As a seasoned gamer and long-time fan of the Soulslike genre, I approached Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn with high expectations. Having spent countless hours honing my skills in the dark, intricate worlds of games like Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I was eager to explore a new realm filled with challenge and mystery.
In 2018, New Zealand indie studio A44 introduced themselves to the gaming community with their first project, “Ashen,” an exquisite adventure set in a barren and simplistic universe, providing a classic, challenging Soulslike experience, but with some perplexing difficulty and equilibrium issues. Now, four years later, A44 is back with their second production, “Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.” Although this game retains many elements typical of the Soulslike genre, its primary objective is to offer a more accessible action RPG experience for players. While not the first game to attempt this, I can assure you that few have managed it as successfully as “Flintlock” does.
As a fan of challenging action RPGs, I can’t help but be drawn to the unique elements of “Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.” This game scratches that specific Soulslike itch for me in numerous ways. From its intricately designed world, the way it handles death, and how it approaches difficulty, I find myself fully immersed. And let’s not forget the exploration – it’s both thrilling and rewarding.
“Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn” shares many elements that resonate with the Soulslike genre, including its world design, death consequences, challenge level, and exploration methods. This is a testament to A44’s ability to create immersive experiences, as demonstrated in their previous game, “Ashen.” However, it’s important to note that “Flintlock” caters to a wider audience with less stringent requirements for players to jump in.”
Before we delve into the details, let’s clarify what “Flintlock” signifies. In the realm of Kian, this term represents a distinctive blend of traditional fantasy elements infused with an early modern ambiance and rudimentary technology. The name itself is indicative of this unique aesthetic. This setting is powerful on its own and plays a significant role in creating a visually striking and distinct identity for the game and its universe. As the protagonist, you assume the role of Nor Vanek, an elite soldier, accompanied by the enigmatic fox-like entity named Enki. Together, your mission is to subdue the powerful beings that have emerged from the Great Below and are causing massive destruction in their wake.
The Siege of Dawn” doesn’t strictly adhere to the enigmatic storyline and narrative found in most Soulslike games. While it does include cryptic clues and lore fragments, it also incorporates more traditional storytelling techniques. There are cutscenes, characters who converse clearly, and inhabited towns and settlements where you can engage with NPCs and even participate in mini-games.
The storytelling in Flintlock doesn’t excel, I must admit. While I acknowledge its strong points such as the impressive setting, which contributes significantly, the story itself leaves much to be desired. At times, the interactions between Nor Vanek and Enki were engaging, and exploring Kian’s world and its rich lore kept me hooked. However, the story rarely rose above being mildly intriguing and seldom held my attention like the world-building did.
As a big fan of gaming, I must admit that Flintlock’s visuals truly impress with their captivating settings. However, when it comes to the narrative, my experience with the game has been fairly average at most.
In Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, there are numerous engaging elements that will keep you hooked. For starters, the combat is incredibly enjoyable. This game offers a friendlier take on the Soulslike genre, making it less daunting even on normal mode, though it still presents a sufficient level of challenge. Engaging in battles involves skillfully linking attacks, evasions, and parries, which feels satisfying as the game progressively introduces a diverse range of enemies, each posing unique combat scenarios. Moreover, combat in Flintlock tends to be quicker than in most Soulslike games, with Nor Vanek’s movements being more agile and graceful.
In addition, the game introduces new complexities through various elements, such as adversaries with armor or shields introducing distinct challenges, an assortment of firearms for long-range attacks, and utilizing Witherings to summon powerful magical abilities during battles. However, Flintlock sets itself apart from the norm with its Reputation system, which is akin to that found in Souls games and plays a significant role in the game’s advancement mechanisms. Essentially, it operates similarly- gaining Reputation by defeating enemies and using it to enhance your character through a skill tree- albeit with more directed and confined choices compared to typical genre counterparts. As is commonplace in Souls-like games, dying results in losing all unspent Reputation, which can be regained upon returning to the location of death, unless you perish before doing so, resulting in a permanent loss.
The Reputation system in Flintlock shines uniquely due to its engaging risk/reward mechanism. In battles, players are motivated to diversify their moves and combinations since each new action increases the Reputation booster. Consequently, a fight that involves various evasions, strikes, parries, and gunfire could significantly boost your Reputation. However, every time you’re hit, this multiplier resets, making you forfeit all earned Reputation up until that point. Thus, the game provides players with the freedom to decide when to collect their rewards – do they take risks and build a larger reward or opt for safety and cash in regularly? This system is captivating because it effectively encourages exploration of the game’s combat mechanics while ensuring a balance between reward and challenge.
The Reputation system not only motivates you to utilize all the combat features in the game, but it also provides a satisfying reward and avoids being overly harsh when mistakes are made.
In addition, Flintlock’s gameplay mechanics for progression are uncomplicated and well-executed. You can utilize the Reputation you’ve gained to unlock new skills in the skill tree, thereby enhancing your moveset and expanding your repertoire of abilities. Moreover, there are various items to discover and wear to refine your character’s build. Other features include obtaining new weapons, upgrading existing weapons, purchasing cosmetics, and much more. Although Soulslike aficionados might be displeased by the relatively limited emphasis on character customization in Flintlock, its progression mechanics are still sufficient if you view it primarily as an action RPG, given that the Reputation system is the primary focus of Flintlock’s progression aspects.
In terms of discovery, Flintlock effectively holds players’ interest. Featuring a semi-open layout, its environment lets you transition smoothly between linear and flexible zones, similar to Soulslike games. The landscape typically offers ample opportunities for exploration, which frequently feels rewarding. Along the way, you encounter new allies to bring into your caravan, hidden areas with potent equipment, resources for enhancing gear through crafting, settlements to save for health flask enhancements, and numerous side missions to complete.
Flintlock’s swift combat pace translates into her exploration and movement as well. Vanek’s regular movement is not particularly quick, but she possesses various jumping, double jumping, dashing, and vaulting techniques to keep things interesting. With Enki’s skills, she can even fly through openings in the sky, adding an exciting twist. Flintlock’s agile navigation keeps exploration engaging, even if some areas or side content seem repetitive. However, the game occasionally exhibits janky movements and animations that might hinder both combat and traversal for some players. Though I didn’t find it to be a major concern during my playthrough, others may find it more bothersome.
“Where exploration is concerned, Flintlock does a solid job of keeping players engaged.”
The game “Flintlock” exhibits some roughness or instability in its performance, which is common among it. Nevertheless, I didn’t anticipate this title to boast technical perfection and meticulous refinement. Instead, we have an engaging AA game that delights with stunning vistas and visuals at unexpected moments. The captivating environment design saves the day, creating breathtaking locations and sceneries- as long as you don’t scrutinize too closely.
The Siege of Dawn” is an enticing action RPG worth considering. For seasoned Soulslike players seeking their next fix, this game offers a challenging experience with additional features to relish. Newcomers to the genre may find it an ideal entry point due to its more accessible difficulty setting. With captivating combat, rewarding progression, a fascinating world, and an exceptional Reputation system, “Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn” delivers an engaging Soulslike experience that’s definitely worth playing.
This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
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2024-07-19 00:11