Developer – Tomas Sala

Publisher – Wired Productions

Platforms – Xbox Series S/X, PC

The Falconeer is an odd bird. The Crimson Skies inspiration is readily apparent as soon as you enter a mission and begin dogfighting. The other half of the game is an open world of exploration and flight that could have easily been it’s own quiet, meditative experience.

Falconeer throws you in the deep end right away with a huge world full of interesting factions, characters and politics. A mostly ocean covered world, you explore on your Warbird and partake in various missions and engage battle with sky pirates and the like.

Each pilot and warbird of your choosing has a pretty in depth backstory, and the lore of this title is something you can clearly tell a lot of love was put into.

In the actual gameplay, much of that storytelling is a bit lost, as it can feel like you are jumping from dogfight to dogfight, with very little motivation weaving them all together.

The relationship with the warbird is also a bit of a let down. In Panzer Dragoon, the relationship between pilot and creature is a core part of the experience, but a game called the Falconeer is strangely missing that experience.

You can mutate the bird with different effects to change passive bonus’s, and that’s really about it. Further more some of those mutagens seem… a bit harsh to inflict on your companion.

Despite the lackluster in game story and how stuff the pilot/warbird relationship feels, the actual flying experience is superb.

Huge breathtaking vista’s with dynamic weather, lighting and winds make the simple experience of flying around a joyous occasion. Even better, the open world and it’s minutia are also secretly training you for the intense combat scenarios. It’s subtle, but the more time spent exploring for secrets and sidequests truly make you a better pilot when it comes time for the often chaotic massive dogfights.

The sound design is also married to the visuals and provides a unique soundscape to take in. Climbing high and dive bombing while skimming the ocean is a visual and audio splendor. The work of Tomas Sala is truly insane, as Falconeer is the latest in the one developer game miracles we’ve come across over the last decade.

The Falconeer is fun ride, and a great title to showcase the new Xbox Series S/X with. The great flight and combat scenarios overcome a lackluster story to create a memorable experience.