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~