City of Springs

One of those cases when you wonder what an interesting universe and idea would look like if it had the budget and support of a major publisher. This is the story of Val, a young inventor and mechanic who lives in a city where people employ numerous devices and machines in their daily lives. Unfortunately, she is also unregistered. This means that the authorities and robotic guards will arrest her and sentence her to death. The reason for this is that the city has limited resources, and only registered users have access to food and water. Val's life is turned upside down when her sister is arrested. She tries to save her, but the sister is sentenced to death by the city's tribunal, which is presided over by the queen. Angered, Val decides to utilize her powers to fight back and spark a rebellion. Considering the game's limited development and assets, the city looks fantastic and is one of the game's finest achievements. People are strolling, sitting, or simply going about their day. You will also notice many other features that bring the city to life, such as a train passing overhead, gears rotating and moving various equipment, and shifting time that transitions between day and night, as well as fog that blankets the city in a dismal color. It is a shame the game was not backed with a larger budget because of the lack of polish, which is painfully evident with bad cut scenes and stiff character animation, as well as optimization issues. It does not occur throughout the game, but there are a lot of places or even crowded locations where the game slows down. This can also happen when you merely turn the wrong direction, causing the game to struggle and significantly lower the fun factor. There are a few minor nitpicking flaws, such as invisible walls and assets appearing when you turn the camera quickly enough. To be fair, you might not notice them if you are focused on the main objective, but you might spot them if you are high up and looking far into the distance. The city is divided into four areas, each having a distinct function and social status in the city. Individual districts are quite large, allowing you to explore them. Of course, you will not be able to stick your nose everywhere because districts become available as the story progresses. The handy city map is quite helpful. It is mostly used to choose missions or side-quests waypoints that direct you to them. Quest are nothing memorable as they follow the generic template: go somewhere, find or destroy an enemy, and come back. The city contains a variety of structures and obstacles, so you are limited to specific places and paths. However, there are walking platforms that add vertical dimension to the city. You can jump, but because the height is just enough to get you onto the top of a barrel or a box, you can forget about climbing over an obstacle. Preventing you from climbing everywhere is a good thing because falling from a height can kill you instantly. The major barrier is doors that require you to flip a switch. This switch is commonly positioned next to a door or somewhere nearby. A door never closes after being opened, making it a convenient shortcut. Travel tubes are another important feature inside districts. When you activate it, you can quickly travel between other tubes throughout the city. The only need is that you turn it on first by flipping the switch. Exploration plays a big part because of various secrets. There are three types of collectibles scattered all over, which includes chests, towers, and wall junctions. Unfortunately, the game commits one of the worst mistakes by not including a mini-map that displays crucial information in the immediate vicinity. This makes it impossible to find or even notice anything vital; you could be standing right next to a chest and be completely unaware that it’s even there. What’s more, you have to open a separate map each time you want to find the nearest travel point, mission, or health dispensers. Although the main map displays the counter for all three collectibles, it contains no information about what is actually done. This brings us to the second worst mistake a game can make: wasting your time. Chests contain core, which you may use to build bots, as well as crowns, the game's currency. While chests are simple because all you have to do is interact with them, the other two require your companion. Its name is Scrapper, and you carry it on your back. With the press of a button, you may point it at specific objects in the world and perform an action. For example, you can send it at towers to demolish them or at wall junctions to collect a bunch of cores. The city is a dangerous and controlled place, so you’ll also have to rely on your stealth to avoid robotic guards. The mechanic is mostly fair. It’s often used in main missions, but getting spotted only gets you zapped and doesn’t instantly fail the mission. When you press the crouch button, you will enter stealth mode that makes you harder to spot. You will also see the guard's vision and detection range, as well as most useful things. One of them is a bell that will catch their attention and allow you to pass by. There are also cameras, however they are easily destroyed using Scrapper. Getting caught sneaking will initiate combat in which you can employ your bots to attack and protect yourself. The mechanic is unique and straightforward. Your only responsibility is to click on one of your bots and direct it to either the left or right side. The opponent will do the same. If bots collide, they will attack each other; if the path is clear, they will attack the opponent. You can create and deploy as many bots as you want, but only when there is enough power. Fortunately, this recharges itself, so you will not have to worry about running out of resources. Both you and the enemy have several health slots, but it takes a few shots until one slot is removed. Sadly, combat is not enjoyable due to its repetitious nature. All you have to do is spam bots left and right while steadily attacking the enemy. Most of the time, you are caught in a stalemate because bots destroy each other before reaching the primary goal. Another issue is that, despite their similar appearance, robots do not have the same attacks or health. You might beat one quickly and then take several minutes to beat the next. The reason for this is a terrible attack that damages or destroys all of your bots. This is a very cheap way to prolong an already repetitious combat because you can overwhelm an enemy and then lose everything with a single attack. It would be acceptable if an enemy used it once in a while, but it keeps spamming it every round. This is why I suggest you go with the easy difficulty. It’s also fair to point that, while destroyed enemies and cameras do not respawn in the city, you will see them again when the mission demands it. Your arsenal has 12 distinct bots and gadgets, each with its own set of skills, characteristics, and power costs. You begin with one basic assault bot and a swarm bot composed of three weak and tiny bots, but you can unlock more, such as a healer or shield bot. The criterion is that you find the blueprints and collect enough cores while exploring. Bots cannot be upgraded, but you can equip them with a single mod that increases their attack or movement speed, health, or causes them to explode when they lose all health. Although there are robots that cannot be destroyed and will take almost all of your health when seen, health can be quickly restored using dispensers distributed throughout the city. Even if you die or fail a mission, the game's auto-save feature ensures that no progress is lost. It saves whenever you open chests, find collectibles, or defeat enemies.

For a dystopian setting, at least there's free healthcare. City of Springs is a solid action adventure game, centred on Val, a scrappy (heh) protagonist trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic and dystopian city dominated by clockwork machines. It blends exploration with an easy to grasp tower defence combat mechanic that is snappy and feels natural in its setting. The visuals are gorgeous and immersive, the quests are charming and the setting breathes love and attention for detail. All in all it's hard to believe that such a small company managed to release a game at this level of quality. Of course, it being an indie title, and an early-access one at that, you shouldn't expect a game that outstrips those of large developer teams under major publishing houses-- but it damn well tries, and holds its own. At this price, it's an absolute steal. Having given the game a try, I can happily say it's worth four times the price.

The game is interesting, that's for sure... However, there are huge problems with it, specifically around the graphics and optimization. To put it bluntly, this game looks awful. The camera work is off-putting, the animations are goofy, levers are in random spots—the list goes on. Simply put, the game looks amateurish, like a developer who went way over budget. This looks too incomplete to even be considered early access. As the game has a small player base, I would recommend the developer move away from the current tech and aim for a Source Engine-esque game. It would fit the art style far better because currently, the textures are far too small for this game to look right. Optimization is terrible—currently getting 30 FPS on a GTX 1070 Ti. Texture's looked terrible from a distance and when I got closer it did improve. Hitching was also common. It's also clear the developer has a dev diary or YouTube. I’ve never checked it, but fundamentally, the game looks like it has potential. The theme hits a sore spot for me, which is why I got it, but it's so amateurish that it makes Thymesia look like a godsend.

[i] A masterclass in storytelling and world building, brilliantly highlighting divide and inequality. Be warned however, it feels like a game from the early 2010’s. [/i] [h1]📝 Main Pros and Cons, followed by the Review:[/h1] 🟩 Pros: + Well-crafted dystopian world with a strong sense of atmosphere + Stunning steampunk setting with architecture that exudes character + Innovative combat system, reminiscent of Clash Royale or Minion Masters + Unique drone companion concept 🟥 Cons: - Uninspiring stealth segments - Camera and player movement feel off - Exploration feels unrewarding, often leading to dead ends and locked doors - Low visual fidelity (Animations, textures, and lighting flaws – Explained below) - Emotionless voice acting and major lip-sync issues [h1] Where Something Is Broken, You Take It Apart and You Fix It [/h1] City of Springs (CoS) casts you as Val, a mechanic from the slums in a dystopia ruled by a Queen and her robots. The developers have done an amazing job crafting a world which brilliantly showcases its divide and inequality from the start. Unfortunately, while not a bad game, it’s not for me due to the reasons below. Visually, animations are rough, with characters and limbs clipping through the world (and each other). Textures are inconsistent, some resembling the PS3 era. Finally, the sun’s lighting appears to follow the camera instead of remaining static (static lighting such as torches works as expected). Audio is just as weak, with characters often deliver lines emotionlessly, regardless of the situation. It’s frustrating because I loved the innovative combat system and drone mechanic, even if both felt basic. Ultimately CoS isn’t a bad game, it’s just not for me. I’ve been spoiled over the years with plenty of brilliant open world adventures, so games like this rarely get more than a couple of hours of my time. I’m giving it a recommended rating because it delivers on its vision despite suffering a troubled development – Be warned however, it feels like a game from the early 2010’s. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44931904-Bite-Sized-Reviews//]If you enjoyed my review and would like to support me, I would love if you followed [b]BSR[/b] for more bite sized reviews.[/url][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote]

[h2]City of Springs é uma jornada que fala sobre mim, sobre nós.[/h2] Eu encontrei nessa protagonista preta, de cabelo cacheado e crespo, toda uma estética que raramente é valorizada nos games. Pela primeira vez, pude me identificar; não só com o visual, mas com a força criativa e ancestral que ela carrega. O jogo começa numa situação desoladora, e eu prefiro não dar spoiler… mas é o tipo de cena que te coloca de frente com a injustiça. E ainda assim, ela segue, resistindo, transformando sucata em revolução. Isso me tocou de um jeito profundo porque reconheci ali parte da nossa história: nossa inteligência, nossa luta, nossa beleza. O sistema de jogo é um híbrido entre stealth, ação e aventura, ambientado num universo steampunk onde a pobreza não é pano de fundo: é motor de resistência. As missões te fazem pensar e criar. Você coleta sucatas em Riveton e transforma isso em robôs que te ajudam a abrir caminhos, explorar fontes escondidas de energia e proteger moradores que sofrem com o domínio das corporações. Tudo isso envolto por uma trilha sonora angustiante e marcante que pulsa junto com a tensão da jornada. No lançamento, tive dificuldades técnicas. Meu PC não rodava bem, e isso me impediu de aproveitar o jogo. Mas o mais bonito foi receber um [b] e-mail do desenvolvedor[/b], dizendo que se sentiu triste por eu não conseguir jogar e que entendeu minha análise. Ele se propôs a melhorar o game e, com atualizações até junho, conseguiu. Hoje, City of Springs roda bem e está com um preço que considero um roubo para o resultado entregue, o que só reforça o cuidado com o público brasileiro. Essa é uma experiência que recomendo profundamente, pois não é só sobre gameplay. É sobre se ver, se escutar, se reconectar como sujeito ativo na sociedade. City of Springs é revolução na estética, na narrativa e na alma. Ps: O jogo não está em PT-BR, treina seu inglês ou francês enquanto joga, tá? 👀 Se quiser saber mais! Veja meu video :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO0jNbahqBQ&t=1s

It's funny to think of this as "early access" because the polish is quite good, no major bugs, good performance and it feels like a game that will actually get better over time. My main takeaway is the combat, it's about sending out robots on either a left or right path, with new ones and skills to unlock. It's definitely not the standard 14th Assassins Creed Title, where it's kind of "always the same". You should take this game for what it is, a creative indie-game that's fun to play. It's worth it to support the Dev and I'm happy it's only a couple bucks and not a 20€ title, so I'd say just grab a copy and enjoy the game. Plus The Naked Dev, is a sweet person that listens to feedback, so if you'd like to see change he's probably going to respond to your message persoanlly.

City of Springs is a steampunk action-adventure blending story, art, and strategy. Playing as Val, a mechanic in a dystopian city, you engage in tactical combat using drones while sneaking past enemies. The world feels alive, with a Bioshock Infinite-inspired aesthetic but a unique Western twist. For an indie title, it’s an impressive achievement—fun, immersive, and well worth the price for fans of steampunk and tactical combat. Highly recommended!

A great fun little game, and at the price I would recommend to anyone who like a straightforward game with a decent story woven through it. I played on the easy mode as I am not good at these kind of fast finger movement type games. The early chapters were complex enough, but later chapters seemed a little predictable. There were a few bugs, but the Dev is very approachable and fixed them quickly. Great service. The following suggestions would, I believe, make the game better. 1. 5 save profiles... but they are auto saves by the game. Allow the player to make their own saves at points that they want, perhaps to go back to a favourite point and try different options. 2. A mini-map would have saved so much dropping out of immersion to check where on the map you were. 3. Too many reward and/or enemies were at a set location but only after a set point in the story had been reached. So it seems that they just appeared out of no where. In each sector my MO was to wander around and destroy observers, speakers and any enemy bots that I came up against. But often when returning to that area on a set quest, new ones had appeared or even worse the game was reporting that they were there, when I had already killed them. Mostly in the latter areas. 4. The story could/should be more nuanced. With so many surveillance bots, the resistance should not have been so obvious. And other "agents" apart from our protagonist ought to have been out causing trouble. 5. The ending was a little weak, story wise. It might have been nice if the tapes tied into the end story in some way. But having said all this it was a great game, complete with a good story. and promises great futures for the Dev. Not sure if there is much more to be added or refined in this game, but perhaps there will be a City of Springs 2 (across the seas).

My first impressions: Clearly, a lot of heart has gone into this game. The world-building and the story quickly drew me in and I am already intrigued by the combat mechanic. I really like that the 'steam' in steampunk is more than just a style choice but is also incorporated in the story itself. The ambient sounds of the city are well done which helps to create a great vibe with some sinister undertones. The voice acting is great, especially the voice for the main character is really good. I am playing this on a Steam Deck, which is apparently a little under-powered for this game. Playing on medium/low settings keeps the framerate up and stable, but does give it the visual feel of an early PS2 game, which is probably not how the developers intended it to look, but I have no doubt that some performance optimizations would improve on this. Otherwise, there are no issues running this on a Steam Deck and having the trackpad work as a mouse make the controls even better. Just cleared chapter one, very curious how the game will play out!

[h2]Bonjour à tous ![/h2] City of Springs est un jeu d'aventure et d'action dans un monde steampunk, dans lequel on incarne Val, une mécanicienne, qui va se révolter contre la dictature qui règne sur la ville de Riveton ! Review faite sur Twitch : https://www.twitch.tv/hyrroh [h3]Points positifs :[/h3] - Une DA vraiment très sympa, chaque quartier montre des niveaux de vie différents, tout en gardant le côté steampunk qui symbolise la dictature ! - Une histoire prenante, qui nous emmène vers différents PNJs qui deviendront nos alliés de la rébellion - Des combats avec des drônes, c'est très original - Des statistiques à augmenter pour améliorer sa progression dans le jeu et les combats - Des phases d'infiltration où il faut réfléchir à comment contourner les machines [h3]Points négatifs :[/h3] - Quelques petits soucis de textures - Les animations des personnages pourraient être améliorées (les yeux pendant les cinématiques, ou les PNJs qui font des actions répétées comme les ouvriers avec les leviers) - La traduction (française notamment) est parfois bancale, ça rend malheureusement des moments comiques au lieu d'être dramatique. De plus, certaines mots sont malheureusement traduit sans contexte. [h3]Axes d'améliorations :[/h3] - Comme cité précédemment, corriger les problèmes de textures - Améliorer les traductions Un bon petit jeu, qui alterne entre exploration, infiltration et phases de combat, je compte le continuer, il faut le coup pour son prix ! [b]Note globale : 16/20[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [h2]Hello everyone![/h2] City of Springs is an action-adventure game set in a steampunk world, where you play as Val, a mechanic who rises up against the dictatorship ruling over the city of Riveton! Review done on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/hyrroh [h3]Pros:[/h3] - A really nice art direction — each district shows different living conditions while keeping the steampunk aesthetic that reflects the dictatorship - An engaging story that leads you to various NPCs who become your allies in the rebellion - Drone combat — very original! - Stats to upgrade your progression and combat performance - Stealth sequences where you have to think about how to outsmart the machines [h3]Downsides:[/h3] - A few texture issues - Character animations could use improvement (especially eye movement during cutscenes, or NPCs doing repetitive actions like workers on levers) - The translation (especially in French) is sometimes awkward — it unintentionally turns dramatic scenes into comical ones. Some words are translated without proper context. [h3]Suggestions for improvement:[/h3] - As mentioned above, fix the texture issues - Improve the translations A solid little game that blends exploration, stealth, and combat — I plan to keep playing it, it's well worth it for the price! Overall rating: 16/20