No More Heroes (Switch) Review

BRINGING FORWARD A CULT-CLASSIC

Loud, crude, and drenched in blood, No More Heroes shocked players by launching on the Nintendo Wii, a console that was mostly marketed for classic Nintendo appeal and getting elderly into games through Wii Sports. No More Heroes never really hit the popularity of other action games but there’s always been a passionate fanbase eager for anything from Goichi Suda (aka Suda 51) and Grasshopper Manufacture. I have played a few games from these developers in the past, most notably Let it Die, a free-to-play soulslike that hit the PS4 in 2016, but with the release of No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (I’ll have another review on that title soon) on the Nintendo Switch, I finally made the commitment to play these games all the way through. 

No More Heroes is the story of Travis Touchdown, a douchey young man who wields a beam saber that he snagged in an online auction to meticulously take down an organization of assassins in order to understand his traumatic past and make enough cash to fuel his anime and wrestling interests. In order to kill these killers, Travis enlists in the organization and climbs the ranks both to understand what happened and to sleep with the beautiful, but likely untrustworthy Sylvia Christel. Gameplay can be described as a third-person hack-and-slash mixed with part-time job mini-games framed by the small open-world of Santa Destroy, California. 

Unfortunately, Travis as a character in the events of the first No More Heroes game is not a character I enjoy playing as. Travis is sleazy, easily manipulated by sexy girls, and motivated by money and material goods. The way he talks to women can get pretty gross and by the time the credits rolled, I felt that his character could’ve used more positive development. He feels more determined at least by the start of the second game. Of course, I don’t expect Travis to lose what makes him Travis, I just don’t like the guy. Yet, despite this, I wanted to see this sloppy hero succeed. At least his design is appealing and the animations bring a ton of force to the fast-paced action. 

No More Heroes sports a level of ultra-violence that’s in-line with classic samurai films.

In fact, where No More Heroes shines brightest is in the game’s art direction and character design. There’s so much style oozing out of almost every frame of this game. Color takes over scenes when the game loads. Characters are framed in the shot like they’re in a samurai film. Smaller details stand out and add to the characters without the need for additional scenes or dialogue. It’s clear that No More Heroes was made by people who loved this idea and were having a ton of fun with the references and fourth-wall-breaking jokes.     

Provided one can get over Travis’ character, No More Heroes is an entertaining ride full of absurd action and quirky characters. 

Gameplay in No More Heroes is rather simple but there are enough animations to keep things interesting. Aside from his standard beam saber, Travis can unlock a few more swords that do change up the rhythm of the combat just enough that it was fun to try other weapons. Players use a mix of low and high sword attacks, physical strikes, dodges, and blocks to maim countless soldiers and thugs to carve a path of blood to the next assassin boss. Most of the game’s fights can be overcome through hammering away at buttons and the same death scream for almost every enemy definitely gets old quickly but for the most part, the combat can be really fun. Being a fan of wrestling, Travis can also suplex foes which does a lot of extra damage to bosses, and these moves become stronger upon reaching each boss fight. 

The other UAA assassins are all characters in their own right, although some get more backstory than others.

Occasionally, a slot machine will change up Travis’ powers temporarily, giving him instant kills or much faster attacks to name a few of the weird bonuses. This system feels a bit too random for my liking and it took a long time to even figure out what benefit I had activated. As soon as I would get a new power, the energy would dissipate and leave me confused. The combat can also get pretty unfair as enemies stun-lock poor Travis in certain areas. One segment places Travis on a moving bus as enemies spawn in a tight space. The issue is the camera is fixated on the side of the bus and there is room to move in a 3D space, rather than locking the action to a 2D plane. This, coupled with enemies constantly interrupting moves and not being able to charge-up one’s saber hardly at all, makes for a terribly frustrating segment. 

The main levels of No More Heroes follow a basic structure: run through a level taking out goons, save at a restroom, gain a new wrestling move, and fight the next ranked assassin in a boss fight. This structure is predictable but the characters and scenarios are shaken up to keep things interesting. Seeing the new assassin, learning a little bit about them, and then taking them down is fun.

What is not fun is the monotonous nonsense in between levels. 

Criticized much already, the side-jobs are the worst part of No More Heroes.

Outside of levels, No More Heroes is a poorly designed open-world with shops, missions, and a few collectibles to find. In order to attempt the next level, a large sum of money must be paid to the UAA organization to set up the ranked fight. Travis gains money through kills in the levels and gets a good chunk of change after taking down each assassin, but any difference has to be made up through part-time jobs and smaller assassin missions. The part-time jobs are awful; these are terrible mini-games like pouring gas for customers, mowing the lawn, or picking up stray cats. Being forced into these games just to get into the next stage is maddening and that’s if you don’t purchase any weapon upgrades. I eventually got a point where I had to just grind jobs for a few hours so I could afford a new sword to help me beat the third-ranked boss. This paired with annoying motorcycle mechanics makes getting to the fun bits of No More Heroes a chore. I do believe that this gets loads better as the series progresses but for those wanting to experience the first entry, it’s hard to get through. 

Most of the game’s mechanics outside of combat are stiff and even the combat can be awkward at times. Using a controller, all of the contextual motions are done on the right stick which is satisfying but probably doesn’t have the same energy as playing on the Wii. Thankfully, those who do have that nostalgia for the Wii version of No More Heroes can play using motion controls but I mostly stuck with the Switch Pro controller and my handy Hori Split Pad Pro.  

While an interesting camera angle at first, this section is easily one of the most frustrating combat moments.

Graphically, this port does seem like a big improvement over the Wii release but of course, environments and textures carry that 2008 quality. This isn’t a full remaster like say Final Fantasy VII but it is a port that helps firmly establish the No More Heroes series on the Switch system, preparing for the anticipated release of No More Heroes 3, a Switch exclusive. 

Some of the game’s music is alright and the main theme is catchy but the voice acting is horrendous for pretty much the whole cast outside of Travis and Sylvia. Walking into shops, Travis is greeted by barely intelligible grunts and noises. Luckily, the voice acting and writing slips into that “so bad it’s good” territory more often than not. As mentioned earlier, certain screams and sounds are triggered constantly so getting through No More Heroes can be an exercise in patience. 

Despite me not liking him, I want to see the rest of Travis’s story.

Even though I didn’t much care for the adventure as a whole, I am glad to now have the context of this first outing for Travis Touchdown. As soon as the credits rolled and I finished a secret boss fight (thank goodness this release just lets the player access this fight at the end) against a mysterious Kaiba-looking dude, I was ready to fire up No More Heroes 2 and see what happens next to this hopeless hero. No More Heroes bucked the trend on the Wii and I think the world is better for it. The team at Grasshopper Manufacture have defined their tone and style in a way that is still pretty unique, even if they do miss the mark considerably sometimes. 

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 6/10

VISUALS - 8/10

SOUND - 6/10

CONTROLS - 7/10

REPLAY VALUE - 6/10

OVERALL - 6.6/10

Learn more about No More Heroes on the Nintendo Switch eShop listing. A digital Switch copy of the game was provided for the purpose of review. Screenshots were captured using native Switch features. 

For more games that were clearly created by passionate studios, check out my review of Vigil: The Longest Night on Steam or my thoughts on the visually beautiful Ori and the Will of the Wisps that was miraculously ported to Nintendo Switch. For a game created by harnessing PlayStation nostalgia, read Justin’s review of Astro’s Playroom. Lastly, another development team wearing their inspiration on their sleeves put out Mortal Shell, their take on the soulslike genre, and Zach wrote out his thoughts upon finishing the somber adventure.