Blades of Fire PS5 Review: Steely Action, Weapon Crafting & Epic Adventure

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Blades of Fire is an enthralling dark fantasy action-adventure game that draws influence from Santa Monica Studio’s contemporary God of War series and FromSoftware’s Souls series, seamlessly blending their distinct elements. At the heart of its storyline and mechanics lies the skill to craft a diverse arsenal of potent melee weapons, and the hunt for the necessary resources to do so serves as the game’s primary gameplay loop.

Produced by MercurySteam, a Spanish game development studio notable for the 2010 release Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Blades of Fire offers robust combat and an expansive world brimming with secrets and concealed passageways to delve into. However, it falls short in some aspects due to its somewhat simplistic narrative and a relatively ordinary backdrop.

A long time ago, powerful and technologically advanced beings called The Forgers governed the world, but they were destroyed in a massive war. Just before their extinction, The Forgers crafted humans and imparted upon them the knowledge of The Steel, which eventually allowed humanity to rise to power. Thousands of years later, Queen Nerea, who shares a past with protagonist Aran de Lira as a childhood friend, has invoked a spell that transforms her adversaries’ weapons into stone. She now rules with an iron fist as a tyrant.

At the start of the game, Aran obtains one of The Forgers’ legendary hammers, setting him on a monumental quest to thwart Queen Nerea. Throughout the game, the primary objective is to advance to the Royal Palace to vanquish the Queen. One of the game’s most compelling aspects is its immersive sense of adventure, as Aran and his youthful companion, Adso, inevitably encounter detours and delays on their journey to reach their destination.

In this game, combat presents a challenging experience even at its simplest mode, particularly during boss fights – a characteristic reminiscent of FromSoftware games, but with unique additions. For instance, each button press allows Aran to attack from different angles or target specific body parts like heads and limbs. However, the complexity arises as certain enemies exhibit varying resistance to damage, divided into blunt, piercing, and slashing categories, on different body areas, or by being vulnerable only temporarily. Moreover, there’s no leveling up; instead, Aran’s health and stamina can be enhanced by discovering environmental collectibles, similar to the method in Sekiro.

In this game, there’s a wide range of weapon choices that inflict single or multiple types of damage, and being able to swap between them during battle is frequently vital for victory. Managing Aran’s stamina bar effectively is crucial for dodging and attacking, but surprisingly, blocking can facilitate swift recovery. Weapons will wear out fast with frequent use, and they can only be repaired a limited number of times (depending on the forging process) before they become worthless. However, they can be dismantled for basic materials or given to an NPC in exchange for rare components if you accumulate enough reputation by killing many enemies.

In simpler terms, The Forge is a place where Aran designs unique weapons based on blueprints gained from vanquishing opponents. This idea is quite intriguing, but the repetitive tasks can become tedious at times, such as slaying a particular tough enemy 40 times to obtain its specific sword variant. There’s also a forging mini-game that acknowledges excellent craftsmanship with extra Forge Stars (the maximum repair limit of a weapon). The customization options, including length, weight, and the type of materials used, make this system an engaging, slightly addictive way to design weapons.

In this game, magical anvils are sprinkled throughout the world, serving as portals to a special place known as The Forge. These anvils not only provide fast travel but also act as resting spots and stockpiles for limited-use healing items. However, using these anvils resets all non-boss enemies. This setup is reminiscent of traditional games, offering the exciting discovery of shortcuts to previously visited areas. Blades of Fire adds a twist by demanding specific runes and keys to traverse certain pathways, sometimes necessitating revisits to earlier regions. A typical player should expect to invest more than 60 hours to complete Aran’s journey; the game world of Blades of Fire is larger than it appears at first glance.

One mechanic that stood out was the involvement of Adso, who proved to be quite enjoyable in this narrative. Being Aran’s young companion, he sometimes became a nuisance, yet brought a touch of humor to an otherwise solitary adventure. Although he didn’t participate in combat, he diligently recorded details about the enemies and locations we encountered. The extent of his compendium was proportional to the number of specific enemies Aran vanquished. This was symbolized by an intricately illustrated book within the game, penned from Adso’s perspective, which gathered information such as enemy types, statistics, weaknesses, and behaviors. He also assisted with environmental puzzles and could be summoned for additional regional data.

On PlayStation 5 Pro, Blades of Fire performs superbly, keeping a steady high frame rate throughout intense battles involving numerous on-screen adversaries. However, we felt that its art style and direction were somewhat commonplace, with enemy designs being rather uninspired, save for a few exceptional instances. Interestingly, human enemies resembled characters from Gears of War but lacked the distinctive characterization; they were often characterized by their oversized biceps, massive hands, and an absence of discernible necks.

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2025-05-20 18:06