When you hear Suda51, what comes to mind? If you’ve been in the video game community since the 2000s, you will most likely have heard the name Suda51. For those of you who are unaware, Goichi Suda, mostly known by his moniker Suda51, is a game designer and writer who has been behind some of the most interesting and quirky games in the last twenty years.
Suda51 is the director behind No More Heroes, Killer7, Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer Is Dead, Shadows of the Damned, and Black Knight Sword, while also coming up with the original idea for Hotel Bacelona. At PAX East 2024, we had the chance to sit down with Suda51 and discuss Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered and future projects – one of the said projects would turn out to be Romeo is a Dead Man.
This holiday season, we had the chance to play Romeo is Dead Man. For this preview, we got the chance to play the game’s introduction and the first chapter after the tutorial. Like other Suda51 games, we can clearly say that Romeo is a Dead Man is very entertaining, but it has some quirky and interesting gameplay elements that Suda is known for.
This is a preview coupled with a supplemental video preview. You can watch the video preview or read the full preview below:
After a near-death experience and being saved by his grandpa, Romeo becomes a new person and hunts the cosmos, taking down different Juliets. After the basic gameplay tutorial, the player is then given the chance to choose between desserts (White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and Orange Chocolate).
These three difficulties range between mild, moderate, and bittersweet (Easy, Balanced, and Hard). Playing on mild is fairly easy with basic encounters and boss fights, but it still provides a little bit of a challenge when dealing with multiple enemies at once.
As the player kills Rotters, they have the ability to pick up green crystals called “Emerald Flowsions”. These crystals are the game’s currency and are used to buy upgrades for Romeo and the farm. The player can buy new melee and ranged weapons or increase the stats of Romeo. Weapons can be upgraded using sentries.
When upgrading Romeo’s abilities, you will need to use the Deadgear Cannonball. The DeadGear Cannonball is an arcade-style mini game where you drive a ship around a maze. Moving the ship utilizes Emerald Flowsion, and each icon that you go through enhances a different ability of Romeo.
The Emerald Flowsions can also be used to expand the farm to grow more Bastards or speed up the process. When out on a mission, Bastards can be used to attack or distract enemies. Each Bastard has a set amount of time that their abilities last, and once the timer runs out, they will go on cooldown.
When on the Last Night, the player can take the different seeds they find while out exploring and plant new bastards. You can see what types of abilities a Bastard will have before it’s planted.
When you harvest the creature, you will get the chance to name it; this leads to some fun combinations. If a Bastard’s ability isn’t quite up to par, you can fuse it with another Bastard.
Now the real question is, how does the actual gameplay feel, and how is the story? Based on what we experienced in this limited window of gameplay, the combat is fluid and fun, and the world is highly detailed and beautiful.
When fighting, the player can choose between melee and ranged attacks. Melee is great for up close and personal; however, there are enemies with blue crystals on them that need to be broken or a rotten spawner that needs to be shot from a distance. Even in boss fights, there are special flowers that need to be hit to damage or weaken the boss, allowing the player to go in close to fight.
Visually, the main areas you explore are colorful. Like other Suda51 games, Romeo is a Dead Man takes an interesting approach to artistic style. In the ship Last Night, the game’s art is more reminiscent of old 80s and 90s 2D graphics. While exploring the actual environments, the game is highly detailed, with each object feeling like you could jump in and experience it for yourself.
There are moments where the game looks and feels like a fever dream, and that occurs when traveling in Subspace. Though the area is colorful, the moving blocks and strobing lights can be overwhelming. Depending on your computer, it will also cause a visual spike, where blocks may lag visually. While the concept is cool, the execution still feels like it could use a bit of refinement.
Overall, Romeo is a Dead Man feels like it takes some of the best gameplay elements from different Suda51 games and combines them into a bloody tour de force, a package of Goichi Suda’s greatest hits.
Although this was only a small bit of what the game has to offer, it felt polished and ready to shock players when it launches. The combat will satisfy hack-and-slash maniacs, while also giving other players a chance to experience the game in their own unique way.
The level of detail within the game is visually impressive, while changing styles often enough to give you whiplash. There will be times when the game surprises you, maybe even bringing a tear to your eye.
Based on what we experienced in this preview, we’re really looking forward to the full release of Romeo is a Dead Man next month. Romeo is a Dead Man is set to launch across PC (via Steam and the Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on February 11th, 2026.
