Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak has been marketed as a souls-lite relatively than the extra widespread souls-like, which I assumed meant it might be extra approachable whereas nonetheless retaining lots of the style’s core tenets. That is partly true in that it is nowhere close to as punishing as From Software program’s video games, and options acquainted parts like bonfire-esque checkpoints and an Estus Flask-style therapeutic system. But the sport’s type is extra akin to one thing like Star Wars: Jedi Survivor than any Darkish Souls recreation. Flintlock appears like a mashup of sensibilities between a souls-like and a extra conventional motion recreation, bridging the hole between the 2 with its personal pleasant method to fast-paced fight and high-flying traversal.
One space by which Flintlock instantly stands out amongst its contemporaries is its distinctive setting. Mixing magical excessive fantasy with parts from the seventeenth to nineteenth century and the arrival of gunpowder, Flintlock’s world is instantly intriguing. In your half, you are strapped into the boots of protagonist Nor Vanek, a sapper within the Coalition military who unwittingly breaks a seal to the Nice Under, unleashing malevolent Gods and their armies of the lifeless upon the lands of Kian. This act units in movement a reasonably simple story as Nor–wracked with guilt over condemning her residence to near-annihilation–sets out on a path of vengeance to kill the Gods and retake the world. She’s joined by a mysterious fox-like companion known as Enki, who’s eager to share his data of the Gods whereas aiding Nor’s efforts with a bunch of magical talents.
The narrative’s easy, laser-focused method works within the recreation’s favor, supplying you with a transparent finish aim to pursue that aligns with the snappy pacing of its motion and motion. There are moments of interpersonal battle, however the story by no means deviates from its deicidal path, lending the narrative a purposeful sense of ahead momentum that carries it by way of to the top. The trade-off, nonetheless, is that you simply’re unlikely to really feel any attachment to its small forged of one-dimensional characters, regardless of pleasurable performances from Olive Grey (Halo), Alistar Petrie (Intercourse Schooling), and Elias Toufexis (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided).
I additionally want there was extra to its anomalous world, which is barely intriguing at first look. Moments of downtime are generally punctuated by Enki explaining the character of the Nice Under and the position of the Gods, however no such effort is afforded to the setting and its inhabitants. The sport’s environments are assorted, each from a pure standpoint and an architectural one–pulling influences from the likes of historical Egypt, the Renaissance period, and the American Revolutionary Struggle–yet it affords no clarification as to how these disparate parts got here collectively. In consequence, a lot of the sport appears like mere set dressing. It is potential I missed some non-obligatory conversations that cowl this facet of the sport, however I do know for certain it is not upfront about it, neither is this data scattered away in hidden notes or merchandise descriptions.
Happily, Flintlock’s degree design is uniformly glorious. The very first thing that jumps out about its locales is the sheer verticality current in nearly each house. Relatively than navigating by way of twisting labyrinths that corkscrew and fold again on themselves, you usually journey from one finish of a big map to a different. Alongside the best way, there are quite a few alternatives to enterprise off the crushed path, and also you’re always rewarded for exploring with essential discoveries reminiscent of improve supplies and health-boosting shrines.
You would possibly often create a shortcut by opening up a metallic gate, however for probably the most half, you are discovering magical portals which you could leap between with Enki’s assist. Generally, these portals create paths backward, conjuring a distinct sort of shortcut. Different occasions, they veer upwards, letting you launch into the sky and make use of the sport’s verticality to traverse the surroundings and achieve the ingredient of shock on enemies beneath. Mix this with Nor’s mobility–including double-jump and sprint moves–and platforming in Flintlock is a continuing delight as you quickly hurtle over chasms and leap between rooftops. It will possibly really feel a tad floaty and weightless at occasions, however the recreation not often calls for precision platforming to the purpose the place this turns into a difficulty.
For as essential as traversing the lands of Kian is, Flintlock’s fight is its true bread and butter. Nor comes locked and loaded with a small arsenal of lethal armaments, together with a melee weapon, a major firearm like a pistol or the eponymous flintlock, and a secondary firearm reminiscent of a musket or fire-spitting flamethrower. Melee fight consists of the standard combine of sunshine and heavy assaults, and you’ll dodge, block, and parry incoming strikes, too.
Some enemies will lunge at you with signposted unblockable assaults that may be sidestepped or, in an identical vein to Bloodborne’s gun-parrying, halted with a blast out of your major firearm–the catch being which you could solely hearth off a number of of those pictures earlier than you’ll want to recharge your black powder provide by getting in a number of melee hits. This incentivizes you to play aggressively, particularly when you think about Nor’s fleet-footedness and the very fact you are not restricted by a stamina meter. There is a souls-like tinge embedded in Flintlock’s melee fisticuffs, nevertheless it’s extra of a forgiving energy fantasy than its friends.
Enki performs a necessary position on this and the general move of fight. He has his personal assaults that each curse enemies and construct up their priming gauge. Hanging enemies inflicted with the curse of dying additional builds this meter, and when it is full, your foes enter a primed state that leaves them broad open to a lethal important assault. That is notably helpful towards armored and shield-wielding enemies, permitting you to take away their further safety and join with the fleshy bits. Enki proves useful with a few of his passive tips, too, taunting and distracting enemies once you’re outnumbered.
In the meantime, his ultimate-style Witherings allow you to unleash highly effective talents in a pinch, maybe empowering your weapons with magical vitality or summoning a storm that explodes from inside. There’s usually loads occurring in a single battle, nevertheless it feels intuitive and shortly turns into second nature to pepper an enemy with Enki’s assaults, parry an incoming strike with a blast out of your pistol, after which transition right into a combo of melee assaults earlier than utilizing a musket to ship a small metallic ball hurtling by way of your opponent’s cranium.
Extra formidable and hard-hitting foes demand a degree of endurance and studious perception into their assault patterns, however on its regular issue setting, Flintlock supplies the occasional problem with out ever being notably powerful. Enemy assaults are clearly telegraphed, and the timing window on counters is beneficiant and, thus, comparatively straightforward to drag off persistently. A tough issue setting is there for these craving extra of a cruel problem, whereas a “story” mode lowers the problem a notch additional for anybody searching for a neater time. Though it’s price noting that the latter disables all achievements, which is an odd determination when so many different video games are doing the alternative.
Nonetheless you resolve to play, Flintlock’s axe-slashing and pistol-shooting appears to be like trendy and feels impactful. Stopping an enemy in its tracks with the thunderous clap of a blunderbuss is all the time satisfying, as is following up with a flurry of blows from an armor-piercing mallet or fire-tinged axe. There is a sense of imprecision that often rears its ugly head, whether or not it is as a consequence of animations not fairly lining up or the window to cancel an assault right into a parry feeling too lengthy and inflexible. These aren’t deal breakers, however they’re one thing you would possibly want to regulate to.
By way of development, the foreign money of expertise factors you accrue is solely known as repute. You earn repute with every kill, however in a singular twist on the standard formulation, each profitable strike, dodge, and parry you carry out additionally provides a bonus multiplier. This sees the quantity of repute you’ll be able to earn go up in increments, from 5% further rep as much as 100%. Instantly, 500 repute is price 1,000 and also you’re swimming in foreign money. It is your selection when to money in, too, as a result of getting hit wipes out the multiplier utterly, forcing you to financial institution solely the bottom quantity of repute potential. Flintlock already encourages you to play on the entrance foot, however now you are additionally incentivized to dispatch enemies as swiftly as you’ll be able to with out getting hit. It is traditional risk-and-reward, the place every battle turns into a chance. Even when it is not probably the most difficult recreation, striving to attain the proper battle provides a level of delectable rigidity to each conflict of metal.
As soon as you have amassed sufficient repute, you’ll be able to spend it on a ability tree that enhances your ranged, magic, and melee harm as you unlock new talents associated to every one. There are energetic abilities like highly effective charged assaults, passive abilities which may enhance important assaults towards armored enemies, and utility abilities that may develop the window to execute an ideal reload. These talents develop your repertoire in palpable methods, and you can too spend repute to enhance numerous aspects of your weapons.
Weapon upgrades are pretty costly, nonetheless, notably for those who’ve already achieved the best rarity with one already. Upgrading one other melee weapon to match the extent of the axe I used to be already utilizing felt superfluous once I nonetheless had ranged weapons and new abilities to unlock, consuming into my provide of assets and repute. I ended up sticking with the identical axe for almost all of the sport because of this, and was upset that I could not experiment with extra melee weapons with out impeding myself elsewhere.
Flintlock isn’t the sort of recreation the place you are going to see a ton of construct selection. It is a stripped-back motion RPG, sprinkling in a number of souls-like parts to a broth whose dominant taste is hyper-mobile fight and traversal that is by no means too punishing. It has its faults, from failing to develop on a setting that is solely attention-grabbing on paper to that includes a prohibitive weapon improve system and a few imprecision in its fight. It won’t sit on the forefront of your thoughts for lengthy after the credit have rolled, however within the second, Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak is a rip-roaring good time that is more likely to enchantment to each newcomers and hardened Souls’ followers alike. Hopefully extra video games take some cues from its unusual method.