I was pretty lukewarm on Flinthook at first. I couldn’t quite put my finger on its lack, but despite everything seeming good on paper, I almost bounced right off it.
Something (likely the awesome music and top-notch pixel art) brought me back, and it’s been pretty rewarding. If nothing else, having even a little skill with the controls feels extremely satisfying, like I’m the, uh, cute ghost space pirate boy I was always supposed to be.
I’ve downed the first three bosses, but am struggling to deal with the (sadly GWARless) Gwarlock.
Thoughts? Feelings? Particularly awesome perk combinations? Hit me.
Man I have had such a hard time digging in to that game and I genuinely think that it’s due to my own inability. The game controls so elegantly, but I might just be getting too old and clumsy to really massage its systems.
That being said, it’s music is bangin’, the world is really cool, the roguelite mechanics are up my alley. It kinda makes me wish it had an easy mode.
I’m a fan. I’m still only on the second boss but I’m really digging the daily and weekly challenges.
The strange part is I bounced off of rouge legacy and put a really minor about of time into spelunky.
This got it’s Flinthooks into me, the look, music, the feel/mechanics, hit me just right. The only criticism I have is how often the randomly generated rooms repeat super similar construction and enemy combos.
I played Rogue Legacy enough to get to the last boss but put it down after a few tries and never picked it up again.
Spelunky, similarly, I found great but too punishing (personally, I need a steady unlocking hook to keep me going).
I hear ya on the repeating rooms, but as I’m pushing for that last boss (or, heck, just to beat the third again: first time was a fluke) when I see something I recognize, I’m grateful. Better chance I might make it through unscathed!
I played the demo for this at PAX East this year and I really would like to check it out more. I am an unapologetic pixel junkie and I have a respect for rogue-likes that exceeds my skill at playing them so this is RIGHT up my alley.
The visuals are great, the music is great, and moving around with that hook is great.
There may be an issue where (edit: the) carrot dangle is too far.
What’s keeping me from really latching onto this game are the trap rooms with no enemies. This game wants you to dodge and fly past enemies with your hook but as soon as you hit a trap room with spikes, saw-blades, or lasers you are restricted to finding the pattern to get past that room. What’s worse is when you have to backtrack through the trap room again to hit a few rooms you missed.
I think this game would do a good job of taking a page from The Binding of Isaac. The Binding of Isaac has several types of trap rooms - once you complete the room the traps deactivate for the entirety of the floor.
There’s just a disconnect in Flinthook when having so much momentum from enemy rooms to have to come to a complete stop to make sure you don’t get hurt in a trap room. There is such an emphasis on health management that the sometimes cheap feeling trap rooms don’t make sense.
(bought this on the switch)
So much to like about this game but the difficulty is making me bounce pretty hard. I’m only on the second pirate captain hunt and it’s turning into a precision platformer, with the addition of the screen being filled with bullets.
Really wish there was an easy mode.
I haven’t jumped on this because I’m allergic to roguelikes now and despite really loving the art of every Tribute game not a single one of them has felt really good to play for me.
So I’ve played a few hours of Flinthook and I can’t help but feel like the game would have been better if it wasn’t a Roguelite. I think the game would have been way better if it was, say, a Metroidvania, or hell, had Mega Man style level. It was really tiring to go through near identical rooms over and over with frankly very dull progression hooks. Cuz like, the controls feel good in this game, and the combat feels good, but it doesn’t really merit recursion of that combat and movement ad infinitum without mechanical hooks to back it up.
@indie devs your game doesnt have to be a roguelite!! there are lots of good ways to make games that you are capable of! i believe in you!
I just picked it up on Switch, as well, and I’ve been enjoying my time with it so far (c’mon, that intro, though). Still, I just can’t help but feel the same about the choice of making it a rogue-like (rogue-lite?! HELP!) Even some sort of difficulty adjustment would have been nice (ala Celeste) as @sputnik mentioned above.
Definitely going to keep plugging away at it on my commutes to and from work. It’s a great pick-up-and-play game to have on the go.
I played Flinthook for review when it was originally released and was pretty disappointed. It’s a good game, but like others have mentioned, the roguelite aspect of it really dilutes the experience. Rooms tend to repeat way too much, the levels don’t feel very cohesive as a result, and some of the traps, like the random floor spikes, are just irritating. It’s a shame because it’s an incredibly cute game, and pulling off a combo in bullet time feels amazing, but I just never felt compelled to play it again.
I did eventually finish up the game, and apparently enjoyed it enough to buy it on Switch too.
I definitely feel what vehemently is saying about roguelites, but I’m a sucker for them. That slow grind, the feeling of slowly building mastery and checking unlocks off a list keeps my animal brain coming back for more. Plus, and obviously everyone’s mileage will vary on this, I found the moment-to-moment feel of Flinthook very satisfying.
I think the perk system really does it for me. They give a bit more control on how each run plays out. Likewise how the selection of ships provides variety (albeit only so much) but also lets you tailor your run a little. Cuts down a bit on the wild variance you run into in something like Binding of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon where sometimes RNGesus blesses you with a god build (or the opposite, obv).
I’ve played a decent amount of this on PC and I like it a whole lot. The weirdness of the universe, the art and animation, and of course, the gameplay all come together in a real charming and fun package. The increasingly high amounts of ghost gems you have to get to find the bosses are a little obnoxious, but the moving and shooting is good enough that I get over it pretty quickly.
Real talk, there just aren’t enough games with good grappling hooks.
