No More Heroes is a series that I’ve always had my eyes on, yet I have had no clue as to what it was about. All I knew is that the game was hilarious, was fun to play, and had a great soundtrack. Pretty much everything I want in a game. After the Switch ports of the game had been released, I saw that as the opportunity to catch up on what I was missing, and now, I wish I had started this series sooner.
For those unaware, No More Heroes follows Travis Touchdown, a man who simply wants to be the top ranked assassin, so he works his way up to the top of the ladder, while also wanting to hook up with a representative of the Assassins Association, Sylvia Christel. And that’s pretty much it on the story without going into spoilers. It may seem pretty bare-bones, but it establishes an end goal, and does go into detail on why Travis does what he does, and for a game like No More Heroes, that’s all it needs. One thing that I do find amazing that I haven’t heard about prior to playing No More Heroes, is how this game is a parody to other franchises, most notably Star Wars with Travis Touchdown’s beam katana. There are loads of other parodies and references throughout the game, and even multiple fourth-wall-breaks. This may be my favorite part of No More Heroes, as this game is very self-aware of what it references, and each time, I couldn’t help but laugh. No More Heroes is very clever with their jokes, and I must applaud the game for being going the extra mile, and being able to give itself its own identity.
Another characteristic of No More Heroes I really enjoyed is its gameplay. Typically, with hack-and-slash games, the gameplay can get tedious after a certain amount of time, due to the game itself being too long, or having too many fights. No More Heroes I feel perfectly balances its gameplay, length, and number of fights. There is enough variety in Travis’s moves, the ten bosses, one secret boss, and twenty assassin missions, to the point where you don’t get fatigued by the game, and let me tell you, this game is a trip from start to finish. It’s so fun to kill enemies with ease, and to learn boss attacks in order to hit them, especially with the motion controls in the Wii and Switch versions. However, if you don’t feel like slicing people in two, there are nine side-jobs you can do for some extra money. This just adds to the variety of the game, as well as the humor. I never knew I needed to see Travis Touchdown moving the lawn, but I’m glad I did.
If what I said hasn’t convinced you to play No More Heroes, I can’t recommend it enough. No More Heroes is a cult classic that should be played by more people than it does. It’s a blast from start to finish, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s available on all modern consoles, and is fairly cheap too. No matter what version you play, each one will give the same result; a fantastic game that you will not forget.