Now and then, a video game that doesn’t quite fit the mold of mainstream gaming comes along. It doesn’t follow an established formula. It merely exists for the love of the game. These kinds of games are rare, and Blades of Fire by MercurySteam seems to have arrived just when I needed that kind of experience.
Blades of Fire is the latest title from MercurySteam, the studio known for the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy and, more recently, for helping Nintendo deliver one of the best Metroid games ever made, Metroid Dread.
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+ 7It’s an action-adventure that draws inspiration from modern titles like the latest God of War. Its over-the-shoulder, third-person camera is ideal for the hectic, melee-based combat, where positioning matters. Some might call it a Soulslike, but let’s be honest, slapping the Soulslike label on any game with a shred of challenging difficulty has become a tired trope.
A Dynamic Duo
The story takes place in a dark fantasy world that honestly feels like it could sit comfortably in a George R.R. Martin tale. From towering castles filled with undead legions to villages ravaged by an evil queen, Blades of Fire’s story is pretty straightforward and rooted in classic fantasy tropes. You play as Aran de Lira, a warrior granted the mighty Hammer of the Forgers, an ancient race who once shaped the world. With this newfound responsibility, you gain the ability to forge various weapons, giving you the tools to take down the evil queen who plagues the land.
click to enlarge+ 7The narrative wastes no time; it throws you into the action right from the start. You’re accompanied by a young student named Adso de Zelk, or just Adso. Throughout your journey, he’s the Atreus to Aran’s Kratos, serving as both loremaster, chronicler, and puzzle solver of everything you encounter.
While Adso and Aran’s dynamic bears some resemblance to Kratos and Atreus, MercurySteam takes a different route. This isn’t a father-son bond, it feels more like two friends setting out to tackle a mutual threat. Both are strong characters, but neither would work as well without the other. Without Adso, Aran is just a gruff old man with big muscles and Adso is a helpless lore-geek without Aran. Together, though, they’re a compelling duo; adventurers with just enough banter to keep things lighthearted.
Getting Lost is by Design
Ever since the rise of modern gaming, the definition of a “Metroidvania” has become increasingly vague. Yet Blades of Fire makes a strong case for the genre by emphasizing exploration and discovery. The design carries over, though somewhat awkwardly, from MercurySteam’s experience with 2D on Metroid Dread, into 3D.
The Metroidvania element is both the game’s strongest and weakest suit. Exploration is rewarding, and getting lost is very much intentional. One minute, you're traversing a crimson castle full of spectral weapons and undead knights, and the next, you’re spinning in circles, unsure where to go.
click to enlarge+ 7I’ll admit, there were moments when I felt ready to give up; navigation can be that tricky. There’s a glaring lack of UI guidance for your next objective, so you’re left to rely on Adso for clues. The problem? Sometimes I had no idea what he was even talking about.
Backtracking becomes tedious. Facing the same enemies again while retracing your steps quickly loses its charm. It’s one of those things I both loved and hated about Blades of Fire and something I’d talk more about later.
An Arsenal of Weapons
Combat is another highlight worth discussing. It resembles traditional action gameplay, think God of War, but it truly sets itself apart once you're in control.
Blades of Fire uses a limb-based approach to melee combat. Think Dead Space’s Necromorph dismemberment or Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s slicing mechanics, but simplified. Each weapon you forge has distinct effects on enemy types, categorized by weapon class and damage type. Weapon classes include polearms, sabers, spears, twin blades, swords and greatswords. Damage types are slashing, piercing, and blunt.
click to enlarge+ 7You won’t be relying on one weapon all the time. That trusty Glaive won’t help much against enemies with thick armor, you’ll need to switch to a blunt weapon like a Hyssop to break through.
Weapon forging is, hands down, my favorite aspect of the game. At first, it felt overwhelming; all the stats and numbers made my head spin. But over time, I grew to love the system. I even started crafting my own personalized loadout and named them after historic weapons. My go-tos? The Eastern Sword I named Hattori for high piercing damage, and the Warhammer (named Titus) for those heavy, blunt hits.
click to enlarge+ 7Your weapons aren’t indestructible, though. Like Monster Hunter's sharpness, they wear down over time, so picking the right tool for the job matters.
There's even a rewarding progression system: the more you use a weapon, the more its status evolves, from Ordinary to Epic. It’s a satisfying way to mark your journey and victories, and it’s sad to see when they finally break into oblivion.
Forged Out Of Time
click to enlarge+ 7Overall, I enjoyed my time with Blades of Fire. But it feels like a game out of time, like something that would’ve felt right at home on a PlayStation 3 in the late 2000s. And yet, it also carries a modern touch. The visuals are crisp, the performances from its protagonists are solid, and the game runs beautifully thanks to MercurySteam’s latest iteration of the Mercury Engine (refined since their Castlevania days). Across my 30 hours of time spent with Aran and Adso, I didn’t hit any game-breaking bugs or crashes.
That said, the game still makes some baffling design choices...
Issues
Just when I was enjoying its rich combat and weapon forging systems, the fun was interrupted by tedious mechanics that dragged the experience down. Chief among them? The backtracking. With no clear guidance, it becomes a constant loop of revisiting areas, fighting the same enemies, and hoping you stumble onto the right path. I get that it’s intentional, but it broke my momentum far too often.
click to enlarge+ 7Not to mention its endgame, which I won’t spoil much, requires you to explore almost everything the game offers. While this is a staple for most metroidvania titles, I am just completely floored by this deliberate choice. However, as someone who adores secrets in gaming, there’s a lot to unpack in Blades of Fire that I am looking forward to discovering.
The Metroidvania elements, while promising, don’t always fit well in this kind of 3D space as opposed to its 2D origins. The level design starts to feel repetitive. Why am I finding a flute again? Where does this crown go? The logic doesn’t make sense. Even Adso offers little help at times.
Final Thoughts
Still, there’s a genuinely great game here. I had fun. The weapon forging is excellent, exploration is rewarding (when you’re not lost), and the combat eventually clicks. It came at a perfect time when I would love to play a game like this, and Blades of Fire had the spark that I needed. However, I can't help but question some of MercurySteam’s design choices with its metroidvania formula. Why add tedium to a game that otherwise excels in its core systems?
I understand the intent, but even after rolling the game’s supposed “end credits”, those choices still leave me scratching my head.
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