No More Heroes 3 is an action-adventure/hack-and-slash game developed and published for Nintendo Switch by Grasshopper Manufacture. No More Heroes 3 is a return to form for the series, following the middling reaction to Travis Strikes Back, as it brings the frantic action and extreme violence that fans are familiar with back to the forefront.
No More Heroes 3 starts with an affectionate and beautifully animated homage to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. A young boy named Damon finds a cute alien in the wild, named FU. After some wholesome adventures, FU leaves Earth in a rocket ship, promising to return in the future. The story skips ahead to Damon as an adult, who is eagerly awaiting FU’s return. FU returns under his real name, Jess-Baptise VI, a rogue alien monarch who has assembled a team of powerful extraterrestrial soldiers to take over the Earth. Jess-Baptiste VI creates the Galactic Rankings challenges for the earthlings to take on each of his soldiers in turn, in order to earn a shot at him and save the world. Travis Touchdown comes out of retirement and enters the Galactic Rankings in order to save the world.
The gameplay loop of No More Heroes 3 is almost the same as the first two entries in the series. Travis needs to defeat the ranked enemies one by one while exploring the city of Santa Destroy and completing minigames in the process. Before each boss fight, Travis needs to complete several Designated Matches, which involve fights against smaller squads of minibosses. These have replaced the levels where Travis cuts his way through nameless mobs from the previous games and they provide a bit more challenge, as most enemies have special moves, gimmicks, or both that need to be overcome before progressing.
The gameplay of No More Heroes 3 has the familiar hack-and-slash action of the series, with Travis using his Beam Katana to cut his way through enemies. There are a few new additions to the combat that keep things fresh, however. The Death Glove that Travis has on his hand (in the shape of two Joy-Cons) gives him access to four special moves with cooldowns: a powerful dropkick with some invincibility frames, an AoE that slows down enemies, an AoE that damages enemies within its radius, and a telekinetic push that throws enemies back.
These moves add an extra layer of complexity to the battles and they help keep combat interesting. A slot machine also plays whenever Travis kills an enemy or deals a significant blow, adding some extra special effects that appear randomly, as well as giving the player the chance to summon his Henshin Suit, which is a mech outfit that temporarily gives Travis access to some powerful moves. There are some combat encounters set in space that just use the Henshin Suit, which also helps keep the gameplay varied and engaging.
No More Heroes 3 might have benefited from giving the player more invincibility frames for its many special moves, as it’s a little too easy for the enemy to interrupt them. There are motion controls on offer, but they mostly exist for charging the Beam Katana (by shaking it up and down) and striking in different directions when prompted during special moves. The player can improve Travis’ stats and purchase new special moves, while also crafting upgrades for the Death Glove, but these are gradual buffs and don’t shake up the gameplay that much, as most of the combat involves trying to avoid taking damage by dodging and going in for counters. Overall, the combat is fast-paced and satisfying, especially with its new special moves giving the player more options in battle.
The story of No More Heroes 3 is as wild and sometimes nonsensical as the earlier entries. The game is full of fourth-wall-breaking jokes and homages to different properties. The story doesn’t try to make much sense and the numerous unexpected twists can become tiresome as a result. The entire experience is presented to the player as a Netflix-style show, which even has similar next-episode countdowns between stages, and that’s probably the best way to experience No More Heroes 3, with the same level of background-noise-attention paid to the details of its story.
The soundtrack in No More Heroes 3 is phenomenal and is one of the best aspects of the game, while the voice acting is still top-notch, with familiar actors reprising their roles. The same cannot be said for the visuals, which are muddy and pixelated throughout. The frame rate stays steady in combat, but the same cannot be said for the segments where Travis is exploring Santa Destroy and other towns. The frame rate takes a huge dip while driving around town, even though there are barely any other NPCs or vehicles in the vicinity. The pop-in is also really bad, even when exploring on foot. The character designs and levels are mostly fantastic, but the overall poor quality of the visuals brings everything down.
No More Heroes 3 is grindhouse cinema in video game form, with a story that resembles the Saiyan Arc from Dragon Ball Z if it were directed by Quentin Tarantino. It doesn’t take the series in any new directions and it has poor visuals and performance issues, but it’s still an absolute blast to play, and is the perfect title for playing with the brain switched firmly off.
No More Heroes 3 releases today, August 27, 2021, on Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the purposes of this review.
