Hotel Barcelona climbs to Mostly Positive after AI cleanup, patch

Hotel Barcelona has moved from "Mixed" to "Mostly Positive" on Steam after developer White Owls Inc. issued updates and removed controversial generative AI audio and visual assets.

The sidescrolling roguelike is a collaboration between Goichi "Suda51" Suda and Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro. Its rocky launch drew tepid responses, with one critic saying it was "trying too hard," and the discovery of tucked-away AI-generated assets prompted an apology from publisher CULT Games.

Swery65 celebrated the improved user reviews on Twitter, crediting an "Under New Management" patch released in March. The update has been described as a Hail Mary overhaul, altering enemy balance and basic movement among other changes and awarding all players five free skins; Swery65 declared, "The curse of MIXED is broken."

One writer said they plan to give the game another look, noting Hotel Barcelona is available on Steam and offers a demo for players who want to try the balance changes first.

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