It is hard to pinpoint exactly why gamers worldwide gravitate toward the creations of the nerd-chic creatives Goichi Suda (SUDA51) and Hidetaka Suehiro (SWERY65). Their games were never technical marvels or big sellers, but they gained cult status. And understandably so. Now, they are banding together under the White Owls Inc to bring us Hotel Barcelona.
In my mind it is as if Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy) and Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn) decided to team up to do a project together (side note: Kevin Smith once even daydreamed publicly about this in an interview). Creators like these attract people who are in it for the uncalculated, unfiltered, and utterly weird. Hotel Barcelona fits the bill for this particular crowd perfectly.
A SWERY roguelite, a SUDA pitch
Hotel Barcelona is the latest project, developed by White Owls Inc., the studio that has been involved with many of SWERY’s later projects. SWERY, the creative lead that first started at SNK’s Neo Geo division, took the lead in writing and directing, while SUDA51 pitched the concept and serves as co-producer. For those wondering if a “SWERY roguelite” delivers on cult expectations? it does… in a way.
The game opens with a highly stylized animated intro that could have come straight out of a Tarantino project. The premise: a top-tier agent is on a mission to purge a hotel that shelters murderers and criminals. Fate intervenes, taking the agent (quite brutally) out of the equation and leaving rookie marshal Justine to take on the job, begrudgingly teaming up with the spirit of the notorious killer Dr. Carnival. Come to think of it, the comparison with a Smith/Rodriguez team-up lands even harder, as the setup has more than a little in common with From Dusk Till Dawn.
Roguelite roots and structure
From there, the game launches into a roguelite cycle of try, die, improve, and try again. Once you check in to the hotel, it becomes immediately clear that the hotel serves as the hub for the adventure to come. The hotel staff act as roguelite staples: a ranger, that lingers in the halway, functioning as a weapon dealer, the bartender serves as an exchange for resources and a literal Ghost in the closet helps you gear up.
Hotel Barcelona leans heavily into roguelite traditions set by Hades and Dead Cells. Weapons come with perk trees and variations to unlock. Justine herself has a perk tree too, which boosts resilience and combat skills. High-tier perks require hearts dropped by bosses before you can unlock them. While there is nothing particularly innovating here, the game’s roguelite structure is very solid.
It’s in the gameplay that White Owls Inc.’s “quality” comes through, for better or worse.
Gameplay
The game spans seven hotel locations, each broken into interconnected sections. Old-school phone booths act as travel points between sections and hand out run-specific buffs. You need to connect sections together to end up at the level’s boss. Runs also throw in bizarre RNG perks, like phantom ghosts. If you refuse to retreat to the hotel after dying, a ghost of your previous run will spawn to fight alongside you. It repeats the same actions it recorded from the previous run. It sometimes flails at nothing but because enemy placement is consistent, it often proves surprisingly useful. It could also happen that you return at the start of a run in giant form, making you less susceptible to damage and able the take on the larger enemies more easily.
While, again, the roguelite elements in combat are quite interesting and well done, the combat itself is sluggish. Heavy attacks take too long to land, combos don’t feel like they connect very well and responsiveness can be spotty. It’s far from unplayable, but compared to recent releases like Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, the combat in Hotel Barcelona feels dated.
Presentation and style
Visually, Hotel Barcelona carries the familiar White Owls look we know from Deadly Premonition: that odd glossy shine on characters, limited color depth, and an overall dated vibe. It’s dark and gloomy as you’d expect, but not particularly rich in detail. Early Switch era, especially Japanese indies, with a “default 3D Unity effect library”-look, springs to mind. While that aesthetic is slowly fading from the gaming landscape, Hotel Barcelona still feels like an indie game from eight years ago.
Then again, the reason people connect with these games shines through here as well. The animated cutscenes and boss introductions are extremely cool. They feel unique and much more in line with Grasshopper (SUDA51) work than White Owls’. The user interface, for as much as it matters, fits the mood very well and is, apart from being functional, nice to look at as well. The quality here is, in my opinion, one of the game’s main highlights.
All the supporting production graphics like character stills, cutscenes, boss intros, look absolutely gorgeous. Even if they don’t always feel cohesive. In a strange way, that lack of cohesion adds a bit of charm as well.
Writing and dialogue
SWERY’s writing input is another great feat of the game. Accept the vague first couple of dialogue sessions and you’ll be rewarded with unhinged and entertaining story. Especially the banter between Justine and Dr. Carnival is quite entertaining. Localization (at least in English) is handled well. Bosses are grotesque, larger-than-life slasher tropes, with introductions that embrace the absurd horror-comedy blend with a big fat wink to pop culture and horror classics from the 1980s.
SUDO and SWERY throughout
Hotel Barcelona embodies both the strengths and weaknesses of its creators. It is absurd, funny, violent, and packed with personality. But the combat feels compromised, with uneven weapon usefulness and sluggish controls. It makes the game harder than it should be and undoubtedly less fun.
Still, it delivers a unique experience that only SWERY and SUDA could come up with. One can’t help but wish they teamed up with a more technically polished indie studio. Imagine this level of creativity with the execution of Supergiant Games or The Game Kitchen. That really would be something.
If you’re familiar with White Owls Inc. and the work of SUDA51 and SWERY65, you already have some idea of what to expect. Still, with SWERY as writer and director, Hotel Barcelona brings a fresh production spin to the roguelite genre, channeling vibes of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. On the other hand, it stumbles once you fully engage with the mechanics. The roguelite elements are well structured and offer unique twists, but the game ultimately reinforces the perception that Hotel Barcelona leans just a tad more on style than substance.
The Good
- Absurd, violent, funny. The exact mix fans expect from these creators
- Solid roguelite game structure and mechanics
- Great localisation and voice acting
The bad
- Controls and combat is less then stellar
- Gameplay visuals are outdated, with a high grade of 'Unity Shine'
- Unrelenting difficult
