Hotel Barcelona Review: A SUDA SWERY Collab for the Ages (PS5)

Over the years, I’ve been going through many roguelikes and roguelites, and it’s become one of my favourite genres within games. Another thing I really like about games is when the concept is bizarre, and it is either trying to make you laugh or gross you out. SUDA 51’s games were this; I had a blast playing through Lollipop Chainsaw and Shadows of the Damned. Of course, this brings us to Hotel Barcelona, which, in collaboration with SWERY, creator of Deadly Premonition, presented that style of game with a roguelike centre. Developed by White Owls Inc., Hotel Barcelona presents a gruesome roguelike that’s soaked with the sheer weirdness that SUDA51 and SWERY are known for. 

Hotel Barcelona is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S for $29.99/ £24.99/€29.99/¥3990.

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Story – Two’s Serial Killing Company

In Hotel Barcelona, you’ll take on the role of timid federal marshal Justine. After surviving a car accident, she awakens inside the mysterious Hotel Barcelona. You’re ready to head to the breakfast buffet, but then you remember you have a nefarious serial killer, Dr Carnival, possessing you. Dr Carnival informs Justine that the hotel and the surrounding area are filled with criminals who need to be slain. Why would Justine agree to this, you may ask? Well, her father’s killer, The Witch, may or may not be running the Hotel. Now, Justine goes forth to defeat all the evil foes in and around the hotel using her more sexualised and violent alter ego Bernstein, who’s powered by Dr Carnival. 

Enjoy Justine and Dr Carnival’s Will They Kill or Won’t They Kill

The story is told through text-based cutscenes involving Justine, Dr Carnival and other characters along the way. Progression occurs every time you defeat a boss, with new details being revealed alongside additional characters and sometimes services. The writing is as humorous and wicked as other games from SUDA51’s roster, though it’s not as compelling this time around. It’s mainly due to the roguelike style of storytelling, where parts of the plot get forgotten after so many attempts at beating one boss. 

Characters – From Crazy Killers to Sinister Hotel Staff, They’ve Got It All!

Hotel Barcelona contains many oddball characters that all have their own entertaining charms. Our main characters, Justine and Dr Carnival, are good split protagonists who are constantly at odds with each other over right and wrong. I also enjoy seeing when we get dialogue with Justine’s alter ego, Bernstein, who feels like the inner Justine. Then we have the helpful hotel staff that definitely don’t have sinister undertones. You’ve got Charles Grady, the Bartender, who offers you items in exchange for ears. Then there’s Vanessa McNeill, the front desk attendant, who provides challenging modifiers to make each run even more difficult. Then there’s Monica, who’s a ranger looking for her sister who went missing. She also provides weapons for you to purchase. 

Charles provides specific items in exchange for ears…nothing weird about that

Now, the more intriguing characters that remind me of SUDA51’s past games are Tim, the supernatural spectre hiding in Justine’s closet. They help with upgrading Justine’s abilities and provide interesting lore. Then there’s my all-time favourite, Frances Francis, the Tim Curry fanatic who runs the casino. They’re fun, mysterious, and absolutely killing it in their attire. There’s also the manager of the Hotel Barcelona, Andrea Pearson, who gives off Lady Dimitrescu vibes. The bosses are also very unique, all based on different horror films like Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Alien. They have their own lore, style, and personality that fit the overall style. Plus a bunch of others that I’ll let you find out for yourself. 

Frances looks like something straight out of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Gameplay – Hack & Slash in a Hunt for Serial Killers

Like I’ve stated previously, Hotel Barcelona is a roguelike experience where you’ll die more than succeed. A single run can last 30-60 minutes, depending on your level of skill. Though from start to finish, expect the overall experience to last 15 – 20 hours to see all the killers and major story beats. When you choose your stage, you can pick a difficulty; there are four available, offering different levels of challenge. Once you’re in, that’s when the handholding stops, though thankfully it does follow the classic format. There are light and heavy attacks, one ranged weapon, and an ultimate attack. There’s also a stamina bar that affects your attacks, dodging, blocking, and parrying.

Use your past failed runs to help with your new one and unleash chaos

The most unique aspect that brings joy to actually dying in a level is the doppelgangers. These red spectres are similar to Super Meat Boy, where they imitate your last run and can assist in the new run. They’re very useful, and you can have up to three alongside you dealing carnage. Each level is broken down into multiple room choices at the end of each mini-stage, offering its own buffs and bonuses. Some can increase your character’s stats for the run, give you 50% health back, give you resources like tickets, or give you access to the casino. Speaking of the casino, upon entering, you’re given the chance to upgrade or modify your weapon permanently. You just have to win a game of chance by picking the right card. 

Choose wisely, and you can upgrade or modify your weapon

Fighting Bosses & Other Enemies – A Deadly Roster of Horror Legends

The enemies range from masked killers of different sizes armed with machetes, knives, guns, and chainsaws. There are also some unique enemies for each stage, like killer tomatoes, evil fish, facehugging creepy crawlies, and more. Most enemies don’t give too much of a challenge, though; when overwhelmed, it can be tricky to get through it unscathed. This is especially the case when the controls become unresponsive when trying to perform combos or sometimes ultimate moves. Sometimes, Justine will just stand there when you’re trying to input a command to attack enemies. Other times, the enemies themselves will attack you through objects, sometimes while walking through them. 

Yeah, I ain’t touching those eggs

Now, the bosses themselves are a real treat. For one thing, they are very hard when you first meet them. They’re also based on classic horror films that give them unique personalities, lore on their history of crime, and a grotesque fighting style. Practically every attempt introduced a new move to dodge. I was mostly only able to beat them once I created a few doppelgangers to help distract them. There were a few incidents where the boss glitched out, like floating in the air or not taking damage. However, these didn’t stop me from progressing, though it did make me have to decrease the difficulty a few times. 

Nigel was a larger-than-life pain in the ass, quite unpredictable

The Hub World – Welcome to Hotel Barcelona

After you’ve died or finished a stage, you get the lovely Hotel Barcelona to explore. I got to visit the main lobby, Justine’s room and the bar. In these areas, you can use the resources you earned on your runs to upgrade Justine’s abilities, buy weapons, and purchase other items. In the hub world, you can speak to all the characters (except Frances sadly) and learn their stories and lore regarding the hotel. I’d highly recommend visiting the bar since Charles offers resources for upgrades and items to help on the run. You can also play some pinball via coins purchased from Charles. Play it enough and things may start to get a little spooky.

Enjoy some pinball when you’re taking a break from the massacre

Hotel Barcelona also offers multiplayer, although it’s not very clear; I sadly didn’t get a chance to experiment with it, but I can detail what’s involved and an issue I have with it. So similar to the Dark Souls series, you can use resources to team up with another player by hosting a game or joining a random one as a phantom. However, you can also invade someone’s game as a doppelganger for PvP gameplay. I’m not super happy that you have to use earnable currency to use multiplayer, but what’s worse is that it’s not advertised at all to the player. I ended up stumbling upon it randomly. 

Graphics & Audio – Stylish Designs 

One thing that’s always guaranteed when I see SUDA51’s name on a game is that it’s gonna have a good-looking art style that’s unique to their games. Each environment matches the theme of the boss you’ll be facing, and the bosses alone look incredible. The bosses also get a cool and trippy intro before the fight that is a total fever dream that, sadly, anyone with epilepsy symptoms should avoid. I also really like how, in the text-based cutscenes, each character’s designs are unique and fantastic, but what’s truly cool is that they all have their own fonts. That’s very pleasing to the eye. Now, Hotel Barcelona is a gorey game, so if there’s anyone a little squeamish for that kind of stuff, they’ve got a workaround. Popcorn mode is available, replacing all the blood effects with popcorn. Definitely haven’t seen that done before. 

Regarding the audio, most of the voice acting is good, Dr Carnival and Frances taking the top spots. Though I really like the voice of the mechanical clown that’s in the main foyer. It’s creepy and kind of reminds me of Blitzo from Helluva Boss. I’d say the only voice that didn’t seem right was Valerie’s, since it didn’t match the character I was looking at. The music is good and gets very intense, whether you’re in a boss fight or when you’ve maxed out the Blood Splatter Gauge. Though one amazing and annoying thing that Hotel Barcelona has is the intro. It’s too short and the music gets you super hyped up for it, but then ends just when the beat was about to drop…honestly, unforgivable. 

Hotel Barcelona was reviewed on PS5 via a code courtesy of TheCultGames.