Blades of Fire
Developed by MercurySteam, the studio behind Metroid Dread, Metroid: Samus Returns, Scrapland, and Spacelords, among others. Blades of Fire is a third-person action-adventure game where your weapon is your lifeline.
It feels like Dark Souls, but with the directional combat of For Honor.
Now, when I first started this game, it didn’t leave a great first impression. Between an oddly long death scene in the first cinematic, to some awkward audio transitions early on, it felt a little underbaked.
And yet, I still ended up putting 50 hours into it. Let me explain why.
The Story: A Dark Tale Forged in Steel
These are dark times where steel is turned to stone
A spell cast by a queen on her dark throne
Her army marches with metal’s ruthless might
The land fades into deepest, darkest night.
You play as Aran De Lira. After hearing a strange voice, you rush to defend a friend being attacked by the queen’s guards. The friend dies during the fight, leaving you to care for his trainee, Adso.
You soon learn that the friend was on his way to deliver something to you, one of the seven Hammers of the Ancient Forgers. This hammer grants you the ability to craft steel and wield it against the queen’s forces. From this point on, you are destined to defeat the queen and save the realm.
As you progress, you begin to uncover who Aran really is and how he connects to the royal family. You also learn more about Adso and his past. The two of them develop a bond – not necessarily of friendship, but of necessity.
That’s about all I can say without stepping into spoiler territory.
Gameplay: Soul-like Structure with a Weapon-Centric Twist
The best way to describe Blades of Fire is this: it’s Dark Souls, but instead of focusing on souls, it focuses on weapons.
Now, I don’t throw around Dark Souls comparisons lightly. Too many games get labeled as Souls-like just because they’re hard and use the respawn-lose-your-resources mechanic.
Blades of Fire does that, yes. But it goes much further.
The level design here might be the closest I’ve seen to FromSoftware’s style and dare I say, it sometimes surpasses it. Exploration is deeply rewarding but often infuriating. Hidden paths, crumbling walls, shortcut door: they’re all here. And when you finally discover a route that’s been eluding you for two hours, you’ll absolutely shout “finally” out loud.
Directional Combat Done Right
Where Blades of Fire branches off from Souls and into its own territory is in its combat system.
If you’ve played For Honor, the core mechanics may feel familiar. Your weapon matters. The direction you swing it matters. Look at your target - red markers mean they’re resistant, green means they’re vulnerable. So your attacks must be aimed properly for max damage.
And that changes depending on the weapon. A rapier won’t hurt a skeleton much. A sword might help. A giant blunt mace? That’s the ticket.
You’ll constantly be switching weapons to match enemy types. Some enemies adapt mid-fight, requiring you to rethink your strategy.
Combat is stamina-based. You can dodge and parry like you'd expect. But there's a twist: the more you block, the more you bond with the steel and accelerate your stamina recovery. It’s a great mechanic that keeps fights from dragging, though weapons do have block limits, so you’ll still need to play smart.
Weapon Crafting and Customization
Weapons are made by your own hands and this system runs deep. You’ll discover recipes, parts, and materials that let you tweak every aspect of your weapon.
Want a longer parry window on your favorite sword? Change the materials or hilt design. Each tweak has an effect.
Once you’ve designed your weapon, it’s time to hammer it into shape.
At first, blacksmithing is a bit of a learning curve. But with some practice, it becomes intuitive and satisfying. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone turned this into a standalone blacksmith simulator.
While crafting, you control the angle, power, and precision of each strike. The better you align your hits, the more stars you earn. These stars determine how many times the weapon can be repaired. So if you just spent your best materials crafting the ultimate blade, you’d better aim for a high star count.
Luckily, once you’ve nailed the forging process once, you can auto-hammer it later with the same star result.
Durability That Makes Sense
Weapons dull with use. You can sharpen them, but sharpening reduces their overall durability. That makes repairs more frequent. Normally, I hate breakable weapons, Breath of the Wild, I’m looking at you, but it works here.
Your effort during crafting determines the weapon's lifespan. Plus, you can reinforce weapons during creation to give them more durability. It’s a system that feels fair and rewarding.
What doesn’t feel great is dying and losing your best weapon in the middle of nowhere. You can make another one, sure – but if you burned your best materials on it, you’re absolutely going back to retrieve it.
Graphics: Stunning Detail, Smooth Performance
Blades of Fire runs on MercurySteam’s in-house Mercury Engine, which has been around since 2004. I don’t know all the tech details – I’ll leave that to channels like Digital Foundry – but what I do know is that the game looks incredible and runs like a dream.
Environments are packed with foliage and destructibles, the kind of stuff that usually tanks performance. I played on high settings with no issues at all.
My only complaint? The floating particles.
They’re always present, no matter where you are. I didn’t love the effect. That said, when it transitioned into snow – it looked phenomenal. Small gripe in an otherwise beautiful game.
Later zones (which I won’t spoil here) are equally impressive. I also want to highlight the enemy designs – they’re diverse and well-executed.
Sound: Solid, but Occasionally Off-Key
The soundtrack is good, but occasionally the music feels out of place. I’d be exploring quietly, and a huge dramatic piece would kick in that didn’t match the vibe. It wasn’t common, but it stood out when it happened.
Besides one rough audio transition in the early game, the sound design overall was strong.
As for the voice cast – usually this is where I praise the actors and list their other work. But after watching the credits twice, I can't seem to find them listed. As soon as I do, I’ll update this section.
Final Verdict: Is It Worth Your Time?
Yes. Absolutely.
While it pulls from the Dark Souls formula, Blades of Fire makes changes to its systems that make it more accessible. That’s why I’d recommend it to everyone – not just hardcore fans of punishing games.
I spent about 60 hours on my playthrough and enjoyed nearly every minute of it. There’s still a bit more I want to go back and finish. And for $60 at launch, you’re getting a great deal.
Blades of Fire is definitely worth your time.
Blades of Fire
Developed by MercurySteam, the studio behind Metroid Dread, Metroid: Samus Returns, Scrapland, and Spacelords, among others. Blades of Fire is a third-person action-adventure game where your weapon is your lifeline.
It feels like Dark Souls, but with the directional combat of For Honor.
Now, when I first started this game, it didn’t leave a great first impression. Between an oddly long death scene in the first cinematic, to some awkward audio transitions early on, it felt a little underbaked.
And yet, I still ended up putting 50 hours into it. Let me explain why.
The Story: A Dark Tale Forged in Steel
These are dark times where steel is turned to stone
A spell cast by a queen on her dark throne
Her army marches with metal’s ruthless might
The land fades into deepest, darkest night.
You play as Aran De Lira. After hearing a strange voice, you rush to defend a friend being attacked by the queen’s guards. The friend dies during the fight, leaving you to care for his trainee, Adso.
You soon learn that the friend was on his way to deliver something to you, one of the seven Hammers of the Ancient Forgers. This hammer grants you the ability to craft steel and wield it against the queen’s forces. From this point on, you are destined to defeat the queen and save the realm.
As you progress, you begin to uncover who Aran really is and how he connects to the royal family. You also learn more about Adso and his past. The two of them develop a bond – not necessarily of friendship, but of necessity.
That’s about all I can say without stepping into spoiler territory.
Gameplay: Soul-like Structure with a Weapon-Centric Twist
The best way to describe Blades of Fire is this: it’s Dark Souls, but instead of focusing on souls, it focuses on weapons.
Now, I don’t throw around Dark Souls comparisons lightly. Too many games get labeled as Souls-like just because they’re hard and use the respawn-lose-your-resources mechanic.
Blades of Fire does that, yes. But it goes much further.
The level design here might be the closest I’ve seen to FromSoftware’s style and dare I say, it sometimes surpasses it. Exploration is deeply rewarding but often infuriating. Hidden paths, crumbling walls, shortcut door: they’re all here. And when you finally discover a route that’s been eluding you for two hours, you’ll absolutely shout “finally” out loud.
Directional Combat Done Right
Where Blades of Fire branches off from Souls and into its own territory is in its combat system.
If you’ve played For Honor, the core mechanics may feel familiar. Your weapon matters. The direction you swing it matters. Look at your target - red markers mean they’re resistant, green means they’re vulnerable. So your attacks must be aimed properly for max damage.
And that changes depending on the weapon. A rapier won’t hurt a skeleton much. A sword might help. A giant blunt mace? That’s the ticket.
You’ll constantly be switching weapons to match enemy types. Some enemies adapt mid-fight, requiring you to rethink your strategy.
Combat is stamina-based. You can dodge and parry like you'd expect. But there's a twist: the more you block, the more you bond with the steel and accelerate your stamina recovery. It’s a great mechanic that keeps fights from dragging, though weapons do have block limits, so you’ll still need to play smart.
Weapon Crafting and Customization
Weapons are made by your own hands and this system runs deep. You’ll discover recipes, parts, and materials that let you tweak every aspect of your weapon.
Want a longer parry window on your favorite sword? Change the materials or hilt design. Each tweak has an effect.
Once you’ve designed your weapon, it’s time to hammer it into shape.
At first, blacksmithing is a bit of a learning curve. But with some practice, it becomes intuitive and satisfying. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone turned this into a standalone blacksmith simulator.
While crafting, you control the angle, power, and precision of each strike. The better you align your hits, the more stars you earn. These stars determine how many times the weapon can be repaired. So if you just spent your best materials crafting the ultimate blade, you’d better aim for a high star count.
Luckily, once you’ve nailed the forging process once, you can auto-hammer it later with the same star result.
Durability That Makes Sense
Weapons dull with use. You can sharpen them, but sharpening reduces their overall durability. That makes repairs more frequent. Normally, I hate breakable weapons, Breath of the Wild, I’m looking at you, but it works here.
Your effort during crafting determines the weapon's lifespan. Plus, you can reinforce weapons during creation to give them more durability. It’s a system that feels fair and rewarding.
What doesn’t feel great is dying and losing your best weapon in the middle of nowhere. You can make another one, sure – but if you burned your best materials on it, you’re absolutely going back to retrieve it.
Graphics: Stunning Detail, Smooth Performance
Blades of Fire runs on MercurySteam’s in-house Mercury Engine, which has been around since 2004. I don’t know all the tech details – I’ll leave that to channels like Digital Foundry – but what I do know is that the game looks incredible and runs like a dream.
Environments are packed with foliage and destructibles, the kind of stuff that usually tanks performance. I played on high settings with no issues at all.
My only complaint? The floating particles.
They’re always present, no matter where you are. I didn’t love the effect. That said, when it transitioned into snow – it looked phenomenal. Small gripe in an otherwise beautiful game.
Later zones (which I won’t spoil here) are equally impressive. I also want to highlight the enemy designs – they’re diverse and well-executed.
Sound: Solid, but Occasionally Off-Key
The soundtrack is good, but occasionally the music feels out of place. I’d be exploring quietly, and a huge dramatic piece would kick in that didn’t match the vibe. It wasn’t common, but it stood out when it happened.
Besides one rough audio transition in the early game, the sound design overall was strong.
As for the voice cast – usually this is where I praise the actors and list their other work. But after watching the credits twice, I can't seem to find them listed. As soon as I do, I’ll update this section.
Final Verdict: Is It Worth Your Time?
Yes. Absolutely.
While it pulls from the Dark Souls formula, Blades of Fire makes changes to its systems that make it more accessible. That’s why I’d recommend it to everyone – not just hardcore fans of punishing games.
I spent about 60 hours on my playthrough and enjoyed nearly every minute of it. There’s still a bit more I want to go back and finish. And for $60 at launch, you’re getting a great deal.
Blades of Fire is definitely worth your time.
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