FromSoftware has continued to set the gold standard for the Soulslike genre, outdoing itself with each subsequent action-RPG entry. That said, there have been plenty of competitors in the last decade. Some of these Soulslike competitors have found success by imitatingFromSoftware’s formula, while others have risen to fame by taking the genre’s foundations and forging their own unique path. MercurySteam’sBlades of Firebelongs to the latter camp.
The Madrid-based studio responsible forMetroid Dreadand theCastlevania: Lords of Shadowseries, MercurySteam’s latest project hearkens back to the team’s 2001 roots. A spiritual successor toSeverance: Blade of Darkness(one of the first projects many of MercurySteam’s senior members worked on),Blades of Fireis an upcoming third-person Soulslike that Game Rant recently had the opportunity to play. And after around four hours or so, it’s clear thatBlades of Fireis shaping up to be a wholly unique, truly special entry in the Soulslike genre, albeit oneSoulsveterans might need a little time to fully appreciate.
Blades of Fire Has a “Less Drama, More Action” Approach to Story
Blades of Fireopens withplayer-character Aran de Lirapracticing his sword swings on a few training dummies. Aran’s training session is cut short by some nearby screams, and he races off to find their source. Aran soon finds his friend brutally slain by the Queen’s troops, the man’s young traveling companion, Adso, holding his corpse.
After carving through the soldiers, Aran is handed a giganticMjolnir-like hammer. It’s quickly explained that this hammer is believed to be one of seven tools the gods used to create the world, and after a brief trip to an otherworldly forge, Aran grabs Adso and says the two are off to kill the Queen.
Blades of Fire’s opening is incredibly brief, and its story set-up is minimal, but that’s far from a bad thing. Players are thrown head-first into a dark fantasy world that’s brimming with tyrannical soldiers, horrifying monsters, and even a handful of unlikely, odd allies. Glinda, one of the last surviving “Master Forgers,” is one such ally.
Upon meeting Glinda for the first time and beginning to explain his backstory, Aran is cut off abruptly by the line “Less drama, more action.” This simple phrase acts as the perfect summary toBlades of Fire’s approach to story. While there are some intriguing moments of world-building and plenty of well-presented cinematics,Blades of Fireputs its gameplay front and center.
Blades of Fire’s Gameplay Is Complex, But Rewarding
Blades of Fire’s Combat Looks Familiar But Feels Wholly Unique
At first glance,Blades of Firelooks like atraditional Soulslike experience, with players needing to dodge enemy attacks, strike back, and manage their stamina carefully. But while those Soulslike foundations are certainly present,Blades of Firehas a bevy of new tricks hiding up its sleeve.
Blades of Fire’s combatrevolves around a dynamic traffic light system. When players lock onto an enemy, their silhouette will be outlined with one of three colors: green, orange, or red. A green outline signifies that the player’s attacks will deal maximum damage, while orange means they’ll deal reduced damage, and red means their attacks will have little effect.
Naturally, players want to ensure that their target’s outline is always green. To do this, players need to make sure their weapon is of a high enough level, and that they’re using the right stance for the job, with most weapons having at least two methods of attack to choose from, such as the sword, which has separate stabbing and slashing movesets that can be swapped on the fly with a tap of the right trigger.
Some enemies will also have specific weak points that need to be targeted, denoted by a certain body part outlined in green while the rest of their body is orange or red. This is whereBlades of Fire’s directional attackscome into play. Each of the controller’s face buttons (Cross, Square, Triangle, Circle on PS5) corresponds to a directional attack. Holding down one of these face buttons delivers a powerful “Mutilation” attack with a strong chance of dismembering the enemy.
Players must use these directional attacks to target an enemy’s weak spot, but they also need to be aware of the environment they find themselves in. If players are in a narrow hallway, they won’t be able to use a sword’s wide slashing attacks. Similarly,Blades of Fire’s combat requires players to manage their stamina carefully; rather than return gradually over time like in other Soulslikes,Blades of Fire’s stamina recharges when the player blocks, forcing them to think about defense just as much as offense.
The Forge Is Blades of Fire’s Defining Feature
Combat is just one half ofBlades of Fire’s gameplay loop. One ofBlades of Fire’s most distinct features is its intricate Forge system, whereby players create their own custom weapons.
To begin, players select a “Forge Scroll,” a blueprint of a specific weapon. Once the design is chalked out on the anvil, players are presented with the weapon’s customization screen. EvenBlades of Fire’s simplest weapons have an array of customization options, with players being able to choose a weapon’s blade, hilt, pommel, guard, and sometimes more, depending on the type of armament. These components will significantly impact the weapon’s stats (which are all presented clearly on the right side of the screen), as well as its visual design.
Each of these individual weapon components can then be customized further, with players being prompted to select materials for each one. The game’s metal-based materials are sorted into a large pyramid, with Laceration at the top, and Durability and Defense on the bottom two corners. These materials further impact the weapon’s stats.
Once fully customized, players finalize their weapon design and begin the forging process, which is a rather complex and active process. Players are presented with a screen full of vertical white bars intersected by one horizontal white line. Players need to get these vertical bars as close to the horizontal line as possible. To do this, players need to strike the pattern, with each hit affecting the height of the highlighted bars.
Players can alter their strike’s strength, the width of the strike’s area of effect, and the angle of their strike. The closer the bars get to the horizontal line, the higher the quality of the weapon will be (indicated by a set of golden stars at the top of the screen that fill with each strike), and the more the player will be able to repair it when out on the field.
Blades of Fire’s Forge systemis a tad overwhelming at first, and the reasons behind its complexity and high level of player involvement aren’t immediately obvious at the start of the game. But after a few hours withBlades of Fire’s combat, it becomes a vital and worthwhile part of the gameplay loop, with players needing to forge new weapons to take on higher-level enemies.
Players also lose their weapon upon death inBlades of Fireand need to retrieve it from the spot they fell, which makes having a sizable arsenal a necessity. This fear of permanent loss does a great job of making each customized weapon feel like an essential tool that the player can’t live without, and the ability to name weapons goes a surprisingly long way in forging a personal connection between the player and their toolset.
Blades of Fire’s World Has Plenty of Substance
The third pillar ofBlades of Fire’s gameplay loop is its open-ended level design, which presents the player with a handful of branching optional pathways that often contain challenging encounters, plenty of useful Forge crafting materials, and even a few special upgrades for Aran’s equipment.Blades of Fire’s levelsare also packed to the brim with diverse enemy designs.
In just four hours of gameplay, we saw well over 10 completely distinct enemies, including multiple types of humanoid soldier, trolls, water monsters, walking trees, undead zombies, floating swords, invisible ninjas, and even some gnome-like creatures that ominously hopped towards Aran atop their swords, using them as a sort of deadly pogo stick. Each of these enemies had vastly different visual designs, movesets, and unique weak spots that required new strategies.
Players unlock new weapons inBlades of Fireby defeating a certain number of specific creatures. For example, killing 60 undead creatures rewarded us with the Twin Axe Forge Scroll.
Once Blades of Fire’s Gameplay Clicks, It Really Clicks
Blades of Fire’s first two hourscan be very overwhelming, even for Soulslike veterans. On top ofBlades of Fire’s assortment of complex, overlapping systems, the game throws some curveballs when it comes to controls. Along with the face buttons being used for directional attacks,Blades of Firemoves dodge to L1, and has R2 change weapons and their stance.
Blades of Firedoes a good job of teaching players its complicated systems. Tutorial text screens are clear and efficient, but like with any good Soulslike, experience is the best teacher, andBlades of Fireintroduces each of its core systems in a natural and engaging way.
That said, it will likely take players a good few hours to get to grips with everythingBlades of Firethrows at them, but once it clicks, it really clicks. Just like playing one of FromSoft’s ownSoulsgames for the very first time, whenBlades of Fire’s gameplay systemsfall into place, the loop becomes suddenly intoxicating.
The confusion and hardship of learning a new control scheme and combat mechanics fades and gives way to a thrilling sense of satisfaction, with each individual component of the gameplay loop reinforcing one another and encouraging players to engage in everything the game has to offer. The effort of forging a new weapon is rewarded when players obliterate an enemy faster than ever, and combat itself becomes a gratifying dance of dodges, blocks, stance-switches, weapon swaps, and carefully planned ripostes.
Blades of Fire Is a Beautifully Bleak Game
Even inBlades of Fire’s most overwhelming moments, the game’s stellar presentation does its very best to keep players thoroughly engaged in its dark fantasy world. Gore is abundant inBlades of Fire, with blood, dismemberment, and beheadings being common sights.Blades of Fire’s character animationsalso go a long way in reinforcing the game world’s brutality, with each swing of a two-handed hammer or axe looking suitably weighty as it throws an enemy into a piece of destructible scenery.
From a visual standpoint,Blades of Fireis stunning. Environmental design, particle effects, and lighting systems all go hand-in-hand to give this otherwise bleak fantasy world a sort of melancholic beauty.
Blades of Fire’s sound design is also top-notch, with each weapon making a distinct and satisfying metallic clang with each strike. The game’s score, composed byCastlevania: Lords of Shadow’s Óscar Araujo, underpins the game’s emotional core at every turn. Mysterious choral chants and strings can be heard when players visit the otherworldly Forge, intense and triumphant horns and drums can be heard during combat, and lonely singing voices can be heard while exploring, making players feel the sudden sting of the game’s cold world.
Blades of Fire’s voice acting doesn’t fare quite as well, however. Though the voices of Aran and Adso fit the game’s fantasy vibe, some players might find their back-and-forth banter quite grating, though players have the option to send Adso back to camp, which could eliminate this issue completely. The game’s sound mixing also felt a little off during the preview. Voices sounded a tad echoey at moments, and the inconsistency of the sound mixing was slightly immersion-breaking. Of course, that could be ironed out in the month or so between now andBlades of Fire’s release.
Final Thoughts
Blades of Firetakes the blueprints ofthe Soulslike genre, adds in plenty of its own fine materials, and forges something genuinely new in a fairly crowded market. Its first few hours might be tough for even the most seasonedSoulsfans to push through, but that perseverance will be rewarded soon enough with an intoxicating gameplay loop supported at every turn by impressive presentation and excellent enemy variety.
Blades of Fireis shaping up to be something truly special, and fans of the Soulslike genre can’t afford to let its July 06, 2025 release date pass them by.
Game Rant was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.
