When I sat down to play developer MercurySteam's latest project, Blades of Fire, I expected something akin to a modern take on their Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series, perhaps with a nod to the recent God of War games. After an hour, my impression shifted towards a Soulslike experience, albeit one where the focus was squarely on weapon stats rather than character development. By the end of the three-hour hands-on session, I realized that Blades of Fire was both a blend of these influences and something entirely new—an action-adventure game that builds upon familiar ground with a unique twist.

At first glance, it's easy to mistake Blades of Fire for a direct homage to Sony Santa Monica's God of War. The game features a dark fantasy world, impactful combat, and a third-person camera that keeps you close to the action. The parallels are evident even in the early stages of the demo, where I navigated a labyrinthine map filled with treasure chests alongside a young companion who assisted in puzzle-solving. Together, we sought out a woman of the wilds, whose home was perched atop a giant creature. However, the game also borrows heavily from FromSoftware's repertoire, including anvil-shaped checkpoints that restore health potions and respawn enemies, which might feel a bit too familiar to some.

The world of Blades of Fire exudes a nostalgic 1980s fantasy vibe. You could imagine Conan the Barbarian fitting seamlessly among its muscular warriors, while the orangutan-like foes bouncing on bamboo pogo sticks wouldn't seem out of place in Jim Henson's Labyrinth. The narrative also has a retro feel—an evil queen has turned steel into stone, and it's up to you, Aran de Lira, a blacksmith demigod, to defeat her and restore the world's metal. Despite this charming throwback, the story, characters, and writing seem, at this stage, to be somewhat generic, reminiscent of many overlooked tales from the Xbox 360 era.

The game's mechanical prowess, however, stands out significantly. Blades of Fire features a combat system centered around directional attacks, utilizing every face button on the controller. On a PlayStation pad, for example, the triangle button targets the head, cross aims for the torso, while square and circle swipe left and right. Understanding an enemy's stance allows you to exploit these attacks to break through their defenses. For instance, a soldier shielding their face can be defeated by aiming low and striking their abdomen, resulting in satisfyingly visceral effects, with blood spurting from the inflicted wounds.

The system truly shines in boss encounters, like the demo's first major boss, a slobbering troll. This troll had a secondary health bar that could only be damaged after dismembering it, with the limb removed depending on your attack angle. You could, for example, use a right-hand strike to sever its left arm, effectively disarming it. Even more striking, you can cut the troll's entire face off, leaving it blind and flailing until it regenerates its eyes.

Weapons in Blades of Fire require meticulous attention, a key feature setting the game apart. Over time, edged weapons become dull, reducing damage with each successive strike. To counteract this, players must use a sharpening stone or switch stances, as the edge and tip wear independently. Like in Monster Hunter, you'll need to find moments during combat to sharpen your weapon, but all weapons have a durability meter that inevitably leads to breakage. When this happens, you can repair them at an anvil checkpoint or melt them down for crafting new ones.

Blades of Fire Screenshots

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The forge in Blades of Fire is a groundbreaking feature, offering an extensive weapon crafting system. Instead of finding new weapons in the world, you start from scratch at the forge. You begin with a basic weapon template, which Aran sketches on a chalkboard, then tweak and modify it. For example, designing a spear involves adjusting the pole length and spearhead shape, each decision impacting the weapon's stats. Different materials affect weight and stamina demands, adding a layer of customization and personalization to your weapons.

The crafting process doesn't end there. Once your design is complete, you must physically hammer the metal at an anvil through a detailed minigame. You control the length, force, and angle of each strike, aiming to match a curved line on the screen with a series of vertical bars. Overworking the steel leads to weaker weapons, so precision and efficiency are key. Your performance earns a star rating, which determines how often you can repair your weapon before it's lost forever.

The forge concept introduces a skill element to what is typically a menu-driven system, but the minigame can be frustratingly obtuse. I struggled to see a clear connection between my strikes and the resulting metal shape, hoping for improvements or a better tutorial before the game's release.

The forge's influence extends beyond the demo, with MercurySteam aiming for players to form deep connections with their crafted weapons over a 60-70 hour journey. As you explore and discover new metals, you can reforge your weapons to enhance their properties, ensuring they remain suitable for new challenges. This bond is emphasized by the death system, where upon defeat, you drop your weapon and respawn without it, but the dropped weapon remains in the world for you to recover.

This mechanic, inspired by Dark Souls, fosters a more meaningful bond with your weapons than with lost souls, which can be replenished through combat. I'm eager to see how this dynamic unfolds throughout the campaign and whether backtracking will allow you to reunite with and reforge weapons from earlier in your journey.

MercurySteam's adoption of ideas from Dark Souls and its successors is unsurprising, given FromSoftware's profound influence on the action game genre. Blades of Fire can also be seen as a spiritual successor to Blade of Darkness, a game developed by MercurySteam's founders in the early 2000s, which some consider a precursor to the Souls series. The developers are building upon their past work while incorporating advancements from other studios.

While playing, I felt the pull of MercurySteam's various influences—the brutal combat of Blade of Darkness, the innovations of FromSoftware, and the world design of God of War. Yet, these influences do not define Blades of Fire. Instead, they are reinterpreted within a broader canvas of ideas, creating a unique recipe that distinguishes it from its inspirations.

I do have some reservations about the game's setting. The fairly generic dark fantasy world may struggle to support a 60-hour adventure, and encountering the same miniboss three times within three hours raises questions about variety. However, the deep connection between your forged blades and the enemies you confront is genuinely intriguing. In a time when complex games like Elden Ring and Monster Hunter have become mainstream hits, Blades of Fire has the potential to offer something new and fascinating to the action-adventure genre.