Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnis A44’s follow-up after the 2019 open-world soulslikeAshen, building on some of those original ideas while differing in a number of ways. Leaning more toward souls-lite rather than full-blown soulslike,Flintlockborrows a few Souls staples such as the traditional rhythmic combat style and “bonfires” but features the mobility and pacing of a traditional action RPG. Without the usual stamina bar to worry about, players are free to traverseFlintlock’s world and powder-jump their way to new heights at any time.
Speaking of its world,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawncreative director Simon Dasan spoke with Game Rant about how the team at A44 approached the design of Kian, the world in which the gametakes place. Dasan cited freedom of movement as a major pillar for Flintlock’s level design, specifically with a focus on verticality and fun exploration. He also noted that it was important to deliver a more focused and content-dense world rather than a gigantic landmass with little to do, hence why it’s classified as semi-open world game instead of a full-blown one.
Flintlock’s World Is Built Around Nor’s Movement Abilities
Level design, whether open-world, semi-open world, or linear is an important consideration for games likeFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn, as it’s often a major topic of conversation in the soulslike and soulslite space. After all,games likeDark Soulsare famously regarded for tight-level design, whileElden Ring’s visually impressive vistas could be criticized for feeling a bit too empty or tedious to traverse. BecauseFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnplaces so much emphasis on its powder and magic-based movement systems both in and out of combat, Dasan says the team wanted to hone in on a more focused, carefully crafted world that was fun to traverse.
Freedom of movement was the biggest driving factor for us. We give the player powder-infused mobility very early in the game, so we were able to build the entire world around it. These abilities let Nor essentially double-jump or dodge within midair, and really open up the environment’s verticality.
In a way, Nor resemblesStar WarsJedi: Survivor’s Cal Kestis: not only is she deadly at range or up close, but she can double jump and dash with the help of gunpowder. Downward stomp attacks and other abilities also make verticality a practical matter in combat, rather than just being a more engaging way to reach the next point of interest.
Flintlock’s Semi-Open World Is Quality Over Quantity
All the dashes and double jumps in the world couldn’t make a lengthy stroll through an empty wasteland interesting, so Dasan says that a sensible landmass was the goal rather than striving for maximum square footage. Considering the fatigue gamers have been expressing lately regardingoverly vast open worldswith little content to justify the time investment, this is a welcome change of pace. There is still plenty to do in Kian, there are side quests abound, and there’s even a turn-based “Sebo” minigame to master.
Alongside this, we wanted to ensure we had a large enough world that you could feel the impact of the Gods’ presence, and feel the depth of the world building, but not so large that the world felt empty. We prioritized density of content rather than overall landmass size, which is especially important considering our team size and not overstretching the game to create an overall worse experience for our players.
Dasan also pointed out that this approach makes the most sense for an indie game studio like A44. Many games have fallen into the trap of stretching themselves too thin in the pursuit of unrealistic goals, leading to a game that falls short in many areas rather than exceeding where it matters. Thanks to some lessons learned and smart design decisions,Flintlockis shaping up to outdoA44’sAshenin every way.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
From games studio A44, makers of Ashen, comes an explosive Souls-lite, where Gods and guns collide in a battle for the future of humanity.The Door to the Great Below has been opened unleashing the Gods and their armies of the Dead. The lands of Kian are besieged, the city of Dawn is on the brink of destruction. It’s time for the Coalition army to fight back. Embrace vengeance, gunpowder and magic as you embark on an epic journey to defeat the Gods, close the door and retake the world.Kill all gods.Your battle begins now.
