ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN Review - Suda51's Most Famous Love Story

Ole Gamer Joe
5 hours ago
9 min read

Romeo is a Dead Man

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam

Release Date: February 11th, 2026 / MSRP: $50

Publisher: Grasshopper Manufacture

Genre: Action

ESRB Rating: Mature

This is Suda51 unhinged

From No More Heroes to Killer 7, Suda51 and his studio Grasshopper Manufacture have been delivering surreal, mind-bending action games for decades now. Never one to shy away from the strange and the weird, Goichi Suda’s time in the industry dates back to the early '90s, when he started out with Human Entertainment making wrestling games — and even then, finding a way to leave his morose thumbprint in unexpected ways.

While they haven’t all been winners, I’ve enjoyed more of these games than I haven’t, often citing Killer7 as one of my favorite games of all time. And so, when I heard the studio would be releasing their first new title in 5 years, Romeo is a Dead Man, I was excited about it. But does this twisted action-packed romp deliver a bloody good time? Or is it as tragic as Romeo and Juliet? Let’s find out in our full review!

Romeo is a Dead Man is a third-person action game first and foremost, but saying it's JUST an action game would be selling it short. In what might be Grasshopper Manufacture’s most ambitious release to date, players should go into this game with an open mind, understanding that yes, there’s plenty of slicing and dicing to be done, but there’s also farming demons — or bastards, as the game refers to them — oddball minigames like a tribute to pong accessed through a top-down retro-inspired hub, a bit of stealth, grinding, there’s comedy, drama, and even romance in what is a hodgepodge of creative ideas that somehow come together to make one of the best games of the early year, assuming you can handle its breakneck pace, sometimes nonsensical surreal storytelling, and the occasional difficult boss.

Romeo is a Dead Man feels like it has three introductions: your lead character fucking dies within the first few minutes, there are random, stylish comic book cutscenes interspersed, and oh, our dear Romeo is somehow resurrected after a fatal accident, leading him to become some sort of space cop who will now be tracking down Juliet, who is also a love interest. Yes, this is a very bizarre game if you couldn’t already tell, one that could potentially alienate some players with its many oddball narrative choices and presentations alone. This isn’t to say that there’s not plenty here for pure action fans, but they’ll potentially have a tough time navigating this complex, unhinged web of insanity that is very much what sets this game apart from others if they aren’t familiar with this director's previous works. Romeo is a Dead Man feels like Suda51 threw all of his previous games into a blender and this was the result. Much like Killer7 and the many games before and after it, it's simply not for everyone.

That said, for as unusual as the game’s storytelling methods are, rarely could I look away from what was taking place on screen. One moment I was having dinner with Juliet, and in another, my grandfather was yelling at me — who, by the way, is trapped inside of your jacket, it’s a long story. What’s here narratively is fascinating, confusing, sometimes funny, violent, and certainly a bit nonsensical in spots, making Romeo is a Dead Man’s narrative feel like you're trying to put together a 500‑piece jigsaw puzzle with 35 to 50 of those pieces missing. And for its many flaws, I kinda fell in love with this world, the characters which inhabit it, and the ultimate goal of murdering lots of bad guys that wear Juliet’s face, to find the real Juliet.

Players may ultimately be divided on Romeo is a Dead Man’s storyline, but nobody will be able to deny its heart when it settles into being a pure action game. Using a variety of easily obtained weapons, the game blends sword slashing with gunplay seamlessly, offering up some of the best, bloodiest gameplay I have experienced in some time. The game is essentially broken up into chapters, each containing a massive area to explore where the goal is to collect a set amount of keys to unlock a boss room. I am simplifying things a bit, but this game is anything but easy to explain.

You’ll collect these keys through exploration and, well, murder. The game’s assortment of monstrous foes will lumber towards you in seemingly endless waves, sometimes conjuring memories of the Dynasty Warriors franchise in just how many of them can be on screen at once. Enemies range from bloated abominations that can deal out vicious combos, zombie-like creatures who can fire off rifles, and even ghosts and massive skeletons that may not always be the most intimidating on their own but can overwhelm you in sheer numbers quite easily.

Thankfully, Romeo is up to the task, though how players utilize their lead character is entirely up to them. You see, because almost every weapon can be unlocked early on, customizations can be made and playstyles can be established or switched up in short order. Do you want to use a massive blade that dishes out more damage but leaves you susceptible to attacks? Or a more balanced sword which is quick and nimble, but inflicts less punishment? Why not both? Whichever sword or swords you choose, I loved how the game allowed you to level up each weapon individually, though I will talk a bit more about that later. The same can be said for guns, as the game has a similar assortment of those on offer. Switching between weapons on the fly is relatively simple too, thanks to the game’s excellent control scheme.

In reality, though, combat is quite simple as you have two basic attacks, a light and heavy, which can be mixed together in a variety of ways to create combos. Shooting is just as smooth with the back triggers, with some enemies having clear weak points to aim for in what feels like a callback to the Heaven’s Smiles of Killer 7, one of many tributes to Suda’s past works littered throughout. Outside of that, there’s a simple roll that works effectively and the ability to lock on to targets, which is mostly fine outside of a few scenarios where the camera can get a bit wonky, and that’s really what combat boils down to, outside of the ability to heal with the press of a button, a bloody summer attack which is slowly charged up via the blood of your foes and dishes out massive damage upon use while slightly healing Romeo, and my favorite, using Bastards!

What are Bastards, you ask? Why, they are demons that you grow on your spaceship, you silly goose! What did you think they were? I might be getting a bit ahead of myself here, but Bastards are essentially party members of sorts, who can be planted, grown, and then even combined together to make more powerful! You can equip a set amount of them directly to Romeo, and they are then able to perform a variety of actions in battle, though they do need to recharge for a bit. Said actions include the likes of poisoning your foes or even exploding on top of them! This mechanic is an absolute riot and really spices up the combat. Romeo can also be equipped with an assortment of pins and badges which will give him various advantages in battle, and you’ll need them, as while there are difficulty options available, you’ll need to choose wisely as this selection can’t be changed after you’ve made it. The game puts up a good fight on normal, so you might want to choose your chocolate wisely if you’re one to get a bit frustrated. Thankfully, Romeo gets a small random stat boost whenever he dies, and you aren’t punished too much for the many deaths that will inevitably occur, nor do you lose a ton of progress.

That said, Romeo is a Dead Man never reached Soulslike levels of difficulty, as while bosses are by far the most challenging aspect of the game as you would expect, their patterns can eventually be learned, and in the worst case, Romeo can grind out enemies which will respawn every time you use a checkpoint to grow the strength of weaponry and his personal stats. On that topic, let's talk a bit about leveling because that’s a story in itself. For weapons, players will collect Sentrey throughout gameplay which can be used to improve various weapon stats. Each weapon has its own individual set of stats, meaning you’ll need to spend resources carefully on the blades and guns you like most. As you fly between different locations in the game you can also randomly collect even more materials that can be turned into additional Sentrey.

My favorite by far, though, would be directly leveling Romeo’s stats, which is done through DeadGear Cannonball, a retro arcade game of sorts where you must spend Emerald Flowsion, earned through gameplay, to guide an adorable little icon through a maze of stat boosts. Players are free to choose different directions and even peek ahead to chart what they believe is the best path forward. This is the greatest leveling system in a game ever, and I simply won’t hear otherwise. Make a mistake and fear not, you can either backpedal or reset and retry entirely.

While leveling can be performed at both saves and aboard your ship, certain actions are only available when you are back on the ship, such as the cultivating of Bastards, purchasing items from a shop, or having weird examinations with the nurse. There’s also a chef aboard whom you can hand off ingredients to in order to create curries and whatnot, which will give you boosts in battle. I’m sure I am missing something, but hopefully, you get the gist of how MOST of the game plays out.

I say MOST because every now and then, Romeo is a Dead Man loves to toss a curveball. A later game stealth section, for example, had me creeping around an old asylum trying to avoid being spotted by an unsightly horror. Or how about the game’s occasional puzzles? Many of them take place inside of an alternate TV world, which you’ll need to carefully explore in order to discover the previously mentioned keys. The amount of gameplay variety throughout this adventure, one that could easily go over the 20-hour mark if you wanted to see and do everything, is truly impressive.

Equally impressive are Romeo is a Dead Man’s visuals. The game is oozing with style, from its incredible comic book cut-scenes to its lush, morbid environments and haunting creature designs that wouldn’t feel out of place in a town called Silent Hill. The game achieves a AAA level of fidelity, making this the best visual product I believe Suda51 has ever been the driving force behind. Those visuals do come at a cost, however, as it’s a surprisingly hefty game to run on PC, even forcing my 4070 to high settings (there are higher ones) and requiring the use of frame generation to achieve a mostly consistent 60–70 fps with a few bumps in the road. For those wondering about Steam Deck, at the time of this review, the game didn’t feel particularly well optimized for Valve’s handheld. I was able to get a fluctuating framerate at low settings anywhere from the 40s to as low as the teens when battling bosses, making it a rather uneven way to play the game. Hopefully, more optimized settings can be introduced near or shortly after launch. Technically, it’s playable, but as of today, doing so was more frustration than fun.

Sound design in Romeo is a Dead Man is excellent, taking full advantage of my 5.1 setup. This led to me often thinking I had let a bunch of crickets into my room, amongst other creepy crawlies that were channeled to the left and right rear speakers. The soundtrack delivers an insane mix of genres, with a blend of classical, electronic, and dare I say even some hardcore metal during boss battles. It’s excellent throughout, though voice performances, at least in English, did leave something to be desired. Thankfully, there’s not a whole lot of voice acting in the game, and the writing was otherwise quite funny. The game overall sounds fantastic, with Suda51’s signature stylings in full effect.

While Romeo is a Dead Man’s bizarre presentation and narrative won’t speak to everyone, it feels like an essential play for most fans of the action gaming genre. It’s a bloody affair with outstanding combat, some truly innovative ideas, excellent pacing, and phenomenal visual and audio offerings. I’d go as far as to say Suda51 may have his first game of the year contender, but then again, with how stuffy award ceremonies can be, I’d be surprised if it even gets a mention. That won’t be the case here at I Dream of Indie Games, however, as by taking lessons from the past, Grasshopper Manufacture has crafted their greatest game to date, a celebration of creativity, passion, and the idea of being unique and different.

ESSENTIAL

Pros