Blades of Fire is a new action-adventure game where smithing takes center stage as you embark on a quest to save the kingdom. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Blades of Fire Review Overview

What is Blades of Fire?

Blades of Fire is a 2025 action-adventure title developed by MercurySteam and published by 505 Games. Players take on the role of warrior Aran de Lira, firstborn of the King’s Ward. In the game, players can forge their weapons across seven weapon families and face over 50 types of enemies with a unique combat system. Bring the Queen down by mastering the game’s forging system, creating and refining their skills to create the ultimate weapon!

In a world where the malevolent Queen Nerea has cast a curse that turns steel into stone, humanity is left powerless against her army of abominations that wield the divine metal that shatters every other metal known to man. However, Aran de Lira owns a sacred hammer that enables the forging of steel weapons that don’t turn into stone, and this very ability leads him and his companion, young scholar Adso, on a quest to assassinate the evil queen.

Blades of Fire features:
　⚫︎　 Fully Voiced Action Adventure
　⚫︎　 Unique Combat, Progression, and Crafting Systems
　⚫︎　 Great Enemy Variety
　⚫︎　 7 Different Weapon Types
　⚫︎　 30 Different Weapons
　⚫︎　 Fully Customizable Weapons

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Blades of Fire’s gameplay and story.

Blades of Fire
Epic Games		PlayStation		Xbox

Blades of Fire Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Unique Gameplay Loop and Combat Actual Weapon Customization Good Enemy Variety and Weapon Types	Uninteresting Story and Narrative Subpar Voice Acting Brutal Level Design

Blades of Fire Overall - 68/100

Blades of Fire is an action-adventure game that unabashedly shows off its identity through its progression systems, crafting, and overall variety. However, there are a number of things that affect the overall experience, specifically the story, voice acting, and level design, that make it a lot worse than it should be. All in all, it’s an ambitious game that takes you back to the era that was more focused on the action-adventure experience, flaws and all.

Blades of Fire Story - 6/10

While the premise of the story is interesting, focused on Aran de Lira’s quest to slay the tyrant queen, it doesn’t feel like it goes anywhere meaningful for the most part. Things just happen, and even more annoyingly, sometimes you don’t even know the reason why. Not only that, the dialogue in the game isn’t the greatest, and it mostly disrupts the theme of the game, which makes it an unenjoyable experience to watch and listen to. That’s not to say that there was no effort to try and explain things in the story; it just gets lost in the process as you continue playing, since there’s a lack of cohesion and context to most of the things you encounter.

Blades of Fire Gameplay - 8/10

The gameplay is unique in its own right and is even nostalgic in a way. Despite being clunky and awkward at first, the combat turns into a satisfying loop where its simplicity is the reason why. To add to this, the amazing weapon customization and crafting are the main selling points that make it a completely different experience. Having said that, it has its fair share of issues with its overall level design, which can tarnish the satisfaction because of how enemies function and where they’re stationed.

Blades of Fire Visuals - 7/10

The visuals are reminiscent of something like the Darksiders franchise or even old action-adventure games back when it wasn’t all action RPGs and soulslikes. Which is to say that it’s not a bad art direction and overall aesthetic to have, especially in a fantasy setting. There’s not much to the look of the game being overly special, but there’s nothing to complain about either. It’s decent, looks the part, and conveys the theme of the game clearly without really standing out too much.

Blades of Fire Audio - 5/10

The audio design of the game isn’t great, and some obvious culprits weigh it down. First off, the voice acting is less than desirable since the delivery of the lines isn’t consistent. Second, the music of the game isn’t great either. Not only are the tracks in the game unmemorable, but they also play at the wrong times.

Blades of Fire Value for Money - 8/10

For $59.99, Blades of Fire is a pretty solid game in terms of value. There’s a good amount of content in the game that you will want to explore, since exploring will often net you new weapon blueprints and new parts for your existing weapons. While it is a little more flawed in some aspects than one might expect, it’s also undeniable that the game has a ton of fun factor and engagement to keep you playing with its unique mechanics and systems.

Blades of Fire Review: A Flawed Craft, Yet Fun Nonetheless

The action-adventure genre of games has seen its time in the spotlight. It’s also correct to say that games from the same genre have evolved into more open action RPGs instead. As a big fan of games like Darksiders, God of War, Legacy of Kain, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, I was starved of an experience that’s less RPG and more action-adventure game.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that MercurySteam, the same developers of the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series, were creating a new IP that’s more akin to the classic action-adventure style. I just knew I had to try it out, and boy, there’s a lot to unpack here.

Deceptively Fun and Nuanced Combat

First off, let’s start with the game’s unique take on combat and how the weapon system ties into it. The weapon system is fairly obvious to anyone who has played games with a variety of weapon types. Different weapon types mean different damage types, and different damage types mean that you’ll need to bring different weapons to be able to address a variety of different situations. With three different damage types—slashing, piercing, and blunt damage—you’ll need to make multiple weapons to take advantage of the enemy’s weaknesses.

This is connected to the actual combat itself, which, while it’s very easy to understand, has certain nuances. The combat is very similar to the likes of For Honor, where it uses a directional combat system that targets the head, body, and sides of the enemy. Using the targeting system, it color-codes the vulnerabilities of that particular area with the weapon you’re using and what damage type you’re currently using. This was one of the main selling points of the game and, quite frankly, what made the game enjoyable to play since there was a healthy variety of enemies and weapon types to fight against and use.

Aside from the standard way of action-focused mechanics like dodging, parrying, and blocking, the weapon system and combat rewarded you for being prepared and having multiple weapons in your arsenal that are either specialized in doing a specific damage type or versatile weapons that can be used to inflict multiple damage types. It’s a unique way to express the actual main aspect of the game, which is crafting.

Actual Weapon Forging and Customization

What I first thought to be a simple crafting system was a beast in itself. The weapon-forging system was something to behold and something I’ve definitely never seen before in any game. For example, crafting a sword would mean choosing a material for the blade, handle, guard, and pommel. Additionally, you’d also specify the length of the blade, size of the handle and guard, and so on. It’s a very gamified process of what actually happens when forging something, and it’s very enjoyable to learn and go through the trial and error of forging steel.

Once you start getting into the nitty-gritty of the make of the weapon, you start to take notice of the stamina cost that it uses since the material you used to make the weapon is heavier and more in terms of damage. You also start to notice that changing the length and make of the blade would affect the balance of the weapon, which may or may not increase the stamina cost per swing and maybe even slow down the weapon entirely. Similar to actual blacksmithing, the devil is in the details, and seeing it in-game is a welcome thing that is enjoyable to the meticulous.

Unique Take on Progression

The first thing that comes to mind when playing action-adventure games is, where does exploration come into play? Blades of Fire is set on a large map with connected areas that have multiple secrets for you to explore. Exploration is key to getting more weapon parts and other upgrades, since this will often lead you to interactable statues that give you said parts.

Additionally, enemies in Blades of Fire don’t give you experience points, so why bother fighting them at all? The reason is that they drop weapon schematics and crafting materials for you to use to create more weapons. There are absolutely no weapon drops in the game; you’re going to have to create your own weapons from start to finish. Additionally, weapons in the game have a limited durability, and depending on the quality of your creation, there is also a limited number of times you can repair said weapon.

Forgettable Story, Disjointed Dialogue, and Unenjoyable Voice Acting

Believe me, I tried to enjoy the story of Blades of Fire. The premise and the intro left a good impression but didn’t really amount to anything moving forward. In one particular part of the story, I was surprised that there was no boss reveal cutscene to hype things up. You just drop into the area and fight the boss without any buildup. Even more annoyingly, it was one of the first few major bosses of the game, which really killed the vibe of an incoming challenge.

Additionally, the relationship between Aran de Lira and Adso isn’t even explored, as they somehow became best friends after a very traumatic event for the latter. Moreover, the interaction between them just boils down to sarcasm for each other, and it doesn’t feel genuine because you don’t see them bonding together as friends. You can even throw in the voice acting to explain why their interactions aren’t very enjoyable, since their delivery of the lines isn’t great. Most of the time, hearing them speak is either lacking or grating, depending on what’s happening in the game.

The game tries too hard to make them a comedic duo while trying to retain its seriousness, which can work to some extent, but you’re going to have to go over the top with the comedy and make it more noticeable as you go on.

Punishing and Frustrating Level Design

One of the biggest problems I had with the game was the actual level design. Enemy placement is crucial for games like these, and since the combat is more focused on singular combat with the For Honor style fighting, it’s only logical that the game goes with a few enemies but much harder to deal with, right? Well, that isn’t the case. In the first area alone, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a lot of enemies from the get-go. It’s not uncommon for you to be outnumbered in an action game, but if the combat isn’t balanced towards fighting multiple enemies, then it becomes an absolute struggle to deal with.

Most of the difficult encounters I had in the game were when I was exploring and found a mini-boss enemy out in the wilderness. After dying on the first run, I was surprised to find out that the mini-boss was still there, but all the other enemies were now alive around him. So, now it becomes an even bigger problem since I have to take out the small fry first while the mini-boss is aggro’ed.

Other than this example, the general enemy placement becomes more of an annoying thing later on, as enemies become much more resilient, and dealing with more than two enemies becomes a chore. Another problem is the punishment after being killed by an enemy. While it seems like the penalty is leaving behind your currently equipped weapon, the real problem is losing even more durability on your weapons just trying to get back.

It was apparent when I fought and struggled against a certain major boss, and after a few runbacks, I realized that the weapon I was using was losing its durability and sharpness fast. This siphons a lot of materials since you might have to repair your weapons periodically. This means that you can hit a wall and might be forced to farm a few mobs just to repair your weapons. It’s not like you’re locked eternally, but it is annoying that you might need to take even more time to grind for materials because you can’t make any more weapons.

Undeniably Fun Despite the Flaws

Despite the flaws, Blades of Fire reignited the fun I had with the action-adventure genre again. I will admit that the first impression this game made wasn’t the best, but I’m glad I was proven wrong. The game starts to hone and temper itself into something truly different when you start to understand and use all of the different gameplay mechanics and systems in place.

Swapping weapons mid-combat to hit enemies with the correct damage type, perfecting your crafted weapons with the minigame with the optimal materials, and learning the different enemy types and what weapon type to use. It’s a good reminder that not every aspect of a game should be perfect to have fun with it, especially since games are supposed to be fun anyway. Blades of Fire does have its flaws, yes, but its unique systems and mechanics are so good that sometimes the flaws don’t even matter.

Is Blades of Fire Worth It?

Strike When the Iron is Hot (On Sale)

Blades of Fire is a truly unique action-adventure game that focuses on its forge-your-own weapon progression and combat system that is simple, snappy, and satisfying. If you’re looking for a new game that’s similar to the likes of Darksiders, God of War (2018), and the like, then we highly recommend trying this game out for the uniqueness that it brings to the table and the gameplay alone, especially when it’s on sale. Sure, the game does have its flaws in terms of storytelling, level design, and audio aspects, but the fun factor is undeniable and is sure to fire up those who were looking for a new action-adventure game to play.

Digital Storefronts
Epic Games		PlayStation		Xbox
$59.99

Blades of Fire FAQ

Will Blades of Fire be released on Steam?

As of writing, there is no announcement or information about a Steam release for Blades of Fire.

What languages are supported in Blades of Fire?

Blades of Fire will have full audio support for English only. However, the game will contain subtitles available for the following languages:
　⚫︎　 English
　⚫︎　 French
　⚫︎　 Italian
　⚫︎　 German
　⚫︎　 Spanish
　⚫︎　 Japanese
　⚫︎　 Portuguese
　⚫︎　 Brazilian
　⚫︎　 Russian
　⚫︎　 Traditional Chinese
　⚫︎　 Simplified Chinese
　⚫︎　 Korean

Game8 Reviews

You may also like...

	Labyrinth of the Demon King Review [PC] | Get Stuck By Choice
	Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade Review | Slicing Yokai in Style
	Blacksmith Master Review [Early Access] | Cozy Blacksmithing Done Well
	Captain Blood Review | Shiver Meh Timbers
	Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall Review | A Throne Too Fragile to Sit On

Blades of Fire Product Information

Title	BLADES OF FIRE
Release Date	May 22, 2025
Developer	MercurySteam
Publisher	505 Games
Supported Platforms	PC (Epic Games), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre	Action, Adventure, RPG
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	M
Official Website	Blades of Fire Official Website

Michael Gerra-Clarin

Resident fighting game nerd, avid FFXIV fan, and enjoyer of mostly anything gaming. He is currently addicted to gambling in TFT and dying to Light Rampant in Futures Rewritten Ultimate.