Throughout Gamescom 2025 final week in Cologne, Germany, I went hands-on with No Extra Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture’s upcoming motion sport, Romeo Is A Useless Man, and got here away with extra questions than solutions (however in one of the simplest ways potential). Luckily, I instantly transitioned from my hands-on preview to a sofa, the place I sat throughout from the sport’s director, Goichi Suda AKA Suda51, and his interpreter, and requested him the brand new questions I had.
However first, let me set the scene of my demo: earlier than gameplay started, I watched a fast intro you’ve got probably seen within the sport’s reveal trailer that exhibits Romeo die, then be resurrected and became an area cop/FBI agent/professional mercenary/cyborg hybrid. From right here, I used to be delivered to a display with three impeccably designed candies. I forgot the identify of the primary chocolate (and sadly did not write it down), however it represented the sport’s simple mode; the orange chocolate I selected represented regular, and the ginger-infused chocolate was the sport’s laborious mode. I used to be then thrust proper into the motion.
I am not fairly positive the place I used to be, however it was paying homage to a junk yard; grey, foggy, and swarmed with zombies and different monstrous creatures Romeo wanted to kill. Doing so was a blast, because of a fight system that feels quick, fluid, and visceral, with a big number of weaponry to make use of. I used a machine gun, a pistol, a grasshopper-shaped rocket launcher, and a fusion rifle, of kinds, in addition to a katana-like sword, a colossal two-handed sword, and extra. All of them are simply accessible with a combo of buttons tied to the d-pad. I like that every gun has a unique really feel, and that every melee weapon options its personal moveset, all within the identify of dismembering and beheading hordes of zombies and every thing else that stands in the best way of Romeo.
Romeo Is A Useless Man was, by far, the bloodiest demo I noticed throughout Gamescom, and I previewed greater than two dozen video games, together with Resident Evil Requiem. Regardless of the gallons and gallons of blood, although, it comes off comedically relatively than horrifically, because of the sport’s visible aptitude.
After I mowed down sufficient enemies on this junkyard-like space, I warped into our on-line world, one other visually distinct a part of the sport with its personal narrative ties. There was a boss on the finish of this space, however I wasn’t in a position to attain it as my time to interview Suda51 had arrived. Earlier than diving into what I realized from my interview, I will shut out my preview ideas right here by saying I proceed to develop more and more intrigued by what the hell Romeo Is A Useless Man is doing every time I see and play it. It is laborious to elucidate what this sport is, however that is a part of its allure, and I can not wait to learn the way all its seemingly disparate items join when it launches subsequent yr.
Discussing Romeo Is A Useless Man And Grasshopper Manufacture With Suda51
Recreation Informer’s Wesley LeBlanc: There’s a lot happening in Romeo Is A Useless Man, however from a broad strategy, what are the inspirations behind the sport?
Suda51: You could have observed taking part in a little bit of the sport, however just a few of the primary influences and inspirations for the sport are Again to the Future and Rick and Morty, which itself was impressed by Again to the Future. We wished to do one thing with area time and time journey, and the entire thing began off with seeking to these two properties.
There are such a lot of distinct artwork types in Romeo Is A Useless Man. What are a few of the inspirations behind that?
So far as the artwork and visible type go, that side of the sport did not have a lot to do with the [Back to the Future and Rick and Morty] influences. The place that got here from was mainly, I wished to verify all of the workers members engaged on the sport had been in a position to do their finest and what they’re finest at.
For the artwork, if we’ve got one workers member good at Western-style comedian guide artwork, I would say, “I need you to attract this scene, it’d look actually nice along with your type.” Any individual else is actually good at a unique type, and I might consider a scene for that individual specifically to work on. It was about discovering a correct rhythm for every scene, matching the content material of the scene and what the characters are doing, and the way it could possibly be portrayed finest.
I attempt to match up all of the members of the workers to a scene, allow them to do the very best at what they do, and jamming all of it collectively.
That is a really completely different director strategy from what I hear about studios within the West. What’s your philosophy behind that directorial type and letting individuals do issues in their very own imaginative and prescient?
It is fairly easy, actually. So far as my philosophy goes, I need it to be enjoyable. We wish to make enjoyable video games that individuals like taking part in, and we wish every thing about sport growth to be enjoyable, too. In sport growth, there’s quite a lot of heavy s*** to cope with, laborious instances to cope with, so I wished not simply taking part in the sport to be enjoyable, however the growth and creation of it to be as enjoyable as potential, too.
I lay out my concepts in conferences, and we’d have some planning, however I let individuals from any division speak, tweak variations of concepts, and create a collaborative course of. Anybody can cross out concepts, mix one thing to make new concepts, or take separate concepts and switch them into various things. We attempt to make it as enjoyable as potential, and I need everybody to have as a lot enjoyable as they will creating the sport. We would like them to know their opinions are heard and revered.
Romeo Is A Useless Man director Suda51 and editor Wesley LeBlanc at Gamescom 2025
How do you think about sport stability with that strategy?
Quite a lot of sport builders do not like considering like this, as a result of it’d “break the stability of the sport” if there are too many concepts. I do not care about that personally; I need the sport to be enjoyable and fascinating. So far as stability goes, I will care for that in the long run. If in case you have a good suggestion, let everyone know, and in the long run, I will make certain every thing is as balanced as potential.
I feel the workforce we have put collectively, they belief me to care for that stability, which is why they be happy to place out completely different concepts they’ve. They’ll belief in me. Stability might be one of many issues I am finest at as a sport developer – taking all these concepts which may not appear associated, and balancing them.
Are you able to speak to me in regards to the course of behind the sport’s fight design?
So far as the fight goes, that was truly primarily as much as one in every of our lead programmers, Toru Hironaka, who has been at Grasshopper for years. I form of left the fight and normal motion as much as him as a result of I do know he is aware of what he is doing.
From the start, I knew there have been going to be gun-type weapons and sword-type weapons, and I wished to make each interesting. I knew we needed to make them enjoyable to make use of and as fascinating as every other weapon, so I talked with Hironaka and mentioned, ‘These are the techniques and motion I need, do what you do finest.” I had different workers members give enter, too.
So far as the motion stuff goes, it is primarily Hironaka main, however as a complete, [Romeo Is A Dead Man] got here collectively the best way it did by way of the ability of teamwork. It is by no means only one man doing every thing by himself.
The time between your final launch and Romeo Is A Useless Man [due out in 2026] is the longest in growth historical past at Grasshopper Manufacture. Why?
The principle cause it took so lengthy is timing, mainly. For instance, proper round after we began on Romeo Is A Useless Man, it was proper in regards to the time we left GungHo Leisure and joined NetEase, and we elevated workers members, and it took them time to get used to how we do issues and vice versa. Additionally, up by way of No Extra Heroes III, we labored on Unreal Engine 4, however Romeo Is A Useless Man is being developed in Unreal Engine 5, so our first yr creating [Romeo Is A Dead Man], it was individuals studying Unreal Engine 5, studying the right way to work with one another, studying how the corporate works, and everybody getting used to one another and every thing.
That is the most important cause it took so lengthy. It isn’t essentially that the sport is big, and it wasn’t the worst potential timing; every thing simply occurred on the cut-off date that might lead to us taking probably the most time to get the sport completed.
Romeo Is A Useless Man launches someday subsequent yr on PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X/S, and PC.
