The Falconeer gets new content and many improvements today

Bird-flying game The Falconeer welcomes a significant, free, update today in the shape of The Kraken. This not only brings new content but important fixes and improvements too.

The new content revolves around what is underneath the water, and it looks as though you’ll be able to go there in some kind of small submarine. Down in the depths, you’ll uncover wrecks, temples, and sources of great wealth. But you’ll also discover things that don’t want you there. Things with many tentacles.

There are new locations to discover as well, and new guilds offering missions designed to push you to the furthest corners of the map.

Meanwhile, the improvements tackle a number of things I griped about in The Falconeer review. There are new tutorial missions to better explain some of the game’s systems; there are user interface improvements; and effects have been improved.

Combat has been a particular focus. Battles are apparently smoother and more spread out now, which sounds like a solution to some of the frustrating difficulty spikes. Enemy AI has been improved as well, and they gain the ability to roll, making them more manoeuvrable in combat. You can keep track of them with a new enemy indicator.

A lot of this work has been done in response to reviews of the game, both from press and fans. Creator Tomas Sala, who made the game largely on his own, even popped up in the comments section of our review to gather feedback, which was a lovely thing to do. And then, as well as now, he committed to improving The Falconeer for many months to come.

It’s his passion for the project that makes The Falconeer so unique, and so personal. A game hasn’t left this kind of impression on me a while.

The Falconeer is enhanced for Xbox Series S and X, and available on Xbox One and PC too. It’s £25.