Flinthook is a fast action-platformer with “roguelike” elements. Become space’s greatest pirate with your hookshot, pistol and slowmo powers!
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Got this on a Switch sale a month or so ago because I dig the art style and I love me a good rogue lite (especially a good'n' on a portable console), and this did not disappoint. Showing it to a friend, she compared the playstyle to MegaMan Zero, which I think is honestly not too far off, save that you don't have a sword and instead you have 360-degree firing capabilities.
FlintHook is a rogue-lite that sees you as the titular FlintHook as they try to save their fellow lighthouse keepers from their prisons aboard the ships of the most dangerous space pirate kings. It is an action-platformer that has you going between rooms and shooting baddies while jumping, wall-jumping, and using your hookshot to fling around on hooks and launch yourself around stages. There's even a bullet-time feature you can toggle for good measure. It's not the most original concept in the world, but it's executed very well and is a joy to just launch yourself around in and fire away at baddies.
Every time you level up you get a new perk or two that you can put on before you start a run, and there are slight upgrades you can buy for yourself with rewards from playing runs, but this is a very skill-based rogue-lite compared to something like Binding of Isaac. Your gun can get some moderate changes to its power, trajectory, range, etc., and you can get slightly better defenses, but generally you can stay alive for as well as you can play the game.
The enemy variety isn't too huge, but it's more than big enough to make for interesting encounters. Paired with the traps and the staggering variety of room layouts for each room type (battle, corridor, and treasure/trap), I played for like 15 or so hours and I'm still finding rooms I've never seen before to test my abilities. There are only 5 different "bounties" you can do (basically a certain number of levels before the same boss ship at the end), but each has a harder variant that seems to add yet more possible rooms to encounter. It's a game that is a perfect fit for Switch, because it's a brilliant time-filler and because your abilities are basically always the same, it's easy to put down and then pick right back up again in a few days when you have time/motivation to continue the run you were on.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. Like Binding of Isaac, FlintHook is a rogue-lite that doesn't have THAT much in it, but it uses tight controls and deliberate design of what is there to make for an addicting and replayable experience. FlintHook isn't nearly as difficult as many other rogue-lites on the market, but it doesn't have to be. It's a more casual while still difficult rogue-lite that is ultimately a bit simple but also equally unobjectionable in its well executed design. A good addition to the digital library for any Switch owner for sure~
FlintHook is a rogue-lite that sees you as the titular FlintHook as they try to save their fellow lighthouse keepers from their prisons aboard the ships of the most dangerous space pirate kings. It is an action-platformer that has you going between rooms and shooting baddies while jumping, wall-jumping, and using your hookshot to fling around on hooks and launch yourself around stages. There's even a bullet-time feature you can toggle for good measure. It's not the most original concept in the world, but it's executed very well and is a joy to just launch yourself around in and fire away at baddies.
Every time you level up you get a new perk or two that you can put on before you start a run, and there are slight upgrades you can buy for yourself with rewards from playing runs, but this is a very skill-based rogue-lite compared to something like Binding of Isaac. Your gun can get some moderate changes to its power, trajectory, range, etc., and you can get slightly better defenses, but generally you can stay alive for as well as you can play the game.
The enemy variety isn't too huge, but it's more than big enough to make for interesting encounters. Paired with the traps and the staggering variety of room layouts for each room type (battle, corridor, and treasure/trap), I played for like 15 or so hours and I'm still finding rooms I've never seen before to test my abilities. There are only 5 different "bounties" you can do (basically a certain number of levels before the same boss ship at the end), but each has a harder variant that seems to add yet more possible rooms to encounter. It's a game that is a perfect fit for Switch, because it's a brilliant time-filler and because your abilities are basically always the same, it's easy to put down and then pick right back up again in a few days when you have time/motivation to continue the run you were on.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. Like Binding of Isaac, FlintHook is a rogue-lite that doesn't have THAT much in it, but it uses tight controls and deliberate design of what is there to make for an addicting and replayable experience. FlintHook isn't nearly as difficult as many other rogue-lites on the market, but it doesn't have to be. It's a more casual while still difficult rogue-lite that is ultimately a bit simple but also equally unobjectionable in its well executed design. A good addition to the digital library for any Switch owner for sure~
its fine but tedious and very difficult
Como juego está bien, sin más. Pero tiene un alma tan resplandeciente...
Charming by looks alone
I'm usually a fan of platforming games and roguelikes but flinthook failed to hook me in any way. It has fine artwork and passing music but the majority of this game is a fairly standard old fashioned platformer that sees you roaming around small arenas clearing the rooms and collecting treasure.
The movement gimmick of being able to hook around the screen didn't feel well implemented though as the controls are a bit stiff and given that everything hurts you you're more likely to fling yourself into harms way than away from it. There's not really any motivation to use it aside from adding moving for movements sake or when you need to ascend. It doesn't feel smooth and adds little to the actual game loop which is highly repetitive.
That leaves the roguelite gameplay and the label feels like an exaggeration. You have randomly tiled assortments of screens dotted around and you clear the enemies on each until you find the treasure. Maybe I just didn't get deep enough to see more than that but the first 10 minutes seems representative of the next 3 hours so I think I got the gist.
An indie darling I just couldn't vibe with. Didn't feel innovative or seem to be doing anything fresh beyond the title feature that didn't impress me with its implementation.
The movement gimmick of being able to hook around the screen didn't feel well implemented though as the controls are a bit stiff and given that everything hurts you you're more likely to fling yourself into harms way than away from it. There's not really any motivation to use it aside from adding moving for movements sake or when you need to ascend. It doesn't feel smooth and adds little to the actual game loop which is highly repetitive.
That leaves the roguelite gameplay and the label feels like an exaggeration. You have randomly tiled assortments of screens dotted around and you clear the enemies on each until you find the treasure. Maybe I just didn't get deep enough to see more than that but the first 10 minutes seems representative of the next 3 hours so I think I got the gist.
An indie darling I just couldn't vibe with. Didn't feel innovative or seem to be doing anything fresh beyond the title feature that didn't impress me with its implementation.
Pros
+ incredibly detailed pixel art
+ NPCs and the main character are cute and lovingly designed
+ bosses are unique and require specific combat approaches
+ a large number of individually created rooms to explore
+ stages are rarely too long even though backtracking is necessary
+ common enemies are tough but predictable
+ health can be replenished in different ways
+ the hookshot mechanic is implemented well
+ meta-upgrades are a constant motivation to keep going
+ perks allow for a highly personalized playstyle
+ the lore section is entirely optional
+ optional hidden stages and secrets can be discovered
+ a lot of stage and room variants that offer varied challenges...
Cons:
- ...with symbols that are never explained ingame for no discernable reason
- high degree of frustration tolerance is necessary for enjoyment
- bosses are brick walls that necessitate luck and memorization
- controls are not tight and hookshot mechanic is often iffy
- removing enemy shields before attacking is imprecise and frustrating
- no option to use the second stick for aiming
- no aerial aim lock on consoles (but apparently on PC?)
- slow-down mechanic is far too quick and often frustrating
- some enemies can shoot through walls
- room generation algorithm frequently leads to unfair trap placement...
- ... thus actively discouraging backtracking, even when necessary
- entering a room can lead to instant, unavoidable damage
- spike traps are almost unidentifiable
- number of perks hugely outsizes the number of available slots
- the cost of perks is generally too high and not balanced well
- the dash perk should have been a standard action
- combat builds cannot be kept from one finished stage to another
- receiving loot at the end of levels is tedious and time-consuming
- the music is immaterial and the main track gets annoying quickly
Blagic Moment: Entering a hidden stage for the first time but dying instantly from fog effects that make save traversal impossible, enemies shooting you through walls, and new killer traps.
Playtime: Finished it once but I didn't keep track for some reason, but the roguelike structure makes it difficult to say how much time it would take for a complete run. You can except a playtime of over 15 hours at least would be my guesstimate.
Verdict:
Flinthook is a tough game. It's one of those roguelikes where not only getting to the boss of any given stage is difficult and time-consuming, but beating them is equally difficult and requires not just skill, but also a great amount of pattern memorization and just a bit of luck. This high degree of difficulty is obviously a conscious design decision but also a steep barrier to deriving any enjoyment from Flinthook. At the same time, the meta-upgrades are engaging, the number of perks and perk combinations that directly affect the gameplay is high, and unlocking them is quick and easy enough to give rise to the magical incantation of "just one more run!"
However, in a packed genre that produces new prime examples in regular intervals, it is hard to recommend Flinthook to anyone but the most hardcore fans of pixel art 2D action games. Anyone else should stay away from this and save themselves the frustration.
+ incredibly detailed pixel art
+ NPCs and the main character are cute and lovingly designed
+ bosses are unique and require specific combat approaches
+ a large number of individually created rooms to explore
+ stages are rarely too long even though backtracking is necessary
+ common enemies are tough but predictable
+ health can be replenished in different ways
+ the hookshot mechanic is implemented well
+ meta-upgrades are a constant motivation to keep going
+ perks allow for a highly personalized playstyle
+ the lore section is entirely optional
+ optional hidden stages and secrets can be discovered
+ a lot of stage and room variants that offer varied challenges...
Cons:
- ...with symbols that are never explained ingame for no discernable reason
- high degree of frustration tolerance is necessary for enjoyment
- bosses are brick walls that necessitate luck and memorization
- controls are not tight and hookshot mechanic is often iffy
- removing enemy shields before attacking is imprecise and frustrating
- no option to use the second stick for aiming
- no aerial aim lock on consoles (but apparently on PC?)
- slow-down mechanic is far too quick and often frustrating
- some enemies can shoot through walls
- room generation algorithm frequently leads to unfair trap placement...
- ... thus actively discouraging backtracking, even when necessary
- entering a room can lead to instant, unavoidable damage
- spike traps are almost unidentifiable
- number of perks hugely outsizes the number of available slots
- the cost of perks is generally too high and not balanced well
- the dash perk should have been a standard action
- combat builds cannot be kept from one finished stage to another
- receiving loot at the end of levels is tedious and time-consuming
- the music is immaterial and the main track gets annoying quickly
Blagic Moment: Entering a hidden stage for the first time but dying instantly from fog effects that make save traversal impossible, enemies shooting you through walls, and new killer traps.
Playtime: Finished it once but I didn't keep track for some reason, but the roguelike structure makes it difficult to say how much time it would take for a complete run. You can except a playtime of over 15 hours at least would be my guesstimate.
Verdict:
Flinthook is a tough game. It's one of those roguelikes where not only getting to the boss of any given stage is difficult and time-consuming, but beating them is equally difficult and requires not just skill, but also a great amount of pattern memorization and just a bit of luck. This high degree of difficulty is obviously a conscious design decision but also a steep barrier to deriving any enjoyment from Flinthook. At the same time, the meta-upgrades are engaging, the number of perks and perk combinations that directly affect the gameplay is high, and unlocking them is quick and easy enough to give rise to the magical incantation of "just one more run!"
However, in a packed genre that produces new prime examples in regular intervals, it is hard to recommend Flinthook to anyone but the most hardcore fans of pixel art 2D action games. Anyone else should stay away from this and save themselves the frustration.