Blades of Fire Reviews
Check out Blades of Fire Review Scores from trusted Critics below. With 33 reviews on CriticDB, Blades of Fire has a score of:
There’s no denying that a new soulslike being announced and released isn’t as exciting nowadays as it once used to be, due to how bloated the genre is nowadays. There are new ones coming out pretty much every time I wake up these days. However, Blades of Fire did pique my interest before launch, mostly because it was being developed by MercurySteam, a developer I have a lot of respect for. They are the ones responsible for the flawed but fascinating Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, as well a...
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Blades of Fire has unique mechanics that are refreshing in a genre that seems to be oversaturated as of late. Having to switch between weapons on the fly and target the correct body part adds a layer of strategy to each encounter, making combat more exciting, especially during big boss fights. This is where Blades of Fire shines the most and is the reason to play the game. Unfortunately, too many design decisions left me frustrated. The weapon-forging minigame is a slog, NPCs are overly annoying, and losing weapons upon death isn't nearly as impactful as I had hoped. It's...
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Blades of Fire is a weird game with a solid story, good-looking visuals, and a unique approach to combat. However, the game is a slog to explore, one of the best parts of playing video games.
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Take God of War, Dark Souls and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, put them in a blender along with some new elements such as being able to craft weapons and target specific body parts, and you have Blades of Fire. Its map design can be devious at times, and its enemy placement a little questionable, but overall it's an engaging, and rather epic, adventure.
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A gorgeous fantasy setting, violent action combat, a magical forge surrounded by lava and a giant muscly man stomping around the place smashing things. Blades of Fire features lots of things I love about video games, made by Spanish developers MercurySteam, who clearly have an affinity for similar satisfying tropes. It’s an adventure that feels like a modern spin on an old Xbox 360 action adventure (complimentary), and brings with it some nifty ideas that set it apart from countless other a...
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Some games have such unique and engaging formulas that it's hard to put them down so here's Blades of Fire which is one great Soulslike.
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Blades of Fire developer MercurySteam has a fascinating trajectory. Amidst excellent releases in the Castlevania and Metroid franchises, MercurySteam interrupted its strong run with a few disappointing releases. All of that is to say, its output has been inconsistent. Blades of Fire, sadly, falls on the lower end of the spectrum of its games, but it is not completely without merit. Excellent art direction, technical proficiency, impressive animation, and a unique combat system are all in its ...
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Blades of Fire could have been another Soulslike with a gimmick. Instead, MercurySteam has delivered a well crafted world with an intriguing adventure and the means to let players really find out what works best for them when they need to take hold of some cold steel.
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If Blades of Fire manages to strike a chord, it won't be for its narrative, nor its world, but its violence.
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When brutality meets cleverness in a soulful metroidvania adventure.
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Blades of Fire tries something new with its combat, truly excelling as a result. Those that devote the time to its blacksmithing and weaponry will no doubt have fun slicing and dicing (and piercing and blunting).
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At its best, this blacksmith action adventure endears with great characters, engrossing action, and retro simplicity. Attempts to chase industry trends often hold it back.
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Blades of Fire manages to feel original, lovable, and born of genuine passion, despite the near overwhelming number of problems that could have extinguished it.
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Blades of Fire is a pretty decent, average game. It looks good graphically and works just as well. Unfortunately, it can be irritating and even boring at times.
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Blades of Fire can be great fun, but it definitely overstays its welcome.
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Blades of Fire is a great return to the genre for MercurySteam. With great exploration and a unique combat system, Blades of Fire should have been a sure hit. Unfortunately, the situations you encounter feel completely unfair, and the mechanics sometimes work completely against you. Even still, Blades of Fire is a fun game that harkens back to the old school action-adventure titles, where exploring its world reaps the best rewards and game experience.
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Blades of Fire is a dark fantasy action adventure game inspired by Santa Monica Studio's modern God of War series and FromSoftware's Souls series, and it's a fairly compelling melding of the two. Central to its narrative and gameplay is the ability to forge a wide variety of powerful melee weapons, and gathering the materials required to do so forms its central gameplay loop.
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To address the elephant in the room, no, Blades of Fire’s main protagonist Aran De Lira has not been named after me, though I commend MercurySteam for choosing such an iconic name. While I am a guy who sits in front of screens most of the day, Aran De Lira is a blacksmith who starts Blades of Fire living in the woods. As he’s ripped out of this humble life and into a quest to save the lands, his blacksmithing remains a core skill that’s forged in alongside Metroidvania exploration and tough Souls-like combat.
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Spanish game development studio MercurySteam may not be among the most popular video game development studios ever released, but the Spanish team would definitely deserve far better recognition for having contributed much to popular classic series like Konami's Castlevania and Nintendo's Metroid. It's with the latter series that the developer showed its chops the best, creating with Metroid Dread what is, in my opinion, one of the best entries in the entire franchise. Still, MercurySteam has yet to put out that one original game that would put them on most players' radars.
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MercurySteam and I don’t tend to get along. I found its Castlevania series interesting at first, but ultimately a whiff. And its take on Metroid is perhaps the most impressive effort in Missing The Point I've ever seen in a video game. But there’s no denying this studio has a history of big ideas and big swings. An original story without any IP baggage is the perfect space for that kind of energy, and that’s exactly what Blades of Fire feels like. A nuclear testing ground for doing things a little differently.
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Blades of Fire adds a unique twist to the action RPG formula with new inventive mechanics that reward long-term investment with hugely enjoyable combat and a compelling story to boot.
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Blades of Fire’s blacksmithing burns bright, but overly simplistic combat and a mediocre story mean it doesn’t forge a sharp enough edge to put its customizable weapons to good use.
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Fresh out of the furnace, Blades of Fire burns hot with ambition and casts itself into a sharp, reliable adventure, even if some aspects could use further tempering. Seize the blade as Aran de Lira and forge your path to slay Queen Nerea.
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Blades of Fire has some elements that feel original and compelling, but it ultimately falls short of the bar set by other AA adventure games of recent years.
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With its weapon-building systems and deliberate, targeted combat, Blades of Fire has a lot of fresh-feeling ideas. Its control scheme is strange and will force you to press each button with care. Its granular forging system makes you consider every weapon in your arsenal. But however differently it approaches them, the game only offers the same thrills as other action games of its ilk. Blades of Fire feels unique, but just can’t get weird enough.
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Blades of Fire stands out with its unique sword-based combat and surprisingly deep forging system. While it stumbles with repetitive enemy encounters and frustrating escort missions, there's no denying the charm and originality in its core gameplay loop. It’s a flawed gem, but one that action-RPG fans will find plenty to enjoy in.
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Perhaps mislabeled as a Soulslike, Blades of Fire is a third-person fantasy action game with RPG elements. Its combat is exemplary. Finding the right weapon and the right place to strike each enemy is a well-thought-out system that feels great. While story is a bit bland, it’s told through an impressive blend of cinematic cutscenes, and a cryptic info drip. I loved the amount of detail in the environments. Like its title, Blades of Fire suffers from aspects that are kind of generic. The visual design and musical score emulate Hollywood fantasy to a fault, and the gameplay is excellent....
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MercurySteam follow up the career high point of Metroid Dread with a dark fantasy soulslike full of neat ideas. Blades of Fire dares to make the case for weapon degradation being a good thing and succeeds. The fun characters, secret-stuffed level design, and terrific combat don’t hurt either. A really pleasant surprise.
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Blades of Fire is a well-made package focusing more on crafting creativity than physical battles. It forces players to take a more thoughtful approach instead of prioritizing fast-paced action.
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With fun, challenging combat and a fantastic weapon-forging system, Blades of Fire is one of 2025’s most surprising videogames for all the right reasons.
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MercurySteam's latest project holds a lot of promise, but death by a thousand cuts holds it back from true greatness.
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