One of our highlights from PAX East this year was Falcon Age, a beautiful first-person story-driven title lets you play as a young woman named Ara who goes on an adventure with her pet falcon to reclaim her land from colonizing robots and machinery.
As we learned from our demo, the falcon becomes your co-op companion as you will be using her abilities in various ways to help you progress through each area you explore. She can hunt down rabbits or pick up food items that allow you to cook recipes for buffs and health. She can also pick up various items or hit switches that are too hard to reach. Mastering these quick actions is important when you engage in combat with robots that sometimes require your bird to hit their weak spot allowing you to bash them with your baton.
Your baton doubles as a melee weapon and a whip that lets you latch on to items or pull levers. What’s interesting is that the game also features an option to play the game without engaging in any fights whatsoever, allowing players to enjoy the game’s exploratory nature and rich narrative, which deals with themes of environmentalism and colonization. Ara, for example, is tasked with shutting down various refineries in her land which her fellow villagers then turn into farmlands.
Of course, one of the most enjoyable parts of playing Falcon Age was the falcon. The full game has your falcon start out as a baby and then grow up into a formidable companion. Not only can she help you in battle and in exploring your land, but she’s just an adorable and intelligent part of the game. Plus, you can dress her up and various adorable hats and even fist-bump her to restore her health if she gets attacked.
Falcon Age isn’t a pet simulator, whatsoever, but these little touches sure make it easy to bond with her. The falcon was also modeled after real falcons so her behaviors, head bobs, and even how she spreads her wings after she lands on prey she has just hunted, are a nice touch. Playing the game in VR, you can even scratch and cuddle with your feathery friend which adds to the feeling of owning a pet falcon.
Our demo only gave us a glimpse into the world of Falcon Age and we can’t wait to explore more of its seemingly rich story alongside our very own falcon. The game will be out on PlayStation with PSVR support on April 9.
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