Flinthook Reviews
Flinthook would have been a much better game with handcrafted levels as opposed to being a roguelite and one that needs some tweaking visually.
Colorful, cheerful and fun, Flinthook is not only a joy to look at, but above all also a blast to play. Too bad for its uncompromising difficulty and its poor balancing, that prevent this roguelike-platformer from becoming the next cult classic on the indie scene.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you like fast paced action games with a retro twist, then this is going to be one of those five star games that you’ll love. If you hate these type of games, and you know who you are, I would say give it a go and persevere, because it does reward the effort.
What Flinthook does do well is keep the variety of enemies, rooms, and environments strong from start to finish, and, generally speaking, the difficulty curve is reasonable. There's always the risk that random elements means a game will take massive momentary spikes in difficulty when you get unlucky and the algorithms work against you. Flinthook avoids that, and progress through the game does feel good, but it struggles to be compelling.
A satisfying, moreish take on the roguelike formula, and one that's most likely to appeal to genre naysayers.
There's a ton of fun to be had with Flinthook if you give it a chance. The roguelike nature of the game certainly isn't for everyone, but if you're up for the challenge and want a game that will always keep you on high alert, then the latest release from Tribute Games is the one you need. I greatly enjoyed my time with the game for my Flinthook review, and I kept playing more even after I was done drafting it since I wanted to see what new challenges the game was going to throw at me. There's a nice variety of enemies to defeat, lots of relics to find, and even a ghost ship to board if you're cursed, so get your gun and hook ready and dive into action! On top of the main adventure, you can also take on the daily and weekly challenges in the main menu so that you can see how good you really are compared to the rest of the world – not to mention you can get some extra green coins for your trouble as well!
What irks about Flinthook is found in every roguelike; the sudden deaths, the lack of tangible progress and the inability to feel safe within your environment. However, some players will delight in this usual pattern and others whom usually fight against such road blocking will find enough within the walls to come back time and time again, gluttons for such delightful and gloriously designed punishment. Flinthook is a ballet upon spikes, far too risky to participate in, but get it right and the rewards are such a beautiful spectacle.
If the wave of Roguelikes were to break today and nothing of note were to arrive in 2017, Flinthook alone would still make it a pretty good year for the genre.
Although it won’t last hundreds of hours like Spelunky or Binding of Isaac, and while it doesn’t have the amazing gameplay loop of Rogue Legacy that made me want to keep playing that game forever, Flinthook captures enough of the genre to satisfy that itch for a couple dozen hours.
Despite cribbing gameplay elements from a number of different games, Flinthook manages to be its own unique beast. Its unforgiving and repetitive design is not for everyone, but those craving pixel perfect platforming with a dash of difficulty will find a lot to like here.
Flinthook is a game that should not be missed. It truly stands apart from the platforming/rouge-like genre and has now set the bar for bad-assery. An amazing 'hook shot' movement mechanic, randomly generated levels, chrono-belt, humor, and collectables? This will keep you entertained for hours.
Coupled them with an incredible soundtrack, boss battles that test your patience , skills and beautiful graphics and they make for a game that I can safely say, is one of the best of 2017.
Flinthook makes you a space vigilante. You need to conquer the space, ship-by-ship to regain what's yours and then a bit more. It features randomly generated levels that will make you go furious and then retry. And retry. And retry. Because it's a bit addicting.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Tribute Games' Flinthook is a unique take on Rogue-like games, with gorgeous pixel art, catchy soundtrack and addictive gameplay mechanics. Now available on the Nintendo Switch, it's a worthy investment on the console if you haven't played it yet on other platforms.
Flinthook is a roguelike platformer centered around a single object… a grappling hook.
Captain Flinthook is a fun character to play as and the way the procedural levels are generated, they just do not do him justice.
The roguelite design leads to some repetition, but the gorgeous art and great style (even in the face of well-worn scenery) helps make up for that and other shortcomings. Be prepared to die a lot, but if it clicks for you, be prepared to want to jump right back in for another go. That's what happened to me, and I had a fantastic time with Flinthook in spite of bothersome issues.
Make no mistake about it - Flinthook is a really well crafted, charming and fun experience. To a certain extent, however, it feels impeded by the constraints of its genre. It is one of tightest action platformers and addictive rogue likes around, but due to the randomly generated levels, you will encounter the odd frustrating spike in difficulty or structurally very similar areas in close proximity. These complaints are reduced to niggles though due to its charm, personality and action packed gameplay. This trek across the galaxy is sometimes a tough and repetitive one, but it's also incredibly enjoyable.
As a total package for roguelike fans Flinthook is among the most satisfying and challenging I’ve played in the genre. I love the flow and the variety of enemies, rooms, and traps you’ll need to learn to contend with. Getting good in this game requires some real investment and effort, the fact that there’s a system for progression sitting on top of the individual runs is just good design. Throw in a distinctive sense of visual style and a memorable soundtrack and you’ve got a terrific game that it right at home on the Switch.