The toilet is fixed
I was never a huge fan of the original No More Heroes games. The gimmicky motion controls really turned me off and the monotonous game play just drove that home. When No More Heroes III came out I fell in love. It was just so outlandish and fun and dripping with style I couldn’t help but enjoy the heck out of it. Only problem was, the game was only on Switch and therefore suffered from intense technical shortcomings. Now Grasshopper Manufacture has brought the game to Xbox, PlayStation, and PC with a host of upgrades and improvements. This is finally the game I wanted, in all of its wacky glory.
I am not going to go deep into the story and mechanics of the game. We reviewed the original when it came out, and for the most part this new version has all of the same content included. You can dig deeper into the game by checking out my previous review of the game for Switch. Instead we are going to look at the technical changes to this version.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $49.99
When this game originally launched on Switch it was a technical mess. The resolution was abysmal and the quality of textures was truly embarrassing. The frame rate in the open world was also a travesty. It is not a surprise that a game like this would not perform well on Nintendo’s consistently aging hardware. With this new version though the game runs at a nearly locked 60fps and has seen quite an improvement when it comes to texture quality. The world of No More Heroes III finally feels realized.
What we said about the Switch version.
No More Heroes 3 starts off just like previous games. It is very strong in the opening hours with a Ghibli-infused anime sequence explaining the origins of the main villain followed by a barrage of cutscenes and gameplay moments that can only be described as chaos in motion. I adored the first few hours of the game and was hoping that momentum would carry on throughout the rest of the experience.
Once again Travis is tasked with taking down 10 bad guys while ranking up in between. Stylized cutscenes feeling out of Tarantino movies are abundant and the dialogue is five miles outside of zany-ville. Still I love the commitment to pop-culture references and gruesome dialogue. It just fits these games.
Let me be clear, the 10 bosses and their encounters are the highlight of this game. Each one poses a unique thread and mechanics that are the absolute best. No More Heroes has always been known for these encounters and the third game might be the best of the bunch. It is what is in between that really drags down the experience.
Boss encounters not only come with unique mechanics, they also are oozing with style. No More Heroes III switches between genres like it’s cycling through commercials. Each boss gets their own intro, and it ranges from anime-inspired cut scenes to podcasts discussing things. No one can call this game boring in its presentation. It feels like a rollercoaster ride through an LSD trip. It is what kept me pushing through the monotonous bouts between boss battles as the open world is a slog.
The biggest update is immediately noticeable. The game now runs great. Riding around the city on Travis’ bike now doesn’t feel like a slideshow. The game feels fantastic. This translates into combat as well. Textures have been improved as well so no more squinting to read some of the writing on the environment. There are still some hiccups as textures load in, but it is not nearly as noticeable as the Switch version.
What makes this version of the game the one to own is that No More Heroes III is by far the best in the series. Now it is not compromised as far as tech goes. It now runs brilliantly. This allows Suda51’s vision to be fully realized. I fell in love with this game on Switch and now I also enjoy playing it. There is so much to enjoy and discover in the third entry in the series and it is always nice to see more Japanese games dropping on Xbox. So it feels like a win/win across the board. Do not sleep on this wacky adventure. It is truly unlike almost anything I have ever played. It never failed to entertain me and I hope we see the two old games also ported to these new consoles. Give me all the Travis Touchdown.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
