Tapping into the power fantasy of God of War, the combat intricacies of Dark Souls, and letting you forge your own bespoke weapons, Blades of Fire is shaping up to be a great new action RPG. Its release date is just around the corner, and ahead of the big day, you can now try it for free thanks to a new demo. The best part? Your progress will carry over to the full game.
Given the wealth of Blades of Fire to stand out – especially seeing as it's not a triple-A blockbuster with a nine-figure budget. However, it's doing a lot to pique my interest more than a game of its ilk typically would.
For a start, the overarching premise of the story is an intriguing one. At a baseline level, it sounds fairly standard. You're a lone warrior, Aran de Lira, fighting back against an evil, unopposed queen and her forces – you're the last hope to end her tyrannical reign. But the intrigue comes from the fact that this monarch, Queen Nerea, has cast a spell that has turned all of the world's steel into stone, meaning no one can bear arms against her. Unless you're incredibly effective at throwing rocks, of course. However, Aran is bestowed a legendary hammer, immune from the queen's magic, that can be used to forge weapons once again.
This leads into one of the core mechanics of Blades of Fire that also helps it stand out from the crowd – an incredibly in-depth and personalized weapon crafting system. As our very own Ken discovered when he previewed Blades of Fire, when forging you pick a predetermined class of weapon (swords, polearms, warhammers, and the like) but then have the ability to "choose everything from its blade shape to the handle length, pommel style, and even the materials used to craft it."
Every design decision you make impacts the weapon's performance. Heavier blades will deal more damage and wear out less quickly, but will drain more stamina to use. The length of your weapon will determine your reach. The overall weight will impact your attack speed. It's incredibly detailed. You can even name each bespoke weapon, which is a great touch.
With your design complete, there's then an intricate blacksmithing minigame that requires accuracy to forge your weapon exactly as you intended it to be – mess up, and its durability may be reduced.
The combat in Blades of Fire definitely takes cues from the best soulslikes – dodging, parrying, and spacing are all important – but there's also more than a whiff of God of War about it. It looks brutal, gory, and all the enemies look really intimidating and well-designed. Adding a strategic layer is the armor system, which will force you into strategically picking weak spots and swapping weapon types to break through enemies' protection.
If this sounds like your kind of game, I've got good news for you. A free demo for Blades of Fire is live right now on the Epic Game Store for PC players, as well as PlayStation and Xbox.
With the full release landing next week, this 'demo' is basically more of a trial of the finished, polished game, and I'm pleased to see that any progress you make will carry over to the full game if you buy it. It's going to set you back $59.99 / £49.99, but there is a 10% discount if you pre-order, bringing the price down to $53.99 / £44.99.
Blades of Fire is definitely worth a go with this free demo, but if it doesn't quite hit the spot for you, here are some of the best fantasy games that we'd recommend instead.
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