Blades of Fire Preview: Test Your Metal

In a world where steel remains the most-valuable resource for weapons and armour, a witch has conceived of a spell that allows her to turn steel into stone. Those who swear allegiance to her are given their shining metal weapons, while everyone else's means of defending themselves shatter into pieces. That's the premise developer MercurySteam has ironed out in Blades of Fire, a game we had the pleasure of checking out one cold morning in the Southern English town of Leatherhead.

We play as protagonist Aran de Lira, a hermit who is granted a special hammer that allows him to create his own steel weapons. In essence, Blades of Fire is best described as a game of two halves, one centred around the forging and designing of weapons, and the other focused on using those weapons to defeat the forces of the witch, eventually working towards a final confrontation with her. While you could describe the game using comparisons like God of War or a Soulslike, because of the uniqueness of the forging mechanic it really doesn't fit either of those labels, despite it taking some elements here and there.

Blades of Fire's forging mechanic takes what is essentially a minigame in something like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and expands upon it exponentially. Before you even get the hammer out, you'll have to kill a certain amount of enemies to unlock a weapon type, of which there are many. Spears, bludgeons, greatswords, and twin weapons among others can tear the limbs off your opponents in the grisly dark fantasy combat. When you're ready to forge, you'll then draw up your weapon design. Depending on the resources you gather around the world, and the options you pick, you can change the length of the weapon, the end of the blade, the hilt, pommel, and more, which all has an affect on the in-game statistics.

Then, you'll get to forging, which requires you to hammer out the metal so it's in line with the chalk design you made earlier, getting the angles right can be a bit tricky at first, but if you mess up, you can always make another. And you will need to make another in Blades of Fire, as not only will your weapons eventually get to a point that they can't be repaired anymore, but you'll need a variety of weapons to take on the enemies in the game.

From what we played, enemy variety is pretty good and there are some really strong designs. From standard soldiers to red-headed dwarves that hop on their swords like pogo sticks, there's a lot of different foes awaiting you and your myriad of weapons. Something really interesting about Blades of Fire's combat is in how the enemies will be stronger and weaker versus certain weapon types. A sword can't very well slash through plate, after all, but switch it to a stabbing stance, and you've got a better chance. Or, perhaps a slash will work, but only if you aim for certain parts of their body. It adds another layer of depth to the combat, something again that stops players from just painting it as a derivative Soulslike. However, the combat as a whole did largely feel like the weakest point in our time with the game.

Largely, this was due to the overreliance of stamina in Blades of Fire's combat. You get a few hits in, maybe combined with a dodge, before you have to hold block to force your stamina to come back. It does regenerate without you holding block, but it's so painfully slow that you'll break up your rhythm every so often. Also, when blocking, you can only endure a limited number of attacks until you can't guard properly with it anymore. This type of stop-start combat felt quite stagnant at times, and it didn't help that it felt as if enemies could hit stun you with practically every blow, while taking your hits without so much as a shrug. I'm also unsure as to why all four face buttons need to be linked to attacks, as they don't do any different amounts of damage. Some strikes target different areas of a foe, but rarely does it feel like all the buttons need to be used.

While I'm on some more negative points, it's worth mentioning that the main character of Aran feels about as dull as the stone so many of the world's weapons have become. It's fine to have a gruff, no-nonsense protagonist, and while I'm sure there is a mystery behind who Aran is, it was difficult to get the sense that I wanted more through Aran's dialogue and overall plainness. Other characters proved a lot more expressive, both in how they came across through their actions and dialogue and in their designs. Adso, the Atreus-like student who follows you round and gives you details on the lore, is really interesting. Again, like with the forging and combat ideas, MercurySteam hits upon another fascinating concept with how the story and lore is told, as it all comes from Aran and Adso's perspectives. What you know, they know, and you'll have to go digging if you want to explore more.

The exploration in Blades of Fire was the most fun I had with the game. As mentioned, like in the Souls series you'll be placed into an open area at first, but as you go through you can find doors to open, ladders to drop down, and more that'll make traversing and exploring easier if you meet your unfortunate end at the hands of an enemy. With the world feeling fresh and unique, it is really rewarding to explore, both from a lore and gameplay perspective.

Overall, Blades of Fire feels like a game that is forged using some really interesting ideas, but I've cooled a little on the core of the combat system. Others at the event were much higher on the game, and its potential remains high, but it'll depend on how much you're willing to throw yourself into its deep systems and ignore some of the chipped edges.