I don't even know what to write about No More Heroes, but I'd like to say that I truly loved it. It might tread a thin line when it comes to its humor, but I can't deny that I had a smile on my face throughout the whole game.

I was bit apprehensive before playing this game. I knew it was a beloved game, but just I HATE gyro controls. Well, I'm happy to report that the controls work just fine. They might be clunky, at times, but they're fun as hell. The combat in this game is fast, aggressive, responsive, impactful and well done. I didn't mind hacking and slashing my way through thousands of repetitive enemies and somewhat bland environments simply due to how FUN it is to play No More Heroes.

The golden coin of the combat system goes for the bosses. I have a feeling that if this were a boss rush, it could've been an even better experience. Every boss is well designed, amazingly presented, unique, challenging and entertaining. It was a joy to figure out their patterns and quirks. Quite a special feeling.

The story can be very nonsensical, but, again, just pure FUN. It made me interested to see where it was going and how unpredictable it could get. Characters were colorful, eccentric and extremely creative. The writing is definitely shallow, but the visual spectacle and the comic book atmosphere you get makes up for it. I might be wrong, but the whole tale just had this Kill Bill vibe that sucked me into it. The humor was also a nice surprise.

My complaints with No More Heroes are all on the techinical side.

Framerate drops in games usually don't bother me, but they definitely did hurt me here. I know that they went for the Simpsons Hit & Run way of creating a semi-open world map, but I don't think it worked very well. Driving your motorcycle feels very clunky and the streets just aren't interesting enough. Most mini-games can be fun on the first time, but having to repeat them over and over in order to get money makes it tiresome. Were those things really necessary? Why not make it a more brief and concise game?

And why the hell are there only, like, 10 songs in this soundtrack??? And they're not even very good! As for the story and main battle mechanics: The combat is VERY fun, but not very polished and although I liked the story and appreciate it for not taking itself seriously, that real ending was awful.

Overall, No More Heroes might be the best experience I've had on the Wii, so far. Fun, fast, bloody and creative. I'm not sure how it plays on other platforms, but I can't recommend it enough, no matter where you taste it.

Reviewed on Feb 04, 2024


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