New Zealand developer A44 Games, known to gamers for Ashen, has recently announced their next game Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.
The open world action RPG, due to be published by Kepler Interactive, was prominently featured in an extensive interview that appeared in the latest issue of EDGE magazine. Among various topics, A44 Games CEO Derek Bradley described the traversal (powered by the magical companion creature Enki) as akin to Spider-Man’s in some ways.
Essentially it feels like a rollercoaster ride. It ends up being a bit Spider-Man-like, I would say, in terms of how you dart between things. But also a puzzle, because we’ve got really predefined points, although there are a lot of them. As you open them up, they create larger motorways through the world, if you will, where you can fly around.
Of course, the combat of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn will be the main activity when playing the game. Bradley openly talked about the Soulslike inspiration while discussing some accessibility improvements that have been added.
I’ve always loved the almost Guitar Hero feel of Soulslikes when you really get into them. You learn the rhythm, you pretty much don’t get hit any more, and you’re in this dance with your opponents. You can really get into this zen rhythm moving through it.
Even the way that the guns click and reload, it’s all in the same beat tructure. So it ends up being quite an interesting musical composition.
Players getting hit is really important, because it’s part of their friction that they get to overcome and have a good time. But at the end of the day, it’s like, how many roads can we give to them to somehow step into it, the way you might dance or sing a song? Just by virtue of being human, you’re getting rhythm. If players can get that subsconsciously, that’s a massive thing for us. We’re trying to incorporate features that make it more palatable for a wider audience to play, while at the same time not disenfranchising your core audience who loves Soulslikes.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is due later this year on PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X. It’ll also be included with the Game Pass subscription service.
