Flock Review (PS5) – There are games like Elden Ring that constantly challenge you and force you to stay on your toes – the recent Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is a prime example of that.
And then there are games like Flock, from developers Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg. This is a game that absolutely does not challenge you. I don’t just mean ‘it doesn’t challenge you like Elden Ring’ – I mean it doesn’t challenge you.
You face practically no friction, and that’s by design. Flock is about enjoying your time, and giving you a few fun and charming tasks to complete along the way.
Or not – no worries if you just fly around with some friends. That’s a lot of fun too.
Flock Review (PS5) – In My Sky Gang Era
Clearing Clouds
Flock is a flying game, but you’re not in complete control of how you fly. Your vertical range is controlled for you, and your bird companion will avoid obstacles on their own, so all you need to do is control left-to-right and how fast you want to go.
It’s the first thing the game teaches you, and it shows right from the start how Flock is already working to make sure you don’t have to think about anything. You don’t need to be so dialed-in to it all. You can sit back, hold forward on the left stick, and enjoy.
That level of calm and foot-off-the-break mentality is interrupted slightly when your created character meets the small group of primary NPC’s and you’re given a quest. Nothing too strenuous – you’ve got to fetch a special batch of whistles for your aunt, and while you’re at it fill out this creature guide of the local animals.
Which is the other half of the game. Once you’ve found the whistles, it feels more like you’re researching these creatures in a fenced off habitat. You’ll first identify and then charm the animals, and once charmed they’ll join your flock and follow you around.
You create your own little gang, and then you get to see that gang grow in size and colour with all the different kinds of animals who’ll follow you. Oh, and a few cute sheep you can name.
But even this isn’t really forced on you. It’s arguably the main thing to do in this game and it doesn’t care if you don’t pay attention to it. For example when you find a new species, the game will tell you it’s new, and then ask you to guess between a few options as to which creature in that species family it is.
Get it wrong, try again. Get it wrong again, you zoologist aunt tells you “So close!,” gives you the answer and moves on. If you encounter a new animal from a species you’ve already discovered, you can try to guess which it is. Get it wrong, you get another “So close!” and then it tells you the answer and move on. Repeat.
It only presents the questions to give you the chance to feel some gratification from getting the answer right, but you didn’t need to get any of the questions right.
If you have a goal at all in this game, it’s to collect the stolen whistles and clear out the cloudsurge, a term made up to describe a weather event where a huge blanket of fog rolls in and covers the whole area. The closer you get to finding each whistle and completing the small tasks you get, the clouds clear out and the map is revealed.
Say what you will about ‘map revealing’ mechanics, but it’s nice when a game puts in more effort than asking you to climb a big tower. I liked this method of revealing the map, especially because the reward for doing it felt far greater than it does in other sandbox games.
Not because it’s actually all that different – but because the reward is more cool homies.
All My Homies Love Flying
Having an absolutely huge flock of all different kinds of animals is wonderful, and flying around with them the whole time makes it even better. They’ll circle you when you’re idle or just perched somewhere to take in the view.
You can set different creatures as favourites so they don’t leave the group when it gets too full. You can also increase your flock size through collectibles, so again exploration is key to any feeling of progression, if that’s what you want.
Each of the different species were well designed, and the puzzle of finding them in the open world felt satisfying to solve (some of the time, more on that later).
They were all charming, and the fishing mini-game of sorts that goes along with catching them was fine. The ‘calls’ your bird will shout to reel them in are fun, though can get annoying quickly if you’ve messed up a few times in a row. This mini-game is also where the only ‘fail state’ exists, because you can spook the creatures and chase them away.
But when you charm them, they join you and you start flying together. And you fly together the whole time if you keep them around.
For creatures that don’t talk, you can’t name and occasionally make noise, it’s odd how effective the feeling of companionship they can give off is. I liked flying with them, it looked good for one and felt cool. What else do you want?
The vibes are just about chilling and flying with your friends. You can even have your actual friends flying with you, in their games, because Flock is a multiplayer title if you want it to be.
In the pre-launch review period this is not an aspect of the game I’ve been able to really experience, but it’s easy to see how enjoyable this would be just flying around, finding and catching new creatures all the while chilling in voice chat with your friends.
Aimless In The Best, And Sometimes Worst, Ways
Like I’ve said before, Flock doesn’t care about what you choose to do. You can focus on the story or not, you can fly around and do nothing or meticulously look for new species.
There isn’t a wrong answer, you’re supposed to be able to just relax in this space, and I love that. I also don’t love that when I’m trying to see as much as I because it’s my job and I actually want to see everything.
Part of my frustrations here could just be a bug that’s soft-blocking my progression, but I don’t think that’s the whole issue. Even before I hit this bug, I felt lost in a bad way.
For some of the trickier creatures to find, you have to pay very close attention to sights and sounds around you to try and snuff out where they are. Once you find one you’ll start to see more appear, but finding that first one is the place where any actual challenge seeps in.
It can be difficult to spot that first one, especially because many of them are actively hiding. It’s all very antithetical to the rest of the game.
For the other creatures not particularly hiding, it’s a testament to how naturally they fit into the environment if they’re difficult to see and not causing a ruckus in the way some will be the moment you come close.
But you can’t just fly around and find every creature as you pan over an area, so if you’re wanting to see everything it feels more difficult than it should be, considering the rest of the game’s tone.
Put seeing everything to the side though, and just log on for some fun flying, cool vistas and chill music and you’ll have a wonderful time.
We’re Soaring, Flying
Beyond a few technical issues like the bug I mentioned and some visual pop-in – all of which could be solved with a patch by the time you read this – I can’t fault Flock too much.
It’s aimlessness is a blessing and curse, because I know that even if I didn’t have to play it for work I’d become frustrated in time if I couldn’t find the last few missing creatures off the list.
But if you really don’t mind that aimless foundation, and like the look of Flock then I highly recommend you pick it up. Especially if you’re like me and you need something to help you come down from Shadow of the Erdtree.
Flock will chill you out by taking you high into the skies, and you can even bring your friends too. What else can you ask for?
Flock is available on PS5 and PS4 on July 16, 2024.
Review code generously provided by publisher.