Blades of Fire Review: A Blacksmith-Killing Machine

In Blades of Fire, MercurySteam crafts a compelling action RPG that melds intense combat, intricate weapon forging, and a richly woven narrative. Set in a realm where steel has been cursed into stone by the tyrannical Queen Nerea, players step into the boots of Aran de Lira, the last warrior capable of wielding true steel.

Accompanied by a scholar, Adso, Aran embarks on a perilous quest to restore balance, navigating through treacherous landscapes and confronting formidable and various foes. But how can a crafting system, with majestic fighting moves extended in your fingers, create a beautiful RPG game? Let’s see in detail:

Blades of Fire: Technicals

Visual Design – Lots of Details

Blades of Fire presents a visually arresting world that balances grandeur with grit. The game’s environments—ranging from sprawling castles to labyrinthine palaces—are meticulously designed, offering both aesthetic appeal and functional complexity. Each locale is imbued with a sense of history and purpose, encouraging exploration and rewarding curiosity.

Character and enemy designs are equally impressive, featuring many distinct adversaries, each with unique armour and weaponry. The attention to detail extends to the smallest elements, such as the intricate patterns on Adso’s attire, reflecting cultural influences that enrich the game’s lore.

I loved that I didn’t encounter a classic issue that often occurs in games with various weapons and armour, where objects appear to be floating slightly due to rendering and shape differences. Everything felt real and accurate, and it was all connected.

The Details Though…

Blades of Fire uses Unreal Engine 5 to power its detailed environments and dynamic lighting systems. The engine allows for high-fidelity textures, realistic material rendering, and impressive particle effects, all of which enhance the game’s robust medieval feeling.

From the way sunlight filters through ruins to the sparks flying from clashing blades, the visuals feel crisp and immersive, even during fast-paced combat. You will be surprised by the detail and amount of gore and blood that exists. The details are reached even in bizarre creatures with really peculiar details and visuals.

The game also takes advantage of ray-traced shadows and ambient occlusion, adding depth and realism to every scene. Character animations are fluid, and facial expressions are subtle, contributing to believable interactions.

On next-gen systems and high-end PCs, Blades of Fire runs smoothly at high resolutions with minimal pop-in or loading times, delivering a polished and visually cohesive experience, something that unfortunately we do not see often in freshly launched titles.

Sound Design

The auditory experience in Blades of Fire is fabulous. Composer Óscar Araujo delivers a soundtrack that blends medieval and Celtic motifs, enhancing the game’s epic scope and emotional depth.

Sound effects are meticulously crafted, with each weapon clash and environmental cue contributing to the game’s immersive quality. The dynamic range of audio elements ensures that players remain engaged, whether in the heat of battle or during quieter moments of exploration. It is really hard in most games to grasp the narrative part of the game through music. Also, the scene changes throughout the gameplay, and the animation, plus the cinematic swaps, are wonderfully blended.

Gameplay – You Slash, You Break, and You Slash and You Break Again

Combat in Blades of Fire is both strategic and visceral. The game introduces a “traffic light” system, where enemy outlines indicate the effectiveness of your attacks—green for optimal damage, orange for reduced impact, and red for minimal to no effect. This mechanic encourages players to adapt their strategies, selecting appropriate stances and targeting specific body parts to exploit weaknesses. Those controls are hard, though, and need a bit of practice because even if a weapon is useful against an enemy, well, there is still the enemy!

The weapon forging system is a standout feature, offering extensive customisation through Forge Scrolls. Players can craft weapons by selecting from various components—blades, hilts, pommels—and materials, each affecting the weapon’s attributes like weight, durability, sharpness, and, of course, statistics. This depth adds a layer of personalisation and strategic planning to the gameplay.

Truly, the forging is wonderful, but a bit hard. You need to unlock materials and the hammering – yeah, you hammer your own stuff – is a bit tricky and needs ~lots of practice, but boy, it feels really good to craft your own weapons in a majestic forge observed by an otherworldly entity.

The companion system adds depth to both gameplay and narrative. Adso provides real-time insights during combat, helps decipher ancient languages, and contributes to the game’s bestiary, enriching the player’s understanding of the world and its inhabitants.

A Bit of the Story

At its core, Blades of Fire places you in the role of Aran de Lira, guiding him through a series of interconnected zones filled with enemies, environmental hazards, and hidden secrets. You’ll engage in real-time combat, collecting materials from defeated enemies and salvaged chests, which are then used to craft and upgrade weapons.

Between battles, you’ll decode ancient texts with Adso’s help, solve environmental puzzles to access new areas, and uncover lore that deepens the story. Progression is nonlinear, encouraging backtracking with new abilities or forged tools that open previously inaccessible paths, inviting a Metroidvania-style exploration loop that rewards patience and thoroughness.

The storyline of Blades of Fire is a compelling journey of resistance against tyranny. Aran’s quest to defeat Queen Nerea and restore the natural order is fraught with moral complexities and personal growth. The narrative unfolds organically, with lore and character backstories revealed through exploration and interactions, rather than expository dialogue.

And a Bit of Narrative

The dynamic between Aran and Adso adds emotional resonance to the story. Their evolving relationship, marked by camaraderie and mutual respect, provides a humanising counterpoint to the game’s darker themes. Adso’s scholarly perspective often offers philosophical insights, enriching the narrative’s depth. It is wonderful to see games with fascinating worlds that hold you until the end.

Blades of Fire – The Verdict

Blades of Fire stands as a testament to MercurySteam’s ability to blend intricate gameplay mechanics with a rich narrative tapestry. Its innovative combat system, deep customisation options, and immersive world-building coalesce into a memorable gaming experience. While a few details and notes in the tutorial would be appreciated, and the game is not considered easy for sure, it makes you feel really good in terms of gameplay, despite the hard elements that exist in most Soulslike RPGs.

While it may draw comparisons to titles like God of War and some soulslike ideals, Blades of Fire carves its own identity through its beautiful features and storytelling. For fans of action RPGs seeking a fresh and engaging adventure, this game is a good choice.

At this moment, Blades of Fire costs €59.99 same as all the newly released titles.

We would like to thank CD Media for letting me become a god-like blacksmith.