3.5/5 ★ – Azantix's review of No More Heroes.

The streets of Santa Destroy are lifeless and gray, cars won't honk at you if you block their way, every store is identically square and uninteresting, and Travis Touchdown seems almost out of place in a sea of monotony and ordinary circumstances. No More Heroes comes at a unique time in gaming history, where after the success of GTA blossomed a never ending stream of "Open world" gameplay, which really boiled down to being in a dull city, doing monotonous work to finish the objective to get a reward to move on to the next objective. Santa Destory feels like a parody of a distant time, poking fun at the genre constantly with on the nose busy work that is intentionally boring, such as mowing the lawn, repeatedly, several times, over the course of the whole game. Underneath the intentionally dull exterior lies the real treasure, classic Suda51 storytelling with over the top action, compelling characters, and a witch with a sniper rifle longer than 10 buildings. There isn't any other peice of media that isn't produced by Suda51 that can be compared to No More Heroes. It has such character and a unique atmosphere that just can't be replicated, a very special kind of weird. The formula is so compelling that it makes the unnecessary busywork almost worth it. Almost. The problem with being a parody of boring open world games is that while you poke fun at the monotony by using monotony, the jobs are still monotonous, monochrome, metaphors, etc.  Obtaining enough money for the next ranked fight is arduous and unnecessary, near the end game it takes half an hour to an hour to have enough in game currency to move on to a fight that will only last 15 minutes. It seems as if this game is stretched out farther than it needed to be, which is a pity because the concept is so captivating and the story beats keeps you playing, it is bogged down by passable gameplay, which is something I hope is improved in the next game. Regardless, the combat is insane and entirely unique, mixing swordplay and pro wrestling. It's easily one of the best parts of the game by far and I hope to see it evolve with the next 2 entries. No More Hero's has a lot, a LOT, of character and plenty of genuine fun, however in the in between moments, it relies on the same concepts it aims to parody, ultimately making a fully realized story filled with smaller annoyances and long traversal segments. I love this game to death, but it does have quite a few flaws. Can't wait for the next two!