Recently we’ve seen a flurry of announcements and releases for Soulslike games. From the recently released Thymesia and next week’s Steel Rising, through to 2023’s Pinocchio inspired Lies of P it feels like everyone and their dog is jumping on the action RPG bandwagon at the moment.
Flintlock: The Siege of DawnPublisher: Kepler InteractiveDeveloper: A44 GamesPlatform: PC, PS4, PS5, XO, XSX/S, PCAvailability: Early 2023
After watching a 15 minute, hands-off presentation last week, I can also confirm that Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is most definitely a Soulslike action RPG too. However, this ‘magic meets gunpowder technology’ fantasy title seems to be a little braver than other games in the genre as it’s not afraid to be releasing with optional difficulty settings.
This means anyone who wants to experience Flintlock without fear of being punished by some very intense action will be able to tailor the experience to suit their skill level. During the presentation the developers, A44 Games did stress that there is a specific default difficulty for the game though, and this will allow you to maintain the authenticity of the experience and play the game as originally intended.
Everything You Need To Know About Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn – NEW FLINTLOCK 4K GAMEPLAY Watch on YouTube
After the presentation had ended, we were given over 15 minutes worth of new, 4K gameplay footage for Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn and I’ve fashioned it into the in-depth video preview that’s sitting just above these words.
Included within that video is pretty much everything I learned during that preview session, and it includes some excellent footage of two of the Flintlock’s regions, loads of gratuitous combat and even a look at one of the its boss battles, where player-character Nor and her magical fox-like pal Enki face-off against the God of Knowledge.
It’s not just difficulty settings that set Flintlock apart from others games in the Soulslike genre though. The close bond between Nor and Enki also allows for a unique combat system that sees you controlling both characters at the same time. Nor, an explosives expert who wields an axe and a flintlock pistol, is adept at smoothly weaving between gunplay and melee attacks to quickly kill foes. Nor’s firearms in particular are incredibly powerful but to counter that the ammunition needed for them is in very short supply. Killing enemies with her axe will earn Nor more gun food for her shooty bangs though, whilst defeating enemies with those guns will reward the player with more armour; so in a way the combat also shares a few similarities with Doom 2016.