This Dark Fantasy Action-Adventure Transforms You Into A Tactical Forge Master

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MercurySteam is frequently humorously referred to as the “true” metroidvania studio due to being the sole developer to have officially contributed to both the Castlevania and Metroid series. This is clearly shown by the prominent placement of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns at their office in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid. Their latest project, Blades of Fire, takes us back to an earlier era, serving as a spiritual successor to Severance: Blade of Darkness.

2001 saw the debut of Blade of Darkness on PC, an action game inspired by Conan, which delved into the realm of dark fantasy from a third-person perspective. This was the only title released by Rebel Act Studios, whose team members, such as studio co-founder and Blades of Fire director Enric Alvarez, later founded MercurySteam. Although it didn’t do well commercially back then, its blend of dark fantasy aesthetics with challenging combat mechanics is now recognized as an early influence on the souls-like genre.

As a gamer, I’m thrilled to say that Blades of Fire harks back to our original gaming roots. You see, the genre of dark fantasy with its intricate and challenging combat has seen a surge in popularity, largely due to From Software. This revival gives us a chance to revisit our roots, and it feels like I’ve been given a second youth again.

MercurySteam, well-known for their licensed projects, takes great pride in creating unique experiences, whether through self-developed game engines or by putting a personal touch on licensed properties like Castlevania. Alvarez explains that while Lords of Shadow was originally Konami’s property, the team treated it as if it were their own, reinventing its mythology, story, and characters. This approach seems to have carried over to Blades of Fire, a potential successor to Blade of Darkness. After playing the first three hours, it’s evident that this isn’t just another action-RPG following the souls-like formula; instead, it blazes its own trail.

As a gamer, I find myself embodying Aran de Lira, not just a fighter but a master craftsman of weapons. The newly crowned Queen Nerea has unleashed her dark powers, transforming steel into stone, rendering all conventional weapons powerless. Yet, the Sacred Hammer, an ancient artifact from the legendary Forgers that now rests in my hands, is the only tool capable of creating new armaments in this stone-bound world.

In Blades of Fire, creating weapons is a significant element and it’s far more complex than the crafting systems found in other games. According to lead game designer Joan Amat, it’s not just about gathering materials and letting someone else do the work. Instead, it involves making strategic choices. When you encounter enemies, it’s crucial to outmaneuver them or block their attacks. The goal is to design weapons – to make the decisions that shape a weapon’s characteristics according to your preferences.

In addition to enhancing a weapon’s offensive capabilities with better materials, it’s crucial to consider other physical aspects such as the weapon’s weight and speed. These factors can influence your defensive abilities like blocking and parrying. This game also uniquely showcases a weapon’s reach. As seen in Blade of Darkness, proximity matters: you could strike an enemy but miss because you were still too far away. Our goal is to recreate the immersive physical combat experience where weapons feel heavy, and there’s a sense of apprehension when blocking attacks.

In the game Blades of Fire, the physical aspect is reflected by its heavy-hitting combat system. The four face buttons are employed for attacking different parts of the enemy, such as the head, left side, right side, or body. To perform stronger attacks, you hold down the button to build up power. These powerful strikes take a bit longer and expose you, but they pack a big punch. One of my favorite strategies was charging up a polearm while staying close enough to an approaching foe, then watching as Aran’s overhead strike crushed their head in one swift motion.

Choosing the right tool for battle and knowing when to strike an opponent are both crucial factors. For instance, a heavily armored foe might resist my sword, but I find it more effective against them with a blunt polearm. This switch can be easily made by holding down the right trigger, followed by using the right joystick to select a weapon that I’ve set as a shortcut. The trigger can also be pressed to modify the weapon stance, allowing me to thrust instead of swing, which is particularly useful in narrow areas where my sword might hit walls and lose durability.

As a gamer, I appreciate the intuitive targeting system that offers a color-coded overlay to help me gauge the vulnerability of my opponents’ armor to the weapon in my hand. Green signifies that my current weapon can pierce the enemy’s armor, orange indicates neutrality, and red suggests my weapon won’t be effective. The colors might shift during combat or display a mix, such as exposed arms versus a tough spiked helmet. Amat mentioned that players have the option to deactivate the color-coding for a more immersive experience, allowing them to rely on their observations of enemy armor to choose the right weapon and attack spot. However, I find these color outlines particularly useful against non-human adversaries, as their weaknesses might not be immediately apparent, like an elemental foe made entirely of water.

In this game, pressing the left trigger lets you employ your weapon defensively to block or parry at the appropriate moment. Interestingly, keeping the trigger held down also helps replenish your stamina meter. Unlike many Souls-like games, there are distinct meters for defense and stamina. Notably, some potent attacks can pierce through your defenses, causing damage. The defensive mechanic, labeled “the breath of the defender,” was a bit questionable to me, as it doesn’t accelerate your stamina recovery like ki pulse in Nioh games. However, if you don’t utilize it, your stamina will recover at an excruciatingly slow pace.

In this game, the intricate layers of combat are mirrored in the process of crafting weapons. This procedure necessitates acquiring scrolls by defeating specific adversaries who possess those weapons a certain number of times first. Later, you can tailor your weapon’s structure and materials, but there’s also a mini-game involved in the forging process, which I found challenging during my playtime. It seems to entail adjusting two control sticks to align a series of bars closely with a displayed shape before hitting them with a hammer. The better you align, the higher your weapon’s star rating, indicating its durability and how many times it can be mended.

Although you meticulously craft and personalize your weapons by assigning them special names, the reality is that they won’t endure forever – in a unique interpretation of the Souls series formula, upon death, you’ll lose the weapon you’re currently using and must return to where you perished to reclaim it (provided you don’t die again before retrieving it, otherwise it won’t vanish entirely). As Amat puts it, “Not every weapon will hold significant value for you, and sometimes you experiment with different materials and strive for better stats and upgrades.” It’s when you start caring for the weapon and grow fond of it that you truly experience the essence of the game.

Despite its rich and intense battle mechanics and weaponry, what really piques my interest about Blades of Fire is its storyline. The game appears to minimize cutscenes, which can sometimes make character relationships and objectives seem hasty. However, the plot foundation is engaging. Within moments of starting, you witness Aran’s old friend, Abbott Dorrin, being slain by the queen’s soldiers, leaving him with the abbot’s young apprentice, Adso, as well as the Sacred Hammer. The next morning, Aran decides to venture to the palace to confront and eliminate the queen.

Although I’m not entirely convinced about Adso being a suitable companion due to his occasional witty banter that seems to poke fun at Aran’s age, there’s an intriguing contrast between the two. Besides this, he serves as a walking encyclopedia, providing valuable information regarding your quest, the world, and adversaries. He even draws diagrams in your journal for you. Some players might find him irritating or superfluous, but they have the choice to send him off to camp. Whether Adso will eventually develop a stronger emotional connection with us, similar to Atreus in God of War or Ellie in The Last of Us, remains to be seen.

Alvarez tells me that I’ll truly enjoy the narrative of Blades of Fire when I’ve completed it, and he emphasizes that the game’s structure allows players to progress at their own speed. In other words, the story doesn’t chase you; instead, you must actively seek out the story.

The unique visual style of Blades of Fire draws inspiration from ’80s fantasy films and American artist Frank Frazetta. It’s full of vivid colors and intriguing characters, such as a charming skeleton child and a massive flying scarab that also serves as a home—an unusual combination for dark fantasy. To quote the elderly lady who lives in the scarab house, it seems MercurySteam has succeeded in emphasizing “Less drama, more action!

Blades of Fire releases on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Epic Games Store) on May 22.

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2025-04-30 18:42