In 2018, the two creators decided to go ahead with the idea of working together, but would apparently continually meet to discuss ideas, get drunk, and forget what they'd talked about. Today's event was designed to force them to discuss something.
Swery recently announced a sequel to his cult horror, Deadly Premonition. Check out the reveal trailer below:
That discussion was seemingly happening live, with the pair coming up with ideas on the spot, and a translator summarising them periodically. It may mean that some (or all) of what's discussed won't come to fruition, but it was an entertaining insight into how the idiosyncratic devs work together.The current plan is to make a horror game, but firm details are scarce. Both creators want to make something "light and easy to play", which can be picked up on mobile, Switch or Stadia.
In what was apparently a half-hour brainstorm before the stream, Suda decided the game would be called Hotel Barcelona, simply because it might mean that he and Swery got to visit the city. However, later in the discussion, Suda seemingly changed his mind, saying Hotel Barcelona could be placed in the likes of Tokyo, South Africa or Venezuela.
The idea they seemed to settle on was that the game would be about a magazine writer visiting a hip new hotel, before the horror begins. The translator made clear that this wasn't going to be the end of the discussion: "Don't take this for the final word on anything, please."
Suda is bringing No More Heroes 3 to Switch next year - here's the reveal trailer:
In other parts of the discussion, Suda brought up a PS2 game, Siren as an inspiration, in which players piece together the narrative by playing from the perspectives of ten characters. His idea for Hotel Barcelona is that you'd see different rooms, "each one which represents a different person, or a different dimension, or a different look at what happens in this period of time."Later in the stream, both developers decided that they'd like Siren director Keiichiro Toyama to help them make the game (partly because they like drinking with him), and texted him simultaneously to ask him. Brilliantly, at the very end of this section of the stream, Toyama texted back to say yes.
Suehiro added that 'timelines' are key to the pair's thinking, allowing players to follow different timelines that are pieced together. The Deadly Premonition creator added that he's not into pure horror, but something closer to David Lynch movies, about "suspense, about uncertainty and nervousness". Suda added that he also likes splatter horror, so perhaps the second half of the game could switch into something more gory.Hotel Barcelona will be designed to an indie budget, and discussions have apparently taken place with Hotline Miami publisher Devolver Digital, which the pair says has given them a rough estimate of 100 million yen (around a million dollars USD) to make the game.
Other elements discussed included the idea of a character that's entirely evil, with the player forced to take control of them and do things they don't want to do. Suda also added that characters in the game would include visitors to and employees of the hotel. Characters for the game could be sourced from pictures sent in by fans. Swery would apparently like the game to be a side-scroller, because it might feel more like an indie game.
At an event taking place next week, Swery will come up with concepts for the game, and Suda will design a logo. Also, both developers just started eating hot dogs with chopsticks at one point during the stream. It was lots of fun. Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK Deputy Editor, and this might have been the best thing he's live reported on. Follow him on Twitter.