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HOTEL BARCELONA

While a bit uneven, Hotel Barcelona is a blast to play. It starts a bit rough, but as more upgrades and abilities become available, the creativity behind the game really shines through.
HOTEL BARCELONA Game Cover
60%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
gameplay, optimization
56% User Score Based on 135 reviews
Critic Score 65%Based on 15 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCXbox Game PassPlaystation 5CloudXbox Cloud GamingXboxWindowsPlayStation
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HOTEL BARCELONA Game Cover

About

HOTEL BARCELONA is a single player and multiplayer role playing game. It was developed by White Owls Inc. and was released on September 26, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

HOTEL BARCELONA is a blood-soaked 2.5D slasher action game where you play as Justine, a federal marshal sharing her mind with a murderous alter ego. Trapped in a mysterious hotel that lures dangerous serial killers, you must tactically navigate intense battles and deadly environments inspired by 1980s horror. Use your deaths to create “Slasher Phantoms” that mimic your past actions and aid survival.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
HOTEL BARCELONA screenshot
HOTEL BARCELONA screenshot
HOTEL BARCELONA screenshot
HOTEL BARCELONA screenshot
HOTEL BARCELONA screenshot
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56%
Audience ScoreBased on 135 reviews
story12 positive mentions
gameplay9 negative mentions
  • Hotel Barcelona features a unique roguelike structure that allows players to progress through levels without starting over completely after each death, making it more accessible and enjoyable.
  • The game is filled with eccentric characters, humor, and a narrative that cleverly intertwines horror themes with gameplay, showcasing the distinctive styles of both Swery65 and Suda51.
  • Despite its jankiness, the game offers a fun and chaotic experience with engaging combat mechanics that become more satisfying as players unlock new abilities and upgrades.
  • The game suffers from significant performance issues, including frame rate drops and unresponsive controls, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • Many players find the combat clunky and frustrating, with slow animations and a lack of clarity in enemy attacks, leading to a challenging and sometimes unfair gameplay experience.
  • The inclusion of undisclosed generative AI content has raised concerns among players, leading to distrust in the developers and negatively impacting the game's reception.
  • gameplay
    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, characterized by clunky mechanics and frustrating combat that can detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the unique roguelike elements and the progression system, many criticize the input lag, stiff controls, and repetitive nature of the gameplay. Despite its creative ideas and engaging narrative, the execution leaves much to be desired, making it a polarizing experience for fans of the genre.

    • “It’s loud and proudly unpolished in a way that ends up complementing the game’s mechanical chaos.”
    • “Once you get past that initial annoyance, this game becomes a breeze as there are plenty of mechanics to make you faster, stronger, explosive, etc. The phantom concept is really cool, as your past runs can 'assist' you in a new run.”
    • “The gameplay is a traditional side-scrolling combat but actually quite in-depth with its combat that gets better as you play and unlock new moves.”
    • “As much as I'm a fan of both Swery and Suda, I cannot recommend this game, even at its reasonable price since the gameplay side of it really drags it down, despite some interesting ideas.”
    • “I love the art direction, the characters and dialogue is great and the bosses have such cool designs, but gameplay-wise this game is very clunky, underwhelming, and repetitive.”
    • “Key issues are the stiff combat (as a result of a noticeable delay with every action from dodge to attack), your character dying in seconds (two hits from big enemies), your only means of healing are some HP restores you can get when moving to the next area (2 per stage which ends in a boss fight), the game devolving quickly into visual noise and last but not least invasion mechanics.”
  • story
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is a chaotic blend of horror-punk themes, featuring interesting characters and a narrative that intertwines with gameplay mechanics, though many players feel it lacks depth and polish. While some appreciate the humor and unique character designs, others criticize the overall execution, suggesting that the gameplay detracts from the story experience. Ultimately, the narrative is seen as entertaining but not enough to compensate for the game's flaws, leading to mixed feelings among players.

    • “Beneath the horror-punk collage lies a narrative that is far more interested in coherently weaving its thematic elements into the storytelling through the gameplay itself.”
    • “You fight for your life through themed areas, collecting upgrades and exploring secrets and unraveling the story of your connection with a serial killer trapped inside.”
    • “The plot and characters are, as is usually the case, the main draw of this game and they are fun.”
    • “I wish the story went into more depth, as the world and characters introduced were very interesting.”
    • “The story is... fine?”
    • “But the clunky combat paired with several bugs that soft locked my game multiple times was just not the level of effort I wanted to endure to just know what the story was.”
  • optimization
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues, including lag spikes and poor framerate. Many reviewers expressed disappointment in the execution of gameplay due to these technical problems, suggesting that the game feels janky and unsatisfying. While some appreciate the aesthetic and potential of the game, the prevalent bugs and performance hiccups have led to a general recommendation to wait for patches before playing.

    • “I'd really want to revisit it after updates to address early combat fluidity, performance, and bugs... and with a major sale.”
    • “Super comfy 2D plane beat 'em up with a lot of difficulty and replayability; it's plagued with some performance issues and bugs, and it is expensive, but a very good game altogether.”
    • “Performance issues are too plentiful to recommend this game, which would have been contentious in and of itself given the general jank.”
    • “Really killer theme and aesthetic that drew me into buying it, but the execution of the gameplay and issues with the actual game (bugs and performance) completely put me off from playing it.”
    • “Performance hiccups and lag spikes.”
  • graphics
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their stunning art style and character designs, which draw players in with unique aesthetics and engaging visuals. However, performance issues, particularly in crowded scenes, detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration with low contrast visuals and clunky controls. Despite these drawbacks, the artistic execution and thematic elements remain a highlight for many players.

    • “Graphically, the game looks amazing, and I love the idea of having your phantom(s) follow your previous actions each run.”
    • “The character designs are fantastic, enough to make you want to meet the next character just to see what kind of wild aesthetic is coming up around the bend.”
    • “Insane love for the visual/art style of the characters and the style of the bosses in this game; all have their unique backstory based on cult classic horror movie villains, and there are lots of easter eggs in every corner.”
    • “It's not unplayable... but just expect it to perform significantly worse than you'd guess based on the visuals, especially with any kind of crowd on screen.”
    • “Hard to read low contrast visuals.”
    • “Frankly, it would be better if the game were balanced to never use the ghost so a single player can only worry about their combat, but if the ghost is here, the visuals should be fixed.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by solid writing, wit, and a blend of cute and horror-themed elements, creating enjoyable characters and chaotic, goofy dialogue typical of swery and suda51. While some aspects, like AI videos, fall flat, the overall comedic tone is highlighted by hilarious audio mixing and a chaotic storyline that keeps players entertained.

    • “The writing is a very solid outing for Swery, with humor, wit, and sincerity built into the characters and plot.”
    • “It's funny, it's cute, it has enjoyable characters and horror theming.”
    • “The story is funny, chaotic, and wacky.”
  • music
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it mediocre and lacking variety, particularly during gameplay, which detracts from the overall experience. Others appreciate the high-tempo rock tracks, noting their catchy nature and enjoyment of the soundtrack as a whole. Overall, while some elements of the music are praised, many feel it falls short in enhancing the game's atmosphere.

    • “The good is the character designs, psychotic story, music, and the upgrade systems.”
    • “I rarely get games on release day anymore, but with this I'm happy I jumped in, and with the deal for the soundtrack, I had to grab that too!”
    • “A lot of it is hard high-tempo rock designed to sound like 'that song you know' but just turned up enough to be different, like the end credits sound almost 1:1 to 'We're Not Gonna Take It', just with the lyrics filed off.”
    • “There isn't much music for the stages which makes the experience all the more dull.”
    • “There is like... no music in the main meat of the game; this is a small thing but small things build up and there are a lot of small things that make progression and general enjoyment really slow.”
  • character development
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is marked by a unique mechanic where players grow stronger through repeated attempts, with past efforts aiding current gameplay. The character designs are praised for their creativity and aesthetic appeal, although some criticism arises from the inclusion of AI-generated assets that detract from the overall experience. While the game showcases strong artistic direction and engaging voice acting, it suffers from a lack of polish, leaving some fans feeling conflicted about supporting the creators in future projects.

    • “The character designs are fantastic, enough to make you want to meet the next character just to see what kind of wild aesthetic is coming up around the bend.”
    • “A bit janky and unpolished, but more than makes up for it with an intriguing premise and good character designs.”
    • “You start weak but you grow strong, there's a bunch of fun costumes to work towards, and some online mechanics for now if I can get anyone to play.”
    • “It's hard to understand how a game with such strong art direction and character design would undercut itself with random AI-generated assets.”
  • stability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, user feedback on stability is mixed; while some players report a lack of game-breaking glitches and bugs, others have encountered technical issues and glitches that affect gameplay. The consensus suggests that while the game is not fundamentally broken, it suffers from dullness and certain visual design flaws that need addressing.

    • “It's not broken or buggy (at least I didn't experience any bugs), it's just dull.”
    • “And as usual, you will die because of the controls and glitches.”
    • “It's buggy.”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and tedious, with slow gameplay and repetitive tasks detracting from the overall experience. The upgrade system, which requires grinding to unlock basic moves, adds to the frustration, while the multiplayer component feels underdeveloped and contributes to the grindiness. Despite an interesting story and a vibrant setting, the grind-heavy mechanics leave many feeling dissatisfied.

    • “The story is somewhat interesting, but it isn't enough to keep me grinding through slow and repetitive gameplay.”
    • “Everything about the game is grindy and slow to make the combat more tolerable.”
    • “The cherry on top is that it's grindy as hell, because of the half-baked multiplayer component.”
  • replayability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is relatively short but offers high replay value, making it enjoyable to revisit despite its performance issues and bugs. Players appreciate its engaging 2D beat 'em up mechanics and challenging gameplay, though some feel it could benefit from further improvements.

    • “This game is definitely short, but has a high replay value.”
    • “Super comfy 2D plane beat 'em up with a lot of difficulty and replayability; it's plagued with some performance issues and bugs, but it's a very good game altogether.”
    • “I'd like to think the game could improve and be more replayable, but I doubt it.”
    • “Super comfy 2D plane beat 'em up with a lot of difficulty and replayability, but it's plagued with some performance issues and bugs, and it is expensive.”
  • atmosphere
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is praised for its homage to horror films, featuring a unique retro horror vibe, charismatic characters, and numerous references. While the atmosphere is engaging and intriguing from the start, some players feel that the overall gameplay experience detracts from its potential.

    • “It has wonderfully strange and interesting characters, a great retro horror atmosphere, fun gameplay, and a motivating progression system.”
    • “I really want to like the game on the merits of being a homage to horror films, being made by Suda and Swery, and having a really neat atmosphere from moment one; however, as this is a video game that needs to be played, I cannot recommend it.”
    • “First and foremost: style, atmosphere, charismatic characters, and tons of references are present.”
  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users feel that the emotional impact of the game could be enhanced if its themes and narratives were more openly communicated, suggesting that subtlety may detract from the overall emotional experience.

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65%Critics’ scoreBased on 15 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

HOTEL BARCELONA is a role playing game.

HOTEL BARCELONA is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Windows and others.

HOTEL BARCELONA was released on September 26, 2025.

HOTEL BARCELONA was developed by White Owls Inc..

HOTEL BARCELONA has received neutral reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

HOTEL BARCELONA is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Lords of the Fallen, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Hellpoint, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance and others.