Despite some semblance to No More Heroes, there’s a greater variety of weapons, from a massive two-hander to a blade staff that splits in two. Romeo can also use gauntlets, a gun (which unleashes charged shots), a beam rifle, and much more. A lot is going on, so beware of sensory overload.

Romeo is a Dead Man launches in 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It follows Romeo, recruited by the Space-Time Police to apprehend criminals with the help of the Deadgear. Along with upgrading and modifying weapons, he absorbs the blood of his enemies to channel the powerful Bloody Summer attack. Check out more extensive gameplay, which includes boss fights and puzzles, here.

As Mountain describes, the main story of Romeo is a Dead Man will revolve around FBI special agent Romeo Stargazer, who is also known by his codename, DeadMan, and is part of the special FBI division known only as the Space-Time Police. Through this setup, Romeo will conduct investigations throughout space and time, and will take on strange enemies in weird locales.

One of the boss fights described in the post takes place against a boss known as Everyday Is Like Monday. Along with the boss, Romeo will also face off against more standard enemies known as Rotters, as well as “all kinds of other ultra-creepy, unique enemies waiting to bite your face off!” To take on these challenges, Romeo will have an arsenal of weapons, both katana-styled melee ones as well as gun-styled ranged ones, which players can freely switch between.

Romeo has access to melee, ranged, heavy, and light attacks, which will work in tandem with a “gratuitous amount of of blood splatter” to provide players with high levels of catharsis as they mow down enemies. Each location in the game has also been described as unique, with the action-heavy parts being done in “almost photorealistic 3D”, while the story-based parts will feature different art styles depending on the story beats. Mountain goes as far as describing the overall art direction of Romeo is a Dead Man as being “all over the place – but like, in a good way.”

While Romeo is a Dead Man will feature plenty of action as part of its core gameplay, the title will also have puzzles that players will need to solve in order to progress. The puzzles have been humoursly described as offering plenty of challenge for most players, while still maintaining a level of accessibility so that those drawn to just the action gameplay don’t get stuck on the puzzles for too long. The title will feature a range of puzzles and gimmicks “strategically or possibly just randomly strewn throughout the game.”

The announcement trailer for Romeo is a Dead Man had revealed that the game will be kicked off with the death of Romeo, who is only able to get back up and keep fighting thanks to a life saving device that has been jammed into his head. The trailer also confirmed that the title will feature the signature brand of humour and general insanity that the works of Suda51 is known for, as well as the fact that Ren Yamazaki is also involved in the development of the title.

Along with this, Suda51 is also working with SWERY on Hotel Barcelona, which got a new trailer earlier this month.

As the trailer explains, Romeo was going to end up dead, were it not for a life saving device that was jammed into his head. Since this has happened, Romeo can now take up weapons and begin his own fight against demons. The trailer doesn’t really reveal much about the story aside from what appears to be its initial setup.

We do, however, get to see quite a few flashes of gameplay. Romeo is a Dead Man will feature a mix of melee and gun-based combat, with protagonist Romeo seemingly being able to switch between the two styles of combat on the fly. As you would expect from a game like this, there will also be plenty of combos for players to discover.

Romeo is a Dead Man is coming to PS5 in 2026.

No More Heroes 3 is of course, the conclusion of Travis Touchdown’s adventures. What awaits him in his final battle will only be known to players who complete the game, which has been receiving generally positive reviews across the board.

Grasshopper Manufacture will probably be moving on to greener pastures with its next project, and it’d certainly be interesting to see the studio’s learnings implemented in a new space.

Gamescom 2021 has also concluded after a flurry of interesting announcements and reveals, including a release date for Halo Infinite as well as an official delay announcement for Horizon Forbidden West.

For ALL of fans…
Here is a special message about our "No More Heroes 3" release from SUDA51 @suda_51 !
We sincerely hope YOU enjoy "No More Heroes 3".#NMH3 #NoMoreHeroes3 #TravisTouchdown #GrasshopperManufacture pic.twitter.com/LvMgO6Ikce

— No More Heroes III-official-GhM (@nmh3_ghm) August 27, 2021

All of this is a really long and roundabout way of saying something that most No More Heroes and Suda51 fans had already determined – No More Heroes 3 is really good, and fans will love it, flaws and all. For them, that was never going to be in question – rather, the broader question is whether or not No More Heroes 3 can actually appeal to a broader audience beyond the one that the previous games in the series have courted.

That’s where things become dicier, because while No More Heroes 3 is the ultimate realization of the series’ identity so far, that includes the bad things every bit as much as it does the good things. It’s still a janky game with shockingly poor graphics on the technical front, with the open world, and the accompanying frame rates, textures, draw distances, resolution, et al, coming in at circa 2002 era games. The Switch, while being a decidedly more constrained platform in terms of raw hardware grunt than its peers, has punched above its weight pretty consistently where open world titles are concerned, with games such as Breath of the Wild, Immortals, Skyrim, and even The Witcher 3 showing us just what can be achieved on Nintendo’s little hybrid. No More Heroes 3 will not be joining that list, because very frankly, it would hardly have passed muster on the technical fronts back on the PS2 or Wii.

"No More Heroes 3 is really good, and fans will love it, flaws and all. For them, that was never going to be in question – rather, the broader question is whether or not No More Heroes 3 can actually appeal to a broader audience beyond the one that the previous games in the series have courted. "

No one in the world plays No More Heroes for how it looks, or for the open world though (and if they do, I really want to ask them – why?). You play it for the stylish aesthetic and soundtrack, the over the top story, the sharp writing and witty subtext, and the amazing fights with some pretty well designed combat. If you are like me, the inane and repetitive mini games you have to grind to unlock the next boss fight are also a part of that list. And on all those fronts, No More Heroes 3 decidedly delivers.

The conceit is very decidedly Suda, while taking cues from the superhero mania that sprung up in the intervening years between No More Heroes 2 and 3. The game wears that superhero inspiration on its sleeve, and namedrops the MCU in dialog explicitly a couple of times as well. But the plot is, to the extent there is a coherent summary possible, as follows – a young boy found an alien in the woods, rescued it from government agents, and helped it get back home. Now, decades later, that cute alien returns as an evil overlord hell bent on taking over the earth, styling himself and his cronies as superheroes, given the superhero obsession on earth. They set up a league of ten such superhero alien overlords that is administered by the United Assassins Association, and series protagonist Travis Touchdown must now take them down to beat back the alien invasion and save the earth. Just go with it.

The important thing is that a premise as unhinged as that allows for everything you would want from a No More Heroes game – there are some incredibly imaginative boss fights, the writing is really funny and full of the meta subtext you expect from Suda’s works, and it allows for a lot of characters, new and returning alike, each more over the top than the last, to pepper the adventure as well.

Things are structured about the same as before – you have to win in the ranked battles, each ranked battle carries a pretty steep (and progressively steeper the more battles you fight in) fee, to earn that money, you have to do odd jobs around the town, going around the open world to engage in activities ranging from mowing lawns, cleaning out the trash, unclogging toilets, taking down rowdy biker gangs, and fighting back waves of enemies. Once again, I cannot stress how unhinged and bizarre No More Heroes games can be.

All of this works pretty much as expected, though No More Heroes 3 does add its own layers – you’re supposed to fight in a bunch of preliminary battles first before you are even cleared to take on a ranked battle every single time, for example, and in what I can only hope is a mercilessly satirical riff on the “Ubisoft Towers” conceit in most modern open world games, you have to find toilets (which also function as save points) and unclog them before the activities available in that general area become revealed for you on the map. The activities themselves are designed well, and there’s a zen-like nirvana to their repetition as you settle into their rhythm to grind money for the next fight. All of this is much the same as before. In combat, too, No More Heroes 3 mixes the new with the old, and some variations throughout, with heal items, buffs, an ultimate Mecha armor attack, and different Death Glove attacks (returning from Travis Strikes Again) all mixing things up to keep you on your toes on top of the already wildly varying fights the game puts you up in.

"I cannot stress how unhinged and bizarre No More Heroes games can be."

Those fights are the peak of the experience, the point in time where everything in No More Heroes 3 comes together. The wacky characters, the sharp writing, the strong sense of style, the excellent combat, the marvellous (pun intended) boss fight design, and even the technical performance holds its own here, with the frame rate being a rock solid and fluid 60 frames per seconds in fights.

Nevertheless, it can take a minute to get into the rhythm of these fights, because they are hard. Suda seems to have bumped up the difficulty level in this game across the board, and you might find yourself struggling at first. Even bumping down to the easier difficulty isn’t really a solution here, because that difficulty seems to essentially make you invincible with an auto guard nullifying all damage – which, you know, really takes away from the fun of things. But once you do calibrate with the combat, boss fights in No More Heroes 3 are thrilling, engaging, and consistently surprising.

Through all of this, the question we started out with remains unanswered – is this a game that a newcomer can play and enjoy? If you mean in terms of story, then the truth of the matter is there is a lot going on in the game that directly continues on from the previous three games (Travis Strikes Again included), and you might find yourself lost. However, given how insane the story is in general, you’re probably getting the same takeaway of being bemusedly overwhelmed and amused at everything that goes on and trying to keep up with it all. I wouldn’t let story considerations keep you from trying out No More Heroes 3 as a newcomer, is what I mean.

"If you can buy into No More Heroes 3 for what it is, then you are in for a great time, as with excellent bosses, satisfying combat, sharp and witty writing, gloriously over the top characters, and a positively unhinged story, No More Heroes 3 delivers what is without a doubt the best game in the series, and arguably Suda’s best work yet in general."

But if you do, will you like it? I think there’s a certain kind of bent you need to have to enjoy the insanity and bank that permeates Suda’s works, and that is as true for No More Heroes as it is for anything else, in spite of No More Heroes being Suda’s most mainstream friendly IP. In fact, No More Heroes 3 being Suda’s first fully directed flagship release since the original No More Heroes (the smaller and more experimental Travis Strikes Again notwithstanding) means that this is the most concentrated dose of Suda in a while.

To be able to enjoy No More Heroes 3, then, you need to be able to not take the story seriously while still being fully invested in it and all that it has to offer, and you need to be willing to put up with the distinctly low budget jank that permeates the game without letting it get in the way of your enjoyment of all that the game does well. If you want a serious, grounded, polished and high budget story driven open world adventure, No More Heroes is not for you, and you should run as far away as you can in the opposite direction before you even consider considering it. If you can, however, buy into No More Heroes 3 for what it is, then you are in for a great time, as with excellent bosses, satisfying combat, sharp and witty writing, gloriously over the top characters, and a positively unhinged story, No More Heroes 3 delivers what is without a doubt the best game in the series, and arguably Suda’s best work yet in general.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

In anticipation of its upcoming release, we’re going to take a look at fifteen vital pieces of information that we feel you should know about the game, which is looking quite different from what one might expect from a No More Heroes title. 

Now that the customary intro is out of the way, let’s get right into it.

THE SETUP

Travis Strikes Again takes place seven years after the events of No More Heroes 2, with a middle aged Travis now living in self-imposed isolation in his trailer. Meanwhile, he’s being hunted by an assassin named Badman, who wants to kill Travis for having killed his daughter, Bad Girl. Events transpire, and the two find themselves somehow transported into Death Drive MK-II, a video game console that was cancelled during development- Travis and Badman now race to play through and finish all seven games in the console, and whoever does it first will be granted one wish.

Yeah, that sounds like Suda 51 alright.

GENRE MASHUPS

What’s interesting about these separate games is that they’re going to allow Travis Strikes Again to switch things up almost constantly, genre-wise, with each game implementing ideas from different genres or styles. While the game overall is, of course, still a hack-n-slash title, the separate games within the game will have elements from racing games, RPGs, horror titles, adventure games, and much more.

THE GAMES

So what exactly are these seven games that Travis and Badman need to play through? While one of them has been kept a complete secret so far, we do know a few things about the other six. There’s “Serious Moonlight”, an AAA style open world title which is going to be the biggest of the lot; “Golden Dragon GP”, a story-focused racing game; “Electric Thunder Tiger 2”, an isometric hack and slash title; “Killer Marathon”, an arena survival game; “Life is Destroy”, a puzzle horror game that will have live action cutscenes; and “Coffee & Doughnuts”, a 2.5D side-scrolling game.

BOSSES

Of course, each of these games is also going to have its own unique boss to contend with. In their efforts to beat each of the games on the Death Drive MK-II, Travis and Badman are also going to have to beat each boss- presumably, given the wildly varying nature of these games from each other and the different styles they’re all going for, the bosses will also have a nice bit of variety to them.

NOT A DIRECT SEQUEL

As the name (and its very nature) implies, Travis Strikes Again is not a direct sequel to No More Heroes 2. While it is chronologically placed after the 2010 title, it’s also been designed as a game you can jump into without having played any of the previous two, and is not designed as a full fledged continuation of the series, more as a side experiment. Suda51 has, however, also stated that he looks at Travis Strikes Again as “a stepping stone” to a potential No More Heroes 3, so keep hope alive.

RETURNING CHARACTERS

That said, for fans of the previous two No More Heroes games, there’s definitely going to be some familiar faces to look out for. There is, of course, series protagonist Travis Touchdown, who is once again being voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. Meanwhile, Bad Girl, who we’ve already mentioned, will also appear in the game, while Shinobu Jacobs makes a return as well.

TOP-DOWN PERSPECTIVE

No More Heroes 1 and 2 were both third person action titles, but Travis Strikes Again is going to be completely different- in more ways than one. The most instantly apparent of those is its perspective, which has now switched to a top-down one. While the perspective might of course change depending on whatever game-within-the-game you’re playing, Travis Strikes Again is largely going to be played from a top-down perspective.

COLLABORATION WITH INDIES

Doubling down on the meta nature of Travis Strikes Again and the eccentricities that one would expect from Suda51’s works, the game will also pay homage to several indie titles. That will mostly happen in the form of Travis wearing t-shirts of several indie titles in the game itself. Travis, who is apparently a big fan of indie games, will wear t-shirts of various indie games.

UNREAL ENGINE 4

The game’s meta nature goes beyond that, however. Travis Strikes Again has been built using Epic’s Unreal Engine 4, and you’ll also see Travis sporting t-shirts of the engine in the game as well. Why is that the case? Because the games on the Death Drive MK-II that Travis and Badman will be going through are also all UE4 titles.

TRAVIS’ TRAILER

While the games on the Death Drive Mk-II are obviously the main attraction in Travis Strikes Again, that’s not where you’ll be spending all your time. At any time, players can return to Travis’ trailer, which serves as the hub where you can load up the console to play the games on it, or engage in several ancillary activities, or even purchase and equip new outfits for Travis.

TRAVIS STRIKES BACK MODE

Something else you can access from Travis’ trailer is “Travis Strikes Back”, which is, essentially, another game within the game (though not part of the Death Drive Mk-II’s lineup). Travis Strikes Back, which is an old school visual novel style adventure title, is not going to be a side activity though- this is where you’ll have to keep returning to find physical copies of the Death Drive Mk-II’s games, which you will, obviously, only be able to played once you’ve acquired their copies.

SKILLS CHIPS

A feature that is new to Travis Strikes Again is Skill Chips- there are going to be 24 Skill Chips in the game in total that players have to collect. These chips, which are all named after Gundam models, will each come with their own special attacks and abilities, such as being able to call in an orbital airstrike on a bunch of enemies. At any given time, players can equip four Skill Chips.

LEGNTH 

Given all the varied content that is going to be on offer in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, one question many people have is- how long is it going to be? Developers Grasshopper Manufacture have stated that the game is going to be pretty much as long as the first two No More Heroes titles were, which would put it in the 10-15 hour range. Given its lower retail price of $30 (or $40, if you purchase the edition that includes the Season Pass as well), that seems like a pretty good deal.

TWO PLAYER CO-OP

Travis Strikes Again will also allow you to play through the game with a friend by supporting two player co-op. While playing co-op – which will, of course, support single Joycon support – one player will play as Travis, while the other will take control of Badman. There will also be attack moves in the game that will be exclusive to co-op play, which serves as added incentive to play with a friend.

SEASON PASS

As mentioned previously, Travis Strikes Again will also receive DLC after its launch, and as such, will come with a season pass, which will bring new stages, characters, and scenarios. The first DLC will add Shinobu Jacobs as a playable character and bring a new scenario for Badman, while the second DLC will make Bad Girl playable, add a new stage for Death Drive title Killer Marathon, and add a new scenario for Travis. While all physical copies of the game – which will cost $40 – will come with the Season Pass, those purchasing the game digitally can either spend that same amount to get the Season Pass, or spend $30 to buy only the base game.

Suda51, the eccentric developer of the No More Heroes franchise has begun working on a preliminary outline for No More Heroes 3 already, and while for now it is not even clear whether or not the game will even come out — a lot apparently depends on how well Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes will do when it launches next month — Suda is still willing to share some of his ideas on where the next entry in the sequel might go.

And where would that be? According to Suda, it would be epic, like The Avengers, and see Travis take on some Thanos level villains. No, I’m not making this up, this is what’s Suda said during an interview with Fandom,

“In No More Heroes 3, Travis is going to go up against crazier adversaries than he ever has before,” he said. “It’s going to be bloodier, more intense battles between assassins it’s going to be kind of like The Avengers – Thanos levels of crazy villains.

“In order for Travis to stand a chance [against these powerful new foes] I wanted to give Travis the chance to enter these different game worlds [in Travis Strikes Again] and power up to learn some new skills and gain some more strength so that ultimately I can work to make Travis a more prominent character in video game history overall. The skill chips that you saw Travis collecting in Travis Strikes Again’s game world, I want Travis to take those with him to the next game, the next numbered installment.”

I really, really want to see a Suda take on The Avengers. I also want to see Travis just trying to take on a Thanos style villain. I want to live in a universe where No More Heroes 3 is a thing, but especially one where it is as Suda is describing. I hope Travis Strikes Again does well, so that we may see a No More Heroes 3 of this nature come to pass.

Suda51’s hyper violent action game series No More Heroes will be getting its first instalment in years with the upcoming Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, which is due out next month on Nintendo Switch. However, even though Travis Strikes Again looks fantastic for what it’s worth, it’s not a “true” No More Heroes game as much as it is a spin off.

While Travis Strikes Again is the only officially announced upcoming title in the series for now, it sounds like he has begun planning at least a preliminary outline for where he wants the game to go.

During an interview with Fandom, he spoke of his desire to do a full fledged No More Heroes 3, also noting that should it happen, it will connect to Travis Strikes Again in “a big way”.

“Nothing is set in stone yet, and of course it’ll depend on the success of Travis Strikes Again, but I am working on an outline for No More Heroes 3 – a proper direct sequel for the series – and it’s going to be connected to Travis Strikes Again in a big way,” Suda said.

Given just how long fans have been waiting for a new adventure starring Travis Touchdown, this news bodes well, because it at least indicates that as far as Suda is concerned, there is a future for the franchise. We can also hope that Suda may look into bringing over the first two games to the Switch as he once suggested, so that people become acquainted with the franchise.

Hopefully, a lot of people will look into picking up Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes when it launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on January 18, 2019.

The fan favorite, cult classic No More Heroes series returns next year via the release of the Switch exclusive Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. Travis Strikes Again isn’t the third entry in the series, though, as much as it is a side story (a third game could still happen, though). But it could soon be joined by Travis’ first two outings on the Switch, if series creator, the ever quirky and eccentric Suda51, is to be believed.

Speaking to Nintendeal in an interview (which you can view below), Suda said that this is something he would be interested in doing, citing the similarly niche Bayonetta 1 and 2 compilation on the Nintendo Switch as a model for what the release could look like.

“Yeah, I’d love to be able to do that, and I am actually talking with Marvelous to be able to realize that. As you know Bayonetta got a 1 and 2 compilation for the Switch. We’d love to do the same thing,” he said, speaking through a translator.

Given that Travis Strikes Again, while looking great in its own right, isn’t quite the brand of Travis Touchdown action that fans of the series love it for, a compilation of the older games will probably be something that everyone will be happy with. Let’s hold out in hope that something like this does end up happening.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is the next entry in the No More Heroes franchise, due out exclusively on the Nintendo Switch later this year. At GDC, we got to see more of the game in action, including some footage showing off two player gameplay.

While Travis Strikes Again looks sufficiently different from the previous titles in the series (especially with its emphasis on indie game crossovers), it still looks like it will have the kind of crazy, over the top action that Suda51 fans expect from his works. The special moves look spectacular, and it also seems like the game itself will support the Switch’s various control inputs, including motion controls.

Travis Strikes Again is due out exclusively on the Nintendo Switch some time later this year. You can check out the gameplay footage from GDC (courtesy of DualShockers) for yourself below, and let us know what you think in the comments section.