{"id":716497,"date":"2026-07-29T02:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/716497\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:37:09","slug":"kusan-city-of-wolves-review-ps5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/716497\/","title":{"rendered":"Kusan: City of Wolves Review (PS5)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kusan: City of Wolves’<\/a> biggest inspiration, Hotline Miami<\/a>, is evident from the moment I load into the game’s prologue, which introduces fast-paced combat that feels like the 2012 classic.<\/p>\n

Most of my time in Kusan is spent slicing my way through rooms of enemies, gradually unlocking new abilities and upgrades for the main character, Jin.<\/p>\n

The game is extremely challenging throughout the course of the campaign, which can cause some frustration, but I felt extremely satisfied after clearing a stage. Boss fights are also introduced throughout the adventure, acting as a test of skill.<\/p>\n

At first, you’re restricted to a punch before quickly learning how to parry, throw a dagger, shoot a pistol, and more. These options encourage you to combine attacks to launch Jin through rooms quickly, being rewarded based on your time, combo, and variety of attacks.<\/p>\n

You’re also quickly introduced to the game’s upgrade system, which sees you installing modules to add extras to Jin’s toolkit. You may decide to install a node that increases your ammunition, movement speed, or lets you parry projectiles.<\/p>\n

The way you grab upgrades is also enjoyable; you install them onto a grid-like panel, with each upgrade requiring a certain amount of room to be applied. Some require significant space, but you can expand your grid by spending the in-game currency you collect throughout the game.<\/p>\n

Although Jin’s arsenal is varied, parrying feels a bit stiff; the window isn’t clear, even following the tutorial. I found myself unintentionally parrying an enemy, or failing to do so when I meant to.<\/p>\n

This problem also translates to the controls, which can sometimes feel a bit rigid, but if you’re able to pull off stylish combos, you’re rewarded tremendously for your efforts. A ranking is presented at the end, encouraging you to master the stages.<\/p>\n

This is also complemented by a funky musical score, which the developers say is influenced by Korean hip-hop.<\/p>\n

The overall presentation of Kusan is akin to Bladerunner mixed with the anthropomorphic animal characters of Beastars. The visual presentation is stylish, with comic book-like cutscenes combined with gorgeous pixel art.<\/p>\n

However, the narrative itself is tricky to initially follow, and I found myself lost at parts.<\/p>\n

Overall, despite a couple of issues regarding the controls and narrative, Kusan: City of Wolves is a fun top-down action game that likes to challenge you, but rewards you for playing smart by taking advantage of the tools provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kusan: City of Wolves’ biggest inspiration, Hotline Miami, is evident from the moment I load into the game’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,237171,193579,131,954,127,237172,112,129,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-716497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gb","tag-kusan-city-of-wolves","tag-mini-review","tag-mini-reviews","tag-playstation","tag-playstation-5","tag-pqube","tag-ps5","tag-reviews","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}