As a seasoned RPG enthusiast with over two decades of gaming under my belt, I’ve seen and played it all – from the classic Baldur’s Gate to the modern-day Witcher series. So when Flint: Treasure of Oblivion caught my eye, I was intrigued by the blend of pirate fantasy and turn-based tactical combat.
Treasure of Oblivion” is Savage Level’s first creation. This pirate fantasy combines strategic, turn-based combat akin to games like Baldur’s Gate, with an engaging comic book narrative style. I was intrigued to explore how the antics of pirate life would blend into the immersive world of a Computer Role Playing Game (CRPG). Although it showcases some fresh concepts in its battle system and storytelling approach through comics, it didn’t fully resonate with me during my approximately 11-hour gaming session.
Roll of the dice
In this rephrased version: The enigmatic game titled “Flint: Treasure of Oblivion” encounters runaway Captain James Flint and his trusted sidekick Billy on a mission to unearth a mythical treasure. This journey leads them across the globe, amassing fellow crew members and setting up a suitable band of explorers. It’s a more compact role-playing game featuring elements such as exploration, plunder, and upgrading your team members. While I found the exploration somewhat restrictive due to its linear nature, there were moments of satisfaction when stumbling upon hidden loot tucked away in nooks and crannies along the way.
In Flint, the game excels particularly in its strategic combat. If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll likely recognize the game’s turn-based, tactical combat system. This involves characters occupying hexes on a board and having a limited number of actions they can perform before ending their turn. In Flint, characters acquire and master various skill and item cards, either by improving in their proficiency, discovering them within the game world, or buying them from the Galley. These cards are crucial during battles, as knowing how to utilize them effectively could determine whether you triumph in a combat encounter or suffer a total party wipeout.
One card I frequently encountered across the map granted an additional action during a character’s turn, enabling me to perform actions such as approaching a distant foe for both assault and retreat, or landing an extra attack when an enemy had only a small amount of health remaining, securing the decisive blow. Other cards offered armor, weapons, boosts, or debilitating effects that could be thrown. The outcome of each action was decided by a visual roll of the dice, making it enjoyable and immensely satisfying to strategize effectively with my characters’ abilities, especially when things went in my favor.
One issue I encountered with the game was its absence of a clear tutorial. Although a rule book exists, it’s buried within the pause menu and the game doesn’t guide you towards it directly. Consequently, I found myself bewildered by the game’s interface and mechanics during the initial stages of my playthrough, likely underleveled, and certainly failing to optimally outfit my crew for combat. The rule book provides enough insight to grasp the game’s mechanics, but I would have appreciated a more immediate introduction to this information. This is particularly important because each battle requires preparation due to the lack of a save system that allows you to revisit earlier points in your playthrough.
A swashbuckling adventure
How well does the story progress? Essentially, the game kicks off with Flint and Billy drifting at sea near death’s doorstep, until they are rescued by an enemy crew at the very edge of hope. As captives, they encounter an elderly man who regales them with stories about hidden treasure. With his pirate cunning, Flint comes up with a scheme to escape their bondage and chase after that legendary fortune, embarking on our exciting journey.
The narrative in this game leans towards a typical adventure tale, but it veers off course as the plot progresses. Regrettably, it failed to capture my interest. Nevertheless, the incorporation of speech bubbles reminiscent of comic books added depth and vibrancy to the characters, which was a plus given the isometric perspective of the game. However, the story developments were so rapid that I struggled to connect with or even fully understand the characters due to their swift introduction and departure.
The game presents an overwhelming number of characters quickly, yet fails to develop their roles effectively, making them forgettable and giving the impression they were merely used as plot devices. I’m still unsure of many characters’ importance, and can barely recall their names. This made it challenging for me to connect with the narrative, and the non-combat segments felt tedious, which was compounded by clumsy controls and user interface. There were instances where I needed to click repeatedly or position myself precisely to activate items, and moving the character didn’t feel smooth on mouse and keyboard.
The game “Flint: Treasure of Oblivion” isn’t heavy on graphics, making it compatible with most systems. Running it on a PC equipped with an RTX 4070 Super and AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D was seamless, delivering framerates consistently around 150-200 FPS with all graphics settings at maximum. However, the game encountered two crashes near its end, and a bug that trapped me behind a rock, necessitating a restart. A minor visual glitch also occurred throughout the game, where my cursor obstructed parts of the descriptions for each card picked up. Nevertheless, the majority of the game was enjoyable (even though I meant to say “smooth sailing,” it’s fitting given the title).
Finding the treasure
In their initial release, Savage Level’s video game Flint: Treasure of Oblivion offers innovative concepts that, although they didn’t leave a lasting impression on me, have the potential to create an engaging experience with further development and enhancements. I hoped for more detailed character development and increased screen time for these characters, as they often felt more like tools for combat rather than fully-realized characters.
Although I found the combat in Flint somewhat engaging, there wasn’t much reward for it in terms of story progression or character development. If you’re searching for a game with a rich narrative, this might not be your best choice at the moment. However, if you’re craving more strategic turn-based combat or are particularly fond of pirate themes, Flint could potentially pique your interest.
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2024-12-17 22:27