The Next Top God-Slaying Adventure?
Announced in March of 2022, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an action-RPG following the journey of Nor Vanek, a sapper of the Coalition, and Enki, a god of little renown, as they blaze a path to eliminate the gods to save humanity from destruction. With a combination of melee and ranged combat, as well as a couple of magic abilities, Flintlock hits similar combat beats to God of War (2018) and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019). Nor herself is a pretty standard protagonist thrust into a world-altering event by circumstance and a little bit of determination. This by no means diminishes from Nor as a character, as she is determined, loyal, and quick to action, but by herself she would not be a complete standout. Her partner for her adventures, the magical fox-like creature named Enki, and the subsequent dynamic between the pair, are what tips the scales of interest in the game’s favor and helps it stand out a bit.
As a team, Nor and Enki work together in combat, with Nor taking the forefront and Enki providing support. Nor has access to an axe and a flintlock pistol at the start of the game, gaining some swappable weapons to change up both melee and ranged combat depending on playstyle preferences. Meanwhile Enki’s support in combat ranges from debuffs and stuns with ultimates that can do massive damage or suspend enemies. All of the combat skills for Nor and Enki can also be upgraded in the game’s skill tree to help personalize the combat experience of the game, complete with a feature that allows players to “sell” back abilities if they don’t work out for the playstyle desired so that the skill tree can always be adjusted and switched up.
Along with working together for combat, the duo also works together for traversal of the maps. Nor by herself can do the normal run, jump, vault, and sprint, as well as slide down slopes, to navigate the environment. With a small upgrade provided by Enki right at the beginning of the game, Nor can also use her pistol to propel her further in a kind of double jump maneuver, giving more travel distance or height. Enki also gives access to mystic portals that act as shortcuts across the map and jumping points to high platforms hiding secrets and enemies alike.
Throughout the entire adventure of Flintlock, Nor and Enki’s strengths and weaknesses are showcased by both their interactions with each other and their reactions to the trials they face. From Enki’s fascination with the creations of humanity and their adaptation to their environment to Nor’s empathy and determination, they help each other to hunt the gods for the safety of humanity and to correct mistakes of the past. The combat has a strong presentation of combinations and timing for parries and dodges like many games within its genre, although some fights are much calmer, and some hitboxes on larger enemies have a larger learning curve to figure out than expected.
Flintlock stands just a little bit from the crowd of games within the genre with several unique interpretations of tried and true mechanics, and Nor and Enki as characters, as well as the world overall, are interesting with more secrets that beg to be explored. The entire experience shapes up to be a decently solid second game from developer A44 Games leaving hopes for even stronger future projects.