Romeos Is a Dead Man is a hack-and-slash adventure game by Suda51, a revolutionary giant in the gaming industry known for classics like No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw. First revealed at the Summer Game Fest, it made its way into the most anticipated video games of 2026. Looking forward to playing the game? Check out its Steam page.
This guide provides an in-depth walkthrough of the first chapter, which introduces the main character and hardcore mechanics.
Table of contents
Meeting the Dead Man
Opening with a cutscene about life and how the space patrol works, we’re introduced to Romeo, who barely makes it out alive after an interaction with a white creature that turns people into the undead. Just in time, his grandfather, Benjamin, returns and saves Romeo from death.
Once the cutscene ends, the game provides you with a chainsaw-sword and a tutorial. Complete it to progress the initial bits of the story. After the first wave of zombies, the white creature will return and one-shot Romeo.
You didn’t fail the tutorial, don’t worry.
The following cutscene gives the gist of the story about Romeo and Juliet and how things go instantly south after an unconventional tragedy.
Later, you’ll be asked for your preferred difficulty:
- White Chocolate: Easy
- Milk Chocolate: Medium
- Orange Chocolate: Hard
- Mystery Chocolate: To be unlocked after ending the game.
Exploring the Forest
After Benjamin’s consciousness is linked to Romeo’s jacket, you will be dropped into a forest; the game starts now, and you have complete freedom to explore.
Defeat the incoming zombies, and the story will expand further with another cutscene. Complete the timed events to learn about drifting through time and space, and understand how traveling through the universe works.
Later, you will return to the forest. Follow the path forward to find another horde of zombies and learn the Bloody Summer Ability.
The meter to your right indicates Bloody Summer’s availability; hold the middle mouse button/R1/RB to execute it.
Continue forward and use the Space-Time Pharmacy, which works similarly to the bonfire from Dark Souls. Additionally, you can save your progress by using it.
Turn right from the Pharmacy and defeat the incoming zombies. Later, use your Pistol to shoot down the incoming crows; the ammo is infinite, so go all guns blazing.
Next, you will find a Tesseract, a cube-like box that contains an item inside. Make sure to pick up all Tesseracts in the area to discover healing, buffs, and weapon upgrade items.
Continue through the forest and defeat all the zombie hordes in your path. Use the explosive barrels to your advantage by shooting them from a range; don’t stand too close. Just after the next wave, a Klista Gate and Nirvana TV await you.
Unlocking Klista Gate and Using Nirvana TV
Klista Gates are important gateways that can be unlocked with special keys. To find them, find the Nirvana TV. In chapter one, the first TV can be discovered right behind the gate.
Interact with the TV to enter the Subspace, a realm where Klista Gate key parts can be discovered, as well as Tesseracts. Pick all the key parts along with the items, and then return to the real world to break the gate’s lock.
Go through the gate after beating a zombie wave. Now, it’s time to kill your first Juliet.
Mutated Juliet Boss Fight
This version of Juliet is the first major boss fight Romeo Is a Dead Man offers; after all, it’s all about Romeo chasing down the Juliets throughout the universe.
Like the Tomato Head, Mutated Juliet has weakpoints on the front of its left leg and the back of its right leg. Use your Pistol to shoot them down to deal massive damage.
Avoid the incoming fireballs and waves by jumping and running around the arena. Get close to the boss to get some in. Finally, look out for its hand swipes and stomping attacks; they are only executed if you spend too much time near it.
After you defeat this Juliet, Romeo unlocks the ability to double-dash. You can see these passive upgrades, called Pins, from the equipment menu.
The chapter ends after you embark on the ship and fly into space.
With this, we conclude our guide to Romeo Is a Dead Man, chapter one. Check out our complete Walkthrough Hub for the game right here.
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