Designing a game that appeals to both newcomers and seasoned players is no easy feat, yet that’s precisely what ‘Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’ sets out to achieve. This ambitious game features excellent art direction, voice acting, and engaging combat. However, it struggles to bring all these elements together cohesively. While Nor Vanek’s quest to kill the gods is enjoyable, the storyline tying it all together feels disappointingly thin.
Set in a Flintlock Fantasy world, players step into the boots of Nor Vanek, a combat engineer who unwittingly unleashes three monstrous gods. To atone for her mistake, she teams up with Enki, a mysterious and adorable entity with questionable motives. Together, they navigate a world of fantasy tropes, growing in strength to defeat their enemies and hopefully liberate Dawn from the tyrannical gods.
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The game’s story is underwhelming despite a compelling premise. The Flintlock Fantasy genre is rare in video games, but The Siege of Dawn rushes through its characters and setting, focusing on gameplay over narrative depth. This results in a lack of context, making dramatic moments feel hollow.
The narrative mainly serves to move players from one location to another, fighting enemies along the way. While this approach works for games like Doom, ‘Flintlock”s attempts at character development fall flat due to insufficient character fleshing out. Strong voice acting is undermined by the lack of narrative depth, reducing characters to mere upgrade stations. Quest design also suffers, often boiling down to simple fetch quests. There are standout moments, such as an adventure in a spooky manor, but these are rare.
‘Flintlock”s combat and traversal shine, keeping the game from becoming monotonous. The combat resembles a more approachable Dark Souls, though it plays more like recent ‘God of War’ titles. Nor wields a variety of weapons, but melee combat feels the most satisfying. Fast-paced combat, combined with a generous dodge mechanic and quick-fire pistol shots, makes the game accessible without being too punishing. Enki adds another layer to combat, cursing enemies with effects like armour reduction and light poison.
The game provides players with various tools for success, evident in the unique equipment rewarded for quests. Though the loot variety is limited, each item is distinct, allowing players to create effective builds without excessive fine-tuning. Flintlock’s linearity is masked by its expansive levels, encouraging exploration with rewards like feathers to level up Enki or shrines to increase Nor’s HP.
Visually, ‘Flintlock’ impresses with stunning graphics and inspired art direction, particularly in its depiction of the Hosts in Hamlet’s coffee shops. Despite its narrative shortcomings, ‘Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’ offers a rich, accessible experience with rewarding exploration and satisfying combat.