The Gates of the City — Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Walkthrough

Yahtzee reviews Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, discussing its open-world design, combat mechanics, character chemistry, and overall ambition.

This week on Fully Ramblomatic, Yahtzee reviews Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is set in an alternative world where all progress in fashion and technology stopped at Napoleonic times, 'cos it suddenly became terribly important to deal with a horde of undead that was bleeding into the world from Hell. We play a soldier in an army trying to blow shut the door to the underworld once and for all; something goes wrong, horrors escape into the world, a Souls-like ensues. The protagonist has to team up with one of the supernatural beings from the underworld in a severely reduced form to fuck up all the other supernatural beings making trouble across the land.

The game's environments are laid out in a linear sequence, but they spread out a bit so a few side-quests can be squeezed in. The combat involves a melee attack and guns, with guns used for interrupting enemy attacks and parrying done with the melee weapon. The magic mechanic involves instructing your fox pal to nibble the enemy's bum to build up a bar for a special attack. The game also features a side-minigame about collecting Pogs.

The game has a lack of focus, with a thinly-spread world design and combat mechanics that feel off. The developers seem to have had a flag problem with the open-world elements, and the combat is further hampered by the iffiness of the parry system and the way enemies blend into the environments. Despite these issues, the gunshot interrupt is a reliable way to deal with most enemies.

The game feels distinctly shortened, with only about four unique boss fights, and one is awkwardly placed. The overall ambition of the game is compared to riding a big horse, which can be powerful but also problematic.