At first glance, Kusan: City of Wolves looks like it wants to be the next Hotline Miami. The top-down perspective, instant deaths, blood-soaked rooms and relentless pace make that comparison almost impossible to avoid, but thankfully CIRCLEfromDOT has done enough with the formula to give its game a personality of its own. Set in a grim cyberpunk metropolis where corruption, criminal organisations and technological augmentation have become part of everyday life, the game puts us in control of Jin, a former soldier turned mercenary whose latest assignment quickly develops into something much more personal. What initially appears to be a straightforward rescue mission involving a mysterious girl called Haru gradually grows into a conspiracy involving Jin’s past, betrayal and the balance of power within Kusan. The story isn’t going to redefine videogame storytelling, and some of its twists are telegraphed well in advance, but it is considerably more interesting than we might expect from a game so heavily focused on killing everything in sight. The comic-book presentation between missions also works particularly well, giving the narrative a distinctive visual identity while keeping the momentum moving.
Where Kusan: City of Wolves really earns its place, however, is in its combat. The basic philosophy is brutally simple: Jin dies in one hit, but so do most of the enemies. Every room therefore becomes a miniature puzzle that has to be solved through movement, positioning, timing and a healthy willingness to die repeatedly while learning what works. We enter an arena, identify the immediate threats, decide who needs to go first and then attempt to turn that plan into a flawless sequence of punches, gunshots, dodges and thrown weapons. The excellent responsiveness of the controls makes this possible, with movement and attacks feeling suitably immediate even when several things are happening at once. The learning curve can be punishing, but the instant restart after death is an important design decision because it means failure never comes with a lengthy loading screen or unnecessary interruption. Instead, we are immediately given another chance to improve on the previous attempt.
The War Hand is what helps prevent that combat loop from becoming a simple Hotline Miami imitation. Jin’s cybernetic arm is both a weapon and a tool for manipulating the environment, allowing us to smash through doors, break weakened walls, throw objects and send enemies flying. It becomes even more satisfying when combined with the Quantum Knife, which can be thrown and subsequently recovered, creating opportunities for some wonderfully frantic combinations. Firearms add another layer to the mix, with pistols, shotguns, crossbows and revolvers offering different solutions depending on the situation, while ammunition limitations prevent us from simply relying on guns for every encounter. The result is a combat system that rewards aggression, but not mindless aggression. We have to understand the room, prioritise threats and keep moving, with parries and other abilities becoming increasingly important as the difficulty rises. The parry mechanic can be particularly demanding in chaotic encounters because its timing window is unforgiving, but mastering it can completely change how we approach tougher fights and bosses.
The most interesting part of Kusan’s progression is that it doesn’t simply throw a conventional skill tree at us and call it a day. Upgrades are organised through a grid-based system in which abilities, weapons and other improvements occupy physical space. Expanding that grid gives us more room to experiment, but stronger upgrades can also take up more space, forcing us to make meaningful decisions about what actually belongs in our build. That creates a welcome layer of strategy between the bloodshed: rather than automatically equipping everything we unlock, we have to consider which improvements complement our preferred approach and which ones are worth sacrificing. Resources collected during failed attempts also contribute towards progression, meaning that even a disastrous run can leave us stronger for the next one. Combined with stage rankings that encourage us to return for cleaner, faster and more efficient runs, the system gives Kusan considerably more replay value than its relatively straightforward campaign structure might initially suggest.
There is a catch, though, and it becomes increasingly apparent the longer we spend in Kusan. The game introduces most of its fundamental ideas fairly quickly, after which much of the challenge comes from becoming better at using them rather than continually receiving new ways to play. New enemies, arenas and upgrades keep things moving, and the 54 hand-crafted stages provide plenty of opportunities to chase better rankings, but the underlying rhythm remains remarkably consistent. Enter a room, assess the threat, execute a sequence, die, learn, repeat and eventually master it. For players who enjoy the arcade mentality of perfecting a stage this will be exactly the point, while anyone looking for constant mechanical surprises may find the formula increasingly repetitive. Some of the more unusual sequences, particularly the motorcycle sections, demonstrate that the developers had room to experiment further, making their relatively brief appearances feel like missed opportunities rather than fully developed alternatives to the main loop.
Visually, though, Kusan: City of Wolves makes a strong case for itself. The neon-soaked pixel art combines dark alleys, rain, glowing advertisements and cyberpunk architecture into a world that feels considerably more distinctive than the game’s inspirations might suggest. The graphic-novel sequences fit naturally alongside the in-game presentation, while the animal-inspired character designs give Jin and the supporting cast an immediately recognisable silhouette. Some scenes can become visually busy enough to make threats harder to distinguish, while certain environments don’t offer quite as much variety as the overall art direction promises. Nevertheless, the combination of neon colour, darkness and detailed destructible environments gives Kusan an atmosphere that is one of its strongest assets.
The soundtrack is similarly effective, as Loptimist’s Korean hip-hop and electronic-infused score gives the action plenty of attitude that fits the game’s urban setting extremely well, with the heavy beats helping us maintain the frantic rhythm of each encounter. The music also benefits from the game’s rapid restart system, with the soundtrack continuing to flow rather than constantly being reset after every death, preserving the momentum between attempts. At the same time, the sheer number of deaths means we can hear the same tracks over and over again, which inevitably takes some of the shine off even a strong soundtrack. On PS5, the overall presentation is backed by solid technical performance, and the instant retries make the frequent failures considerably easier to tolerate.
Ultimately, Kusan: City of Wolves works because it understands exactly what kind of game it wants to be. It isn’t interested in making its difficulty approachable or softening the consequences of mistakes, and it doesn’t attempt to disguise its arcade DNA behind layers of unnecessary complexity. Instead, it asks us to learn, fail, adapt and eventually perform the kind of perfectly choreographed runs that initially seemed impossible. That approach can absolutely become exhausting, especially when a late mistake forces us to repeat a lengthy sequence, and the relatively limited evolution of the core mechanics means the campaign doesn’t always feel as fresh towards its later stages. Yet the responsive controls, inventive War Hand, clever grid-based progression, striking cyberpunk presentation and surprisingly effective narrative give the formula enough substance to stand on its own. Kusan: City of Wolves may wear its influences proudly, but it isn’t merely living in somebody else’s shadow. For players willing to embrace repeated failure as part of the learning process, this is a stylish, satisfying and unapologetically brutal PS5 action game that earns its own place among the neon-soaked greats of the genre.
Score: 7.8/10