Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles
- March 26, 2024
- Tomas Sala
- 8h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store
Get on PS Store"Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles" is a sandbox building game where you design and expand your fortress into an empire, carving your path onto a challenging ocean landscape. Your goal is to grow various factions' populations to unlock new commanders, captains, ships, units, and abilities. The game continuously evolves based on player feedback, offering a dynamic and engaging experience.
Reviews
- The game features a unique and innovative building mechanic that allows for creative city design.
- The visuals and art style are stunning, creating an immersive atmosphere.
- The developer is highly responsive to community feedback and actively works on updates.
- The controls can be clunky and unintuitive, especially for mouse and keyboard users.
- There is a lack of clear direction and explanation of game mechanics, leading to confusion.
- The gameplay can feel shallow and repetitive after a few hours, with limited endgame content.
- gameplay179 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its organic building mechanics and a relaxed, sandbox-style experience that encourages creativity and exploration. While many players appreciate the simplicity and visual appeal, there are concerns about the lack of depth, direction, and clarity in mechanics, leading to a gameplay loop that can feel repetitive or shallow after extended play. Overall, it offers a chill experience suitable for casual gamers, but those seeking more complex mechanics or objectives may find it lacking.
“The gameplay is something I can always come back to and enjoy no matter the mood I am in.”
“Once you get all the mechanics and features (which aren't too complicated), the game becomes one of those 'one more turn' type of games; it's just so satisfying to build, upgrade, and expand and to explore and find new captains and crew to join you so you can set up new trade routes and ports.”
“It's a beautiful game, and I enjoy the mechanics and building.”
“Gameplay is severely lacking - one can experience 90% of the game in the demo.”
“The city building and gameplay broadly is so shallow, er, 'minimalist', as to be non-existent.”
“I want to like Bulwark, but I find myself frustrated and bored by the gameplay, and unfortunately I don't think it'd get any better.”
- graphics99 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning art style and unique aesthetic, which create a visually appealing and immersive experience. Players appreciate the combination of beautiful visuals with engaging world-building, making city-building both relaxing and enjoyable. While the graphics are generally considered a highlight, some users express a desire for more visual variety within the game's factions and structures.
“This game has just the right amount of abstraction combined with compelling world-building and a gorgeous art style.”
“The art style is stunning too, making every session a visual treat.”
“The graphics and art style are really charming, and I love the ambient music.”
“The atmosphere of the game is great, the visuals stunning... but damn it, it's so clunky to play!”
“Lack of visual variety: I quite like this game's visuals, I just wish that there was a bit more variety. When I first saw this game, I thought there was going to be a lot more visual variety. For example, I thought every faction would have a different design for the surveyor (the player airship), which is not the case.”
“I wanted to like the game, but I found the art style and overall vibe to be a bit too calming for my taste.”
- music38 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers highlighting its fantastic quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere. The soundtrack is described as immersive and beautifully complements the game's art direction, creating a cozy and relaxing experience. Players appreciate the unique sound design and voice acting, which together contribute to a captivating and emotive gameplay experience.
“The music and the gameplay are both very compelling and fun.”
“The soundtrack is amazing, quite enjoyable.”
“The music.”
“The atmosphere is really inspired, as I said, and so is the music; I just wish there were even more tracks with throat singing.”
“While it lacks meaningful endgame, the novelty and music alone make it worthwhile.”
- story29 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mix of organic progression and worldbuilding, with players unlocking new units and buildings seamlessly through missions. While some reviews praise the immersive universe and character-driven narratives, others criticize the lack of a cohesive storyline and challenge, suggesting that the game leans more towards exploration and sandbox elements rather than a structured narrative. Overall, the story is appreciated for its depth and setting, but opinions vary on its execution and engagement.
“The setting and story of the world got me intrigued, and it's a huge plus that all characters you meet are fully voiced with their own little stories to share.”
“Awesome immersive universe and story.”
“It's definitely geared more towards a relaxed player who is driven more by story and exploration.”
“Tedious, crappy controls and just plain boring - no real story, bad voice acting.”
“Otherwise the story is about as bare bones as it gets and the tutorial has way too much hand holding.”
“There is no story, no challenge and no task or milestones to achieve.”
- atmosphere27 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 19 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals, engaging lore, and emotive sound design, creating a unique and immersive experience. Players appreciate the blend of relaxing gameplay with a distinct aesthetic that encourages exploration and creativity. Overall, the atmosphere is a standout feature, making it a compelling choice for those who value thematic depth and artistic presentation in gaming.
“Beautiful environment and atmosphere with cool lore.”
“The meticulous design is impressive and blends seamlessly with the game's relaxed yet engaging atmosphere.”
“If you enjoy games with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and theme, this is the game for you.”
“The rest is mainly there to provide atmosphere, lore, and a bit of meaning.”
“As someone who values gameplay and mechanics over atmosphere and graphics, I personally don't enjoy it much.”
“If you played Falconeer, then you will be somewhat familiar with the aesthetic - but the whole art direction, sound design, and overall atmosphere is very emotive, all accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack that perfectly fits the style and taps into the game world.”
- grinding11 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game can be tedious and poorly balanced, particularly regarding navigation and resource collection. While some players appreciate the lack of excessive grinding for endgame content, others find the controls and interactions frustratingly cumbersome. Overall, the game offers a mix of enjoyable elements but suffers from moments of monotony and inefficiency.
“The new splinter currency is a grindy mess and feels poorly balanced.”
“Tedious, crappy controls and just plain boring - no real story, bad voice acting.”
“There's only so much pretty you can build before it becomes either tedious or inconsequential or both.”
- optimization10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates solid optimization, running smoothly with minimal performance issues even during complex constructions, which is commendable for its genre. However, some players note a lack of tailored controls for mouse and keyboard, suggesting that the game feels more optimized for gamepad use. Overall, while the performance is stable, the open-ended nature may not satisfy those seeking a more structured RTS experience.
“In terms of performance, Bulwark impressed me with its stability.”
“Clearly, significant effort has been put into optimization, especially considering the complexity of some of the constructions I managed to build without encountering significant performance issues.”
“With an almost constant stable performance with only the rare stutter, it's surprisingly well optimized for its scope even with more complex and large constructs, something even other games in the genre struggle with.”
“A word to those who prefer a more structured approach: be warned this game is more open-ended sandbox than optimized RTS.”
“I must say: I am entirely unaware of what plans the devs have or whether or not content will follow or be optimized, but as of now, there is very little reason to buy the game.”
“Why even release this for PC with the complete lack of any optimization for mouse and keyboard?”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while it runs well on the Steam Deck and has moments of being reasonably bug-free, many users report significant bugs and unfinished elements, particularly when using mouse and keyboard.
“Also runs great on Steam Deck, so perfect for some laid-back couch gaming.”
“The game has a beautiful art style, nice music, and seems reasonably bug-free.”
“The game as it stands right now is rather buggy and doesn’t feel finished.”
“Just not a lot of fun, and it is quite buggy with mouse and keyboard.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers significant replayability due to its multiple play styles and ongoing content updates, though some players feel that it may become repetitive after a few playthroughs. While it is currently very replayable, concerns about its length and similarity in experiences may affect long-term engagement.
“The game is still being actively developed, bugs are being fixed, and lots of content will be added, but it's already a very replayable piece of art.”
“I suspect it would be quite short, and in terms of replayability, it may be a bit too similar to previous playthroughs.”
“Almost endless replayability.”
“There are several ways you can play the game, and it has a lot of replay value as well.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The monetization model is praised for being fairly priced, with great DLC offerings, reflecting a developer's commitment to creating a beloved game experience for players.
“Fairly priced, great DLC and monetization model, and a developer who truly cares about creating a game for people to love.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the engaging personality of the developer, who is described as a funny and charismatic individual, particularly noted for his distinctive beard. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone and comedic elements woven throughout the game's content.
“I read a few notes on a forum, YouTube, and even from the dev himself with his beautifully crazy beard! He's a funny good man!”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever jokes and hilarious character interactions that keep me laughing.”
“I love how the game doesn't take itself too seriously, with witty dialogue and absurd situations that always catch me off guard.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game visually stunning, with many expressing that their experiences evoke strong emotional responses, particularly when reflecting on their achievements.
“And boy is it pretty... just looking at what I'd done at the end of this session, beautiful and emotional.”
