Romeo is a Dead Man review for PS5, PC

No More Heroes is one of my set of games on the Wii back in the day and Travis Touchdown was one of the coolest protagonists to this day. He was funny, witty, and had a kick ass Beam Katana. It’s a match made in heaven for fans of over-the-top action, anime sci fi from the ’80s and ’90s. Suda 51 and his team have cemented their unique take on the action genre and Romeo is a Dead Man is continued proof of this.

It’s beyond commendable when indie creators take risks in a market that does not welcome change with open arms. As a childhood fan of brands like Troma, I’ve always had a love for outlandish stories with movies that blend genres’ which Troma started so many years ago.

Romeo is a Dead Man takes so many of Suda 51’s passions and lays them out in such stylish fashion. Blending a variety of art styles, mixing fully rendered cinematics with Comic Book panels and a clever hub system which feels inspired by games like Fantasy Star on the Genesis, their creativity doesn’t stop there.

If you have played games like No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, Killer is Dead or even Lollipop Chainsaw, you can have an idea of what to expect. You get a true single player action adventure that feels like a sci-fi space opera with a mix of grindhouse and retro pop culture. Even the awesome music from J-POP group “Scha Dara Parr” adds its own nostalgic energy.

You play as Romeo Stargazer, a rookie cop that finds a woman aptly named Juliet during a night patrol that becomes the center of his world, only for it to be cut short with an unexpected visit from a White Demon that attacks Romeo to near death. This is where Romeo’s grandfather, Benjamin Stargazer saves his life by injecting Romeo with tech that brings him back as “DeadMan”.

As DeadMan, you are part of a bigger plot to save the world with the FBI Space-Time Police. We will leave it there because another awesome feature is despite the world building the context to the story, you get right into the action fairly quick as Suda 51 intended. From the initial combat, the game feels like a spiritual successor to No More Heroes with the smooth melee combat. Romeo, I mean DeadMan has access to some kickass tech known as the Deadball which gives him access to his melee weapon the Spazer Katana and ranged weapon Discovery.

DeadMan having both close and ranged weapons is well balanced and as you progress in the game, you can unlock several other weapons of each kind and the one weapon that drew to my soul was named “Arcadia”. How awesome is that?! Along with the weapons is the ability to upgrade them with an in-game currency called “Emerald Flowsion”. This can be used for a variety of upgrades, enhancements and even with some clever mini games. There are also items known as Sentry and Red Sentry, that you use to level up your weapons. As you play through the initial level of the game you will be treated to a Hub World where many of the story points and supporting characters you meet. It’s important to avoid the story details as I enjoyed experiencing most without seeing much other than the initial trailer.

This hub world is an overhead view in 16-bit of the space station and hosts a plethora of mini games you can do including farming your own zombies, I mean “Bastards”. You will find seeds throughout the world and can plant them with the help of DeadMan’s sister Luna. As you farm these Bastards, they are an added arsenal which can come in really handy. You can even fuse two Bastards to make an all new one. It’s truly outlandish and I love it.

The levels feel and play out like an old Saturday morning cartoon with loading screens that act like a commercial transition as it’s blended with the motion comic book panels. As you visit each world, you will spend time travelling in between real space and subspace which is an important progression element. When you get to a point where you cannot progress due to locked doors or blocked by a sort of magic, you will find floating TVs that send you to a gridlike sub space where you will find elements to move forward. This is a recurring element and important to the story, so it all connects.

The game gives you a choice of difficulty levels represented by different chocolates and when you complete the 10 or so hour main story, you will unlock new game plus and continue to unlock new weapons and badges. Badges can be found and unlocked throughout the playthrough, and some can be purchased. These will give DeadMan perks that may or may not have negative consequences for using.

You will also have your healing Regentizer pills which similar to souls’ games you will start with a couple but can expand the carried amount and health capacity within one of the mini games. DeadMan may start off with minimal stats, but you can build him up in a variety of ways depending on how much you spend your time with the minigames.

The visuals are beautiful and delightfully grotesque at times but it’s the perfect marriage for this twisted sci-fi adventure. One of the neat combat features is the blood meter. As you dish out bloody murder, you will build up a blood meter which gives you the ability to perform a finishing move which varies between each weapon called “Bloody Summer”.

These Ultra Stylized attacks are great for bosses and crowd control. They are also just fun to perform. These can also be upgraded to do more damage and eventually stockpile more than one use of the attacks. As you progress, you may feel the need to go back to farm and unlock more power ups. During your exploration in between worlds, you have the ability to visit little pocket dimensions called “Palace Athena”. These are side dungeons with a variety in difficulty where you can earn upgrade currency like Sentry and badges you cannot get elsewhere.

There is plenty of replayability and mini games to keep you busy keeping the game play fresh. It felt good to just see DeadMan get ready before a level or boss and use a simple button sequence to get the motion flowing. It’s an indie masterpiece and I truly hope more newcomers extend their hand on how awesome this game is and in a world of $70-$90 games, you are getting more than your money’s worth.

The love of Rick and Morty, Gundam, and old school cartoons/comics is evident, and Romeo is a Dead Man is proof that you can be inspired by a variety of mediums and your creativity can still show it in an all-new way. From DeadMan’s design to the wild supporting cast, there is so much to love about the game and all I want next is for DeadMan to meet up with Travis to save the world and time together. I’m all in.

Note: Grasshopper Manufacture provided us with a Romeo is a Dead Man PS5 code for review purposes.