Cult game director Goichi Suda a.k.a. "Suda51" has made a name for himself over the years by putting out a variety of eccentric titles with a one of a kind punk rock style. What's kept him from breaking out into mainstream success however is that the gameplay of his projects has never quite matched their personality. Well, in the 11 years since we received the last mainline No More Heroes entry, it's clear Suda used the time to iron out all of the faults and deliver something that will finally allow a much wider range of gamers to embrace his madness.
Rest assured, things are just as delightfully wild as ever. I missed the grindhouse vibes and sexuality of its predecessors, but III's new more lighthearted tone that parodies stuff like today's superhero blockbuster obsessed culture somehow ups the levels of creativity, absurdity, and unpredictability. There are a plethora of inventive one-off oddball scenarios and the series' typical brand of vulgar, violent fourth wall breaking humor to ensure you never know what's coming next. Only now all the wackiness is supported by some of the best hack and slash action around.
This has always kind of been a boss rush franchise where the goal is to take out a collection of memorable psychopaths to make it through the story. These challenging encounters are what carried the prior two (and a half) entries in the trilogy, and that's no different here. Where this third chapter improves though is in the downtime spent in-between each big showdown. Once again you'll need to raise funds in order to access the next fight, and there are a number of ways to do so from "Designated Matches" against the (surprisingly difficult) basic enemy types to odd-jobs. Even the most menial tasks like grass mowing or unclogging toilets are unexpectedly fun and Suda at long last figured out how to make the open-world all of this takes place in interesting by littering the map with objective markers, side quests, and hidden collectibles.
The combat itself also flows much smoother than it did on the Wii due to not having to put up with that consoles awkward control scheme. It reminded of what a revelation I found Heroes Paradise on the PS3 to be. You have a mix of light and heavy attacks, returning "Death Glove" powers that run on a timer from Travis Strikes Again, a gauge that determines the strength of your combos depending on how well you perform, and unique abilities like being able to slow down time after pulling off a perfect dodge. All of which come together to create a complex system with a lot of options. You can even upgrade your base stats with a secondary currency (which is basically just EXP) gained from missions meaning that character progression is deeper than simply grinding to buy a new beam katana.
All of this makes No More Heroes III the most polished and complete effort from Grasshopper Manufacture to date. I'm not going to lie and say everything is perfect. You can tell there are some aspects that suffer from budgetary constraints, such as the lack of compelling rewards for completing the secondary tasks. Yet, Suda's imagination is in top form to deliver a vision more memorable and gonzo nuts than ever before, and with the always enjoyable test of clashing with bosses being surrounded by stronger supporting content than any time prior there's truly no reason to not give one of Japan's particularly intriguing distinctive minds a well-deserved chance, whether it be once again or as your very first experience.
9/10
Rest assured, things are just as delightfully wild as ever. I missed the grindhouse vibes and sexuality of its predecessors, but III's new more lighthearted tone that parodies stuff like today's superhero blockbuster obsessed culture somehow ups the levels of creativity, absurdity, and unpredictability. There are a plethora of inventive one-off oddball scenarios and the series' typical brand of vulgar, violent fourth wall breaking humor to ensure you never know what's coming next. Only now all the wackiness is supported by some of the best hack and slash action around.
This has always kind of been a boss rush franchise where the goal is to take out a collection of memorable psychopaths to make it through the story. These challenging encounters are what carried the prior two (and a half) entries in the trilogy, and that's no different here. Where this third chapter improves though is in the downtime spent in-between each big showdown. Once again you'll need to raise funds in order to access the next fight, and there are a number of ways to do so from "Designated Matches" against the (surprisingly difficult) basic enemy types to odd-jobs. Even the most menial tasks like grass mowing or unclogging toilets are unexpectedly fun and Suda at long last figured out how to make the open-world all of this takes place in interesting by littering the map with objective markers, side quests, and hidden collectibles.
The combat itself also flows much smoother than it did on the Wii due to not having to put up with that consoles awkward control scheme. It reminded of what a revelation I found Heroes Paradise on the PS3 to be. You have a mix of light and heavy attacks, returning "Death Glove" powers that run on a timer from Travis Strikes Again, a gauge that determines the strength of your combos depending on how well you perform, and unique abilities like being able to slow down time after pulling off a perfect dodge. All of which come together to create a complex system with a lot of options. You can even upgrade your base stats with a secondary currency (which is basically just EXP) gained from missions meaning that character progression is deeper than simply grinding to buy a new beam katana.
All of this makes No More Heroes III the most polished and complete effort from Grasshopper Manufacture to date. I'm not going to lie and say everything is perfect. You can tell there are some aspects that suffer from budgetary constraints, such as the lack of compelling rewards for completing the secondary tasks. Yet, Suda's imagination is in top form to deliver a vision more memorable and gonzo nuts than ever before, and with the always enjoyable test of clashing with bosses being surrounded by stronger supporting content than any time prior there's truly no reason to not give one of Japan's particularly intriguing distinctive minds a well-deserved chance, whether it be once again or as your very first experience.
9/10