In 2018, indie New Zealand studio A44 introduced itself to the world with its debut venture, Ashen, a stunning expertise set in a desolate and minimalistic world, delivering a standard, stable Soulslike expertise, albeit with some irritating issue and balancing points. Six years on from its debut, A44 is again with its sophomore outing, and although Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak nonetheless incorporates quite a lot of the weather which are generally related to the Soulslike subgenre, its purpose is to ship a way more approachable motion RPG expertise. It’s, after all, not the primary recreation to have tried to skirt that line- however I can confidently say that few video games have accomplished it fairly in addition to Flintlock does.
In every thing from the construction of its world, the way it punishes loss of life, its strategy to issue, and the way it handles exploration, Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak scratches that very particular Soulslike itch- which, after all, is one thing that we all know A44 is able to delivering, courtesy of Ashen. On the identical time, nevertheless, Flintlock can be a way more forgiving recreation with a a lot decrease barrier for entry, whether or not that’s due to the a number of issue choices obtainable, due to fight simply typically not being as troublesome as it’s in most conventional Soulslikes, or due to extra granular parts, like how beneficiant it’s with checkpoints or quick journey.
“In every thing from the construction of its world, the way it punishes loss of life, its strategy to issue, and the way it handles exploration, Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak scratches that very particular Soulslike itch- which, after all, is one thing that we all know A44 is able to delivering, courtesy of Ashen. On the identical time, nevertheless, Flintlock can be a way more forgiving recreation with a a lot decrease barrier for entry.”
However first issues first- let’s speak about what Flintlock precisely is. Set on the planet of Kian, it goes all in on the flintlock fantasy aesthetic, as its title suggests, which suggests a mixture of all the normal fantasy parts mixed with an early trendy setting and early traces of expertise. In and of its personal, it’s a robust aesthetic, and it’s one which the sport makes use of to nice impact, immediately carving out a singular visible identification for itself and the world that it’s set in. You play as Nor Vanek, an elite soldier who, accompanied by the mysterious fox-like entity named Enki, is tasked with defeating highly effective beings which have escaped out into the world from the Nice Beneath and are actually wreaking absolute havoc, to place it mildly.
Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak doesn’t totally decide to the Soulslike bit within the narrative and storytelling division both. True to the style’s regular trappings, it does have cryptic notes and bits and items of textual content scattered about that vaguely allude to new particulars in regards to the lore, like new puzzle items ready to be put collectively, however on the identical time, Flintlock additionally isn’t as averse to standard storytelling strategies and staples as Soulslikes usually are usually. There’s loads of cutscenes, not all characters that you simply converse to insist on talking in riddles, and there are even cities and settlements on the planet which are populated with NPCs that you may work together and even play minigames with.
How properly does it work? Properly, storytelling isn’t the place Flintlock’s strengths lie. As I discussed, I believe it boasts a robust setting (the place the aesthetic does quite a lot of the heavy-lifting), however the place the story itself is worried, the sport is serviceable at finest. There are occasions the place I loved the interactions between Nor Vanek and Enki, and studying extra in regards to the world of Kian and its lore was at all times charming, however by and huge, the story was by no means something past passably attention-grabbing, and barely was it wherever near being the factor that was preserving me enjoying.
“Flintlock boasts a robust setting (the place the aesthetic does quite a lot of the heavy-lifting), however the place the story itself is worried, the sport is serviceable at finest.”
There may be, nevertheless, a lot else that will preserve you enjoying in Flintlock. The fight, as an example, is an absolute blast. Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak is a way more approachable flavour of Soulslike, which suggests even on regular issue, it’s not as troublesome as quite a lot of different video games within the style, but it surely nonetheless does preserve a good stage of problem, whereas additionally nailing a lot of the fundamentals fairly properly. Chaining collectively assaults, dodges, and parries feels good on a core, moment-to-moment stage, particularly as the sport begins throwing an rising number of enemies at you, every bringing their very own distinctive challenges. In the meantime, fight additionally feels typically quicker than it does in most Soulslikes, with Nor Vanek’s actions being far more nimble and athletic.
Past that, the sport throws in further mechanics as new wrinkles within the proceedings, like armoured or shielded enemies presenting completely different obstacles, a wide range of firearms to make use of for ranged choices, or utilizing Witherings to unleash highly effective and magical talents throughout fights. Chief amongst Flintlock’s personal twists on acquainted concepts, nevertheless, is the Popularity system, which is successfully the sport’s model of Souls, and as such, central to its development methods. At its core, it capabilities precisely the identical way- you earn it by defeating enemies, and you then spend it to improve your character- although right here, you’re doing that in a ability tree, which suggests your choices are a bit extra guided and restricted than in conventional style choices. And sure, as you’d count on from a Soulslike, in the event you die, you lose your entire unspent Popularity, although you possibly can earn it again by returning to the spot of your death- until you die earlier than you do, through which case you’ve misplaced that chunk eternally.
What makes the Popularity system actually sing, nevertheless, is the distinctive threat/reward mechanic it comes with. Flintlock encourages gamers to combine up their actions and combos in fight, as a result of each time you do this, you enhance your Popularity multiplier. So if, say, throughout on battle, you mix a wide range of dodges, assaults, parries, firearm assaults, and what have you ever, that battle will possible see your Popularity going up. There’s a catch, nevertheless, as a result of as quickly as you get hit, your multiplier will get reset, and also you immediately earn nevertheless a lot Popularity you’ve racked up till that time. That’s why the sport offers you guide management over when to money in- do you belief your expertise and preserve rising your multiplier, hoping for an enormous payout, or do you play it protected and preserve cashing in earlier than you get hit? It’s an unbelievable system, as a result of not solely does it encourage you to correctly have interaction with the sport’s full suite of fight mechanics, it additionally feels appropriately rewarding whereas additionally by no means feeling dauntingly punishing.
“Not solely does the Popularity system encourage you to correctly have interaction with the sport’s full suite of fight mechanics, it additionally feels appropriately rewarding whereas additionally by no means feeling dauntingly punishing.”
Past that, Flintlock’s development mechanics are somewhat easy of their implementation. You should use the Popularity you’ve earned to unlock expertise within the ability tree, slowly increasing your moveset and roster of talents, whereas there’s additionally gear to seek out and equip to additional hone up your construct. Outdoors of that, there’s new weapons to seek out, current weapons to improve, cosmetics to buy, and extra. Soulslike fans could be disillusioned within the lack of emphasis positioned on construct range right here, however Flintlock’s development mechanics are greater than serviceable in the event you’re approaching it as extra of an motion RPG on this specific division, particularly because it’s the Popularity system that’s the primary draw of Flintlock’s development facet of issues.
The place exploration is worried, Flintlock does a stable job of preserving gamers engaged. Designed as a semi-open expertise, its world sees you seamlessly transferring by means of linear and semi-linear areas which are linked to one another by means of loops and shortcuts in typical Soulslike trend. There’s often of loads of room for exploration, and as a rule, it tends to really feel appropriately rewarding. You’ll discover new companions to recruit on your caravan, non-obligatory areas to probe for highly effective gear, crafting sources to spend on beneficial gear upgrades, hamlets to rescue so you possibly can earn well being flask upgrades, and loads of facet quests to trace down.
Flintlock additionally ensures that the quicker pace of its fight displays in its common traversal and exploration as properly. Nor Vanek’s common motion pace is sort of nimble, whereas she additionally has a repertoire of jumps, double jumps, dashes, vaults, and what have you ever that she is able to stringing collectively. Due to Enki’s talents, she will additionally fly by means of rifts within the sky, which by no means fairly will get boring. Flintlock’s motion and traversal make sure that even when the sport’s choices are slightly generic or plain of their design – which I generally discovered among the facet content material or areas to be – merely transferring about and exploring environments stays enjoyable. The sport does really feel a bit janky in its actions and animations at occasions, nevertheless, which is an issue that may often drag down each fight and traversal. I didn’t discover it to be an enormous subject in my expertise, however others would possibly discover it extra annoying.
“The place exploration is worried, Flintlock does a stable job of preserving gamers engaged.”
Jankiness is one thing that each one of Flintlock suffers from, however actually, technical excellence and top-of-the-line polish wasn’t one thing I used to be anticipating from this recreation anyway. It’s a basic case of a somewhat-technically-rough but massively pleasant AA expertise, one that truly will shock you with its sights vistas now and again. As soon as once more, the sport’s setting involves the rescue, permitting the artwork design to flourish and concoct environments and areas which are usually a pleasure to behold- not less than so long as you’re not zooming into issues an excessive amount of.
Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak is, in the end, a recreation with greater than sufficient going for it to make it a simple suggestion. Soulslike veterans trying to proceed scratching the style’s very specific itch discover a lot to like right here (particularly in the event you crank up the issue), whereas newcomers could have what might be the most suitable choice for somebody who’s often daunted by the style’s conventional strategy to issue. Enjoyable fight, partaking development, a fantastic setting, and the superb Popularity system mix to create what’s a stable, undeniably pleasant motion RPG Soulslike that you simply undoubtedly shouldn’t skip.
This recreation was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
