. FU is Travis if he never had fight to make it to the top, because he was aready up there from the beginning. The assasins bend their knee to FU for different reasons that get explored as the story goes on. In fact, Travis goes for FU not only becuase he's annoying but as an act of revenge. It is close enough of what No More Heroes 2 did back in the day. Simple, but it works at the end of the day. Travis Strikes Back already stablished "most" of the principals that would mold No More Heroes III story, go play it if you haven't.
Suda51 and the No More Heroes series go a long way, and the games made him more known here in the west. It was this sucess that leaded into giving this franchise a try once again with No More Heroes 2, and serve his reflection in Travis Strikes Back. No More Heroes is Suda51's son or the embodiment of everything he likes mashed into one product. This is the end of the series, one that was never meant to be more than a one-off job but ultimately grow bigger as we know now. And it is strange because every single game from this franchise feels different from each other with something that makes them unique and standout from each other and don't pile up as "This, but better" as most franchise tend to do. III's wacky ending doesn't tell me that this is specifically the end, but the start of something different. A new era of sorts. It's like sending your kid to college on another city far off were you live from, making sure as a father that everything would be ok before his eventual departure. Over the top, as high as it can be to make sure all of what the team wanted is fullfiled as ridiculous as it might sound.
Go out with a bang!