Blades of Fire Review

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The idea behind Blades of Fire is quite intriguing. It shares similarities with Soulslike games in essence, yet it introduces numerous unique elements to the mix. For instance, when you die, your weapons are lost; combat involves focusing on specific body parts for effective attacks; and there’s a sophisticated system for crafting weapons.

The creators behind Metroid Dread and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, MercurySteam, are responsible for this newly released Soulslike title. It marks their debut in the Blades of Fire genre, and overall, they have put forth a commendable effort in this endeavor.

As I delved deeper into Blades of Fire, there were many aspects I appreciated, yet as the narrative unfolded, some flaws became apparent. Despite its imperfections, I found myself ultimately satisfied with the overall adventure.

If you’re considering giving Blades of Fire a try, here’s the question: Does its unique blend of action and RPG elements appeal enough to invest around 40-60 hours of your time? Find out if the journey is worth taking by delving into this game review.

Slicing Off Body Parts

In contrast to other games within its genre, Blades of Fire offers a one-of-a-kind combat experience. Instead of just recognizing enemy attack patterns, as is common in Souls-like titles, players will also encounter an additional depth that sets it apart from all others.

Rather than allowing free attacks, Blades of Fire encourages players to focus on striking specific enemy body parts with specific weapons in order to defeat them.

Hitting the wrong body part with your weapon could cause excessive damage, leading it to eventually shatter or become unusable.

As a gamer, I navigate the game world with a color-coded system to guide my choices. Green tells me my current weapon is dealing maximum damage, while yellow signals it’s dishing out medium damage. On the other hand, if I see red, it means the weapon I’m using isn’t going to pack much of a punch.

As a gamer, I’m always on my toes, having to swiftly cycle through my arsenal to take down each foe effectively.

Occasionally, certain body parts, such as the arms, will be marked in green while the rest of the target’s body is colored red. In such situations, it would be strategic to aim for those green-highlighted arms, and this action can be executed using the D-pad.

In this game, pressing the Triangle key causes your character to perform a head swing, while Square corresponds to the left arm movement. The Circle button controls the right arm, and using the X key aims at an enemy’s torso. This unique control scheme, combined with the color-coded system, introduces a strategic aspect that keeps combat engagements interesting throughout the game’s extended playtime.

In some battles, certain foes and bosses alter their color patterns over time, necessitating the player to adapt their strikes and aim for various body sections. Striking an incorrect area could cause your weapon to sustain excessive damage, leading to its eventual breakdown. This aspect will be elaborated further in the following section.

Crafting and Losing Weapons

Previously noted, Blades of Fire shares the essence of a Soulslike game, yet carves out its unique presence by introducing innovative concepts. A notable instance can be seen in the mechanics of death. Unlike other games where resources are lost upon death, in

As a player, I can attest to the heart-wrenching feeling when crafting a powerful weapon with exceptional stats, only to discover that it requires an extensive amount of resources. The compulsion to return to where I perished and recover that precious item before it’s gone forever is strikingly similar to the frustration of losing a substantial number of Runes in Elden Ring.

In this aspect, the game’s creators aim to foster a sense of ownership and emotional connection with the player’s weapon by incorporating crafting mechanisms and requiring its recovery upon death. However, this feature seems to lack impact or effectiveness in practice.

As players advance deeper into the game, the need to replace lost weapons decreases significantly. This is because an abundance of crafting materials, acquired from defeating foes and exploring, allows players to easily create new weapons at the forge.

Unfortunately, this weakens the appealing concept, and over time, it starts to feel like a mere trick instead. What concerned me during my gameplay was the early risk of losing my weapons.

In this fiery realm of Blades of Fire, I find myself drawn to the heart of the Forge, a place where the very essence of combat is shaped and honed. Unlike other games that allow me to craft weapons with a mere press of a button, here, I engage in a thrilling forging minigame that adds depth and excitement to the process. The Anvil, much like the game’s Bonfires, serves as my gateway to this creative crucible, ensuring I can return whenever the need arises to temper my blades.

As a passionate player, I find that the effectiveness of my weapon repairs depends on my proficiency in the crafting minigame. The number of times I can mend my tool at an Anvil is contingent upon this performance. This system works on a 4-star scale, meaning exceptional crafting skills allow me to repair my weapon up to 4 separate times. Each star symbolizes one successful repair attempt.

As a gamer, I appreciated the concept of creating my own weapon to see its performance, but honestly, I found that crafting minigame a real struggle. It was overly complex with little guidance provided, and I never really got the hang of it. Frankly, it felt more like a chore than something enjoyable or necessary.

Luckily, Blades of Fire enables players to bypass this mini-game and utilize their past outcomes when creating weapons of the same category. This means that if a player earns 4 stars in one crafting session, they can produce the same weapon again with just a click, maintaining the high rating.

It’s a thoughtful addition, yet I can’t help but sense that the mini-game doesn’t quite fit within the game as a whole. The developers seem to be aiming to foster a strong connection between players and their weapons by allowing crafting and retrieval upon death, but it seems to miss the mark in execution.

Exploring The Large Map

Adventuring through Blades of Fire offers both high points and low points. On the positive side, the levels are intricately designed, featuring multiple paths for exploration, and they interconnect to form a vast, unified map. This layout can at times resemble Dark Souls, given its complex maze-like structure consisting of separate dungeons.

While delving into the map of Blades of Fire, there isn’t much visually captivating. The main motivation to venture away from the well-trodden path is to find upgrades like Health and Stamina charms or wood for the modest skill tree. Unfortunately, these excursions don’t often lead to uncovering hidden secrets.

Although these discoveries undoubtedly enhance your character significantly, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of anticipation for something more captivating given the expansive nature of the map. However, the thrill of unearthing a concealed treasure chest containing an upgrade never fails to deliver a sense of accomplishment.

Occasionally, navigating through the game can pose challenges, leading to players becoming disoriented. Certain stages, in particular, required significant time investment just to find a path forward in the main plot. This was due to the absence of guiding markers within the game and the similar color schemes used across levels.

The lack of variation in colors used could be a significant issue because it causes everything to appear similar, leading to a monotonous look. This uniformity might make navigation difficult as players may struggle to distinguish between different locations without frequently referring to the map.

For those who don’t require explicit directions, playing Blades of Fire might be effortless. However, if, like me, you prefer subtle hints to guide your way, you may find navigating the game challenging.

To put it mildly, one of the most challenging aspects of exploring in this game is the characters who accompany players during their journey. These NPCs can be quite bothersome due to their excessive chatter, repetitive conversations, and a tendency to obstruct your path.

For instance, there was a single NPC (Non-Player Character) ghost that repeated the same joke five times within thirty minutes. While having characters chat frequently can be engaging, it becomes less enjoyable when those conversations lack meaning or contain repetitive, uninteresting dialogue with no depth.

As a gaming enthusiast, there’s nothing quite as frustrating as having to lug around an NPC on my back, only for him to tumble off whenever we run into an adversary. If I delay too long to retrieve him, I’m then forced to retrace my steps all the way back to where I initially found him.

Closing Thoughts:

Blades of Fire offers a novel twist to an overcrowded genre with its innovative combat mechanics. The need to swiftly switch weapons and aim for specific body parts introduces a strategic depth to every fight, intensifying the action, particularly during epic boss battles. This is where Blades of Fire truly excels and provides a compelling reason to play. However, several design choices marred my experience. The weapon-crafting mini-game felt laborious, the NPCs were overly irritating, and losing weapons after death wasn’t as impactful or engaging as anticipated. It seems MercurySteam has a promising foundation for their idea, but the execution could have been smoother in certain areas. Maybe future installments will refine these aspects.

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2025-05-28 15:39