Flint: Treasure of Oblivion

Though not without its flaws/quirks… Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is still a very worthy game. The ability to find dice re-rolls is helpful… learning that you should save them for special/more critical occasions is game changing. Whilst it might have been nice to rotate the camera during normal exploration… the visuals are nice enough that it’s still a pleasure to make your way through this storied world. Grab it if you want a more structured, storied pirate adventure.

A very pleasant and engaging adventure, Flint: Treasure of Oblivion reaches the goal without distorting the genre and not inventing anything particularly new in the scenario of tacticians with RPG elements. Shuffle the cards on the table by taking inspiration from Baldur's Gate 3, inserting the dice mechanic and, in the meantime, detail an intense story polished to reach as many players as possible. If you haven't read Treasure Island, you want to get closer to Stevenson and then buy this toy here, then this adventure could give you unexpected emotions.

Flint Treasure of Oblivion is a pirate adventure with a successful atmosphere and tone, full of visual details that make it more authentic than many other pirate transpositions. Interfaces, settings and costumes, equipment and objects, writing and texts contribute to this goal. The plot, on the other hand, is not among the most interesting and does not fully do justice to the importance of the protagonist: the legendary pirate James Flint from the novel Treasure Island. As for the actual gameplay, although the dice rolls liven up the turn-based battles a bit, in the long run they become repetitive at times and sometimes last too long. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the setting halfway between the epic and the crude, all shrouds, rusty swords and explosive barrels, Flint will fully satisfy you. Otherwise, both as a strategic RPG it is an enjoyable experience, but not very original or varied.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion has many sound strategic ideas, and its commitment to pirate themes runs deep. The combat revolves around using the terrain and ganging up on folk in all the underhanded manner you’d expect from a rag-tag bunch of criminals. The comic strip storyboards work really well, and Flint and the main characters become real personalities throughout the journey, which is a credit to the story design and artists. It’s a shame the game combat and crew systems are not well-explained and that its difficulty and progression systems can be frustrating as they currently stand. For those who like a challenge and don’t mind taking the time to learn some obtuse systems, hoist the mainsail and raise the Jolly Roger: it’s a pirate’s life for you.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is a good-looking adventure with enough pilfering, parrots and peg-legs to pacify all the pirate purists.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is certainly an interesting attempt to create an engaging RPG experience, both in gameplay and the rare setting for this genre. Board game enthusiasts can find this game worth playing, yet more casual RPG players might be turned off by its complicated battle and deck building, spiced by the amount of randomness.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion tells its pirate tale using very cool comic strips and offers eight to ten hours of tactical, turn-based battles fought with sabers, flintlock pistols and a bit of luck with the dice. Lacking tutorials, the absence of difficulty settings and unintuitive game mechanics make this game difficult to approach for inexperienced would-be freebooters.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion puts on a fancy pirate outfit, but suffers shipwreck in terms of gameplay.

Though the combat system works just fine, the UI, the story, and overall controls drag the game down significantly.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is a game that undoubtedly required way more time in the oven. While its engaging story, captivating presentation, and the charismatic pirate captain James Flint pull players into the adventure early on, the experience is marred by a horrendous interface, clunky controls, poor tutorials, and the subpar execution of several mechanics. As a result, the game is hard to recommend except to the most dedicated tactical role-playing game enthusiasts willing to overlook its many glaring flaws.

It’s tough to recommend Flint, though. While I did enjoy combat well enough, there was no real payoff for it. I didn’t care for why I’d win in battle or what that meant for the characters and the overall story. If you’re looking for a deep narrative adventure, this is probably not the game for you right now, but if you’re really itching for more strategic turn-based combat, or just really love the pirate setting, maybe consider giving Flint a try.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is riddled with issues, particularly in its fundamental gameplay aspects.

In the end, I found myself wanting to sail far away from this game. It had potential, but that potential was squandered. I’d rather walk the plank, or at least play almost any other pirate themed game, from Sea of Thieves, to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, to Sid Meier’s Pirates!, to the Monkey Island series, to even Skull and Bones (which I actively play and wish I got to review, as it’s far more fun than the publicity it got). Play any of those over this. If you can tolerate the game seeming to actively want to test your patience, the story has its moments and may be worth experiencing, but that’s a pretty big if.

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion feels like an incomplete game with poor storytelling and little to do. At about 10 hours to complete it’s certainly not worth the $25 asking price. If you’re looking for real-time exploration and turn-based combat, look elsewhere. Games like Divinity Original Sin 2 or Baldur’s Gate do everything Flint wants to do but exceedingly better. If Fantasy isn’t your jam, check out XCOM.