1666: Amsterdam

1666: Amsterdam is a game built on extraordinary foundations with a gripping backstory, a beautifully realized city, and a premise full of investigative and supernatural intrigue. But it’s also a game still wrestling with its own identity. The uneven writing, sluggish combat, and Early Access roughness keep it from fully realizing its potential. Still, when its systems work as they should the game reveals what it could become. [Early Access Review]

It's one of those paintings that opens out the past and encourages you to imagine what it would be like to step onto its streets. And in 1666: Amsterdam, you can kind of do that. [Early Access Review]

The Amsterdam recreated by Panache is a convincing maze of canals, damp brickwork, and alleyways that suddenly open onto squares or markets; the lighting gives the city a distinctive character and makes wandering the streets—even just to browse—a pleasant experience, aided by the ability to enter almost every building. The character models, however, are far less impressive; they look almost as if they belong to a different game, featuring stiff faces, unrefined textures, and animations that aren't always up to par. There is certainly time to make improvements before the 1.0 release, but in its current state, several aspects still require work. Hopefully, Panache will take player feedback to heart, as the narrative concept and the relationship between Noa and Aaron deserve to be backed by gameplay mechanics that do them justice. [Early Access Impressions]

But while I was struck by 1666: Amsterdam’s artistry, I remain concerned about its execution. The team at Panache has clearly poured a lot of passion into recreating Amsterdam and building a dark, historical sandbox, but behind the cobblestone streets, narrow houses, and lush courtyards lies an experience burdened by clunky traversal, jarring tone shifts, baffling writing, and unrefined combat. In short, an early-access period is absolutely vital for 1666: Amsterdam, as I feel it’s going to take a lot of feedback and fine-tuning to turn it into a game that’s as fun to play as it is to look at. [Early Access Impressions]

While 1666: Amsterdam has soul, and seeds a truly compelling story filled with intrigue, the sum of its parts are hard to recommend considering the entire product is included. 1666: Amsterdam has a solid premise, good sound, and solid cat-based gameplay, but needs a lot more work for it to be recommendable when it has a premium pricepoint and doing basic game functions feels like moving through mud. [Early Access Impressions]

As of writing, I would be hard-pressed to recommend the game, since it’s not in a state where I feel very invested just yet. Instead, I would suggest waiting for a couple of story updates, maybe until the game has at least half of its narrative in place, so it doesn’t feel as hollow as it does now. [Early Access Review]

1666: Amsterdam might look like a typical alternate-history horror game, but even in Early Access, it quickly becomes clear that Panache is attempting far more than it can consistently pull off just yet. [Early Access Review]