This past weekend, outlet WCCFTech caught up with game director Suda51 to talk about his upcoming project No More Heroes 3. A heavily requested game from fans, the fate of this sequel rested on spin-off Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes being successful on the Switch. With everything working out wonderfully, the man was able to pursue his desire to follow-up on protagonist Travis Touchdown's story. How has development been coming along, though?
According to Suda, "It's about 35 to 40 percent complete." That's quite a bit of game finished since its announcement at E3 2019. The title appeared from seemingly nowhere, though it was likely in pre-production during the process of wrapping up Travis Strikes Again. It's also surprising when hearing about how large the game is. "It will definitely be a bigger open world than the original No More Heroes," Suda said, though he stressed the size of his studio will limit just how large the game is.
Inspiration for creating No More Heroes 3 came from Suda going to numerous conventions and seeing a ton of indie games. With most seasoned directors in the games industry eventually transitioning to producer roles, Suda felt the desire to get back to what spurred his interest in the first place. "It was really going to PAX and meeting a lot of the young indie creators there," Suda stated. "That provided a lot of inspiration and a new vitality that made me want to get back into the thick of it, get dirty, and make a good game again."
As for gameplay specifics, Suda confirmed that some motion control functionality will be present in No More Heroes 3. The game will play similarly to the last two entries, which made use of limited movement to simulate swinging a sword. The side-activities are also not breaking the norm, amounting to around the same number as past iterations. This could mean we'll see the retro, pixel-art inspired mini-games return from No More Heroes 2.
The soundtrack for No More Heroes 3 will be composed by Nobuaki Kaneko. Known for his work in Japanese television, will be completely in charge of shaping the sound of Travis' latest adventure. It will likely feature a reprise of the original No More Heroes theme.
Finally, WCCFTech asked about Suda's collaboration with director Swery65 on the horror game Hotel Barcelona. A sort of impromptu brainstorming session happened a few weeks back, so fans are obviously curious about when that game will ever see the light of day. "The soonest you'll probably see it is in about two years because we still have to officially pitch it to a publisher," Suda said. It seems as if the idea is the only concrete thing right now.
It's been quite a long time since No More Heroes properly graced the gaming landscape, but time hasn't dulled its fan-base. People still fondly remember how outlandish and bold the 2007 original was and have been dying to get a new one since 2 came out. With Suda being revitalized and ready to tackle new challenges, there's a solid chance this next installment will be his best work yet.
Source: WCCFTech
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