Suda51 remains the gaming industry's most underrated auteur, the Robert Rodriguez to Hideo Kojima’s Quentin Tarantino. A decade ago, the first two No More Heroes games brought a pure, concentrated dose of bloody, Suda51 mayhem to unsuspecting Nintendo Wii owners. Now, after 2019's Travis Strikes Again spin-off title, the true follow-up game, the $60 No More Heroes III, has arrived. Its purposefully peculiar gameplay and story elements may not be the most welcoming to new players, but if you're invested in Travis Touchdown’s hitman journey, consider it a must-own, Editors’ Choice pick Nintendo Switch game.
That Exit They Call Paradise
In the first No More Heroes, you played as Travis Touchdown, a sleazy, dorky gamer who used his “beam katana” to become the world’s top-ranked assassin. Things only got more ridiculous as you carved your way to the top, taking out all the colorful rivals that stood in your way. Despite the unapologetic absurdity, the first game had some low-key melancholy between your tragic fellow assassins, the contrast between Travis’s flashy duels and his boring motel life with his cat, and the hollow cycle of violence in the competition itself. Some fascinating criticism at the time interpreted the game as an allegory for the games industry itself.
The sequels largely abandon those allegorical elements to treat the franchise’s plot elements more literally and comedically. That’s not a bad thing! No More Heroes loves anime so much it only makes sense that it turned into one. No More Heroes III introduces a new roster of alien villains, including a gloriously hateable E.T. named “FU.” I always chuckled while reading descriptions for enemies like “Chest Hole” or “Diversity.” However, to follow the story you’ll need to not only remember plot threads from the first two games, but also Travis Strikes Again and its dense visual novel section.
As a long-time series fan, even I had trouble keeping up. The game expects you to recognize characters from across Suda51’s entire body of work, from games like Let It Die or Killer Is Dead. Still, Suda51 doesn’t care what you think, and that's a huge part of the game's punk appeal. It helps, too, that the stellar voice cast easily slips back into their old roles. Robin Atkin Downes, a gaming voice actor veteran, brings so much to this older Travis’s surprisingly nuanced inner life.
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Kill, Kill, Kill
No More Heroes III refines the franchise’s hack-and-slash lightsaber action gameplay to the sharpest it has ever been. It’s no Ninja Gaiden, but switching between light and heavy attacks feels fluid and satisfying, and that’s before you get into the complementary advanced techniques. Jump and dodge at the precise moment to slow time. Restore you beam katana's charge with intentionally lewd-looking motion controls (or stick movements). Stagger enemies, and use wrestling moves to deal more damage and recharge your sword. Then finish them off with a decisive strike!
You also have various Death Glove powers, which run on cooldowns, like a lunging kick and telekinetic blast. Balancing these skills keeps combos fast and varied, all while Travis shouts out dessert-themed non-sequiturs. Outside of battle, you can purchase sushi which grants stronger attacks, instant energy, and other buffs. You’ll also occasionally receive random slot machine buffs during a match. Finally, Travis can occasionally activate an anime-style transformation to don a mech suit with its own energy sword and missile attacks.
It’s great the combat is as good as it is because you’ll be doing it a lot. Like the first game, No More Heroes III drops you in an open world where you grind for cash to unlock the next boss fight. However, these worlds are barren and lifeless. I think this is an example of No More Heroes being “bad” to make an artistic point, a commentary on meaningless open worlds that dominate Western game design. Heck, No More Heroes III now has multiple, equally vacant maps to explore, including a bombed-out military wasteland called “Call of Battle.” Despite its vastly different tone, Nier: Automata has similar experimental arthouse energy along with similar subsequent gameplay friction.
Intentionally or not, though, to make progress, prepare to ride your chunky motorcycle across lifeless cities to battle aliens again and again. If you want to mix things up, earn cash through minigames (mowing lawns, unclogging toilets, and other such tasks) that also serve as save points. Fortunately, the generous in-game economy means the next ranked fight is never too far away. No More Heroes III saves most of its imagination for boss fights. The most straightforward foes give you tricky new challenges to test your combat skills. The best, craziest battles become full-on parodies of other game genres, from first-person horror to violent musical chairs with luscious R&B beats. What else would you expect from Velvet Chair Girl?
The Garden of Madness
No More Heroes III takes the franchise’s sharp, gory, stylized aesthetic in an even more psychedelic direction. Human characters retain their iconic looks, but the aliens feature inscrutable designs and gush torrents of rainbow-colored blood. Frame rates and resolutions struggle to maintain consistency in the open worlds (unsurprising for an Unreal Engine 4 game on Nintendo Switch), but the battles run without a hitch.
The presentation, meanwhile, gleefully ping-pongs between many different stylistic inspirations. Along with cinematic cutscenes, each chapter features anime credits as bookends before a fake YouTube interface loads in the next episode. Enemies are introduced as if they were action figures from toy commercials. Characters chat about Takashi Miike movies through analog TV screens. Your menu looks like a computer from 1995. Of course, you’ll also play some 8-bit minigames.
Suda51 games lack big budgets and AAA polish, but they lovingly tie together so many different styles that No More Heroes III has a production value that the series has never had before. I also have shout-out Travis’s various outfits, from a shirt that advertises anarchic indie publisher Devolver Digital to a black hoodie that simply reads “F**K Racism.”
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A Passing Assassin
Propulsive, profane, and profound, No More Heroes III is more than happy serving its niche rather than watering itself down to expand its appeal. The game’s file size is 6.9GB, and that's probably not a coincidence. If you're curious about the series, start at the beginning. However, once you’re caught up, you’ll be glad that Suda51 returned to deliver us this Editors’ Choice pick Nintendo Switch game.
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Series newcomers must adapt to its many idiosyncrasies, but No More Heroes III successfully resurrects Suda51's decade-old, hack-and-slash cult hit.
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