Video Game Review - Blades of Fire
Another Soulslike enters the area…
For fans of Dark Souls and Elden Ring, the moment you boot up Blades of Fire, you’ll already know what kind of journey you’re in for. Fires crackle in the distance, steel grinds on steel, and your character, Aran de Lira, stands at the edge of a crumbling cliff with a sword on his back and a forge hammer in his hand. This isn’t just another run of the mill Soulslike, it’s MercurySteam’s attempt to merge the genres classic combat with a deep weapon crafting. For better or worse, Blades of Fire swings hard at its lofty ambitions, yet it occasionally misses the mark on what makes a Soulslike good.
At its core, the game is a story of redemption and resistance. You play as Aran, a blacksmith come warrior who’s trying to reverse a magical curse that has turned people into stone. Queen Nerea, the game’s antagonist, has effectively petrified the world, and it’s up to Aran and his companion Adso to stop the spread by fighting through legions of cursed creatures. While the narrative doesn’t break much new ground (it’s standard “save the world with a mythical weapon” fare) it provides enough context to justify the endless battles, even if it leans heavily on a lot of fantasy clichés.
The real hook here is the combat, which demands both brains and reflexes. In a step away from the norm every strike in Blades of Fire is directional, mapped to the face buttons. This means you’re not just deciding when to attack, but how. Enemies flash subtle colour cues on their bodies, green means vulnerable, orange means partial resistance, and red signals a no-go zone. Reading these in real-time and adjusting your approach makes for a surprisingly fresh battle rhythm. You might slash horizontally to break a shield, then quickly switch to a thrusting weapon to pierce a soft spot. It feels tactical, and once you get into the groove, immensely satisfying.
But there’s a catch. While the game gives you plenty of combat options, it doesn’t always play fair. Some enemy attacks come out faster than human reflexes can reasonably handle. You can block or parry, but doing so drains your stamina fast—and once that runs out, you’re toast. Timing amounts to everything, and with no animation cancelling, even a single mistimed swing can get you stagger-locked. This level of punishment might thrill fans of Dark Souls or Sekiro, but casual players might find themselves frustrated by the lack of forgiveness, especially when bosses hit like trucks with little to no telegraphing.
It also doesn’t help that enemies can interrupt your attacks with ease, but you can’t always do the same to them. There’s a sense of imbalance in how power is distributed, and this becomes especially clear in boss fights. Regular enemies tend to follow predictable patterns and can be handled with patience. But once you step into a boss arena, the game expects you to have mastered every system. These encounters are designed to test your precision and endurance, but they occasionally feel like difficulty spikes rather than natural progressions in challenge. More than once, you may find yourself stuck farming earlier areas for better materials or to simply stand a chance.
Away from combat and the game’s standout mechanic is the forge system. Not technically a feature, forging your weapons is probably the meat of the Blades of Fire experience. Here, you don’t just pick up weapons; you build them from scratch. You have free rein from a wealth of blueprints, blade length, weight, and material, to then engage in a short rhythmic mini-game to craft the final product. Nailing the rhythm gives your weapon bonus durability, attack power, or special effects. It’s incredibly rewarding when it works, and you’re not just choosing a sword you’re creating a weapon ready for the next challenge.
The variety of weapons available is impressive, too. You can make hammers that stagger enemies with a single blow, lightweight daggers that allow for quick strikes and faster dodge recovery, or elemental-infused blades that burn, freeze, or poison. There’s a genuine sense of creativity here, and it’s easy to lose yourself in fine-tuning your arsenal. Over time, you’ll develop a favorite combo or two, switching between crafted weapons mid-fight to exploit enemy weaknesses.
That said, crafting does come with some baggage. The mini-game, while novel at first, becomes tedious after your 30th or 40th weapon. It doesn’t evolve much beyond its basic loop, and while it’s a nice touch of interactivity, it risks slowing down the pacing. Worse, materials needed for advanced weapons are often locked behind repetitive enemy encounters. Want that high-tier flaming broadsword? You’ll need to farm a specific type of creature dozens of times to get the rare drop. This grind can wear thin, especially when it stalls your momentum in the middle of an exciting stretch.
Exploration in Blades of Fire takes a page out of the FromSoftware playbook. The world is interconnected, full of shortcuts, hidden paths, and lore fragments. At its best, the level design encourages curiosity. You might find a secret tunnel that loops you back to an earlier area, or stumble upon a lore-rich cavern that hints at the world’s ancient history. It’s rewarding in those moments—especially early on. However, the deeper into the game you get, the more those strengths fade. Later areas begin to feel bloated, with sprawling corridors that loop endlessly and offer little in the way of visual variety. It becomes hard to tell one ruined stronghold from the next. Add in a lack of intuitive signposting, and you may find yourself aimlessly circling, wondering where the critical path went. The game expects players to pay close attention to environmental clues, but it sometimes crosses the line from mysterious into needlessly obtuse.
Adso, your academic sidekick, is a bright spot in an otherwise serious world. He doesn’t fight, but he helps by cataloging enemies and offering hints through a compendium system. Occasionally, he’ll chime in with lore tidbits or analysis, and while some of his jokes wear thin, he brings some much-needed levity. He’s not a game-changer, but he adds texture to the experience and gives you a reason to care about the world beyond just hitting things.
Visually, the game looks solid, though not spectacular. On the PS5, the framerate is smooth, and the art direction holds up well. The game leans into dark fantasy aesthetics with heavy shadows, flickering torches, and grotesque enemy designs. There’s a gritty charm to it, and some environments—particularly the towering Forge Cathedrals—are genuinely impressive. But elsewhere, textures can look a little dated, and certain zones feel like filler. It’s clear this isn’t a triple-A production, but for a mid-budget title, it punches above its weight. Audio is a mixed bag. The clanging of metal and the impact of hits feel powerful and visceral, but the music doesn’t always rise to the occasion. While there are a few strong tracks—mainly during boss fights or emotional cutscenes—much of the soundtrack fades into the background. Voice acting is competent but rarely moving, and some NPC dialogue loops too frequently for comfort.
In terms of length, the game offers a standard playthrough that’ll likely take around 25 to 30 hours. For those who want to see everything that Blades of Fire has on offer, this will likely increase to 50 hours plus. There’s a lot to see and do, from secret dungeons to rare weapons and side bosses. The Forge system encourages experimentation, and if you’re a player who enjoys tweaking loadouts and trying new approaches, there’s plenty of replay potential. That said, those who crave a tightly paced experience may feel the bloat set in during the second half.
Overall and Blades of Fire is a rough-cut gem. It’s not quite polished enough to stand alongside the genre’s best, but it’s packed with clever ideas and genuine heart. The directional combat and weapon crafting offer something truly fresh, and there are moments - usually during intense duels or forging a perfect blade - where the game sings. But it also stumbles, weighed down by inconsistent difficulty, repetitive grinding, and uneven world design. If you love the punishing precision of Soulslikes and have a soft spot for RPGs that let you tinker and customise your equipment, Blades of Fire will likely draw you in. Just be prepared for some grind, a few rough edges, and a story that, while functional, doesn’t quite rise to the occasion. It’s a solid forge, even if the steel could’ve been tempered just a bit more.
Rating: 7/10
A code was kindly provided for this review.
