Strap in for this one, y’all. If you know anything about Hotel Barcelona prior to this, you already know why I’m giving you this warning, but this game is a marriage of two wild and insane (in a good way?) minds. The creators of Deadly Premonition (Swery), and No More Heroes as well as Killer7 (Suda51), have come together to make a Rogue-like. Sounds great, right?

Hotel Barcelona puts you in the role of Justine, a novice Federal Marshall with a secret. She shares a mind and body with a demented killer known as Dr. Carnival. Justine and Dr. Carnival find themselves in a mysterious hotel that is secretly a trap for the United States’ most deadly serial killers, and they must fight to survive and escape.

Before we get into the gameplay itself, I have to get into the obvious. Suda and Swery have created a gorgeous, grotesque, mysterious, and enthralling story. The gameplay includes quote: “Extreme Cruelty, gore, and elements of self-harm and suicide,” so if you are sensitive to these sorts of things, be aware of that going in.

However, there is also a David Lynch vibe here, that uncanny valley of intrigue and mystery that makes even the most frustrating of situations worth continuing in. The voice acting helps here too, since the characters have a unique chemistry and each one seems to carry its own humor and interest despite the macabre setting of the luxurious yet demented hotel.

I’ve played a variety of Suda51 games, though I’m only mildly familiar with Swery, through seeing YouTube videos about Deadly Premonition. Suda’s influence is immediate, with weird yet endearing characters and a wildly bonkers vibe. Somehow, the Lynchian aspects of Swery’s previous work seem to blend well with Suda’s wild and zany intensity.

Okay, I have talked enough about the general thought here. Hotel Barcelona is a vibe, and it goes down to the gameplay itself. You have a light attack, a heavy attack, a ranged attack, and defense. Plus, you have the standard move, dash, jump, etc. I’m not a fan of the mission timer, but it is fairly forgiving as each room gives you a bit more time, so you’re consistently refreshing it if you move relatively quickly.

There are seven major bosses, each with their own area and theme, usually referencing slasher or horror film locations. Getting to each boss is difficult, and Death is a common bedfellow. However, this is where things get more interesting.

Each time you die, you are sent back to the hotel, where you can use materials gained during your run to upgrade Justine’s skills via a skill tree. Additionally, you can craft new weapons and speak to other NPCs in the hotel. When you are ready to venture out on a new run, you’ll discover something interesting.

Phantom versions of Justine (versions from previous runs) will aid you, mimicking your last movements and actions. Your stat buffs collected on your previous run will also wait where you died, so you can actually choose a new route to empower yourself further, or move more quickly through your previous route with the help of the phantoms.

The Phantoms aren’t really all that helpful, though, if you’re just moving and trying to deal with the timer. It’s an idea that is interesting in concept but doesn’t really work in practice. The timer also becomes a little annoying at times, but I can see that people who appreciate the speed aspect may not mind it as much.

Hotel Barcelona is difficult, even on its easiest story-focused difficulty. However, mastering these elements will allow you to slowly work your way through and kill the various bosses. Slaughtering enemies also allows Justine to unleash Carnival Awakening mode, a heightened mode where you can unleash Dr. Carnival’s most fearsome skills to take out enemies quickly.

I can easily see speedrunners and fans of high-octane action loving Hotel Barcelona, but luckily, there’s room for casual players too. Four difficulty levels let you curate your experience, with other accessibility options for things like colorblind options, helping make the game more accessible. The accessibility features could be a bit more fleshed out, but the state of things right now is decent enough.

Overall, Hotel Barcelona is a solid experience. It is a sort of “match made in hell” with two auteurs who wanted to amp up the insanity, but in the best way possible. I’ll be digging into the Hotel’s darkest depths for a while, I think, but it’ll be an enjoyable ride regardless.

A PC Review Copy of Hotel Barcelona was provided by CULT Games for the purposes of this review.

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Hotel Barcelona

$29.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Intriguing story from two Auteur creators
• Wild and bloody action
• Multiple difficulty and accessibility settings
• Ways to tone down the gore (Popcorn Mode)
• Lots of true crime and horror references.

Cons

• Timed elements make Phantoms a little useless