How to Smash, Slash, and Shoot Your Way to Victory in Kusan: City of Wolves

Kusan: City of Wolves is out today on Xbox Series X|S, marking the first release from Korean studio CIRCLEfromDOT after eight years of development. The game is a top-down shooter built around fast, punishing combat where one mistake can end a run, and progression is meant to come from repeated attempts rather than safe play.

The core loop centers on Jin, an ex-soldier turned gun-for-hire, and a combat model that pushes players to mix firearms, melee, and the Quantum Knife. The studio is explicitly encouraging experimentation: there’s no single optimal loadout, and the Techtrix upgrade system lets players tailor mobility, recovery, or counterplay to their preferred style.

That design matters because the game is clearly tuned for mastery. Quick Step favors aggressive movement, Auto Recovery reduces downtime after throwing the Quantum Knife, and Counterstrike rewards precise parries by reflecting projectiles. The intended payoff is not just survival, but cleaner routes, stronger style bonuses, and the coveted SS rank.

For developers, this is a straightforward example of a combat game built around readable systems, replayability, and player expression. It also shows how a small team can frame difficulty as a learning tool rather than a barrier, while using weapon synergy and rank incentives to keep players iterating on their own combat rhythm.