City of Brass

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.

City of Brass is a good dungeon crawler, with some of its best moments and mechanics derived from its rendition of an Arabian Nights theme. While its repetitive scenery and uneven presentation are noticeable tarnishes on its sheen, the satisfying combat and well-balanced difficulty curve will keep you going back for more.

A gorgeous and unique setting, engaging environmental puzzles, and plentiful accessibility options result in a strong, enjoyable roguelite adventure

I love the look of City of Brass and its combat system, but after only about three hours I felt like I'd seen all it had to offer. It's a great way to kill an afternoon, I just wish it would give me a reason to keep coming back.

City of Brass is a fantastic starting point for newcomers to the roguelike genre, but those that know a thing or two may leave feeling a little short-changed. The core gameplay loop at its heart is very satisfying, thanks to its experimental nature, and with the genies' perk selection, there's a decent amount of variety when you're in the thick of it, but there just isn't enough here to keep you coming back past your first couple of completed runs. There's definitely fun to be had here for a few hours, but it's nothing you'll remember with a great deal of affection in six month's time.

While some of its procedural generation can sometimes make for an unnecessarily challenging experience, City of Brass more than makes up for it with the sheer creativity you can have exploring its Arabian Nights-themed maps. With genii to imbue you with wacky powers and the ever-tantalising need to collect more gold (as well the option to compete with others via the leaderboards), Uppercut Games has produced one of the most entertaining roguelikes to swing onto Nintendo Switch. And you can throw ghost chickens. What more do you need?

In conclusion, City of Brass is a decent game IF you like first-person dungeon crawlers with no turn-based action. While I was enchanted in the beginning, after 5-10 hours, I was sadly disillusioned. This is one city that should’ve lost, like Atlantis kind-of lost.

While there is something to be said about the game’s combat and Arabian setting, the frustrating amount of traps and repetitive gameplay makes City of Brass hard to play, and the lack of upgrades makes it hard to come back.

City of Brass takes us to a lost city in the desert, where our thief will have to explore 12 levels against the clock while fighting with a host of nightmare enemies and avoid many traps, to be able to seize the wonderful treasurers and riches that the City hides. The first person action of this roguelike with procedural generation levels, will offer us a high challenge, although perhaps it ends up being too strict and this makes the game can be repetitive and demoralizing if this style of play is not for us.

Despite its promises, City of Brass is an ideal game to buy on sale, where the fun will surely be measurable with your investment. It's a shame, but with the Switch building a stronger catalog every year, the competition is fierce and City of Brass doesn’t have what it takes to be a must buy game on Nintendo’s console.