It's been a long development for 1666: Amsterdam and the folks over at Panache Digital Games, but after over a decade of fighting and planning, the game's finally made it to early access.
Announced at Opening Night Live, we got to see 1666: Amsterdam's last trailer before its release. It revealed the main characters Noa Brooklyn (the witch) and Aaron (the man trapped in a cat's body) as they traverse through modern day and 17th century Amsterdam on a journey to hunt down, fight, and kill the demonic Originals who have grown too greedy and powerful for their own good.
I played through the first hour of the game—which followed straight on from the demo—a few weeks ago, and while it did show promise I wasn't entirely convinced it was ready for early access. Well, now early access is here. I got a sneak peak and well, not a whole lot has changed.
I'm happy to say I've encountered far fewer bugs. There have been a couple of crashes, but there'll be some patches yet before it's in your hands. My greatest issue, though, remains the same—1666: Amsterdam has a lot of interesting ideas which are woven together poorly.
Its setting and premise are exciting—Noa's character design is impeccable, both her civilian and witch attire are beautiful. Same goes for the old town of Amsterdam, you can tell just how much thought and effort has gone into replicating the streets of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
The idea of learning randomised spells as you progress through the game and explore the map is also cool. It provides a double-edged sword to dying—on one hand, you don't want to lose helpful or powerful spells, but on the other it's exciting to be able to re-roll the dice and have the potential of finding something even better. But my favourite part so far has undoubtedly been using Aaron in his cat form to explore.
Clambering through the streets of Amsterdam as a little black cat isn't just fun, but also surprisingly intuitive. I'm getting proficient at worming my way into restricted houses and scoping them out for points of interest or helpful material. I'm even getting good at using my cat charms to distract guards, or terrifying some into possession and total submission—perhaps too good. But these enlightened moments can seem few and far between when the filler is so mismatched, which certainly isn't helped by its heavy-handed use of AI which has managed to creep its way into more than just the demo.
The fights are repetitive but not in a challenging way. I got through the first boss by button mashing and a couple of well placed evades—it definitely didn't feel like I was fighting an all-powerful demon. The exploration can also fall into the same repetitiveness, as the easiest way to get into places is just by possessing someone as Aaron and then having the poor puppet walk Noa in and around the building with no qualms or queries from any of the inhabitants. I could've sat down for a family dinner, and no one would've blinked an eye at me or my suspicious black cat.
Talking of repetitiveness, the people who inhabit this world also follow a strict wardrobe, with all the 'bad guy' soldiers looking almost identical to one another. It's small, but it does enough to ruin your immersion as an all-powerful witch from 1666 Amsterdam.
All of this, though, isn't to say 1666: Amsterdam is a lost cause—it just really needs some more time. The team has also been very upfront about wanting to make finishing touches and polish it, alongside a community which can help guide their hand. So, if that sounds like something you'd want to be involved with then by all means, get in at the ground floor. But for those who may want a more coherent experience before paying $30, it's probably worth waiting a little bit longer before jumping into Noa's shoes.
