HOTEL BARCELONA Review

Checking In to a Brilliant Nightmare

HOTEL BARCELONA is the brainchild of SWERY and SUDA51, two Japanese game developers previously behind games like No More Heroes, Lollipop Chainsaw, Deadly Premonition, and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die. 

Now, anyone who has heard of those games, and played them, should have an inkling of what to expect from HOTEL BARCELONA. If you haven’t heard of those games, then you are in for a unique experience, to say the least.

A Slasher Time-Loop

You play as Justine, a rookie US marshal that is possessed by Dr. Carnival, a serial killer contracted to watch over her. Justine finds herself at the HOTEL BARCELONA in pursuit of a devious witch and, due to some unforeseen circumstances, is the only one in a position to apprehend her. The hotel is deeply tied to the witch and it is quickly revealed that Justine is trapped within a loop of murder and death.

This is because Dr. Carnival isn’t the only serial killer at the hotel, and defeating those that are trapped within the hotel grounds is the only way to reach the true end goal, the witch. Dying isn’t an escape though as after every excursion through the grounds, whether Justine lives or dies, she finds herself waking in her hotel room; the witch’s dark magic creating a time loop that Justine finds herself unable to escape.

As it goes, welcome to the HOTEL BARCELONA. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Phantoms, Blood Splatter, and Power Fantasies

This is the setup for the core gameplay loop of HOTEL BARCELONA. It is a roguelite action platformer, with a unique phantom system. These phantoms are a by-product of the hotel’s forced time loop. After each run through an area, a phantom will appear that perfectly replicates Justine’s actions in her previous life. Stages are broken down into multiple areas that can be accessed by various doors. Taking the same path in each route will allow these phantoms to assist on the way to each stage’s boss. Of course, there are also plenty of abilities and weapons to unlock to assist with progression.

These abilities and weapons are unlocked by interacting with other individuals trapped in the hotel. Without spoiling it, these interactions are what make up much of the personality of the game. And it’s not just the interactions with allies, but every enemy and NPC has some kind of unique backstory that adds to the game.

The Campy Horror Aesthetic

The mood is very much that of a campy horror slasher. Each stage is an extreme assortment of gore and violence, that go beyond unsettling to comically over the top.

The world is also full of references to famous horror films that have defined the genre over the last few decades. Anything that looks like it could be a reference, is in fact most likely a reference. The result is a game absolutely brimming with personality.

Arsenal of the Absurd: Weapons and Progression

The core gameplay loop is incredibly fun as well. The appropriately themed slasher style combat makes cutting enemies up satisfying. Another central mechanic is the blood splatter gauge, which empowers Justine as more damage is done to enemies. This increases attack damage, movement speed, and phantom damage, allowing the player to be the real nightmare of the hotel. Dr. Carnival also has an awakening attack that can be used with a full blood splatter gauge. Using this will remove the benefits of the gauge, but does massive damage to everything on screen. A fitting trade-off.

There are various weapons to use, knives and sticks, axes, buzzsaws, and firearms. These each have unique attack sets, which can be expanded by unlocking new abilities after each run. Each weapon can also be improved through a bonus area hidden in some stages, as well as by defeating bosses. These improvements are permanent and stack up to a modifier of 15. There are also unique traits that can be added to each weapon. These are also permanent, unless forcibly changed. Some of these modifiers increase weapon damage based on the in-game weather of the stage – which is randomized at the start of each run. Some just give flat bonuses. And others can even protect Justine from negative status effects.

Altogether, this results in a varied arsenal that provides many playstyles to try out over each run. Weapons can even be swapped without losing any phantoms, which means it’s possible for the phantoms to each use a different weapon as they fight their way through the stage.

Performance Hiccups and a Brief Stay

My main two criticisms of HOTEL BARCELONA are ultimately some performance issues, and the overall length of the game. After playing for an extended period of time, frames do start to drop, and I did actually crash the game on one occasion. Thankfully, there is a very generous checkpoint system and I didn’t actually lose any progress. Resetting the game seemed to fix the performance issues. It is most likely some kind of memory leak issue due to the quick resume mode on Xbox Series X. This was annoying, but it by no means ruined the experience for me.

In fact, my next criticism well testifies to that because the second issue I had with HOTEL BARCELONA is the overall length. I managed to clear the game, including the main story and secret bosses, in about 10 hours.

I would’ve loved for there to be more stages and bosses to encounter. Now, each boss is a fully flushed out character with individual lore, a wild introduction animation (as odd as one would expect from SUDA51 and SWERY), and their own role in the main plot. It’s much different than most other roguelikes that feature bosses that either don’t have lore at all, or have a few lines of background at most. That said, it does limit the variety of gameplay and the amount of content that there is to be seen.

Now, there is a “bondage” system (again, it’s a weird game) that allows modifiers to be activated to increase the difficulty of the game. There are also four different difficulty modes that are always available to choose at the beginning of each stage, so there is a lot of player freedom in how challenging the game is. That said, the overall difficulty is fairly accessible when compared to others in the genre, so anyone well-versed in these styles of games most likely won’t struggle.

A Power Fantasy That Ends Too Soon

But despite these criticisms, I genuinely enjoyed every minute I spent with HOTEL BARCELONA. The gameplay loop is addictive, and playing through each area multiple times to build modifier chains and massacre enemies is immensely satisfying. It’s a roguelike action game that turns into a power fantasy, and I didn’t want to put my controller down. Every stage, every character, and every interaction brims with personality, and while I have struggled to get into some of these game director’s other games, this is one I can wholeheartedly recommend for fans of campy horror and slasher roguelikes.

I have intentionally been vague during this review, regarding many of the story elements, for two reasons; one to respect the creator’s wishes that things are best left spoiler free. And secondly, because I agree that things are best left spoiler free. However, the plot isn’t going to shatter your world with how amazing it is. 

That said, HOTEL BARCELONA is enjoyable from start to finish, even if that finish comes about too swiftly. It’s also definitely over the top and not something to take too seriously. HOTEL BARCELONA is really just a fun game, no matter how you look at it.

Important Links

SWERY & SUDA51 Unleash a Vacation from HELL! Our 4.5/5 Reviewed HOTEL BARCELONA is OUT NOW – https://www.thexboxhub.com/swery-suda51-unleash-a-vacation-from-hell-hotel-barcelona-is-out-now/

Buy HOTEL BARCELONA on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/hotel-barcelona/9p9gmchf2jjs