I have somewhat come out of hiding! Yes, friends, it’s review time again! On the chopping block today, The Falconeer. Before we get into it, I just want to say a huge well done to the developer, Tomas Sala, who worked primarily solo on this game.
So, what is The Falconeer?
Developed by Tomas Sala, and published by Wired Productions, The Falconeer is an open-world air combat game. It features fast, brutal aerial dogfights and deep exploration of a fantasy open-world both above the clouds, and amongst the waves and down through the sunken, ocean depths. Soar through the skies aboard a devastatingly powerful Warbird. Join or oppose different factions and clans scattered throughout The Great Ursee, and uncover secrets along the way.
Let’s get techy
I’m going to sink my teeth right into visuals here. The Falconeer has a really stunning visual style. Mostly when it comes to the Warbird. Admittedly, the settings (although still very pretty) lean on a more simplistic style. Watching the wings is almost entrancing though. I kinda want a big bird after this. The colour story definitely matched the atmosphere and maintained a solid balance overall.
Gameplay-wise… there were definite improvements from the beta, that’s for sure. But does that mean I could successfully control it? NOPE! I really struggled with the controls big time, especially in combat. Which, when the game is a combat game, really is not good. I’m not going to fault the dev for this one though, I just could not wrap my head around the controls. I was button mashing way more than I normally do. I even struggled in the tutorial. It was… messy. Not gonna lie, this hugely impacted my overall experience.
Now, this is not my kind of game normally, but I can always get over that kind of thing with good gameplay or story. I was so lost trying to figure out how to control my bird that I couldn’t even focus on the story! Even as I sit down and write out everything, I’m still not really sure what I was doing. I just followed quest markers.
Quest markers! I have to single this one out, sorry guys. The quest markers SUCKED. Honestly, they suck in most games. It’s annoying. I only realised how annoying when I was gaming in my downtime, and I could literally press a button to somewhat direct me. If I was lost, it wasn’t for long. But with The Falconeer, I found myself flying in circles more often than not.
Are we soaring as Falconeers?
Here’s the thing, like I already said, this is not my kind of game normally. I have hugely opened my mind to what I’ll play, with lots of success. This was not one of those successes for me. No matter what, no matter how much I tried, I just could not get into this game. On the flip side, I know loads of people who would definitely enjoy The Falconeer. It’s not a bad game, it’s just not a game for me. Maybe down the line, I’ll give it another go. And maybe then, I’ll have more fun with it. But sadly this time, the fun ended for me almost as soon as it started.
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