Romeo is a Dead Man – Review

Suda's Madness!

It’s been about five years since Goichi Suda’s last game and ten years since his last original creation that wasn’t part of an established universe or franchise. Although the infamous director is, without a doubt, a visual artist, evident in all his works (Killer is Dead, No More Heroes, Lollipop Chainsaw, Shadows of the Damned, Killer7), when it comes to story, he is Kojima's antithesis. "Uncle" Kojima prefers to weave complex and mature plots, loaded with political subtext (and, occasionally, to predict the future), while Suda51 throws us directly into the middle of a massacre and confronts us with the madness resulting from excessive violence, without bothering too much to explain how or why. As such, I eagerly awaited the release of his newest title: Romeo is a Dead Man!

What I discovered in this new universe created by Goichi-san and GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. was, surprisingly, exactly what I expected. An old-school game, full of creativity and style, that doesn't care about modern standards, current sensibilities, or the opinions of Western players. However, despite its strong identity, Romeo is a Dead Man doesn't quite manage to reach the quality level of Suda51's other creations. If I’ve piqued your curiosity, let's start with the story!

Romeo isn't dead, Romeo is transforming!

The game's premise is simpler to explain than the story itself, which is typical of the infamous director. The main character, Romeo Stargazer, is a police officer in a small town in the heart of the United States. One fateful night, he discovers Juliet Dendrobium, a young woman with a severe case of amnesia, in the middle of the street. The protagonist tries to help her regain her memory, without success, but within a few days, the two become an inseparable couple. On the night they planned to flee the small town, Miss Dendrobium disappears without a trace, and Romeo is attacked by an interdimensional creature that disfigures him. On the brink of death, the hero is saved by the intervention of his grandfather, an eccentric genius, who transforms him at the last moment into a "Deadman". And, as if that weren't enough, the space-time continuum is mysteriously destroyed after the incident. From that moment on, Romeo is recruited by the interdimensional FBI to find Juliet, who, surprise, is one of the most feared interdimensional criminals. In his new role, the protagonist will traverse different periods and locations in search of his lost love, facing indescribable horrors.

The premise is insane, and Suda51 doesn't waste time with elaborate introductions, preferring to throw us directly into the action, into a confrontation with an interdimensional variation of Juliet. The story quickly becomes complicated and convoluted, and some elements don't even try to make sense. In fact, even the characters repeatedly tell the protagonist that there's no point in trying to understand what's happening. The narrative thread addresses the infamous director's recurring themes, such as mental decline and executing orders without questioning, which is why, at times, I felt like I was reliving the stories from the first two No More Heroes or Killer is Dead. However, the story is fragmented and presented in the form of "episodes," whose duration varies considerably and which will probably remind you of the animated series Rick and Morty. The protagonist is constantly accompanied by his grandfather (dead, but not really, as he transferred his consciousness into his grandson's jacket) and together they wreak havoc in different dimensions.

Even after watching the credits to the end, I didn't know what to think or how all the elements connected, which left me slightly disappointed with the game's narrative. I know that Suda51 usually emphasizes creativity and gameplay, but he usually manages to deliver an interesting story too, in a Quentin Tarantino style. This time, we're mostly left with the creativity and action.

Romeo's weapons have no mind!

At its core, Romeo is a Dead Man is an extremely violent and explicit hack-and-slash, with small insertions from other genres. Most of the time will be spent in classic action game confrontations, where we will face various horrors ripped from Goichi Suda's fever dreams. Unfortunately, the combat system is relatively simple: light and heavy attacks, a dodge, and a few firearms. There are a few combos we can execute, as well as a special ability that can be activated at the end of a short string of hits for an explosive outcome. However, most battles boil down to the same repetitive attacks, which quickly lose their charm.

The hero's arsenal is quite vast: he has access to four melee weapons (a chainsaw-sword, a detachable spear, a longsword, and two clawed gloves) as well as four firearms (pistol, machine gun, shotgun, and rocket launcher). To these are added an explosive finisher for each weapon and a plethora of abilities offered by some Pokémon-like zombies. It's easy to see that Romeo becomes a true master of the macabre dance, using his entire arsenal to paint crimson "artworks" in every confrontation.

Honestly, the boss fights are the game's real attractions, as they require discovering a suitable strategy and correctly using the arsenal to take down these behemoths. Each has vulnerable points that must be attacked with certain weapons to inflict significant damage, as well as a unique attack pattern that must be learned quickly. However, the way they are designed turns the confrontations into a kind of bullet hell, where the player must avoid the boss's attacks and "bullets" while hitting their weak points, represented as blue flowers. Although we are "encouraged" to go all out on these imposing adversaries, in practice it is safer and faster to resort to firearms to take them down. But, unfortunately, there are only a few memorable bosses and many generic enemies.

The ordinary enemies, who quickly become cannon fodder, are zombies with a generic and personality-less design. Unfortunately, their AI is weak and relies almost exclusively on a "Rush B" strategy, even more so than a noob in Counter-Strike, preferring to attack in groups of at least three. Besides these mindless adversaries, there are also different types of mutants, covering standard gaming roles such as Brute, buffer, or ranged DPS. However, each can be taken down with just a few well-placed shots or a longer combo, and their health bar isn't generous enough to allow for spectacular attack sequences.

Where the game truly shines, from a gameplay perspective, is in its creativity. Suda51 has given free rein to his imagination and built an old-school title that borrows elements from various genres and isn't afraid to experiment. Each "episode" takes a different direction, which is why each level comes with its own mechanics that need to be considered, thus helping to break the monotony. A relevant example is the "episode" set in the asylum, where Romeo is a Dead Man transforms into a veritable horror game, with stealth sections where the protagonist cannot use his weapons and puzzles that seem ripped from Shinji Mikami's The Evil Within.

Unfortunately, the puzzles are typical for a GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. creation. For those unfamiliar with the legendary studio's games, they are generally very simple. Most boil down to classic "fetch quests," where the player has to find a key to progress. The novelty in this title is the introduction of a "subspace," a kind of alternative reality of an area, devoid of combat sections and intended for exploration to discover the aforementioned keys. Although conceptually interesting, in practice these sequences become monotonous, being almost empty and decorated with minimalist, retro sci-fi textures, which end up being frustrating. The decision to make room "walls" appear only when you get close to them is, to say the least, uninspired, and the "meditation" mini-game, which requires using headphones or high volume to work correctly, often becomes frustrating.

In typical developer fashion, the title is riddled with mini-games. As I mentioned earlier, some are frustrating, but most are surprisingly fun. Want powerful combat buffs? Have fun with the schnitzel-frying mini-game. Want to improve your attributes? Play a kind of Pac-Man where you have to collect upgrades. And if you want devastating abilities in battles, you have to interact with the "bastard" system. Yes, the name is at least bizarre, but the abilities come in the form of friendly zombies, called bastards, which the protagonist has to plant, grow, and even cross-breed to get stronger variants. In theory it sounds complicated, but in practice it's a veritable management sim, where we try to get bastards with ideal attributes and abilities to have an advantage in any situation. For example, there are zombies that create health regeneration zones, and also some equipped with explosive vests, ready to give enemies a fatal "hug".

Romeo isn't fantastic…

I said in the introduction that Goichi-san has a distinctive, easily recognisable style: specific shaders, a visual aspect reminiscent of anime, and a lot, a lot of blood. When it comes to character design, Suda51 knows how to make them memorable. However, at the level of areas and environments, the infamous director still has work to do. The difference between standard assets from the Unreal Engine 5 marketplace and the scenery in Romeo is a Dead Man isn't always obvious. Fortunately, the developer compensates with stylised cutscenes and excellent voice acting.

I mentioned earlier that the story is told in fragments, but I should add that it's conveyed either through in-game rendered cutscenes, animated comic book sequences, or "dating sim"-style portions loaded with mountains of text. The comic-book style segments are a true visual feast and show what it truly means to unleash imagination, and the in-game scenes seem ripped from a fever dream. Unfortunately, the dating sim sections, with their "novels" that need to be read, affect the game's pacing and break immersion, which is why Romeo is a Dead Man has entire portions where the action moves at a snail's pace.

I know that GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.'s habit is to keep games locked somewhere between 30 and 50 fps, to complement the chosen visual style. However, I encountered optimisation problems in numerous areas, visible even to less experienced players. For a title that doesn't have high hardware requirements, it's unacceptable to have hitches, screen tearing, framerate fluctuations, or micro-stutters, even when accessing menus.

In terms of performance and voice acting, the actors did an excellent job. Antony Del Rio and Brittany Cox shine in the role of the interdimensional couple, delivering convincing and emotional performances. However, Romeo has an awful lot of lines and moments where he sounds too much like Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes. Plus, the excessive use of profanity sometimes becomes irritating.

To top it all off, Romeo is a Dead Man marks a new creative chapter for Suda51 and GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC., but it fails to reach the quality level of the developer's previous titles. The fragmented story, repetitive combat, generic enemies, and optimisation issues drag the experience down, and its eccentric niche makes it, from the start, less accessible to a wider audience. However, despite the obvious drawbacks, Romeo is a Dead Man remains a bold game that ignores modern sensibilities and offers total freedom to the developer's imagination.

Thanks to GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. for the review code and the opportunity to play Romeo is a Dead Man.

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Available on: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Played on: PS5
Release date: 11 February 2026
Developer: GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Publisher: GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.