No More Heroes 3

"Summarizing No More Heroes 3 in a few sentences is hard to do. It's the fantastic sequel that Travis Touchdown and fans of the series deserve where the game, visual, and sound designs are all sublime which is rare in this current generation."

77%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

graphics, grinding

78% User Score Based on 549 reviews

Critic Score 76%Based on 52 reviews

Platforms

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About

No More Heroes 3 is a single player hack and slash game with comedy and science fiction themes. It was developed by GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. and was released on October 11, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"No More Heroes 3" is an action-adventure game where players control Travis Touchdown, a professional assassin, in his quest to become the number one ranked fighter in the world. The game features hack-and-slash combat, open-world exploration, and humorous pop culture references. In this installment, Travis faces off against a group of alien assassins who have taken over Santa Destroy.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 549 reviews

story35 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

Engaging and fluid combat system that improves upon previous entries, making battles feel dynamic and satisfying.
The game features a colorful and unique art style, with a vibrant soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
The story is filled with quirky humor and references, appealing to fans of Suda51's previous works and providing a fun narrative.

The open world feels empty and lacks meaningful content, with many areas being inaccessible and repetitive side jobs.
Some gameplay mechanics, such as the removal of multiple beam katanas and the reliance on designated battles, detract from the overall experience.
The PC port suffers from technical issues, including crashes and performance inconsistencies, which can hinder gameplay enjoyment.

story
180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
70%
11%
The story of "No More Heroes 3" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it entertaining yet shallow, lacking the depth and coherence of previous entries in the series. While some appreciate its absurd humor and unique character designs, others criticize it for being convoluted and filled with plot holes, often feeling like a collection of random events rather than a cohesive narrative. Overall, the game is seen as a fun experience for fans of the franchise, but newcomers may struggle to grasp its chaotic storytelling without prior knowledge of earlier titles.
- “The narrative setup feels larger than life even by the series’ standards, pitting Travis against cosmic-level threats while grounding the story in his trademark absurd humor and pop-culture-laden self-awareness.”
- “The story has a nice wrap-up, and both TSA and NMH3 are big homages to Suda51's previous games, so it was very cool to see.”
- “The story is completely unhinged and doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s par for the course for this series and honestly, it’s kinda hard not to like with its crazy character designs and plot developments that just keep one-upping each other at every turn.”
- “The story itself feels a bit incomplete along with the map, and I doubt we'll get anything new to this game as I'm writing this 4 years after the game came out.”
- “I was expecting a slightly better, more in-depth story than what was offered, but most of it is forgettable at best.”
- “The plot makes no sense, the gameplay is extremely repetitive.”
gameplay
103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
58%
13%
The gameplay in "No More Heroes 3" has received mixed reviews, with many praising its combat mechanics as the best in the series, blending elements from previous titles and introducing new abilities. However, criticisms highlight issues such as repetitiveness, lack of polish, and the removal of certain mechanics that fans enjoyed in earlier games. Overall, while the gameplay offers fun and engaging moments, it is marred by a sense of stagnation and missed opportunities for innovation.
- “No More Heroes 3 is the third refinement of the hack-and-slash gameplay style from the first game, with more combat options and larger enemy variety.”
- “The gameplay blends light and heavy attacks, wrestling-inspired grapples, and flashy finishers with the addition of new death glove abilities, which grant explosive powers like telekinetic throws and area attacks.”
- “The gameplay shines really hard for me.”
- “I'm just gonna get straight to the point – everything about the gameplay is lacking in some way or another.”
- “The plot makes no sense, the gameplay is extremely repetitive.”
- “However, the gameplay loop is quite repetitive and the final boss fight is just trash.”
graphics
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
78%
11%
The graphics of "No More Heroes 3" present a mixed bag of opinions, with some praising the vibrant visuals and modern art style, while others criticize the character models and overall aesthetic as a significant downgrade from previous titles. Many users note that the game, originally a Switch port, suffers from underwhelming graphical fidelity and lacks artistic direction, despite some improvements in resolution and texture quality. Overall, while there are moments of impressive visuals, the inconsistency and reliance on outdated design choices leave many players disappointed.
- “Gorgeous visuals, killer soundtrack, combat that makes you feel like a god.”
- “Vibrant visuals: the presentation is a treat, mixing anime-style cutscenes, retro game throwbacks, and flashy graphics.”
- “Overall, for a Switch game turned PC port, the graphics definitely got an upgrade.”
- “This game's art style looks bad; it's a mixed bag, but more often than not, I kept thinking to myself, 'damn, this looks ugly. The previous games looked so much better with their unique style.'”
- “The visuals are so painfully bad that they poison the rest of the game.”
- “The new art style feels more modern but sacrifices the unique vibe that defined earlier No More Heroes titles.”
music
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
49%
5%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising the eclectic and dynamic soundtrack as a highlight, while others feel it falls short compared to previous titles in the series. Many users noted that while certain tracks are catchy and enjoyable, the overall composition lacks memorable songs, and some tracks feel out of place. Despite these criticisms, the soundtrack is still considered a strong element of the game, contributing to the overall experience, especially during combat and boss battles.
- “The soundtrack, composed by Nobuaki Kaneko and other contributors, is another highlight—an eclectic mix of rock, electronic, and experimental tracks that shift dynamically with the action.”
- “The music is fantastic, and the way everything is presented is just so damn cool.”
- “Nmh3 soundtrack is probably the best soundtrack in any nmh game.”
- “The sushi song also feels so out of place.”
- “Nmh3 flips that dynamic, it delivers the best combat and most inventive boss fights in the series, yet disappoints with limited weapon options, lackluster music, and shallow narrative.”
- “The same loud, overbearing music track backs every fight while Travis keeps yelling his attack names every five hits, shouting 'fuckhead' after every kill, Jean warning me about my health, praising my combo, the ping of my low health bar, the ping of my special skill recharging, Travis yelling the same name of his same four special skills.”
humor
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
95%
5%
The humor in "No More Heroes 3" is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its absurdity, clever jokes, and pop culture references, while others find it tedious and unfunny. Fans of the series may enjoy the quirky, irreverent style and chaotic narrative, but newcomers might struggle with its surreal humor and self-referential nature. Overall, the game offers a blend of entertaining moments and frustrating attempts at comedy, making it a polarizing experience for players.
- “The narrative setup feels larger than life even by the series’ standards, pitting Travis against cosmic-level threats while grounding the story in his trademark absurd humor and pop-culture-laden self-awareness.”
- “Unique style and humor: the game is bursting with personality, from its clever jokes to its endless pop culture nods.”
- “Travis is still as hilarious as ever and the game doesn't take itself too seriously (at least at the base level).”
- “It's full of old ideas reused from other games, the game looks terrible, it has a near endless amount of tedious, unfunny cutscenes, and the characters are all vastly different and uninteresting versions of themselves.”
- “It's not funny.”
optimization
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
67%
14%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant performance inconsistencies, particularly in open-world segments, and issues such as poor textures and crashes on the PC version. While the Steam Deck version offers smoother performance at 720p compared to the Switch release, it still suffers from occasional frame rate drops and bugs. Overall, despite its optimization flaws, the game remains enjoyable, especially for those willing to overlook these technical shortcomings.
- “Despite some optimization issues, this was a great time from start to finish and the best the combat has ever been.”
- “It also helps that it's a very nicely optimized port, minus some FPS drops in the overworld when driving around and a few crashes that happened during my playthrough of the game.”
- “+ Performance at 720p is pretty smooth on the Steam Deck (setting aside some video playback problems) and it's a far cry from the Switch release's abysmal performance at times.”
- “Whether intentional for narrative reasons or simply a performance compromise, it hurts immersion.”
- “This is clearly a port of the Switch version and limits its performance accordingly; the game also boots in Japanese and has no proper configuration for controllers, leaving no dead zones.”
- “The Switch version wasn’t the worst performance-wise compared to some other titles I’ve played, but it still had the classic 30 fps locks, unstable frame rates, and an overall grainy and low-res look to try to optimize for the hardware that it was locked to.”
grinding
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
89%
Reviews indicate that grinding in the game is a mixed experience, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in the context of farming for money and crafting items. While combat is often highlighted as enjoyable, the necessity to grind for resources and complete side content detracts from the overall experience, making it feel unbalanced and less engaging. Overall, the grinding elements are seen as a significant drawback, overshadowing the game's strengths.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The game is fine when you're not grinding for your entry fees, right?”
- “Furthermore, the game now has a more robust stat system which I'm not a huge fan of because, unlike previous entries, the later fights can become a bit grindy if you don't keep up.”
- “The combat is the most enjoyable part, but the stuff you do in-between missions and boss fights is tedious and boring.”
- “You drive around an empty and ugly open world, completing enough arena fights and grinding enough cash to move on to the next boss fight.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "No More Heroes 3" is a mixed bag, with some players finding it a heartfelt celebration of Suda51's creative vision, while others feel disconnected from the characters and story. The game features a complex narrative that intertwines humor and emotional crises, particularly through the protagonist Travis, but opinions vary on its resonance compared to earlier entries in the series. Overall, it offers a unique blend of absurdity and emotional depth, though not all players connect with its themes.
- “No More Heroes 3 ultimately feels like a celebration of Suda51’s entire creative philosophy: a messy, heartfelt, wildly entertaining explosion of ideas that defies convention at every turn.”
- “No, watching him exist within the lap of luxury utterly bored out of his mind while Travis is consumed with such violent desire that he has an emotional crisis in the middle of the fight just works so much better.”
- “A heart-wrenching story about how Travis should have been in Smash Bros as a full fighter.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous glitches and bugs that detract from the overall experience, making it frustrating to play. While improvements have been made since its release, issues persist, particularly with controller support and performance on various platforms. Players are advised to adjust settings to mitigate some of the problems, but the game remains unstable overall.
- “But this game is buggy as hell, better than it was on release but it's still a mess to the point of making the game unfun to play.”
- “Beware: a common thread with this game is that it does not have native controller support; the game is a port of the Switch version, which is the buggiest version.”
- “It's way too buggy and crashing.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
Character development in the game is highlighted by its original and visually appealing alien designs, which stand out in contrast to typical media portrayals. While the story may be chaotic and nonsensical, the engaging character designs and unexpected plot twists contribute to a unique and entertaining experience. Overall, the characters, both returning and new, are well-crafted and enhance the game's humor and creativity.
- “The alien designs are refreshingly original compared to most media depictions.”
- “Not a single character design is bad; they all look great, and it has those classic NMH plot twists.”
- “The story is completely unhinged and doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s par for the course for this series. Honestly, it’s hard not to like with its crazy character designs and plot developments that just keep one-upping each other at every turn.”
- “The story is completely unhinged and doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s par for the course for this series and honestly, it’s kinda hard not to like with its crazy character designs and plot developments that just keep one-upping each other at every turn.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's atmosphere has shifted significantly from the moody and gritty tone of its predecessors to a more wacky and colorful style reminiscent of "Travis Strikes Again." This change has led to criticisms that the new approach diminishes the game's overall atmosphere and personality, creating a noticeable gap in comparison to the second installment.
- “Stylistically, the game is a departure from the first two titles and is closer to 'Travis Strikes Again', being generally on the wacky, colorful side of the spectrum in comparison to the moody, gritty atmosphere of the previous title.”
- “Stylistically, the game is a departure from the first two games and is closer to Travis Strikes Again, being generally on the wacky, colorful side of the spectrum in comparison to the moody, dirty atmosphere of the previous title.”
- “A case study in how to kill a game's atmosphere and personality through overexposure.”
- “There's a huge gap in the atmosphere when compared to the second game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a desire for additional playable characters, such as Shinobu and Bad Girl, which suggests that the current roster may limit replayability. However, the overall enjoyment of the game remains high, indicating that there are still engaging elements that encourage players to return.
- “I wish Shinobu and/or Bad Girl were playable, but I still love this game.”
- “The game lacks variety in its missions, making it hard to feel motivated to replay.”
- “Once you complete the story, there's little incentive to go back and play again.”