No More Heroes 3 is a Action-Adventure Hack N Slash game was released in 2021 for Switch, and it was later ported to other platforms such as PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, and PC in 2022.
It was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvelous, and it is a sequel to previous entry such as 2010's No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle.
Before I begin reviewing the game, let's talk about a bit of small history of cult-following series. It was all started when the first game just came out for the Wii in 2007, yeah the time when I first had a Nintendo Wii console in around spring time, but first of all I haven't discovered the game yet till I went on the internet where I visit some of the gaming sites like IGN, Gametrailers, and of course the Nintendo Official Magazines sites to check out the hands-on previews and game reviews.
I've just found the game that got me interested which is No More Heroes, a game was created by Suda51 who is a mastermind behind his works such as Killer 7 and then of course the later titles like Shadow of the Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw.
I've just watched the actual trailer of the game which I was impressed with the unique-looking presentation, the visuals design are looking quite incredible for the Nintendo's system, and of course it's one of the Wii's game that utilises the Wii motion controllers for combat system, so I haven't had the game yet till I've got it on my 17th birthday in Summer 2009.
I've started to play the entire game for weeks to see if the game are actually good to play, so the answer is that despite the game was heavily censored in UK releases which took out blood effects which is quite a bummer where as the NA releases are remained fully uncut, but however I did manage to like the game for its well-written storyline shares with multiples of great pop culture stuffs and has cool and badass protagonist like Travis Touchdown which I find him quite funny and entertaining just really nails it well throughout the whole cutscenes, then I loved the open-world exploration to do stuffs like designated matches and mini-games activities, and of course it delivers over-the-top action with great boss battles is what I loved about the cult-classic game.
Then the sequel came 3 years after the first game release, which is titled as No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the Wii, so it is just as good as the first ones for it's story, characters, and overall gameplay are just as enjoyable to play, and also the good news is that I am glad the blood effects had featured in the UK releases after the publisher Rising Star Games had received the feedback from those who are mostly disappointed with the first game's lack of blood effects that effected with the game's overall sales, which is why it can be fixed by releasing the enhanced port of the first original game for PS3 in 2011 titled as No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise which featured PS Move support, various fixes to the game's performances and graphics, and of course the PS3 version has blood effects included which is definitely way to go to play the first original game.
With all 2 great titles on the Wii, I was hoping for the third entry to get it made for the modern console platform in future releases, but in around 2019 they made Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes which is completely a different game which does not considered as direct sequel to previous main twos, so instead of Action-Adventure approach like the original twos it's more heavily focused on co-op top-down action game which unfortunately it wasn't the right type of game that I'm expecting from the creator who works really well on the previous twos, but this? which is why I thought I never get to see the true sequel till it finally announced the third entry that we been begging for ages, so we finally get to see the true return of the cult-following series with the No More Heroes 3 in 2021 and 2022.
It's been for 15 years since I've played the original twos, so after I finally had my PS5 slim for couple of months I am looking forward to play the third sequel which I am hoping the game turns out to be just as great in terms of how are these story and characters went so far, and how are these stylish combat gameplay and open-world exploration with mini-games and stuffs really stepping up which is why I am here to review this title to see if this third entry game doing the series a justice.
So without go further do, let's start the review.
Presentation
Before the game sets after the events of 2010's second entry, it begins with the opening prologue of young Damon Ricotello goes to the woods at night and discovers a crash site where he first met with the little cute alien named FU.
Damon decides to take care of FU while hiding him to protect from government agents went on search for alien.
Damon and FU had become friends together and agreed to build the alien ship to get FU returning back to his planet, so after they finished building up the ship they began to say goodbye each other as FU departs, he promised to return in 20 years.
In 20 years later, Damon is all grown-up as adult and works on his job role as the CEO of company under Utopinia, utilizing alien abilities and technology to prosper and become a wealthy business magnate, until the fully grown-up FU returns to the earth in a large spaceship alongside with his 9 aliens solders and reveals to Damon that he became a galactic overlord prince after returning to his home world.
He then announces that he team up with with Damon as he plans to take over the earth by employing the popular trend of superheroism.
After the opening prologue, its has shifted to the next scene with the game's main protagonist Travis Touchdown, a professional assassin who had returned to Santa Destroy following years of self-imposed exile, awakes to the city being invaded so he goes on to his quest to defend the world from a powerful army of alien invaders.
So far, the story in this game is incredibly good because unlike the previous two titles are all about killing many rivalries as possible to become a number 1 ranked assassins, but instead you're the assassin went on into saving the world and aims to defeat many aliens and their leader who went on attacking many innocent lives during the invasion which I kinda liked the new idea for the sequel that something doing different.
I also liked the opening scenes of prologue that kinda gives me a vibes of the Steven Spielberg's sci-fi films like E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, yeah as you can tell that it's sounded bit similar to the movie which is about the young boy who found the alien from the crash before they becoming friends and agrees to help the alien to finds the way to get back to his home planet, so this is what you see at the opening scene of young Damon trying to get little FU head back to the home planet, so in 20 years later when they both grow up the FU had turned out to be a wreckless alien leadership that aims to conquer the world which Damon are totally against the FU's brutal ideas, so it's seems their friendship is no longer the same since their childhood.
Aside with the storylines, the game's main protagonist Travis Touchdown is still a kick-ass dude went on fighting for his life and defeating many enemies as possible to become a number 1 best assassin.
He has a cool personality, makes awesome one-liners, he's funny as f**k, and what do you know he's Travis f***ing Touchdown that welds with his katana beam, wore awesome jean, jacket, and his sunglasses, and has totally-rad haircut is what made him quite recognisable in the whole series.
Then he as then girlfriend now wife Sylvia Christel who is working at Utopinia as secretary and helps set up the ranked battles for Travis which she's still looking quite smokin hot in this game, gotta love Sylvia's blond hair and her office uniform.
There are some returning characters from the previous twos titles like Shinobu Jacobs, a female samurai fighter which unfortunately she left hospitalised in Naomi's lab after horrible incident, and you have Bad Girl, another hottie with baseball bat from the first original game, which she was left devastated in her room over her father's death, yeah I'm talking about Badman who is Travis's ally and Bad Girl's father from Travis Strikes Again in which he was murdered by FU during the invasion.
It's really weird to see Dr. Naomi's appears as a cherry tree instead of actual human chick like from the previous two entries, umm kinda really strange to see her as a bloody looking tree I guess which kinda makes me really miss her human appearance.
Then you have little pet friend named Jeanne, and he has a close-friend Bishop who owns a local video store spends time with Travis watching movies in Motel.
The game also introduced new characters such as Kamui Uehara, an observer and friend of Travis with mysterious powers and also he has a gothic looking girlfriend named Midori Midorikawa, and it has Native Dancer who is a mysterious assassin claiming to be from the future, and of course Notorious, a masked wrestling champion who is also a superhero.
The game has cast of villains such as commander Mr. Blackhole who is tall-looking alien freak went bat-shit crazy, then you have Kimmy Love who also you may know her as Kimmy Howell in second game as high school student is now becoming a supermodel and singer, then you have demonic insane looking robot named Destroyman, then you have Velvet Chair Girl does a crazy musical chairs shit and she has her pet friend named Ohma who is a pink octopus only speaks by saying "Adrian" (yeah that's kinda sounds like a reference to one of a Rocky film I guess), then you have Sonic Juice who is a weird tall looking blue alien who is completely obsessed with the JRPGs related stuff, then you have Gold Joe who is acting dramatic and does his over-the-top comical personality shown to be very goofy person, and finally the main villain in the whole game is FU (now called Jess Baptiste VI) who is a head of the galactic superhero corps, as he tries to be act like a hero when he plans to conquer the earth.
He was once innocent and immature as a child which is now fully grown-up to be a psychopathic egomaniac willing to cause destruction and mayhem against the humanity that he does not fully understand what the term of superhero which proves that this villain is nothing sort of dumbass does a batshit crazy job.
The presentation in this game is absolutely amazing which I really liked the art direction of the whole game shown to be a mix of 3D-alike cel-shaded animation just looking very stylish in the whole settings.
I also liked the pop culture references in some sequences such as the opening scene which has sort of Studio Ghibli animation techniques while the whole backstory of Demon and FU as childhood friends is somewhat similar to E.T the Extra-Terrestrial which I had said it earlier ago, then the conversation between Damon and the mysterious man are basically just referenced Metal Gear Solid with similar dialogue boxes, the Travis's hot-red motorcycle looks identical to anime films such as AKIRA, the jogging training scenes with Travis and Notorious running together are basically like from Rocky 3, the battle with Sonic Juice in the style of a Final Fantasy games with command input screen, the conversation between Travis and Bishop just loves to talk about the Takashi Miike's films stuff, then you'll see Sylvia flying around dressed as Captain Marvel which is outright silly, and then Travis turned into full armored mech like from anime TV series such as Mobile Suit Gundam, so I really liked how they make the game that are really cool, weird, and amusing to reference from anime, comic books, films, TV series, and of course video games which is really awesome.
I also liked the locations in open-world areas such as Santa Destroy which is Travis hometown filled with motel, lab, and video rental shop. The Perfect World are full of residential areas and diners, and this location reproduces the nostalgia found in good old American suburbs. Thunder Dome is a wide barren wasteland covered in vast salt flats and it has an entertainment district called Neo Osaka found at the end of Thunder Dome. Call of Battle is a survival field reminiscent of a devastated battlefield filled with broken buildings and warzone areas in beach. Then lastly Neo Brazil is a modern coastal city with contemporary structures and buildings.
Overall, it has good story, memorable characters, and amazing overall presentation.
Gameplay
In single-player campaign, you take control of Travis Touchdown in 3rd-person perspective at open-world environments, as your main goal is to defeat various of ranked bosses in order to reach at the number 1 spot.
In order to do that, you need to complete several of the designated matches and mini-games appeared on the map screen that rewards you with many currencies, so that you're being entitled to the next ranking matches against bosses if the requirements had met.
You move the player with the left stick controls while clicking the left thumbstick makes the player sprint through, and you the camera around by the right stick controls which thankfully it's more responsive and easier to control than using the Wii classic controller support on the first's two game which had lacked the proper camera rotation control.
Press the cross button to jump that are used for jumping over the ledge, the circle button uses as emergency evade which allows you to dodge the enemy's incoming attacks or projectiles.
You can switch and use the food items with the d-pad button which increases your health points and attack power as an example.
For combat play, you hit the enemies by pressing the square button for quick melee attack deals with weaker damage attack, where as the triangle button acts as fierce melee attack deals with heavy damage attack on the enemies. When the enemy's health goes down the quick time event appears on the screen which you'll finish them off with the correct corresponding directional icon with the right stick control.
When the enemies are fully stunned, you can able to perform some of the wrestling moves by pressing the right trigger button then use the quick time event's icon to slam them onto grounds.
You can also perform the slow-mo time when you successfully evade the enemy's close-range attack by pressing the circle button in the right timing which activates the slow-mo mode for small temporary time.
When you and your enemy are clinging together with their both weapon, you can deflect them off by rolling with the right stick control during the quick time event.
If your beam katana had drained out the energy, you can re-charge it with the right shoulder button, then give it a shake with the right stick control to manually increase the battery power to get the beam katana activated back on.
You can block the enemy's attack or projectiles by holding with the left trigger button which also locks-on target at the enemies as well.
Then finally, you can able to perform 4 special moves by holding the left shoulder button, then press any of 4-face buttons which allowing you to use various of special moves such as death kick which is a powerful dropkick attack, death force is a long-range attack that throws enemies a great distance, death slow that slows down everything from enemies to projectiles, and lastly death rain randomly shoots a small projectiles at random enemies.
On open-world areas, you can able to ride on Travis's motorcycle by navigate it with the cross button, and to drive on the vehicle, you push the right trigger button to accelerate, while pushing the left trigger button is to slow-down your speed with the brake. You can able to perform a nitro boost by holding the square button to make your motorcycle go faster in miles.
I say these controls just works really well especially using the standard controller for PS5 which is perfectly fine to play because you won't ever need to use the evade on the right stick control like the second game on the Wii when using the Wii classic controller, but instead the right stick control acts as the camera system control which makes it easier to rotate around, and the evade are now being placed onto the circle button which is miles better to use it for Hack N Slash standards, so this is how you improve upon the control schemes for the new title.
I also heard very good things about the Switch version which provides really good motion controls with the Joy-Cons which plays really similar to the Wii motion controller for previous twos titles, so I guess the Switch owners are very lucky to enjoy their version of the game mostly.
Going back to the PS5 version, I had no issue using with the standard PS5 controller which like I said it works pretty well throughout the game.
The combat gameplay works really nicely is because it provides a great variation of combos system that are fully fast-paced and responsive, and I also liked using the special moves are just works effectively against some enemies types that are immune to projectiles, anti-gravity, slow-down times, and of course the deadly dropkick that deals heavy damage attack.
I got to say that I really liked the slash reel mechanics which allows Travis to perform a various of cool abilities such as mustang mode, throw-crazy mode, gaining currencies and fragments, go into invincible mode, and of course transforming into a mecha mode which allowing you to shoot missiles and laser cannon, and other movesets like slashes and death-blows.
When defeating most of the enemies which rewards you with some upgrade points which you can use these to upgrade your power-up attributes through the labs such as your health upgrade, attack power boosts, battery power gauge, special move cooldown time reductions, and of course learning additional new moves like dash attack, charge attack, long dash, blast attack and mustang dodge.
You can also use the death glove chip system which can be crafted through the supercomputer in the labs, so in order to do that is you really need to collect many fragments items like ores and other materials which can be obtained by defeating the enemies at designated matches, so once you had many materials items then you can able to create your own chips which really enhance your attributes like your attack strength, perfect dodge slowdown, performing a re-charge faster, and etc. which come in very handy for your fighting abilities to make you feel stronger to fight against the tough-ass bosses.
I really liked spending time to do exploring the locations which you can do anything to participate several of activities such as the cool mini-games like unclogging the toilet, cutting grasses with lawn-machine, chasing down the enemy's vehicle in Chase HQ style, mining the large chunks of rocks, picking up trashes out of the river, and of course shooting down alligators.
I also wanted to say that I managed to enjoy several of entertaining segments in single-player campaign such as playing musical chairs dance showdown, walking through the creepy high school rooms in horror style 1st-person perspective, JRPGs battle with Sonic Juice, having the smash bros style with one of the boss character, playing the Deathman's arcade game, and of course I also wanted to praise some of the boss battles which are really good to play.
There's one of the things that I should point out is that the game does not have an auto-save feature which means that you have to manually save it to the save point area like public toilets or bathroom in order to save progress, so you may consider yourself unlucky if you accidently forget to save the game at the end after completing some of the mini-games or designated matches, as well as upgrading your player's power-up abilities which is why it is important to include the auto-save feature in case you'll forget to save the progress.
Overall, it has great controls, solid combat, cool mini-games, and entertaining single-player action.
Graphics
The graphics for the PS5 version is looking spectacular on this game because it provides a full-on 4k resolution and being able to ran on 60 fps which runs really smoothly on the PS5 hardware.
The textures is all high-res quality which really cleans out several of the textures design and filters to make it look more bold and crispy looking game.
All the lighting system and gradients are much brighter and clearer to look at in some open-world areas to make it looked very fine and detailed throughout the whole environments.
It performs and plays smoothly than the Switch version which are not nearly as good compared with the PS5 version that I've played it on.
While the game had performed really well on the PS5 system, I got to say I liked the open-world environments that are slightly much bigger than the first original game in terms of 5 locations that are large and wide to make the exploration look kinda big for third entry providing a nice background landscape and some good building structures.
I also mentioned about how incredibility the art-design had looked because I loved the 3D cel-shaded environments to make the game look really amazing with it giving me sort of anime-style feel to it, and I got to love the blood-splatter effects is what really made No More Heroes series an over-the-top gorefest action...hell yeah!
Overall, it has spectacular game's performance, high quality textures, detailed open-world environments, incredible art-design, and insane blood-splatter effects.
Music and Sounds
The original soundtrack in this game is sounds very good because we had to agree that the No More Heroes series does provide a catchy tunes that are incredibly sounds awesome.
Stuff like the opening theme song kinda sounds like you're hearing from the opening TV series, Deathman bonus game has the traditional arcade-style music, the battle theme kicks in with the bop-hop style beats, ITADAKIMASU and Musical Chair has the catchy rap music thrown-in, Kimmy Love battle theme and Thrilled lady plays with electronic-trance music, Ohma battle theme has cool early 2000s style beat drop sounds, Notorious and Travis training montage sounds more like the Rocky 3, Final Fantastique is basically a parody music of 16-bit JRPGs, and my favourite goes to Fork in the Wall, B's Theme, Kyoten, Hurry Home, and of course Defeated and Dead has sort of mix between indie and alternative rock tunes.
It was composed by Nobuaki Kaneko, Jun Fukuda, and Kazuhiro Abo did a really good job of creating each of many soundtracks with different style of genres starting from electronics to catchy beats, rap to trance, and of course video game tunes to film score are just fits really well to this game's pop culture stuffs.
The sound effects are also quite cool because I really liked the arcade-style whammy sounds during the battles, and it does provide a great sound system for its environmental noises and some ambient sound effects are just sounds really amazing on the surround sound speaker.
I also wanted to praise the voice acting for their casting role, especially with Robin Atkin Downes really just nails his performance on Travis Touchdown are quite well entertaining.
Overall, it has very good soundtrack, cool sound design, and fantastic voice acting.
Special Features
The game has Deathman arcade game, has collectables stuffs like cards and toy capsules, unlockable outfits, and of course the unlockable new game plus with new difficulty mode.
Overall, an quite decent game's features.
Advantages
Good story and memorable characters
Amazing overall presentation
Solid combat and entertaining single-player action
Spectacular graphics
Very good soundtrack
Disadvantages
Lacks auto-save features
Final Verdicts
Presentation 8.5/10 - good story, memorable characters, and amazing overall presentation.
Gameplay 8/10 - great controls, solid combat, cool mini-games, and entertaining single-player action.
Graphics 8/10 - spectacular game's performance, high quality textures, detailed open-world environments, incredible art-design, and insane blood-splatter effects.
Music and Sounds 8/10 - very good soundtrack, cool sound design, and fantastic voice acting.
Special Features 7/10 - Deathman arcade game, has collectables stuffs like cards and toy capsules, unlockable outfits, and of course the unlockable new game plus with new difficulty mode.
Overall 8/10 - As I loved the previous two entries, No More Heroes 3 is a worthy step-forward sequel that does the job right done.
It's one of the another Suda51's finest title that we been waiting for this for one decade since the second installiment.
This third entry delivers a good overall story and funny cast of characters, amazing art-direction, has awesome pop culture stuffs going on, great overall gameplay, incredible visuals and sounds, and of course the single-player action filled with cool mini-games, fun exploration, and bloody fantastic boss battles are just pure awesomeness to this series.
It's one of the game that I can highly recommended for those who are interested in playing this type of game or has previously enjoyed the first two titles should able to go check it out.
The physical copies for PS5 and Switch should cost cheaper around between £18 to £25, where as the PS4 and Xbox cost over £50 are slightly more expensive to purchase.
You can also get it digitally for £35 on Steam, where as the PS Store, Xbox Store, and eShop cost around between £40 to £45, but thankfully the game are also included on Xbox Game Pass subscription.
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