No More Heroes III

No More Heroes III is a violent action game, an open-world do-gooder sim, a dorky dad story and a tribute/parody of "popcorn classic blockbusters" all in one. [Issue #55 – October 2021, p. 67]

Despite the technical issues in the open world, No More Heroes 3 is not just the best Grasshopper Manufacture game, but one of the best and most fun games you can play on Nintendo Switch right now with its brilliant writing, superlative boss fights, and sublime soundtrack.

No More Heroes 3 is a special game with a soul of its own. It's not a perfect game, but the one you're not going to forget any time soon.

No More Heroes 3 is grindhouse cinema in video game form, with a story that resembles the Saiyan Arc from Dragon Ball Z if it were directed by Quentin Tarantino. It doesn't take the series in any new directions and it has poor visuals and performance issues, but it's still an absolute blast to play.

Quotation forthcoming.

When No More Heroes III is good, it’s really good, and I keep finding myself wishing other action games played like it from time to time. But when I really sit down and think about playing the game, it’s tough to remember any particular moment outside of the boss fights because they all blended together; my strongest memories are those of frustration as I desperately struggled to push through the bullshit to get to the stuff that was actually fun. Even the game’s style and technical performance are wildly inconsistent between the sublime combat and sterile overworld. It feels half-baked in the most literal sense, with one half being cooked to perfection, and the other half still cold from the freezer. I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m the one doing something wrong, because I’m just not sure how a game can be so incredibly good, and yet so very bad.

If you had a mandate for all of the things a No More Heroes game shouldn't be, "boring" would be near the top of the list, but this sequel frequently is just that. No More Heroes 3 lacks the irreverent charm and personality of its predecessors. Combat picks up the slack, and there's a degree of vivid style to be found there, but the game falters in so many other areas. After an 11-year wait, maybe No More Heroes 3 was always destined to fall short of our expectations. But to end without so much as a touchdown is a mighty disappointment.

I gotta say this is a really great game! Dont understand why some reviewers dont like it all due cuz its not on par with the graphics of their lovely ps4 or Xbox! but to me its looks just fine. All 3 games looks good. Gameplay is great and the story is well done. Its a fun game period. Sry if its not another Just Cause or Call of duty which both are **** Good job Nintendo.

A game that the concept is stronger then the actual game. It's got a ton of style and its fun to look at and experience the cutscenes,. but the gameplay is a bit simple and lacking. It's one of those games you will want to love, but its just missing something to make it so. Still has some really cool and wild moments that make it worth finishing the trilogy for.

7/10

A lacklustre low budget return of my favorite otaku assassin When I first heard no more heroes 3 I was excited. I loved the previous games (yes even Travis strikes again) but I knew that a new nmh had alot to live up to. Unfortunately nmh3 is a very mediocre title and doesn't hold a candle to the greatness of the first two games. Before I talk about the negatives (oh boy there's a bunch) I will talk about the positives. The art style of the previous games has been retained and improved as was to be expected for a game running on unreal engine 4. The smooth celshading especially the character models is gorgeous. The environments and drab open world.. not so much. The visual effects light up the screen and dead aliens burst with rainbow colors overall it's a pretty game aside from the open world. The sound design is great and the original voice actors return to deliver their lines which Is nice. Attacks feel and sound powerful so it's very satisfying to hammer away at foes. The combat is definitely one of the better aspects of this title. The frame rate sustains a solid enough 60fps with very few drops during combat. Only downside to combat is that battles can drag and after awhile your doing the same combos and hearing Travis name every berry known to man over and over again. Repetition sets in but atleast the combat is fun for the most part. another positive aspect of combat is the boss battles. Almost all of the bosses have their own theme and gimmick aside from two or three horrible bosses. These change the game up and some actually surprised me. The two or three that aren't particularly entertaining can be a bit of a slog you'll want to get through asap. The cutscenes are very nice and kept me entertained even though the story made no since whatsoever. Now that's all the big positives I can give for this so let's talk about the negatives. Where to begin. The thing I can't comprehend is why the developer got rid of actual stages and the 4 or 5 different beam katana that were in the first two games. It makes the repetition all the more noticeable since you have no new weapon types or combo styles to utilize. It's a huge bummer considering the first two had this yet it's missing here. Stages are gone and replaced with random battles or as there called "designated battles" which teleport you in a small arena like area with the same enemy types over and over and over again. What makes this even worse is that before you can go up against the boss you have to complete 3 of these boring battles and pay the nominal assassin fee to qualify for the boss fight. It's not too hard getting the main currency you need because the designated battles you win nets you plenty of cash to pay the fee. I hardly had to even mess with the various side jobs for coin. The next complaint I'm going to talk about is the open world. When I first saw it I thought cool it's bigger than the first but boy was I wrong! The map is split up into 5 different sections. Santa destroy being one and the other being perfect world. The other three are basically vast wastelands with activities and markers feeling the area. On in particular call of battle is awful with an ugly filter and muggy look with invisible walls galore which made navigating a pain. No love went into making this boring open world and it shows. There are some areas on the overall map that are marked in red whixh you can't access. These areas have no point whatsoever and make the game world feel unfinished. No love was out into creating this open world developer grasshopper manufacture just brought it back because fans complained it was absent in nmh2. The final complaint I will talk about is the damage output and damage sponge enemies. Now this is in my experience which I played on the hardest difficulty but my attacks felt like they weren't doing a damn thing. Enemies have way to much health and whittling down their health bars got tiresome throughout my playtime. Unlike previous games where battles felt quick and fast in this game they drag on and on and tested my patience. The combats fun but my fun drastically decreased with each overlong battle. I really wanted to like this game. I loved the previous titles and suda's other work but this is not how you return to a beloved cult classic. The missing features and repetive gameplay really drag down what could've been a great title. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. This game just did not keep me entertained. It pushed my patience to it's limit and when I finally beat it I was thankful it was over. Hopefully it will get dlc or patches that add new weapons or expansions to flesh the game out more but I'm not holding my breath. This was definitely the weakest title in the series. It had some good positives but unfortunately the negatives outweigh damn near every one of them. 4/10

Honestly, the game is below average. It would be a really good game for a £20-£30 pricepoint, even then it would have severe flaws. The Story doesn't really go anywhere - It's not even particularly artsy. Which is something I can forgive for good gameplay - Which is a mixed bag. At a base level the combat is fun, smooth - The problem is that in the 3rd boss you get all the upgrades at once. Which means that combat is pretty much the same for the whole game - And even with these upgrades it's not that different from combat in chapter 1-3. The characters are interesting, but the game doesn't really do anything with it. - And also the end of the game is pointless, the end is so dissapointing, the only thing is really does is serve as sequel bait. Then there is the open world. It's awful, it's got a slow framerate which i can look over, but the big issue is that there is nothing there - It's just a slog to get through the open world when you just want to do the bosses. The game is overplayed by rose tinted glasses of fans, but if you're not a fan then it's a middling experience. I can't say that the flaws of the game are just "Suda 51 jank that adds to the charm of the game" and the bad open world isn't forgiven with the artsy excuse of "It's a metanarrative example of the issues of open worlds in gaming" - They're just flaws, plain and simple. If you're not already a big fan of the series, or if you're just a casual enjoyer of the series I really would not recommend buying for full price.