The falconeer review series#

It's in these moments where your mind wanders and you wonder what things are for. It's in these moments where the mood and personality of the world sinks in. A key part of its charm are the moments in between, the sections away from the tension of combat, where you're flying untroubled through the sky. In this way, The Falconeer spreads the action out. And you can accept contracts from your home settlement or abroad. There are bounties, mail deliveries, base defences - anything you might need a handy falconeer for. But you can also take on contracts, on the side, to earn money. Each chapter, you'll call a different settlement home, and there will be a new main story to follow. That's because a huge part of the game is flying around an open map, running various missions for various settlements dotted around a mostly sea-covered world. And everything you do revolves around that core.īut it's not an arcade game. You fly a giant falcon around, shooting at other other enemies in the sky, and sometimes in the sea, and sometimes on the land. The Falconeer is an aerial combat game a bit like Panzer Dragoon. It would no longer be an intriguing kind of personal statement, and no longer feel like venturing into another person's mind. And in some ways, The Falconeer would be stronger for it. A committee would probably have shortened it, focused it, honed it. There is an undiluted grand vision to the game, the kind that can only survive because it's hidden inside one head. They don't express the serenity of it, the peace and quiet up there in the clouds, wingtips carving an airstream as you glide silently above.īut what I really love is how singular it feels. The pictures don't tell you how it feels to fly a giant falcon around a moody archipelago.

It's a combination of simple elements coming together in a powerful way, and that's before you factor in movement. They're some of the most striking images I've taken in any game. Check out the screenshots in this article. Availability: Available now for £25 on Steam and Xbox.Here is a game made by one person - one! - standing alongside blockbusters like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, and not looking out of place.

The falconeer review series#

I love that we're living in a time where The Falconeer can be an Xbox Series X/S launch title. In a world of compromised visions, The Falconeer is dazzlingly original.