There really isn’t anyone like Swery, is there? The most iconic Japanese developer in the Kansai region, Swery is simultaneously a prolific artist and a local hero, showcasing intense creativity while still being a major part of Osaka society. His works are memorable, ranging from The Last Blade to Deadly Premonition and all the spaces inbetween, including my personal favorite, The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. He’s got plenty to say, always says it in a unique way, and travels with Sharapova, his monkey companion who goes everywhere he does.

 Swery’s next big step forward is a collaboration with Suda51 on a game called Hotel Barcelona, a blood and gore drenched love letter to the 70s and 80s slasher films. A unique roguelike title with upgrades, death mechanics and a bonkers backstory, it captivated my attention and demanded that I learn more. So, when Toshihisa Terashima of Neon Noroshi offered me a chance to sit down and talk with him, I simply had to jump at the opportunity. With the very helpful assistance of interpreter Jonathan LeFlore, Swery had much to share about BitSummit and his creative process. Though I couldn’t get too many secrets out of Swery regarding the upcoming project, he still had plenty to say, and I’m excited to share his words.

Oliver: How are you enjoying BitSummit this year?

Swery: Every year, I love coming to BitSummit. But this year especially, with all the games on display, three days just doesn’t feel like enough.

Oliver: BitSummit has changed so much in the last thirteen years. Do you think the expansion of this event will be positive for the indie community?

Swery: Of course! It’s positive on many fronts, but the biggest one is the inclusion of more foreign developers and groups, which gives more eyes on the Japanese developers here. Having that many more eyes on the smaller devs is exceedingly positive.

Oliver: Your newest title, Hotel Barcelona, is a wild departure from your most recent game (The Good Life). What was the inspiration to create Hotel Barcelona?

Swery: This is a collaboration with Suda51. The very first thing that came forward was the title, Hotel Barcelona. From there, everything just came together. When we were staying together at a game event in Banff, we released we were set up in a famous hotel known for its ghosts. And the more we realized, the more Suda51 got exciting, until he finally blurted out “What if we made a game where you fight ghosts in a hotel?”

Oliver: Besides the roguelike action and progression, there’s a unique mechanic called Slashed Phantoms. How does that balance the difficulty of Hotel Barcelona?

Swery:  So, when you make a roguelike game, there’s always the gameplay loop of slowly gaining abilities and experience over time. Besides that, I liked the idea of a view from the past coming in and helping out. It’s less sophisticated than something like AI, as it copies what you had done previously in a room, so it’s an interesting approach. It can help you out over several rooms, or might only benefit you for a single time. So, I think it’s pretty special.

Oliver: It does change your gameplay approach. Sometimes, if you’re feeling confident, you can just power through, but, since the Slasher Phantoms are replay ghosts of your previous death, you might even want to set yourself up to fail to guarantee success in a subsequent attempt.

Swery: From the beginning, I was hoping that’s how it would be executed, and I’m really happy that players can take that approach.

Oliver: For Hotel Barcelona, as a roguelike, some players want to just keep grinding the loop, while others might want to work towards the final story beat. Which would you recommend for players?

Swery: Think about this a bit like playing Super Mario Bros. While there is an end goal, you still want to keep coming back to play it again and again. Having said that, this is still my game, and it wasn’t enough just for it to be fun and compelling to play. So I wanted to establish a narrative side. That way, even if you get all the way to the end or just keep dying on level one, there’s something that keeps players coming back and wanting to do more every time.

So, one anecdote I’d like to share. When we brought in the voice actor for Dr. Carnival [the dark spirit living inside the protagonist], he started off doing a very demonic approach, making it evil and heavy. However, the longer he read, the more impressed he became with the script to the point where he stopped recording to say “Wow, this is really good.” As a result, he really got into the character and became compelled to do the lines more and more because he wanted to see where the story was going.

Oliver: There’s always a bit of “Swery” inside each and every one of your games. What aspect of Swery’s heart or mind did you put into Hotel Barcelona.

Swery: To be frank, I consider Hotel Barcelona to be one of my magnum opuses. Many years ago at SNK, I created fighting games and have all this experience with action. Then, I moved onto Deadly Premonition, which has more of a story focus. Players tend to know me for one or the other, but this is, I hope, an opportunity for players to see both sides of me at once.

Oliver: There’s so much blood and viscera in Hotel Barcelona, and it’s wonderful and over-the-top. How has horror impacted or affected your own interests?

Swery: I am a huge horror movie fan. A lot of my influences come from the 80s and 90s slasher films, which I consider to be some of the best in the genre, and there’s a lot of that in Hotel Barcelona.

Oliver: Favorite horror film?

Swery: Even though my love of horror came from the 80s and 90s, going back to the 70s and films of that era – The Shining, Jaws – are my absolute favorites.

Oliver: Your last few games have heralded female protagonists. For Justine [the main character], how do you see her role in Hotel Barcelona?

Swery: The main character, Justine, is a woman of color who has always had this spirit inside of her, Dr. Carnival, and they are like oil and water. Having those two personalities in one body is something that’s very interesting. The dialogue between them always has friction and conflict, which is representative of the narrative of the world at large right now. People who have differing view points and also seem unable to hear others perspectives or thoughts.

Oliver: Justine also reminds me of another one of your conflicted protagonists, J.J. Mansfield from The Missing. Without giving away anything, will Justine encounter a similarly big revelation or twist for her own story?

Swery: [in English]. Yes. Because it’s my game.

Oliver: Are you hoping for additional content being added to Hotel Barcelona in the future?

Swery: I would love to do collaborations with other horror IPs or creators in the future. Right now, my focus is on the September release date. And after that, the world is open to anything.

Oliver: Speaking of September, what are we seeing for the release in terms of platforms?

Swery: In September, it’ll be out on Steam, PlayStation 5 and XBox Series X/S, both digital and physical.

Oliver: What have been some of your favorite things that you’ve seen at BitSummit this year?

Swery: There are so many things to see this year, but Oddada really stood out.

Oliver: Looking to your future, is there a genre that you haven’t yet worked in that you’d like to try next?

Swery: I have a lot of great ideas, but I can’t talk about them right now. But I do have many ideas moving forward. Just as one note, I’ve always been interested in making a physical/tabletop game.

Oliver: As a last note, what message would you like to share with people coming into Hotel Barcelona and your world?

Swery: Not only is this an amazing collaboration with Suda51, this is one of my best games I’ve ever made. I can’t wait for people to walk through that front door, check in and begin their journey.