[STEAM] Assassin’s Creed creator’s new game, 1666: Amsterdam, is the best kind of strange and weird

[Steam 0]

Announced last night during Summer Game Fest, 1666: Amsterdam is the newest title from Panache Digital Games, the studio led by Assassin’s Creed‘s creator. The game takes place in the second half of the seventeenth century and heavily focuses on witches, while also containing some trippy time travel shenanigans.

It also already has a free-to-play demo on Steam, which I gladly hopped onto because I simply adore the Dutch Golden Age as a setting. The year 1666 is less than two decades after the conclusion of the 30 Years’ War in Europe, which saw millions killed, as well as the 80 Years’ War fought between the Dutch and the Spanish over the former’s independence.

The Netherlands in those times was a mercantile powerhouse and would eventually have the wealthiest corporation in human history, the Dutch East India Company, whose immense funds would turn the Dutch lands into highly developed and rich urban centers of education and culture. However, a lot of its people were fanatically religious Protestants and had strong ties to the persecution of witches, perfect for a game focusing on ancient powers and, well, witchcraft.

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The dark fantasy art style coupled with its 17th-century Dutch setting is pure perfection. Image via Panache Digital Games The demo gives us a glimpse into the modern-day setting of the game, as well as a brief look at its 17th-century side of things, which is going to be primary.

The art style is impeccable and borders on horror, even though the game itself seems to be more of an action-adventure at heart. Indeed, the team behind 1666: Amsterdam obviously wanted to portray witchcraft as something demonic and otherworldly, and its oppressively dark style permeates the entire demo.

Several characters are playable in the demo, including Noa, a Collector, which is this game’s version of some prophesied witch, as well as Aaron, Noa’s time-traveling cat companion. There’s also Aaron’s daughter, though how important or core she’ll be to the game is yet to be revealed.

One thing that the devs should definitely look into is the writing quality. Too many times does the professor in the first stage of the game nudge you toward the solution to a “puzzle,” and the game is too revealing and helpful to the player, even though investigation seems crucial to the gameplay. Games hold our hands too much these days, and this one doesn’t have to add to the pile.

So, summa summarum, 1666: Amsterdam is trippy, strange, weird, and quite compelling to be honest, but also a game that still needs a lot of work to truly come into its own. Some polished writing and a little less handholding, and we could have one of the best “weird” games in recent memory.

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