The Falconeer Reviews
While it has its fair share of flaws, a compelling world that is rich with secrets and lore, alongside beautiful graphics and engaging flight controls, help The Falconeer stand out and stake its claim to your attention.
Panzer Falcon Saga
The Falconeer is an interesting take on the aerial combat genre putting players in the saddle of large birds and setting off across a flooded world in search of balance between warring factions. While the story and world do feel incomplete the flight combat does a good job of staying entertaining.
And while it's easy to recommend you pick up and enjoy The Falconeer, its real magic lies in waiting. As hopefully it's the start of a new series, where we eventually see The Falconeer Black Flag, or whatever Tomas decides to call it. And that is really where it starts to fill my flight chaps with excitement juice.
Review code provided by the publisher.
Fun combat doesn't save The Falconeer: Warrior Edition from being a mediocre game. Problems with mission design and lack of exploration of its world create a game that only promises and fails to reach its potential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Even as someone who plays a lot of games that are theoretically in the same genre as The Falconeer, I have to say that I've never played anything quite like it. On top of all of that the Switch version itself is among the best Switch ports we've ever seen. This is a rare instance of a game that feels perfect on the go but also looks great on a big screen TV. Yes, the core gameplay loop is fairly simple, but The Falconeer never really pretends to be anything other than what it is and it excels wildly at it. If you're a fan of aerial combat games and want to try something outside the usual realm of fighter jets and spaceships, I can strongly recommend trying out The Falconeer. While it may get repetitive for some, the core combat loop and lore filled world drew me in and I'll likely be returning for more very soon.
Despite being a one-person game, The Falconeer outperforms many other, more famous titles in some ways thanks mainly to an interesting narrative component that puts the game world at the center, rather than a single character. There are some ities in terms of inventory management and three-dimensional movement, but this does not seriously penalise an experience that should be experienced as soon as possible.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Falconeer absolutely excels in story and presentation. Sure, its aerial combat gameplay might lack impact or variety, but with such an interesting and visually stunning world, it's easy to overlook such shortcomings.
The Falconeer's simplistic but captivating visuals are representative of the game as a whole. There's a simplicity to its gameplay and narrative, but there's something intriguing about the lore. The game doesn't stick the landing on its unique concepts, though. Clocking in at around 10 hours, the four chapters feel like the start of something really special - before the game abruptly ends. The first two chapters offer little in the way of diversity, and just as you come to grips with the game mechanics and start finding some engaging environments in the final hours, it ends. I wanted to learn more about the game world. I wanted to get in more exhilarating battles now that my falcon was competent enough to fly around without draining its energy meter, but the game wraps up just as I started getting into it. With a distinct art style, gorgeous animations, and intriguing lore, there's enough in The Falconeer to justify a playthrough, but most of its enjoyment doesn't shine through until the last couple of hours.
Water world with giant falcons is visualy charming, but almost empty and missions are stereotypical .
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The Falconeer is a game with great ideas, but also with a mission system that ends up being repetitive and boring too soon. However, it is not a bad game. It offers a great quality in flight physique, and great visuals. In addition, it was made by a single person, which is undoubtedly a merit difficult to match, especially for the quality of many of its options. It is not a game for everyone, but for those who enjoy air combat games.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While the world of the Ursee grabs the attention and tells some interesting stories, the gameplay aspect lacks variety as the majority of missions are almost identical.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Falconeer has grand world building ambitions that never come to pass. Its narrative lacks a proper set-up, or a satisfying payoff, as the gameplay seems entirely disconnected. The poor control scheme, occasionally frustrating difficulty, and repetitive missions make for a forgettable launch game on Xbox Series X.
The Falconeer is a gorgeous game that once again shows that there is no limitation to what a single person can achieve if they set their mind to something. Exploring the Ursee is a blissful experience, offset only by the repetitive nature of the combat encounters and the slightly grindy progression.
It’s a lovely looking game, but The Falconeer just doesn’t entertain like it should. From its repetitive missions to its story that you’ll quickly stop caring about, it fails to capture your attention in the long term, while occasional frustration in combat puts a bit of a downer on the gameplay.
The Falconeer may not nail the “perch” as well as one may hope but this unique air combat game offers enough unique combat and flying mechanics to make it worthwhile despite its story and mission variety issues.
I truly enjoyed my time creating this The Falconeer review but I couldn’t end it without further mentioning the art and overall world and environment from the oceans and what’s beneath them to what’s inbetween the stars created by Tomas Sala and finalized by the Wired Productions team.
The Falconeer does what similar games wish they could; presenting a huge open world that is full of wonders to discover with a story that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It has an easy going air about the proceedings and doesn’t pressure players to progress to the end of the game. In fact, taking the time to explore the world and discover the various storylines offered more value than the journey to the credits. It helps that getting sidetracked offers lovely unlockables so that when it comes time to take part in the main story, the giant bird is equipped to do so.
If you haven't tried The Falconeer on the Xbox yet, there is now a good reason to do so with the Warbird edition. Especially now that the game will also be released on PlayStation and Switch on August 6. The Falconeer has been part of the Xbox Game Pass since February.
Review in Dutch | Read full review