Flint: Treasure of Oblivion Review – A High-Seas Adventure Adrift

Pirate-themed games have always held a unique allure, transporting players to a world of swashbuckling adventures, buried treasure, and daring escapes. However, the genre has seen a decline in recent years, making titles like Flint: Treasure of Oblivion by Savage Level particularly intriguing. Combining elements of turn-based strategy, trading mechanics, and tabletop RPG features, the game initially promised a captivating experience. Unfortunately, while its foundation shows potential, Flint: Treasure of Oblivion falters in execution, leaving players with a frustrating and underwhelming adventure.

A Story Worthy of a Pirate’s Legend

If there’s one aspect where the game truly shines, it’s in its narrative. The story revolves around the legendary Golden Age pirate captain James Flint, a character deeply rooted in pirate folklore. Inspired by figures from literature like Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Captain Flint is bold, resourceful, and undeniably entertaining. The game opens with Flint and his first mate, Billy Bones, surviving a shipwreck only to find themselves imprisoned in a French island fortress. Facing execution for their piracy, the duo hatches a daring escape plan, blending bribery, cunning, and brute force. What follows is a classic pirate tale filled with treasure hunts, crew recruitment in the bustling town of Saint Malo, and high-seas escapades.

Despite its somewhat predictable plot, the narrative remains engaging, largely due to Captain Flint’s charismatic personality. His witty remarks, daring actions, and morally questionable decisions embody the quintessential pirate captain. Memorable moments, like Flint’s attempt to eat his presumed-dead first mate while stranded at sea, only to be interrupted when Billy wakes up alive, add humor and depth to the character.

Visual Storytelling That Stands Out

What sets the storytelling apart is its presentation. Rather than relying on voice-acted cutscenes or generic dialogue boxes, Savage Level opted for beautifully illustrated comic book panels. This unique visual style complements the pirate setting, giving the game a distinct charm and immersing players in its world. The comic book aesthetic elevates the story, making it the highlight of an otherwise flawed game. However, even this strong narrative isn’t enough to offset the gameplay issues that plague the experience.

Gameplay That Misses the Mark

On paper, the gameplay mechanics of Flint: Treasure of Oblivion appear promising. It features tactical turn-based combat, trading-inspired systems, and RPG elements like visible dice rolls for attacks and defenses. However, the execution leaves much to be desired.

Combat Frustrations

The combat system, while functional, suffers from poor design choices. The interface is overly complicated, requiring excessive clicks for simple actions like moving, attacking, or switching characters. For instance, initiating an attack involves selecting an enemy and then clicking on the dice that appear, an unnecessary extra step. Additionally, accidental actions—such as triggering movement-based abilities instead of attacks—are common due to the unintuitive controls.

Further complicating matters is the battlefield design. Poor visual cues make it difficult to determine navigable areas, adding to the frustration. The morale system, which influences attack and defense rolls, is poorly explained, leaving players guessing about its mechanics. Combined with an overreliance on RNG (random number generation), battles often feel arbitrary rather than strategic.

Exploration and Navigation Woes

Exploration fares no better. The top-down perspective is hindered by a lack of camera rotation during traversal, despite this feature being available—albeit clunky—in combat. The map system provides minimal assistance, making it easy to get lost in confusingly designed locations. Controls are another sore point. Whether using a controller or mouse and keyboard, players will encounter issues. Switching between control schemes is often necessary to mitigate these problems, resulting in a disjointed experience.

Tedious Progression Systems

Character progression is equally cumbersome. Improving stats requires players to distribute bounty in a dedicated menu before accessing the stats menu to allocate points. This multi-step process feels outdated and unnecessarily convoluted. With so many modern games streamlining such systems, Flint: Treasure of Oblivion’s approach stands out for all the wrong reasons.

Technical Performance and Visuals

On the technical front, the game runs smoothly, even on modest setups. While the graphics are simple and lack detail, they are sufficient for the game’s purpose. On a system with an i7-13700F processor, RTX 4080 GPU, and 32GB of RAM, the game maintained an average of 80 FPS at 4K resolution and high settings. This performance suggests that even older systems should handle the game well at lower settings.

However, the lack of advanced graphical options, such as upscaling support, highlights the game’s technical limitations. Animations are stiff, and sound effects are almost nonexistent, further detracting from the overall experience. These shortcomings make it difficult to fully immerse oneself in the pirate fantasy.

The Verdict: A Missed Opportunity

Flint: Treasure of Oblivion had the potential to be a standout entry in the tactical RPG genre. Its compelling protagonist, engaging story, and unique comic book presentation are commendable. However, these strengths are overshadowed by poorly implemented gameplay mechanics, frustrating controls, and lackluster technical execution. While the game’s short 10-hour story may appeal to fans of pirate adventures, the numerous issues make it a hard sell for most players.

With more development time and attention to detail, Flint: Treasure of Oblivion could have been a treasure. As it stands, it’s a ship adrift, struggling to stay afloat in a sea of missed opportunities.