When I sat down to play developer MercurySteam’s latest project, Blades of Fire, I expected something reminiscent of the studio’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games, updated with modern touches inspired by God of War. After an hour of gameplay, I found myself immersed in what felt like a Soulslike experience, yet with all the stats focused on weapons rather than a traditional RPG character sheet. By the end of my three-hour hands-on session, I realized that Blades of Fire defies simple categorization: it's built on familiar ground but blends borrowed elements with fresh ideas, resulting in a uniquely engaging action-adventure game.
At first glance, Blades of Fire might seem like a clone of Sony Santa Monica’s work, given its dark fantasy setting, heavy-hitting combat, and close third-person camera perspective. It shares significant similarities with the Norse saga of Kratos, including exploring a map filled with twisting paths and treasure chests, accompanied by a young companion who aids in puzzle-solving. Together, we sought a woman of the wilds who lived in a house atop a giant creature. Yet, the game also borrows heavily from FromSoftware’s library, with anvil-shaped checkpoints that restore health potions and respawn enemies. While these elements can feel overly familiar, they are woven into a world that evokes the 1980s fantasy aesthetic.
The setting feels like it could easily accommodate Conan the Barbarian amidst its muscular warriors, or the whimsical creatures from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, such as the orangutan-like enemies bouncing on bamboo pogo sticks. The narrative, too, carries a retro feel: an evil queen has turned steel to stone, and you, playing as Aran de Lira—a blacksmith demigod—must defeat her to restore the world's metal. While the story and characters may not be groundbreaking, the game's charm lies in its nostalgic appeal, reminiscent of many forgotten tales from the Xbox 360 era.
Where Blades of Fire truly excels is in its mechanics. The combat system is rooted in directional attacks, utilizing every face button on the controller. On a PlayStation pad, for instance, triangle targets the head, cross the torso, and square and circle swipe left and right. By carefully observing an enemy’s stance, you can exploit these attacks to break defenses. For example, a soldier guarding their face can be defeated by aiming low. The visceral impact of these attacks is highlighted by the gory visuals, with thick trails of blood erupting from wounds.
The system shines during boss fights, such as the demo’s first major boss, a slobbering troll with a second health bar that can only be damaged after dismembering it. The angle of your attack determines which limb is severed, allowing strategic disarming of the troll. Even more dramatically, you can slice off the troll’s face, rendering it blind and vulnerable until it regenerates.
Weapons in Blades of Fire require significant attention, unlike most games. They dull with repeated use, each strike dealing slightly less damage, necessitating the use of a sharpening stone or switching to a different stance. The edge and tip wear independently, adding a tangible feel to your weapons. Like Monster Hunter, you’ll need to find moments to sharpen your sword during combat, though every weapon has a durability meter that eventually leads to shattering. When this happens, you can repair it at an anvil checkpoint or melt it down to craft a new one.
The weapon crafting system is a highlight of Blades of Fire. Rather than finding new weapons in the world, you start from scratch at the forge. You choose a basic weapon template, sketched on a chalkboard, and customize it—adjusting the length of a spear’s pole or the shape of its head, which impacts stats like range and damage type. Different materials affect the weapon's weight and stamina requirements, fostering a sense of genuine crafting. After designing your weapon, you must physically hammer it out on an anvil through an intricate minigame, controlling the length, force, and angle of each strike to match a curved line on the screen. Overworking the steel weakens the weapon, so efficiency is key. Your performance earns a star rating, determining how often you can repair your creation before it's lost forever.
While I appreciate the forge's concept and its skill-based approach, the minigame felt frustratingly complex, with unclear connections between strikes and the resulting metal shape. Hopefully, improvements or a better tutorial will enhance this feature before launch.
MercurySteam’s vision for Blades of Fire extends beyond the demo, aiming for a deep connection between players and their crafted weapons throughout a 60-70 hour journey. As you explore, you'll find new metals to reforge and enhance your weapons, ensuring they remain suitable for new challenges. The death system reinforces this bond: upon defeat, you drop your current weapon and respawn without it, though it remains in the world for you to recover. This mechanic, inspired by Dark Souls, adds a layer of meaningful attachment to your armaments.
Blades of Fire draws heavily from Dark Souls and its siblings, reflecting FromSoftware’s influence on the genre. It also serves as a spiritual successor to Blade of Darkness, a game developed by MercurySteam’s founders and considered a precursor to the Souls series. Yet, despite these influences, Blades of Fire carves its own path, reinterpreting established systems within a broader canvas of ideas.
My concerns include whether the somewhat generic dark fantasy world can support a lengthy adventure, and the repetition of facing the same miniboss multiple times within three hours. However, the deep relationship between your forged blades and the enemies you encounter keeps me intrigued. In an era where complex games like Elden Ring and Monster Hunter have found mainstream success, Blades of Fire has the potential to offer something unique and fascinating to the gaming landscape.
Blades of Fire Screenshots
