I asked myself one question many times while playing at the Barcelona Hotel: Why?
Why the demonic spirit of a serial killer with a shy American marshal? Why is a promising fight so insipid? Why is the story half -baked? Why does the game look like it emerged from a time capsule from the mid -2000? I have no answer to most of these questions, but I know one thing: this cooperation between White Owls, a studio led by the deadly Mastermind sweepers and fame Grasshopper is a bad time. It also takes into account the main criticism of the works of both creators: the abundance of surreal humor and style, but there is seriously lacking a refined substance.
Hotel Barcelona is Roguelike with 2D, in which players fight on the area of the title cursed hotel. As Justine, you are a government agent who wants to avenge your father’s murder, removing a powerful witch with supernatural assist from Dr. Carnival, a murderous spirit inhabiting the body of Justine. This intriguing configuration and dynamics between the shy Justine and ruthless carnival can lead to gently humorous moments, but the payment is neither intriguing nor completely coherent. Unfortunately, the action is not much better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_9FU_RCG0
Roguelike in the game consists of restricted time ROMPS for four stages of the level, which is assigned a random weather effect and the time of day. You have over two or three minutes to examine the stage before you leave one of the few doors to the next area, granting bonuses such as increased attack speed or health regeneration. I like that the running is mercifully tiny, because the mediocre fight is not enough blow or finesse, that Justine Zemsti is satisfying.
Cutting enemies into various weapons, such as knives, axes or buzzsaws or shooting them with pistols, shotguns and other distance options, seems south of “minor”, even after unlocking the combination and other improvements from the skill tree. I must admit that Hotel Barcelona has several groundbreaking ideas. The weather comes into play, affecting how much time it takes to build a special attack by Dr. Carnival, a meter filled by Justine Blood of Enemies he kills. Rainy weather rinses blood from her body, which makes it hard to build in order to free this attack of the screen to add a decent challenge.
One intriguing concept is the game next to the “ghosts” of your previous runs through the stage, which can attack enemies caught on their predetermined path. They can be helpful, but they are more unbelievable than anything else. You can also be attacked and killed by other players (and do the same) in the style of Dark Souls, but it happens so rarely (probably because of the low number of players) that it is practically a non-lephabulus. When someone came and took my life, I cursed him to extend the time in the world of the Barcelona Hotel.
A lower range of enemies is similar, and some will release irritably low-cost attacks that can cover Justine to an early grave. The battles of bosses, such as those that are a wandered butcher or a foreign impact on social media, commit the same sins, and I have never waited for them to face the improvement resources. While the fight is unusual in the worst case, other gameplay subversions, such as the platform sequence at the crumbling arena or the surfing segment powered by QTE, are simply terrible due to destitute controls and old-fashioned presentation.
Despite the fact that the Barcelona Hotel apparently set off on the Hades route to develop history and unlock modern conversations between characters between runs, non -critical threads are not going anywhere, although some intriguing personalities. I was hoping to learn more about the strange patrons of Barcelona, such as an obsessive bartender, a affable monster living in Justine’s wardrobe, and a disturbingly receptionist of the chipper, so I was disappointed that the development of their character is cut off on his knees so unbelievably when the game approaches his tank. The search for Justine to collect the hearts of three bosses to face the witch is shockingly tiny, put on an unnecessary and tedious mission of the story to remember these hearts, recreating the same (though shorter) stages. Culmination is an offensive ending, which practically does not shed airy on the motifs of the witch, larger stories of hotel patrons and the true nature of Dr. Carnival, which is only briefly irritated.
Perhaps these threads become more developed after reaching two possible unlocking, seemingly optional worlds, but the secret method of reaching them seems annoyingly unclear. And believe me, I tried. I even recreated the last section to achieve one great game decision, and then I made the opposite choice that I had before, just to discover that there is no choice. You are forced to make the same decision regardless of everything, offering another example of how Hotel Barcelona shoots at promising narrative ideas at the feet at every step. Regardless of what other secrets may lie below, I am not interested in them.
I know that the charm of sweepers (and, to a lesser extent, Suda51 titles) how strange they are, but every giggle Hotel Barcelona can cause grabbing the head and even bad design and story under the sea. Regardless of how many secrets he can have or surreal moments with which he attacks players, everything is wrapped around a tedious, restricted and faulty game. You don’t have to go home, but you shouldn’t stay here.
