Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles Reviews
A gentle and unusual building game that's memorable but missing some purpose.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an approachable take on the city builder for players of many skill levels. It encourages experimentation with your settlement layout and exploration in the Ursee, but some design decisions don't feel as smooth as they could be, like selecting buildings or interacting with other factions. If you are a city builder fan you can sink hours into this, but do not expect it to have the same depth as others in the genre.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a refreshing take on the city builder genre, offering a wonderful sense of freedom and exploration.
Its foundations are sound, but Bulwark: Falonceer Chronicles is ultimately quite an aimless and exhausting kind of citybuilder, too fussy to be truly relaxing, and lacking the depth to compete with more ambitious management builders.
Tomas Sala has created another great game with Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles. The ability to expand and experiment without worry makes it very accessible for those unfamiliar with the genre, as well as it being a thought provoking adventure even for genre veterans. While it may not be for everyone, there is something special here for those that connect with it.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an impressive solo achievement. Its disregard for traditional goals, victory conditions or game-limiting objectives makes Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles stand out in a — pun intended — sea of builders. As a set of automated construction mechanics, the Freebuild Mode feels great. Sometimes the campaign scenarios sit uncomfortably in the middle, tasking players to discover how things work but not always giving them a clear, actionable goal. Fans of games like Townscapers will enjoy Bulwark very much, and players of more traditional RTS games will appreciate its fresh approach to the genre.
Simple and beautiful to look at, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a pleasant distraction but lacks the depth in its combat and economy to stay interesting for very long.
Tomas Sala's second Falconeer game may come across as nicher at first glance, but it's far easier to approach and have a great time with despite some baffling inconsistencies.
Tomas Salas' latest title is impressive and arguably more enticing than The Falconeer, with its intriguing alliances, vast world and simplified systems despite its inherent issues and uninvolving narrative.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an interesting piece of work. As a city builder, its simplicity in the actual building process is complemented by the unusual environment for the genre. That alone is enough to make simple settlements look cool. As a strategy game, the attempts to simplify some of the traditional mechanics of the 4X genre work surprisingly well, but some elements, like combat, could've used more attention so it doesn't feel like an afterthought. The end result isn't going to be for everyone, but it is worth a look for those who want to jump into the genre and appreciate something out of the ordinary.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a great showcase for its world and has some nifty mechanics for both tower development and exploration. I once invested an uninterrupted 20 minutes simply placing foundations and balconies for a stone tower that served as the anchor for a couple of ports, simply to improve the architecture of that island. Unfortunately, the beauty of all these spires and walkways cannot compensate for a certain sense of aimlessness. The three campaigns don’t feel too different, and combat is too automated to feel interesting. Like its massive towers, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles has good foundations but it doesn’t offer something engaging to build towards.
Tomas Sala, with a handful of helpers, created a somewhat strange game, the exceptionality of which cannot be doubted. But you will only have a limited amount of fun. However, Bulwark can impress you with a difference that you won't find in other strategy games.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
A stress-free city builder with a fun, original gameplay loop, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is sure to delight both experts and newcomers alike.
All of Bulwark's building blocks are here for any genre fan to appreciate, but the finished construction is still left wanting.
Bulwark Falconeer Chronicles is a city-building game slightly different than the other ones of its genre. It tries to carve its own niche with in-depth world-building and a post-apocalyptic theme that blends very well with its various elements (like graphics and sound). Tomas Sala has created another masterpiece – one that deserves to be played by most people who are into strategy and/or simulation games.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles lets your imagination come alive as you build a staggering empire in every sense of the word. But because it’s a world without mistakes, there’s no challenge or pressure.
As such, ultimately I face the difficulty of trying to put a numerical score to something that is either going to be an experience you love having that you cannot convince others to engage with or something you want to love that you can't bring yourself to enjoy. It's the difference between having a 5/10 that you should definitely try or an 8/10 you might really dislike. That's hard to score. So in this particular case, please don't focus on the score below. That's not really indicative. Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an odd game that you will either really like and have a lot of fun with or it is going to frustrate the heck out of you, but I think ultimately I have to err on the side of it trying new things even if I don't think it totally sticks the landing.
Want a conventional strategy game or city-builder? Look elsewhere. Are you in for something executed by a single developer, taking risks and doing something new? Well then – The Ursee awaits.
I have to admit that Tomas Sala really delivers in the case of Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, releasing a chilled-out city builder that encourages my creative self and lets me relax on the couch in the evening. The gameplay is wonderfully intuitive and easy to get to grips with. After just a few minutes of trying it out, anyone can build up their settlement, open up new trade routes and see how the population density increases. All this without the resource pressure of conventional building simulations and really free to play.
Review in German | Read full review