Quand vous arrêtez de jouer...

Construisez des villes pittoresques avec des rues sinueuses. Construisez de petits hameaux, des cathédrales planantes, des réseaux de canaux ou des villes célestes sur des pilotis. Bloc par bloc.
 
Aucun but. Ni de vrai gameplay. Juste beaucoup de bâtiments et beaucoup de beauté. C'est tout.
 
Townscaper est un projet de passionné expérimental. Plus un jouet qu'un jeu vidéo. Choisissez des couleurs dans la palette, détruisez des blocs de maison colorés sur la grille irrégulière et regardez l'algorithme sous-jacent de Townscaper transformer automatiquement ces blocs en de jolies petites maisons, arches, escaliers, ponts et arrière-cours luxuriantes, selon leur configuration.

No More Heroes III est une expérience radicale, punk, bordélique et hyper référencée, une vision d'auteur déjantée et stylée, avec une personnalité unique qui brossera dans le sens du poil celles et ceux qui ont déjà été séduits par les deux premiers jeux sur Wii, malgré leurs défauts qui sont aussi ceux de ce troisième volet. Et il va sans dire que par rapport à des titres toujours plus formatés, et dans un catalogue Switch où il est difficile d'exister hors des productions Nintendo, c'est évidemment une grande qualité, de perdre, de surprendre les joueuses et les joueurs, pour les inviter à progresser en premier lieu pour découvrir la prochaine folie à venir. Mais en 10 ans depuis , d'autres titres Grasshopper réussis et autant de productions indés qui arpentent allègrement les chemins de traverse, sortent des codes établis, en alliant avec brio le fond et la forme, on demeure assez circonspect que Goichi Suda n'ait pas donné plus d'ampleur à son titre, en proposant, à minima, un socle technique, graphique, correct, tout du moins de notre époque, pour ainsi soutenir, voir sublimer tout ce qu'a à offrir la personnalité unique de son titre. Car ici, le côté bancal de l'ensemble pèse véritablement sur l'expérience et on s'interroge sur le status quo qui semble avoir été choisi. Il faudra donc se contenter des mêmes forces et des mêmes faiblesses que les deux premiers No More Heroes, avec cette fois l'attrait de la subversivité originale en moins.

S'il sonne parfois un peu creux ludiquement parlant, nous n'oublions pas que No More Heroes III propose une aventure tout de même bien délurée et pleine de bons moments narratifs et créatifs. Les phases d'exploration sont correctes et les combats toujours agréables, ce qui fait de No More Heroes III une suite honorable, se reposant un peu trop sur la formule et qui aurait peut-être besoin d'un petit coup de jeune la prochaine fois !

When No More Heroes III is good, it’s really good, and I keep finding myself wishing other action games played like it from time to time. But when I really sit down and think about playing the game, it’s tough to remember any particular moment outside of the boss fights because they all blended together; my strongest memories are those of frustration as I desperately struggled to push through the bullshit to get to the stuff that was actually fun. Even the game’s style and technical performance are wildly inconsistent between the sublime combat and sterile overworld. It feels half-baked in the most literal sense, with one half being cooked to perfection, and the other half still cold from the freezer. I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m the one doing something wrong, because I’m just not sure how a game can be so incredibly good, and yet so very bad.

If you had a mandate for all of the things a No More Heroes game shouldn't be, "boring" would be near the top of the list, but this sequel frequently is just that. No More Heroes 3 lacks the irreverent charm and personality of its predecessors. Combat picks up the slack, and there's a degree of vivid style to be found there, but the game falters in so many other areas. After an 11-year wait, maybe No More Heroes 3 was always destined to fall short of our expectations. But to end without so much as a touchdown is a mighty disappointment.

My time with No More Heroes 3 jumped between the short highs from entertaining bosses and cutscenes to long, ugly stretches in the world. Much of the design is dated, and I wanted to drop it after a few bosses to avoid the mundanity, but I’m happy I saw it to completion. There are many fun moments, and I love how unafraid it is to be strange or referential. Those who are already invested in the tale of Travis Touchdown should be right at home in this new No More Heroes. Still, I’d insist newcomers try out previous entries before diving into this Garden of Insanity.

No More Heroes III has the faults of both its mainline predecessors – it’s a little more tedious than No More Heroes 2, and a little less meaningful than No More Heroes. It makes up for this, however, by being another inarguably impressive, balls-to-the-wall carnage-fest, a blood-spattered love letter to excess, and a Suda51 fan’s wet dream splashed across the Switch. The story it tells is cool. The game it plays is cool. Neither of these crucial aspects reach the heights of the series' Nintendo Wii origins, but nobody who truly gets No More Heroes could reasonably be disappointed with this third incarnation. The joke’s beginning to wear thin, but it’s all in the telling. And Suda51 can still spin a very fine yarn.

If someone hasn’t kept up with Travis over the years, I’m not quite sure No More Heroes 3 would be the game to introduce a newcomer to the saga. However, it does feel designed with those familiar with the series in mind. The character direction, humor, style, combat, minigames, and even free map all call back to things that made the last few games stand out. Past UAA members will likely relish this new opportunity to rise through the Galactic Rankings.

Even in this resplendent era of weird, as indie developers self-publish their outlandish concepts with pride, outside of Swery, no one does strange like Suda 51. Although this is likely the safest No More Heroes game to date, it’s still incredibly memorable and fun to play, whether you’re rushing to the end or taking in Santa Destroy and beyond. Go into No More Heroes 3 with an open mind and enjoy the ride.

When its novelty and style wear off, No More Heroes 3 doesn’t have much to fall back on. Because the game is so obsessed with showing you how other things are cool, there’s nothing to hold onto when the time comes for its finale to cash in on the story that it was too distracted to really tell with its own characters and world. Characters from previous games are joined by brand-new ones who show up out of nowhere, only to be tossed aside and forgotten moments later. The ending falls completely flat because, in its haste to get you to remember how much you love a bunch of other movies, music, shows, and games, the game forgets to tell you to care about itself.
 
But you don’t play a No More Heroes game for its story. You play it for its style, and No More Heroes 3 has style in spades. The best thing I can say about No More Heroes 3 is that its combat and open-world design stay out of the way, letting its style take center stage, occasionally facilitating some truly great one-off moments. Its clashing styles, tricks, and references are a testament to the powerful draw of the superficial — yet somehow, it manages to be earnest about its love for pop culture and art in a way that still feels special, even amid our current metaverse hellscape. I know it worked because I’ve started looking into Takashi Miike films. They sound pretty cool.