Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn successfully strikes a balance between being a great entry point into the Soulslike genre for those new to the genre, while still largely scratching the itch that genre veterans will be on the lookout for.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is the souls-lite that inherits game mechanics from many video games, to offer something new.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn offers an action adventure clearly inspired by the virtues of modern God of War. Mixing souslite with hack and slash, it manages to surprise slightly in some of its facets, but fails to reach must-play status.

A44 plays with the history of humanity and mythology to shape its particular world. An open scenario in which we will have to accompany Nor in his fight against the gods and their legions of monsters. Weapons, gunpowder, trenches and magic go hand in hand in a proposal that, without being a powerful triple A, has plenty of reasons to keep you entertained at the controls.

Flintlock breaks the expectations of those expecting a game based on the souls formula and proves to be satisfactory overall. However, the game also suffers from budget and polish issues.

Soulslite with an immersive world, a foxy companion and a mystical touch – Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn follows a few good approaches that are quite successful for a game of this size.

A fresh setting and effective dialogue writing combine with the mechanics of a fast, physical action RPG, with numerous offensive possibilities. The combat system based on blades, magic and projectiles is immediate and fun, above all because the challenge level forces you to face each battle carefully without reaching the heights of difficulty of a classic soulslike, while it is pleasant to explore this large but not dispersive with the aerial maneuvers of its protagonist. If one-on-one battles allow us to admire real dances of death, we do not find the same good sensations in battles against multiple enemies. The sense of progression remains satisfying until the end of the campaign despite the limited variety of weapons, armor and rivals to defeat, while the few boss fights do not differ much from the conflicts with the classic enemies of the open world. However, the currency system based on a multiplier is absolutely promoted: this is the real idea that makes the game enjoyable until the end credits, minus its rough edges.

Good combat is what stands out most in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn by A44 Games. Even though the universe is interesting to learn more about and has a decent exploration system, there are specific problems that prevent the game from standing out even more.

Flintlock: Siege of Dawn is solid action-adventure-fun, but barely manages to deliver anything really special. While the combat-system and Not's quick movement is the key strength of the game, bland story, characters and enemies harm the overall impression.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an enjoyable action-adventure that mixes engaging combat with an intriguing world, though it doesn’t fully break new ground. The game offers solid gameplay and an interesting setting, making it fun for fans of the genre. However, it may feel a bit familiar, lacking the innovation to make it truly stand out. It's definitely worth playing, but don’t expect anything revolutionary.

A lighter take on the soulslike formula that’s generous with its toys – just don’t expect them to be crafted with the godlike precision of FromSoftware’s classics. [Issue#44, p.83]

Varek and Enki's combined abilities - axe, pistol, magic - aren't entirely novel, but with this extra lift they're more than enough to carry us through an adventure that can be wrapped in 15 hours rather than 50. [Issue#401, p.100]

A meticulously crafted game that offers no surprises, but that doesn't mean it's boring. The world is beautiful, the combat is adequately adrenaline-pumping, and the story is interesting. It's almost a shame that you'll be done with Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn relatively quickly.

Despite my hangups, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn never plummets to being actively bad. Instead, it coasts along a solid line of mediocrity that results in a moderately good time. It often feels like it wants to say or do more but is held back by its scope and execution, not to mention some technical hiccups. Though it occasionally shows flashes of brilliance, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn falls short of achieving true godhood.

While the early hours are a bit rough, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is one of those soulslikes that only gets better as you get further in, unlocking more of the interesting skills that allow you to fully take advantage of its attack chains and XP multipliers. However, you’ll need to want to head off the beaten path to tackle sidequests, find optional fights, or interact with various NPCs to earn weapons and upgrades in order to get the most out of it.

Discovering a new licence is always a real pressure and Flintlock delivers us a classic - and somewhat short - solid trip which deserves any interest it will get.

Flintlock wants to pack a lot of good ideas into a fresh and exciting setting. Unfortunately, however, some of them backfire.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn mixes up the action-RPG formula a little bit, allowing you to control and risk your currency to earn more. Combine that with a flashy, engaging combat system with a thoughtful difficulty adjustment system, and you have a recipe for a good time. Exploration tends to drag down the experience, with many side paths running far too long for what you find in them. Parrying also lacks the kind of refinement necessary to truly make combat shine. Aside from these balancing issues, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is still a solid Soulsborne affair worth checking out.

As long as you can put up with some repetitive enemy design and the story not being all that, then Flintlock is worth a punt. It all comes together for a consistently good experience that never tries to break the bank to become something more. It does nothing insultingly bad; neither does it set a new benchmark for anything specific. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a good video game — nothing more, nothing less.

A game that lacks sense of direction, with an exposition as bland as its gameplay. On paper, some things could have been interesting but when you actual play the game they feel disconnected.

The rescue of several RPG and soulslike elements in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn does not work and results in a shallow, very simple and lackluster experience. The combat is effective and the scenarios give a new generation feel, but the lack of ambition and a story with little impact make Nor's journey quickly forgettable.

While it might seem like I actively dislike Flintlock, that’s not the case– the truth is far worse. The reality is that I just don’t have particularly strong opinions on the game, purely because it hasn’t left much of an impression on me, negative or otherwise. The setting and mythos that A44 created has potential, and I can see the makings of something worthwhile in a handful of the systems, but this attempt hasn’t landed. There’s nothing here that’s outwardly terrible or broken, it’s just lacking life in many vital facets. Even if I were to excuse the shoehorned Soulslike systems thrown into the mix, there’s still no compelling reason to play The Siege of Dawn.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is by no means a bad game, but in a sea of other Souls copycats, this one does very little to stand out. Put into the perspective of its multiple delays and overall unpolish, it’s clear that this is an easy skip to play better options out there. Or at least wait until it's heavily discounted.

Despite a dazzling art direction and one killer new hook for the Souls-adjacent combat loop, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn struggles under the weight of unnecessary RPG systems and an overarching lack of refinement to its many ideas.