The influence it has Dark Souls The popularity of FromSoftware in the gaming world is immeasurable, and games that describe themselves as ‘soulslike’ abound. While some use the systems popularized by FromSoftware to introduce new ideas, others are content to be mere imitators. In this review, we’re going to find out which of these two groups the new FromSoftware belongs to. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.
This is the second work of the New Zealand studio A44 Games. Their first title, called Ashen, It was an interesting soulslike with some very striking ideas that never quite came together. This new game shows much more maturity and the result is much more satisfying.
This review of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is under development.
The coalition army has stood before the mysterious portal from which the ‘inerts’ emerge, an unstoppable horde of creatures that – if not contained – threaten the entire land of Alba. In a desperate attempt to stop them, sapper Nor Vanek and her squad detonate an explosion with which they hope to seal their entry into the world once and for all. Things do not go well. The detonation not only allowed the inerts to spread everywhere, but the gods themselves escaped through the portal and have begun to take over everything.
Accompanied by a fox-shaped god who calls himself Enki, Nor begins an adventure in which she must travel across Alba to end the threat of the undead and eliminate the gods themselves.
A Matter of Reputation
If you’ve played any of FromSoftware’s most popular games or one of the many soulslikes inspired by them, you know pretty much what to expect: high difficulty, loss of resources when dying, returning to the point where we fell to recover them, ‘bonfires’ in which we recover but the enemies revive and a combat system in which ‘parries’ or counterattacks are of great importance..
What makes special Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn in a sea of similar games? For starters, its verticality. It has a lot more jumping and platforming elements than other games in the same genre and that makes it exploration becomes more satisfying and interestingIt also includes new combat features that fit well with the “risk and reward” theme.
The equivalent of ‘souls’ in this game is Reputation, which we gain by killing enemies, completing quests, and using certain items. As you might expect, we can spend it to learn skills and upgrade equipment, but there’s an extra element to earning it. As we hit enemies and perform certain actions, we increase a Reputation multiplier that we can redeem at any time.. It’s worth holding out as long as possible to get as much as we can. The problem is that if we get hit, the multiplier goes back to zero. This simple addition makes combat much more tense and exciting. Now we not only have to worry about losing all our Reputation if we die before we get it back, but we can lose the “chance” to multiply the one we get if we don’t play perfectly.
Gods of Dawn
The main plot of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn —eliminating the gods— is striking and provocative, but it is not as well executed as I would have liked. The beginning of the story moves too quickly and does not give time to internalize the state of the world. The mythology —with gods apparently inspired by entities and deities of Sumeria and other ancient Asian sites—lacks depth.
Initially, this game doesn’t stand out much on a visual level. We travel through yellowish and then snowy scenarios with generic architecture. Things get much better as we progress and discover very bizarre enemy designs and more surreal landscapes.. Just as we begin the second major area of the game, we visit a beautiful cliff that is a real treat for the eyes. Exploring is quite satisfying due to the variety and usefulness of the rewards that can be found in the optional areas of each map.
It also stands out for its artistic direction. Traditional medieval elements are complemented by firearms and colonial-era uniforms that give more personality to Alba’s world. Although rifles and pistols are mainly secondary weapons, they help create a pleasant and varied rhythm in combat.
Enki, the fox god who accompanies us, also plays an active part in the fights. He has the ability to “curse” his rivals and cause them different effects. The relationship that forms between Nor Vanek and this deity is also pleasant, because as we travel through the world we learn a lot about both of them and there are some dialogues that are funny and sometimes even dramatic. It is clear that they were inspired by the dynamic that exists between Kratos and Atreus from God of War, Frey and Cepo in Forspoken and in other games where we always travel with a companion, but they failed to replicate the chemistry between them. The secondary characters are, in general, quite generic and boring.
Guilty of deicide
As I said a few paragraphs above, one of the elements that makes it special Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn The verticality of the game’s environments is a major issue. Shortly after starting to play, Nor gains a “double jump” ability that makes moving between platforms very satisfying. However, at times it feels a bit imprecise due to the lack of control we have in the air. This is not a serious problem and one eventually gets used to it.
What is a bit more serious are the reactions to some enemy attacks. In general, I think the combat in this game is great, but it does have some annoying issues. There are times when Nor doesn’t seem visually affected by certain enemy attacks and it’s hard to determine their effect without keeping an eye on the health bar at all times. I’ve suffered several deaths where I honestly didn’t realize I’d been hit because Nor didn’t indicate it to me through her animations. I don’t know if this is a bug or a design issue, but I hope it’s the former and that they fix it quickly. It’s the only real drawback to a combat system that I loved.
I still have a few hours of play left to reach the end of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, So I’m not ready to conclude this review or give the game a definitive rating. Come back to PS5 in the coming days for our final thoughts on this interesting game.
Review in progress…
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn in-development review made with a digital copy for PS5 provided by Kepler Interactive. The game will also be available for Xbox Series X|S and PC on July 18, 2024.
