City of Brass Reviews
Well executed rogue-like elements and the art style works to a certain extent but City of Brass feels like a game that needs a deep discount before diving in.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Using the scimitar and the versatile whip, roaming through the levels with free gameplay approach and play everytime different levels is a real pleasure. With an elaborated story and a higher budget, City of Brass could've been a even better game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All that said, there's a fun and entertaining game here. Despite its problems, I walked the scorching sands again and again until I reached the center of the city and completed the game (yes, I did end up using some blessings and portals to do it). City of Brass is a really fun first-person roguelike, but the die-rinse-repeat formula wears thin far more quickly than it should. There's simply not much more to do or see once you've played for a few hours or reached the end. Combat remains largely the same simple fare throughout, apart from intense boss encounters that account for a comparatively small portion of the game. Upgrades earned over time and different ability setups through the genies offer the promise of varied gameplay, but City of Brass does little to entice the repetitive play that the genie's curse asks of you.
In the end, making it through the City of Brass is much more enjoyable and gratifying than it is frustrating.
I can't help but feel disappointed in City of Brass.
A gorgeous and unique setting, engaging environmental puzzles, and plentiful accessibility options result in a strong, enjoyable roguelite adventure
The game is truly cursed in a charming way and offers a highly enjoyable gameplay for the ones who enjoy roguelike games.
A Tasty Recipe For Rogue-lite Delight ...City of Brass - a first-person rogue-lite with a vivid Arabian Nights veneer - shows that if you have an enchanting art style, enemies that are a pleasure to duel and manipulate, and a combat system that's rhythmic and versatile yet simple to execute, procedural generation can become less like a vapid maze of eyesores and more like a tool that actually contributes degrees of surprise and suspense.
There's promise to City of Brass that sadly doesn't quite come to fruition. For a roguelike, it commits the ultimate sin in having no compelling hook to keep going for multiple playthroughs. It throws up some fresh and interesting ideas though, and that makes it worth at least a cursory look.
City of Brass is a good looking and solid roguelite first-person adventure on PlayStation 4. While there isn't much story-telling or narrative in the game, other than the story setup you get during the tutorial from what is shared with you by the spirits of those who died exploring the cursed city, the game more than makes up for it with its gameplay mechanics in a very fun indie release from an experienced team.
There's no doubt that City of Brass is meant to be punishing. But between its ungainly controls, its inability to stave off a sense of tedious repetition, and spirit-breaking lack of progression, it feels far less fair and more painful than its rogue-lite brethren. Its superficial use of the Arabian Nights folklore, combined with its monotonous design and reliance on exotic cliche, make it as uninteresting to experience as it is excruciating to endure.
With City of Brass there's a feeling you're playing a home port of an arcade game, where short spurts of action, strategy, and fun doesn't translate to a sit-down to play for an extended length of time videogame. It looks fantastic but there's not a lot below the surface.
In short, City of Brass has a ton of cool concepts and most, if not all of them, pay off. While the pace of the game is certainly slower than I would like it to be, it's still a blast to play. And even though there are a few bugs in the game that did annoy me, the vast majority of the time I didn't experience any. For $24.99, players should pick up the game if they are looking for a challenge and unique experience. As stated before, I hope Uppercut decides to continue with this style in the future.
City of Brass offers plenty of thrills with its Arabian Nights roguelike adventuring, but after beating it once it doesn’t offer much to keep you coming back for more. The genre typically lends itself well to repeated playthroughs and extended challenges, but after completing the game in a relatively short time there wasn’t much there to encourage me to keep playing – a lack of variety as far as gameplay is concerned doesn’t help the situation, either. It doesn’t make City of Brass a bad game nor does it make it one that’s not worth checking out, but players hoping to be whipping their way through malicious genies for hours on end might be left a little bit disappointed by the lack of depth on show.
City of Brass is a very decent choice for those who want to try a new genre or get familiar with the Roguelike games. But due to some mechanical shortcomings and lackluster rewarding system, City of brass fails to offer a complete experience as seen in the greatest games of this genre.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Good-looking and accessible addition to rogue-lite genre, but with clumsy controls, repetitive gameplay and no sense of progress.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
With an awesome inspiration and some very cool ideas, it's an immense shame that City of Brass game ends up being as dull as it is. With lacklustre combat, enemy design, rooms and movement, City of Brass feels like a chore to play. With the smorgasbord of Rogue-lites to play these days, some of which are among the best games you can play, City of Brass is an easy pass.
City of Brass has a great theme and aesthetic, but falls victim to the same issues most roguelikes have. I feel like a broken record every time I review one saying this would have been a better traditional game as opposed to a run-based one. Still, there are neat ideas and the theme of it is hard not to love.
City of Brass is the sort of game that certain gamers will treasure. It is a beautiful, well-polished first-person rogue-lite that will not hesitate to regularly reward diligent players with a quick and horrible death. City of Brass is not for the faint of heart, but for those that put in the time to hone their skills, the rewards of City of Brass are great (and I'm not talking about the in-game treasure). A visual treat, City of Brass never feels unfair, and learning to overcome its many challenges can be vastly satisfying.
While repetitive in nature and presentation, City of Brass is still a fun, unique strategy-action game that provides plenty of key moments.