Game review: No More Heroes III

Developer Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51 have released a ton of video games over the years, although the only game I have played from them in the past was Lollipop Chainsaw. Lollipop Chainsaw was a fun game because the team worked with Hollywood director James Gunn to write its humorous story. 

The developer's most recent game is No More Heroes III which was released for the Nintendo Switch console exclusively in 2021. Now the game is available in 2022 for the PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. 

I did not know anything about the No More Heroes storyline, so my introduction to the series is very new. At the start of the game, everything feels nice and touchy because a young boy befriends a cute looking alien called FU. 

The opening cutscene is sweet because the story reminds me of E.T. This young boy named Damon Ricotello wants to help FU get back to his own planet by building a spaceship. Over the years the pair grows to love each other, and FU is eventually able to fly back to his home planet.

Things get a lot more interesting when FU lands on Earth to meet Damon 20 years later. FU is grown up and he's no longer the cute and innocent-looking alien he once was. Along with nine other alien warlords, FU wants to rule Earth and Damon reluctantly has to help him. 

Since the Earth is in danger, we finally meet the main protagonist named Travis Touchdown. When aliens start destroying things near his motel room, he springs to action to defeat the aliens that were causing a commotion outside. 

Later in the story, Travis Touchdown realizes that he needs to kill nine aliens first before he can climb up the ranks to finally kill FU. It's not going to be an easy task for sure because FU is going to do anything in his power to make sure Travis Touchdown doesn't get that far. 

Unlike the previous games in the series, No More Heroes III does not adopt the cel-shaded look for its graphics. This game uses a more 3D look, although the game still resembles that of a Japanese anime. 

That being said, I still think the graphics look outdated compared to other anime-looking games out there like Dragon Ball FighterZ or Guilty Gear Strive. The open-world sections look bright, although there is nothing to really see and do because most of the areas are empty and inaccessible. 

As for its gameplay, the main bulk of the gameplay is melee attacks. Travis Touchdown has access to a cool-looking sword that looks like a lightsaber. You have both light and heavy attacks, plus the combat is easy to learn and fun to master. 

Another great part of combat is when you are able to stun enemies and grab them. Suda 51 must be a huge pro-wrestling fan because Travis Touchdown does lots of wrestling moves when you grab enemies. They're fun to watch, and they also do a lot of damage if you can execute them correctly. 

One big part of Travis Touchdown's repertoire is something he wears called a Death Glove. The Death Glove gives you access to even more special moves that can further kill enemies faster. One of my favourite Death Glove moves is a wrestling-style dropkick. Other moves include deadly rain, slowing down time, and also a force push. 

During combat fights, Travis can also use a dodge to avoid enemy fire. If you time the dodging right, you can counterattack with a special move. This is really helpful if you are up against the many boss fights that you have to endure over the course of the game. 

The last part of this game's combat is when Travis is able to turn into some sort of mech. Instead of using his sword, Travis is now able to use machine guns and missiles to attack some enemies and bosses. You don't use the mech too often, although it's a nice change of pace from doing all the melee attacks. 

While I did enjoy No More Heroes III's combat and story, there are a few flaws that ruined my enjoyment of the game. One of the more annoying parts of the game is when you have to earn money before you earn the right to face bosses. 

Earning money in this game can be boring as you need to fight lots of the same enemies before you can earn enough cash to continue. You also have to find missions in the boring open world, and some of the time it's hard to even find the mission icons. 

Another part I hated about the game is that it kept crashing on me. I played this game on Xbox Series X, and the game would often crash multiple times whenever I entered the open-world city. I'm not sure if the crashing issues have been fixed yet, but it was a huge annoyance while I was reviewing the game. 

Anyway aside from some annoying flaws, No More Heroes III is still a fun game to play if you are into action games. Unlike Souls-like games, there are multiple difficulty settings, so you don't have to worry about the game being too hard to play. 

Verdict: 8.0/10