The creators of No More Heroes and Deadly Premonition, Goichi "Suda51" Suda and Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro are teaming up to create a horror game, maybe, which they started piecing together on a livestream hosted by IGN Japan (opens in new tab).
It's one of the most peculiar announcements I've watched, more of a brainstorming session in front of an audience, but it sounds like they've settled on a couple of things. It's going to be a horror game, and part of the way through the chat Suda decided it should be called Hotel Barcelona.
Everything is very much up in the air at the moment. The pair were working on a PSVR game that was cancelled, but kept trying to find something to collaborate on, unfortunately being foiled each time by booze-related amnesia. This is apparently why they wanted to talk about their project in a livestream.
They wanted to make an indie game, according to the translator, rather than a big budget horror romp, and they'll be working with publisher Devolver Digital, which has given them a budget of $1 million.
Suda mentioned Siren, the PS2 survival horror game, as inspiration, with the pair both interested in exploring timelines. One possibility is that the player could explore the Hotel Barcelona's rooms, which could represent different people or dimensions. Swery, meanwhile, said that he's more interested in suspense, like Twin Peaks, and usually ends up laughing at pure horror.
More ideas kept pouring out of the brainstorming session, like playing a completely evil character, or maybe a journalist writing about the hotel. They discussed putting real people in the game and getting them to send in pictures. The antagonist could be a monster or spirit that's murdering guests, while the hotel could be set anywhere, with one example being a love hotel in Tokyo.
No platforms were announced, but they'd like it to be easy to pick up. Mobile, Switch and Stadia were all discussed as possible platforms, but unfortunately there wasn't any mention of PC.
So it could be anything—Swery even said it could be a side-scroller, getting a laugh—but if it's anything like the announcement, it's bound to be interesting. The team's already grown, too, and now apparently includes Siren director Keiichiro Toyama, who they texted with the offer during the livestream.
