1666: Amsterdam – Early Access Preview: Fascinating, Bizarre and Brimming with Ambition

The Long Journey to Amsterdam

Few video games carry as much real-world mythos behind their development as 1666: Amsterdam. Originally envisioned well over a decade ago by Patrice Désilets, the visionary creative director behind the original Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The title became infamous following a high-profile legal battle with Ubisoft over the creative rights.

After years in limbo, Désilets reclaimed his IP, founded Panache Digital Games in Montreal (releasing the experimental Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey in 2019), and set out to finally bring his long-lost passion project to life. Now that I’ve spent time diving into the Early Access version on PC, I can see that 1666: Amsterdam is a deeply unconventional action-adventure game that carries clear traces of Assassin’s Creed DNA, yet strays so far into bizarre, esoteric territory that it defies standard genre categorization.

Three Eras Tied Together by Bound Spirits

At its core, 1666: Amsterdam is an odd beast to describe especially as it weaves a complex narrative across three distinct time periods. The games primary focus is in 1666 Golden Age Amsterdam, where I took control of Noa, a Zaindaris raised as “The Collector” tasked with hunting ancient, malicious entities called The Originals. These creatures possess influential humans across the city, forcing Noa to track them down and reclaim their energy during a monthly full moon ritual known as the Esbat.

The narrative occasionally also jumps to two other eras: late 1999, where I followed a young historian named Aaron pulled into Noa’s web through a dark ritual, and the present day, where Aaron’s daughter Clia sifts through manuscripts and records to piece together her family’s occult history.

Connecting all three eras is a spiritual link Noa creates with a cat in the games prologue. While my choice of the cat’s affinity was purely cosmetic and didn’t alter my overall playthrough, the feline acts as the vital bridge between eras. Aaron’s spirit inhabits the cat during the 1600s, while Noa projects into the cat in the 1990s to help Aaron solve environmental puzzles, unlatch doors, and navigate tough to reach spots.

The 1666 Sandbox: Investigation, Alchemical Craft, and Stealth

Like most multi-timeline stories, one era easily stole the show for me: the titular 1666 era. When controlling Noa in the 17th century, the game became a surprisingly open-ended sandbox where I spent hours snooping through private residences, searching chests, and gathering evidence to identify possessed citizens.

As I explored, Noa alternated between her civilian appearance and her powerful full Witch Form. Exploring other’s homes and offices comes with significant risk, requiring me to use the cat for distractions or brew alchemical potions to lower suspicion. Searching houses rewarded me with ingredients to brew utility potions, uncover new recipes, and find jewelry that alters and upgrades Noa’s abilities.

I found the exploration loop to be surprisingly deep, demanding careful observational work to uncover hidden wall compartments, trace local rumors back to influential people and manage my inventory of raw alchemical components. Unlocking a rare recipe felt genuinely rewarding, as my crafted potions served as the primary toolkit for manipulating guard routines and surviving hostile territories.

Confrontation: Combat, Intimidation, and the Moonlit Hunt

Whenever I got caught infiltrating a restricted location, guards rushed in and forced a confrontation. Switching to witch form allowed me to execute basic melee combos and a speedy dodge move, while upgrades added devastating special attacks to my mix. In a clever twist on traditional stealth mechanics, defeating a set number of guards triggered an “Intimidation Mode,” causing nearby citizens and guards to cower and actively avoid me.

Once I exposed an Original through gathering evidence, I had to officially name them, mark them with Aaron’s cat claws, and prepare for the Esbat. When the full moon rose, my target revealed its true demonic form, leading to a high-stakes duel to harvest its energy before night ended.

Visual Triumph vs. Mechanical Friction

1666: Amsterdam utterly fascinated me, driven by a vision that I found impossible to ignore despite some mechanics, design choices that slow the narrative and optimization issues.

• The Good: The concept art style brought to life in Unreal Engine 5 is staggering. The visual direction of 1666 Amsterdam, the moody canal lighting, and Noa’s witch design represent some of the finest art design I have seen in years. Paired with stellar voice acting, the game created an incredibly immersive atmosphere that pulled me right in. The nuanced mechanics of searching houses, unearthing potion recipes, and freely exploring the town made the core loop surprisingly addictive.
• The Bad: The combat currently is clunky and basic, boiling down to a repetitive rhythm of dodge, hit, and repeat. While my potions offered temporary shields or attack boosts, the lack of quick-cast spells hurt my fantasy of playing a powerful witch. Furthermore, poor engine optimization led to noticeable frame drops, while the present-day and 1990s segments felt flat to me, stripping away combat and spellcraft in favor of slow puzzle-solving and exposition dumps.

Early Access Verdict

Ultimately, my time with 1666: Amsterdam revealed a bizarre, rough-around-the-edges experience yet despite the performance quirks, clunky combat, and pacing issues, what I experienced in the game lives rent-free in my head.

The sheer strength of its visual identity, dark atmosphere, and nuanced alchemical exploration make it a project I feel is worth celebrating. Panache Digital Games has plenty of work ahead during Early Access to iron out performance and polish the gameplay, but the core concept is brilliant, and I hold genuine hope that the full release will tie these ambitious ideas into a cohesive masterpiece.

I was given a Steam key via PressEngine from the publisher and 1666: Amsterdam is available right now in Early Access for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Console versions will eventually be released with no formal date given.