Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Cements Soulslikes as a Natural Fit for the Steam Deck

Making its debut back in February 2022, it’s been an impressive few years for Valve’s Steam Deck. A portable, handheld PC, the Steam Deck bridges the gap between console and PC gaming in a way that had never really been done before, at least not so successfully. With its OLED model now out, and its base models getting a little price cut, there’s never been a better time to pick up a Steam Deck, with countless games waiting, games like Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.

Released last week, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a solid Soulslike that has plenty of meat on its bones. Though it may lack polish in a few areas, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn brings a suite of impressive features to the table, some of which could impact the Soulslike genre in some intriguing ways. But regardless of what Flintlock does or doesn’t do well, it’s proven once again that the Steam Deck goes hand-in-hand with the Soulslike genre.

The Steam Deck Is Tailor-Made For Games Like Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Some of the Steam Deck’s Most Popular Games Are Soulslikes

Much like any other handheld console that’s come before it, the Steam Deck is best suited to games that offer quick, bite-sized bursts of satisfying gameplay. This has led to some of the biggest games on the Steam Deck being titles like Vampire Survivors, Stardew Valley, and more recently, Balatro, all of which are designed to be easy pick-up-and-play experiences.

Though they might not seem like it at first, Soulslikes also fit that ideal Steam Deck experience description surprisingly well. In most Soulslikes, players are thrown into a fairly linear area, and they’re tasked with advancing through the area until they reach the next boss. Along the way, players will stumble upon an all-important checkpoint that offers a brief respite from the intense action of the rest of the title’s moment-to-moment gameplay. When booting up a Soulslike for a play session, many players will often set a goal of reaching the area’s next checkpoint, which often takes around half an hour. This half an hour period is a perfect fit for the Steam Deck.

Titles like Elden Ring, Sekiro, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Dead Cells will regularly find themselves at the top of Steam Deck’s most-played games list, and that makes perfect sense given their gameplay loop. Though the Steam Deck’s battery will only give players a few hours on some of these more demanding Soulslikes, each one’s gameplay loop ensures that those few hours will be filled with plenty of action and enjoyment.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Is Another Solid Steam Deck Title

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a Soulslike game through and through. From its interconnected level design to its challenging boss fights and enemy encounters to its surprisingly complex RPG gear system, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn earns its Soulslike branding, and as such, it becomes another ideal Steam Deck title, with its gameplay loop offering that same fast-paced action as its contemporaries. However, it should be noted that although the game is classed as “Playable” on the Steam Deck, Flintlock‘s performance on the handheld has been met with mixed reviews, with some criticizing the game for running poorly, while others report no major issues.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

An action RPG with Soulslike elements, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn pits Kian’s human troops against gods and their dead armies. Along with hard-hitting Soulslike combat, Flintlock also focuses on gunplay and mobility.

Released

July 18, 2024

Developer(s)

A44 Games

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive

Genre(s)

Action RPG

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence

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