Goichi “Suda51” Suda, game director and co-founder of Tokyo-based developer Grasshopper Manufacture Inc., hinted that No More Heroes III might be the end of the series as a whole and Travis Touchdown’s story.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Suda51 said Travis Touchdown will “finally be coming to the end of his final battle” in No More Heroes III, suggesting the latest entry in the action franchise could be the last one–at least, for now.
“As hinted at with the ‘Final’ thing, Travis Touchdown will finally be coming to the end of his final battle, and will be embarking on a much-deserved, long journey,” Suda51 said. “Join him as he goes absolutely buck wild in the Garden–no, Cosmos of Madness. Now, carrying with it a thousand thoughts, I run along the Thunder Road once more. As one journey ends, the crimson bike falls into a deep sleep.”
While Suda51 hinted that No More Heroes III could be the series’ end, he doesn’t use explicit language spelling that out–indicating Travis Touchdown or the No More Heroes franchise may return in some other form in the future.
It’s possible No More Heroes could pivot to a different direction. Since its 2007 debut, Grasshopper has developed two spin-offs: 2012’s No More Heroes: World Ranker and 2019’s Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. While Travis Strikes Again is part of the mainline series, Suda51 doesn’t consider it a sequel to No More Heroes II, but instead a fresh start for Travis. Travis Strikes Again also introduces some noticeable changes to the franchise, particularly change the viewing perspective to top-down.
We scored the action-adventure game a 4/10 in our No More Heroes 3 review, with critic Richard Wakeling saying, “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.”
No More Heroes 3 is out now on Nintendo Switch.
