Hotel Barcelona, a surreal, blood-soaked sidescrolling roguelite born from the minds of Japanese creators Hidetaka Suehiro (SWERY, Deadly Premonition) and Goichi Suda (SUDA51, Romeo is a Dead Man).

Originally released in September 2025, the game has now officially entered a new phase as of March 5 with the “Under New Management” update. The update introduces a wide range of performance improvements, gameplay adjustments, and new crossover content, while also serving as a thank-you to the community whose feedback helped shape the changes.

Combat Overhaul for Faster, More Aggressive Gameplay

The update significantly reworks combat flow and player control to create a smoother and more aggressive fighting rhythm.

Players can now recover from attacks faster, with expanded cancel windows that allow transitions into jumps, dodges, guards, or follow-up attacks. Stamina-related friction has been reduced, and attack animations have been shortened to keep the action moving.

The base dodge distance has been increased and dodge skills have been rebalanced. Meanwhile, the guard system has been fully reworked: precise guard timing now triggers parries and rewards players with HP Recovery Orbs. Guarding now consumes stamina, making defensive decisions more meaningful during combat.

Several new parry-related skills have been added to the skill tree, alongside a reworked skill layout and progression system. A new skill, Enhancement Luck+, has also been introduced. Weapon balance adjustments have been implemented as well, including AP tuning for the Flamethrower.

Enemy and Stage Rebalancing

Enemy encounters and stage layouts have also received a number of adjustments.

Enemy HP, attack ranges, and reaction timing have been updated across multiple enemy types. Phantom Lost has been removed from Normal difficulty and below, while bosses Jacob, Nigel, and Eve have received durability and behavior adjustments.

Several stages have also been improved with changes to terrain layout, camera distance, and door placement to enhance overall gameplay flow.

Improvements to Invasion Multiplayer

The invasion-style multiplayer mode has also been refined. The update reduces imbalance caused by differences in player progression and improves parry interactions between players.

Doppelgängers can no longer invade during boss fights, and they no longer interfere with enemies or environmental systems. Matchmaking and multiplayer UI have also been improved.

Quality-of-Life and Performance Updates

The update includes optimization improvements across the entire game, helping to deliver smoother overall performance. Support for DUALSHOCK controllers has also been added.

The prologue tutorial, layout, and UI have been improved, and a dialogue autoplay feature has been introduced. Numerous fixes have also been implemented across UI, localization, boss encounters, journal entries, animations, and achievements.

Five New Playable Skins Available for Free

Five new playable skins have been added and are available free to all players:

- Demoschool Faye – A cult indie crossover character appearing inside the nightmare hotel
- Slitterhead Alex – A horror-themed guest skin with a striking combat silhouette
- Slitterhead Julee – A second crossover from the same universe that stands out in motion
- Promise Mascot Agency Pinky – A surreal mascot placed into a violent horror setting
- Promise Mascot Agency Michi – A companion mascot skin that amplifies the absurd tone of the hotel

These crossover skins introduce a distinctive contrast between indie characters and the brutal horror atmosphere of the game.