Summary
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnmarketed itself as a ‘Souls-lite’ before launch. But while it achieves its loosely defined subgenre by peppering in familiar systems that Soulslike enthusiasts adore, it truly is more action-adventure-leaning than even an action-RPG.Flintlockis incredibly linear, relating far more toGod of WarthanBloodborne, for instance—even if its pistol disruption mechanic is similar toBloodborne’s firearm parry.
That said,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawndoesn’t kneecap itself by not diving fully into Soulslike inspirations and its storytelling, traversal, and combat are enjoyable all around. Still, it’d be neat to see what A44 could’ve accomplished ifFlintlockwas more akin to a Soulslike such asMortal ShellorLies of P. EvenStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderis more of a Soulslike despite its core Metroidvania design, and aFlintlocksequel honing in on a Soulslike identity rather than a Souls-lite identity, regardless of how slim the delineation may be, could distinguish it much differently.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Deserved to Be an Unabashed Soulslike
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnhas its hand in a rather spacious cookie jar. Now, not every action-RPG is going to meet the standard ofElden RingorDark Souls, but as a game marketing itself as a Souls-lite it wrought the expectation of something more comparable to those experiences. Instead,Flintlockfeatures branching skill trees, Enki warp traversal, waypoint-guided side quests, and other features that are all exciting to engage with and yet debatably fail to justifyFlintlocknot dedicating itself to the tried and true Soulslike formulathat so many games have adopted recently.
An unapologetic Soulslike withFlintlock’s immersive flintlock fantasy aesthetic and atmosphere could’ve been engrossing on its own without the bells and whistles of more linear, story-driven games; even Sebo, which follows the trend of addicting mini-games with a collectible element, is far too frequently found in a tight landscape and nowhere near as elaborate or cerebral asThe Witcher’s Gwent,Horizon’s Machine Strike,Sea of Stars’ Wheels, orFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Queen’s Blood.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivorwould beat it to the punch with Holotacticsanyway, but if aFlintlocksequel earned itself more of a Soulslike identity it would be excellent to see Sebo fleshed out in that space.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s Story Really Only Works as a Souls-lite
A44 wouldn’t have been able to have such an emphasis on character-driven storytelling if not for its more rigid action-RPG design. As a traditional Soulslike,Flintlockprobably wouldn’t have had protagonist Nor Vanek as her own character with her own voice and backstory. Theclosest it would’ve gotten to a FromSoftware Soulslike isSekiro: Shadows Die Twicesince Wolf is a distinct character, but even then being mute would still guarantee that no connections could be drawn as closely as they are between Nor and Enki, a fox-like god.
This dynamic, and howNor must reconcile with Enki’s learned identity, is the narrative crux ofFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn.
Therefore, abandoning that for environmental storytelling and sparse NPC interactions wouldn’t have allowed it to land as concretely, especially with the cliffhanger thatFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnends on. Enki would’ve been a terrific addition with magical powers bestowed on Nor and her gunpowder-laden abilities even ifFlintlockhad been a Soulslike with a constant companion NPC, though, and if a sequel is ever in the cards it could be advantageous for A44 to hop on that bandwagon and see it through as a Soulslike adapting all the fantastic featuresFlintlockoffers.
