Romeo is a Dead Man

 PlayStation 5
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 62 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 62
  3. Negative: 8 out of 62
  1. GameCritics
    Feb 12, 2026
    45
    While Suda-51’s trademark style and weirdness is still present, this is perhaps his worst-playing game to date, and this leaves me a bit worried about Grasshopper Manufacture being in NetEase’s hands. Those who enjoy Suda’s work will still manage to find bits of his output that they like here, but it’s a real slog to get to the good stuff, and I suspect that anyone who’s not already a fan of his catalog will find this experience to be genuinely awful.
  2. Stevivor
    Feb 10, 2026
    45
    There's something admittedly unique about Romeo is a Dead Man, but that quirkiness doesn't make up for its middle of the road design. In fact, it's not long before quirky is just there for the sake of quirkiness, not serving anything larger.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Feb 10, 2026
    42
    Romeo Is A Dead Man lives and dies by its eccentricity, delivering multiversal strangeness and zombie Pokémon before losing steam as it approaches a conclusion it doesn’t know what to do with. Given its galaxy of possibilities, it’s rather disappointing that its climax is so terrestrial.
  5. MonsterVine
    Mar 6, 2026
    40
    Romeo Is A Dead Man is a frustrating experience. I wanted to meet it on its own terms and let the insanity and sci-fi camp wash over me. But too much time spent in boring and tedious gameplay loops, coupled with weak character relationships, left me without anything of substance to hold onto.
  6. Eurogamer Germany
    Feb 10, 2026
    40
    The Suda51 faithful will find more of the same, wrapped in at best mediocre gameplay - no surprises to be found. And that is probably the most damning thing you can say about one of his games.
  7. ElDesmarque
    Feb 10, 2026
    40
    Despite some original narrative hooks and a compelling mystery, the combat falls flat due to clunky controls and repetitive enemy encounters. Even with its clear ambitions for an engaging plot, the lackluster exploration and uninspired level design fail to deliver.
  8. Guardian
    Feb 10, 2026
    40
    Romeo Is a Dead Man is certainly not predictable. It’s capable of getting a baffled smile out of you, and its anti-gaming-establishment attitude will have diehard fans searching for an irony-drenched reason to celebrate it. But where No More Heroes’ simplistic yarn kept the fights flowing and the jokes rolling, Romeo Is a Dead Man’s sprawl feels disappointingly directionless. Instead of coming together as a kitschy universe-spanning epic, this sci-fi story is sadly told with all the mastery of a rambling drunk in Wetherspoons.
  9. Gamekult
    Feb 10, 2026
    40
    Playing Romeo is a Dead Man feels like seeing an aging rockstar on stage : you respect them and you see the vision, but the execution isn't quite there anymore. Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture's latest adventure is a hodge-podge fusion of visual styles and ideas, which never coalesce into a coherent experience. The action gameplay starts off strong, but stagnates, as frequent framerate drops and damage-sponge enemies turn the highest difficulties into a real slog. Romeo is a Dead Man even concedes defeat in the final stretch as the story is clarified through a bunch of written notes. Ultimately feels like a borderline self-parody in its worst moments.
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  1. Kotaku
    Feb 10, 2026
    Romeo Is a Dead Man is full of little moments like this, mixed media distractions from the bloodshed that seem pointless before eventually taking on a greater meaning. They aren’t specifically built to tickle consumers’ dopamine pathways. They won’t always hit you the same way—or at all—but allowing Romeo to wash over you rather than trying to package its complexities in a neat little box will let you walk away with at least one thing to appreciate. Suda51 and the team he’s gathered at Grasshopper Manufacture continues to put out games that function both as entertaining distractions from the pressures of reality and thought-provoking art installations. It’s almost like having your cake and eating it too.
  2. The Verge
    Feb 10, 2026
    It’s too early to predict how Romeo is a Dead Man will fare for Grasshopper, both critically and financially. Like many of the studio’s games, it looks great and has fascinating ideas, but also has some issues. The combat system is flashy but shallow, focused more on button mashing than any real strategy. Level design also gets in the way of pacing, as you’re constantly forced to travel back and forth to a labyrinthine cyberspace. But Romeo is a Dead Man wouldn’t really be a Grasshopper game if it wasn’t a little rough. If anything, it’s the ideal showcase of what the studio is all about — it builds on three decades of experience to create an experience that’s bizarre, enchanting, and unlike anything else out there.