Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn's Fantasy World is More Than the Sum of its Parts

Video games are one part business, two parts art—and in that art, video games capture creative freedom unlike any other entertainment medium out there. It’s not impossible, but it would be hard for other mediums to capture a world set in the Napoleonic Era, mix that with Mesopotamian mythology, create a Flintlock Fantasy with a strong “Gods vs. Guns” theme, and wrap it all in a particular genre that garners interest at first glance. Yet, that’s exactly whatFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnis doing when it releases on July 18.Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnis a Souls-lite game, which essentially means it’s a more approachable Soulslike title for newcomers, but it remains an intense challenge for genre veterans too.

Layered on top of that is a Napoleonic aesthetic and worldbuilding, a magic system and underworld based on Mesopotamian mythology, and a theme that, at every turn, boldly proclaims “Death to Gods!” This creative approach makesFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnsomething special - that can only truly be accomplished in the realm of video games - and for Game Rant Advance, we spoke with A44 Games creative director Simon Dasan and lead narrative designer Daniel Baider about this unique flintlock fantasy.

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InFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn, players step into the shoes ofNor Vanekas she attempts to break the titular siege and free the world from the oppressive gods of Below. A world overwhelmed by the undead is the only one Nor has ever known, as the Door to the Great Below opened 10 years before the events of the game, and the state of the world only worsens when the game begins. Joined by other Coalition Army members and forming an uneasy alliance with Enki, one of those said gods, Nor sets out to bring death to the gods with a plethora of gunpowder weaponry at her side.

A brief description of the game alone shows how much creative freedom the A44 Games devs had in making this world, but any video game is also more than the sum of its parts.Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnreaches across the aisle, bringing in several real-world elements, adding a touch of mythology and fantasy, and packaging it in a familiar Souls-lite experience, to come out the other side something unique. Still, when Baider sifts through the various cultures, time periods, and mythologies that inspired the game, the three that stand out the most included:

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Napoleon Souls in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

While most Souls games tap into a classic Dark fantasy genre, there have been plenty of exceptions.Bloodborneuses Victorian fantasy,Lies of Puse into fairy tales, andWo Longuses Chinese history and mythology. The Napoleonic Era feels like it was truly a matter of time, and it’s clear looking atFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnjust how much that period matters. Nor and The Coalition wear uniforms that wouldn’t stand out from those worn by Napoleon’s armies.

The theming also supports animportant element of Souls games too: Fashion Souls. Players will be able to combine weapons and fashion elements to make Nor their own soldier, and it’s something the developers are looking forward to. Speaking of “Fashion Souls,” Baider explained,

“It’s a feature that resonates with us as developers too, and we’re looking forward to seeing the combinationsFlintlock’s community comes up with! While many of the purchasable fashion elements players can buy in coffee shops let players show off their fashion sense, the gear and weapons you discover also have a lot of personality to them and should add to showing off the player’s style. Players can even use the in-game photo mode to show their looks and share it with the world. We hope the community will embrace this element of the game and share some awesome creations!”

The trenches surrounding Dawn are also reminiscent of the trench warfare common with Sieges during Napoleon’s time, and seeing the Coalition army surrounding these trenches hit that Flintlock fantasy and twinge of real-world history perfectly.Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s firearmsare really what pushes the game headlong into this Napoleonic fantasy, however.

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The approach to trench warfare of the Napoleonic Era should not be confused with WWI-era trenches. Trenches were really only utilized for Siege warfare in the former and not more universally, as in the latter.

InFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn, gunpowder is a driving force both in story and gameplay. Baider explained that, before the opening of the Door, the world ofFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnwas on its way to “a new age fueled by the recent discovery of black powder. As technology and trade pushed nations closer together, old superstitions faded.” As a result, gods became nothing but superstitions in the world, at least until the dead stepped through the door. Dasan also explained that gunpowder had to fulfill the narrative requirement of being a turning point in the war against the gods, adding that the array ofprimary and secondary Flintlock weaponryhelps fulfill that on the gameplay side.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Tag Page Cover Art

That’s where some of this Flintlock fantasy filters in; gunpowder and flintlock weaponry had to rival the power of the gods' magic. Nor’s companion, Enki, gives her an array of magical abilities, but that is Enki, a god, and not Nor herself. Still, together she and Enki wage a war against the gods - fulfilling both the narrative and gameplay requirements to ensure that the black powder leveled the playing field with the gods' magic. As Dasan explained,

In practical terms, firearms and magic have different strengths. For example, Nor can use her firearms to pick enemies off at range, or her pistol can interrupt enemy attacks that would be deadly otherwise. On the other hand, Enki’s magic can inflict curses on the enemy and weaken them, leaving them vulnerable to powerful critical hits that can do huge damage and turn the tide of battle against even the deadliest of foes.

Filling a Napoleon World With Some Mesopotamian Mythology

Mythology in video gamesis nothing new, with Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythologies appearing across several beloved games and franchises, but Mesopotamian mythology is rather uncommon. It’s also an inspired choice because the Napoleon world and the Ancient Mesopotamian world are pretty far apart, geographically and chronologically. When asked why they went with this underrepresented mythology, Baider said,

We similarly felt that Mesopotamian mythology is underrepresented in a medium that freely borrows from many others, and that it would be an untapped source of inspiration for the game to draw from. The Mesopotamian understanding of the underworld as a dark and foreboding place where souls face similar challenges as they did in life, felt like a unique setting to ground many ofFlintlock’s characters in, the Gods especially.

The real-world divide between Napoleonic France and Ancient Mesopotamia is somewhat reflected in the game, too. The World Above is where humanity resides, with the Coalition army fighting the undead of the Below, who are crossing through the Door. Above represents Napoleonic France; the Below represents the mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia and how that relates to the dead and, specifically,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s gods.

When it comes to Ancient Mesopotamian beliefs regarding the dead and the afterlife, a lot of modern knowledge is inferred from various literary works instead of any single direct account of their beliefs. As a result, some scholars may disagree on key elements, some influences may have changed over time, and some elements may be skewed. This uncertainty ultimately means that nothing about Ancient Mesopotamian beliefs can be considered uniform, according tothe World History Encyclopedia, but ultimately it seems that the Ancient Mesopotamians saw the afterlife like many ancient cultures. The Afterlife has been described as literally below the world - hence the Below inFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn -but it was not a punishment. It has been described as a shadowy, dull version of life, which means fans should expect the dead and the afterlife to be depicted similarly inFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn.

Furthermore, the World History Encyclopedia states that “The Mesopotamians did not view physical death as the ultimate end of life.” The dead would still exist as spirits, but there was no strong distinction between body and soul. In some cases, they were treated as the same, and when and where one ended and the other began is still not clear. It is this sort of transitional belief in death that allows the “natural order” ofFlintlock: The Siege of Dawnto exist as it did before the game begins. These influences, of course, carry throughout the various gods ofFlintlock: Rammuha, Dukmar, Inaya, Uru, and Enki. However, becausethe Mesopotamia underworldserves as “grounding” for characters (including the gods) andFlintlock: The Siege of Dawntells an original story, it’s worth noting that Uru is the only god whose appearance is directly inspired by Mesopotamian mythology (per Baider).

Rammuha, Goddess of Order

Baider describes Rammuha as the…

“Goddess of Order who takes control of the Knights of Three Peaks by preying on their piety. Rather than brute force, Rammuha accomplishes her goals using finesse and manipulation. To reflect this, she was given a regal appearance meant to reinforce awe in her followers.”

OfFlintlock’s Gods, Rammuha seems to have the smallest number of parallels with Mesopotamian mythology. Naming-wise, she is perhaps connected to Nammu - a creator deity with close connections to Enki.

Dukmar, God of Knowledge

When it comes to Dukmar, Baider described him as a…

“…self-proclaimed God of Knowledge, whose understanding of the world is skewed by larger-than-life stories passed onto him by the souls of the Great Below. He wears a full set of armor to reflect the appearance of the characters from these stories. His design is very angular, with strong, straight lines that reflect power, discipline, and order.”

While there may not be many direct parallels, it seems pretty clear that Dukmar is at least partially inspired by the Mesopotamian God Marduk (Dukmar/Marduk). Little is certain about Marduk, but stories often relate him to water (possibly incantations and/or storms), detail his great anger, and describe him as the patron deity ofBabylon. Interestingly, Marduk is often described as a child of Enki.

Inaya, the Goddess of Life

According to Baider,

“Inaya is the Goddess of Life, who works tirelessly in her role to keep the natural order of the world intact. Unlike the other Gods, she is devoted to her duties and has no interest in the invasion of the Above. As the Goddess of Life, Inaya has a more organic design, pulling from body horror references.”

Inaya finds a lot of parallels with the Mesopotamian Goddess Inanna. She is described as the Goddess of love, war, and fertility, but more importantly, she is associated with divine law as its enforcer. Divine Law and natural order seem to go hand in hand, and Inanna has much more to her mythology than that. She was one of the most venerated gods in the greater pantheon, and among her many myths are plenty of connections with Enki and the underworld.

Uru The Ravager, The Guardian of the Door

As The Guardian of the Door (from which the undead invade the Above), Uru is perhaps the most important god on this list. Baider described him as the “most powerful of the gods” and feared by all others, including Enki. However, Uru cannot leave the door that divides the Above and Below, but his connection tothe undead invasioninherently ties him to the center ofFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s story. Of all these gods, he is the only one whose appearance is directly from Mesopotamian mythology, specifically the creature known as a lammasu. These creatures are often depicted with a human head, a bully’s body, and an eagle’s wings. Interestingly, the lammasu were engraved into clay tablets in Ancient Mesopotamia to protect houses. Gigantic sculptures of them were placed at the doors to cities to protect them, befitting Uru’sFlintlocklore.

However, while his appearance is influenced by the lammasu, Uru himself is not directly represented in mythological lore, instead having a handful of small possible connections. As a result, Uru seems more like an amalgamation of several elements in Mesopotamian mythology. For example, there was the Uruk Period that lasted from around 4000 to 3100 B.C. It was named after the city of Uruk, it saw the emergence of urban life in the Mesopotamia and Sumerian civilizations, and it came to an end when the wider Uruk area was abandoned for urban centers. Its legacy includes the development of cuneiform andpopular myths like Gilgameshand The Great Flood (not of the undead, though). Other possible connections possibly include Nergal, the god of the underworld, war, and death, or Lugal-irra and Meslamta-e, twin gatekeepers of the Mesopotamia underworld.

…And Then There’s Enki

Interestingly, Enki is the onlyFlintlockgod who directly shares a name with Mesopotamian mythology. Baider explained thatFlintlock’s Enki doesn’t directly correspond with any Mesopotamian myth, though they do share various character traits such as sympathy for humankind. How else Enki relates to the Mesopotamian God remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that the Mesopotamian Enki, across various myths, is associated with

Just as he stands out from otherFlintlockGods for sharing a direct name with Enki, he also stands out design-wise. Rammuha represents order and faith with a divine, regal appearance; Dukmar wears armor to display power, discipline, and order; Inaya has an organic depiction, focused on body horror; and Uru represents angry, destructive power asa mythological creature. Meanwhile, Enki is more pet-like, perhaps best described as a cute little feller. Regarding Enki’s design, Baider explained,

Enki was a foxlike creature from the beginning, although the elements borrowed from other animals (such as his monkey-like paws, feathers etc.) were introduced in later iterations to make his appearance feel more otherworldly and unusual. Adding things like his iridescent feathers instead of typical fur also helps with his godlike status, making him really feel unique and different from the other creatures in the world.

Gods vs. Guns in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

The creativity of this worldbuilding using both Flintlock fantasy and Mesopotamian mythology is second to none, but this narrative premise of Guns vs. Gods must also be realized inFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s gameplaytoo. Normally, guns are treated as strong but ultimately irrelevant whenever present in fantasy, so this seems like a big ask. Luckily, that fantasy finds its home in the wider Souslike genre.

Interested in more flintlock fantasy? Dasan recommends The Powder Mage trilogy of novels by Brian McClellan.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnfeatures several Soulslike features, but it tempers them to be more approachable than other Soulslike games—dubbing itself a Souls-lite game. Examples of this include difficulty options, no stamina system, and features (including guns and magic) to offset the combat without sacrificing the rhythmic flow often associated with the genre. As Dasan explained, “bringing the Souls experience to everyone was an idea that resonated with us, specifically by introducing traditional Souls mechanics and systems into amore accessible Action-RPG, and that was the start of the ‘Souls-lite’ moniker.”

The Core Combat of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Combat-wise, players will be able to wield a melee weapon, primary and secondary firearms,Enki’s magic, and formulate the builds they’d expect from a Soulslike game. Fans can expect the traditional reliance of Soulslike games on dodging and parrying enemy attacks, choosing to punish enemies at appropriate times with their melee weapons. Meanwhile, some enemy attacks have to be interrupted by a quick shot from a pistol, while other firearms like the musket can be used to take out enemies from afar. The firearms rely on the humanity inherent toFlintlock’s narrative, but then players can also utilize the more god-associated magic thanks to Enki.

Enki will be able to curse enemies with certain debilitating effects, while his attacks can also increase a Poise-like bar to destroy enemy armor with cinematic attacks. Utilizing these abilities will charge Witherings, powerful magic attacks that players can unleash. And, as anyone would expect from action RPGs, there is a skill tree that lets players enhance Enki’s Magic, their firearms, and their melee abilities. When asked about these builds and how they impact gameplay if a player leans heavily on one more than the other two, Dasan explained,

We want people to be able to play their way and have it be fully viable. There aren’t really many pros and cons from a gameplay perspective, just what suits a player’s playstyle. We really encourage people to explore different weapons, armors, Witherings, and skill builds! A player’s choice of gear and their associated perks will really help them lean into their preferred playstyle – like finding gear that gives you more gunpowder charges quickly, or some that let you unleash Enki’s magic more often.

Builds and Gear Progression in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Builds are always important in any Soulslike game, though it often seems most Soulslike games are of two minds. Some games focus more on build depth - how deep the customization of a build can go - while others focus on providing plenty of variety when it comes to builds. It remains to be seen howFlintlockultimately balances the two, but Dasan did give an example of one possible build using the Irregular gear set:

Another cool example would be using pieces from the ‘Irregular’ gear set. Equipping a couple of items from that set unlocks a skill called ‘Bloodrage’ which releases a powerful knockback effect when you get to low health. Combine that with the Irregular Gauntlet’s main skill (which increases your melee range) and it can be really helpful in saving your skin when it seems like the enemy has the upper hand. The Irregular gear set is just one example of equipment that can really change the feel ofFlintlock’s combat, and being able to mix and match gear to make cool combos should be really fun for fans.

At the same time, players will be able to develop these builds further using the Skill Tree and by upgrading the equipment. Depending on how players approach this upgrade system, Dasan also pointed out that “even the starting equipment can be valuable right till the end of the game if they’re what you prefer to play with.” All of this combines to createFlintlock’s more approachable Soulslike formula, but more approachable means it’s for everyone, not just newcomers.

The Soul of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Dasan described the Possessed mode as a “more traditional Souls experience” for those looking for a challenge, and even had something to add regardingChallenge Runs, a common feat in the wider Soulslike community.

“We do offer a difficulty mode called Possessed which may fit closer to their liking, but if that’s still too easy for them, then we’d egg them on to try a self-imposed no skills or upgrade run on Possessed mode. We’d love to see the community come up with some really fun and challenging ways to enjoy the game.”

Otherwise, fans can expect several of the most common features in Soulslike games. Instead of Runes or Souls,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnfeatures Reputation that doubles as a currency and as a method of leveling up. What’s interesting is how this mechanic is designed to reward those who are really good at the game: there is a mechanical multiplayer based on combat performance that can increase how much Reputation someone earns. Players can find camps similar to bonfires that respawn enemies when resting, while unlocking world shortcuts as they explore the critical and unbeaten paths. Not to mention, there will be plenty of death runs to retrieve lost experience and, likely, the panic associated with recovering it. Furthermore, its narrative appears to be more direct thanmost Soulslike games, directly pairing the story with its gameplay.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawntakes its creative liberties with its Napoleonic Above and Mesopotamian Below and runs them in parallel to A44 Games' interpretation ofSoulslike gameplay, all to realize its Gods vs. Guns theme. Each part carries its own weight, but it’s the hand-in-hand crafting of its narrative and gameplay that will see this world rise above or sink below. Ultimately, the combination carries with it a conviction to have everyone who plays it say: