Flintlock

I increasingly judge Souls-style games not by the size of their bosses or the depth of their dungeons, but by the cleverness of their shortcuts, and Flintlock: Siege Of Dawn has my favorite shortcuts in a while. Rather than simply routes to the other side of a barred door – though there are plenty of such Lordrannish loops in this game – they consist of aerial chains of magical purple triangles that suck you in when you hold down a button. They lend force to a branching, faux-Napoleonic world that would otherwise be a collection of atmospheric strolls between campfire equivalents and battles defined by tight resourcing systems. They’re idiot-proof grappling points from which you can launch yourself toward another triangle, a ledge full of upgrade materials, or a loitering musketeer in dire need of a ground slam.

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