Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture, Marvelous, Xseed Games
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
No More Heroes III – Review
With No More Heroes III originally launching solely on Nintendo’s hybrid console, we reckon that a lot of gamers were a bit disappointed that they weren’t able to play through Travis Touchdown’s last adventure. Now, however, the game has been ported to all major platforms and it is updated for more powerful consoles and platforms. We were eager to dive into the hectic and over-the-top adventure that is No More Heroes III, and we were quite entertained. That being said, the game does feel a bit dated when it comes to certain aspects.
Story
No More Heroes III revolves around an alien invasion that threatens to destroy the planet. However, the invading force didn’t take into account that not all humans would sit around idly and just wait for the end. Travis Touchdown, hitman extraordinaire, comes into contact with one of the aliens and ends up defeating the dastardly foe. Due to this, Travis has been added to the Galactic Superhero Rankings and is now in the running to save the planet. The one that can climb the ranks and defeat the number one may decide what happens to the planet.
The story of the game is absurd and chaotic, and it does work quite well. We did find the introduction a bit long-winded before we were actually able to properly play the game, but other than that, the story is very amusing to play through. Most content is presented via in-game cutscenes, but you’ll also get a nice anime-like introduction and even a retro videogame-inspired cinematic.
Graphics
Graphically, No More Heroes III doesn’t look remotely like a title for the current generation of consoles. Don’t get us wrong, the game looks spectacular and original, mainly due to the very bombastic and silly design choices, but it’s also very rough around the edges, it suffers from textures popping in, and it just looks very dated. At certain points during our playthrough, we felt like we were playing a PlayStation 2 title, rather than something that was just released. Nonetheless, as stated before, the game is hustling and bustling with original design choices, ranging from the different mini-games to the menu designs and the filters during cutscenes.
Sound
The game’s sound design is truly on point. Not only is the soundtrack perfect for the onscreen action, but the voice acting is also of top-notch quality. The voice acting reminded us of old-school ’90s action series or adult cartoons, where overacting is very much part of the experience. On top of that, the sound effects are also very decent, and they give the proper oomph to the combat segments of the game. Other sound effects are basic, but they get the job done.
Gameplay
No More Heroes III is a very ‘crazy’ action-adventure game with hack-and-slash combat. While the game puts you in many silly situations in which you’ll have to play through certain mini-games, you’ll mostly go from one part of the map to another to fight alien invaders. These battles are almost always in small arenas where you’ll have to defeat a fixed number of enemies or kill a boss. The silliness of the story aside, the game is very straightforward and you’ll get the hang of the base mechanics very quickly.
Truth be told, it’s hard to describe all the activities you’ll be doing when playing through the game. You might find yourself battling aliens one moment, to be mowing the lawn of someone the next, and this is also what makes this game a lot of fun. There’s enough variety and most items are not dragged out to the point that things become stale or boring. That being said, because of this, some gameplay aspects feel a bit shallow. Nonetheless, you’ll go from one item to the next at such a rapid pace that this is easily overlooked and forgiven.
Outside of the mini-games and combat, you’ll be roaming the map going from point A to B. We found the exploration part a bit underdeveloped and there wasn’t really that much to do other than drive from one objective to another. Of course, side missions will also be visible on the map, but again, there wasn’t much more to do than just reach them with your Akira-inspired motorcycle. It would have been a bit more interesting if there was more to do outside of the actual missions here as well.
Conclusion
No More Heroes III is a fun game to play if you can deal with constant absurd twists and turns in both the story and gameplay departments. If you have played the previous entries, you pretty much know what to expect. The next-gen version NMHIII may still look a bit dated when it comes to the overall quality of the graphics, but the gameplay is enjoyable and the technical issues that were present in the Switch version are not present here. If you are looking for something absurd to play with enjoyable combat, silly mini-games, and a story that is crazy, then this is probably a game worth looking into.
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