Blades of Fire Reviews
MercurySteam's latest project holds a lot of promise, but death by a thousand cuts holds it back from true greatness.
The new game from developer MercurySteam is Blades of Fire, which is not a good name. Blades of Fire. It sounds like a documentary about patriotic i...
Blades of Fire offers some compelling and exciting ideas, particularly with its reverence for weaponcrafting and rewarding forge mechanics. But its love of steel and violence can only take it so far; its combat is enjoyable at first, but wears out its welcome across a lengthy campaign that is filled with too-chatty characters and a world that's very frustrating to get lost in. Even with those caveats, its eye-catching fantasy world and weapons that pack a punch still have enough charm to see it through. Not every one of its big swings lands, but as they say, "you miss all the shots you don't take", and Blades of Fire at least gives the action RPG genre a solid crack with a unique point of view.
Blades of Fire has two faces – at first the game irritates with nearly every little thing, but after a while the pieces seem to fit quite nicely. I wanted to discover new mechanics (that were extremely poorly explained) and really get to know the game. But that does not change the fact, that it is tiresome and demands frequent breaks.
Review in Polish | Read full review
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.
Blades of Fire is an ambitious and refreshingly unconventional title. While its developers clearly lacked the resources to polish every aspect to perfection, it remains a bittersweet experience-its creative spark and unique ideas are inseparably tied to its design flaws, making it a game that's easy to admire, but just as easy to be frustrated by.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
I was quite taken in by the story of Blades Of Fire, which is a good start, but I was further drawn in by the intriguing and fun forging mechanic. Building my own weapon and being able to add my own little touches to it really helped invest me in combat in a way I never thought of before. If you like action-adventure weapon play with a touch of magic and a lot of monster slaying, I'd say grab a copy-it's a lot of fun!
Blades of Fire is ultimately a game for those who can appreciate beauty beyond appearances-for those who seek in video games not just entertainment, but a chance to journey through, understand, and, in a way, forge themselves. Imperfect and a bit rough around the edges at first glance, yet incredibly solid and deep, MercurySteam's latest project is further proof that you don't need a massive budget to create something truly special.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Blades of Fire is a lengthy and substantial quest, dense with optional challenges and secret encounters. There is no shortage of similar action games out there, but Mercury Steam proves that their work on Metroid Dread was no fluke. Blades of Fire is easily one of the best options out there, and it achieves epic AAA quality without being a $70 game, too.
New action-adventure worth checking out on PS5
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.
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).
Blades of Fire had the potential to be one of the best action-adventure games in recent memory if it had stuck to its unique ideas instead of borrowing from others. Its gameplay mechanics are some of the freshest and most exciting we've seen in years, bringing a much-needed burst of creativity. However, the story, characters, and level design feel uninspired and rely too much on familiar tropes, offering little that feels new or engaging. This imbalance leaves the game exciting to play but disappointing to experience as a whole.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Blades of Fire brings back so many good memories from previous Console generation. with an engaging combat system and interesting forging mechanics, it can entertain you for many hours.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Well, I was fooled by the enthusiastic announcements. Blades of Fire revolves around mediocrity. Sometimes it rises above them, sometimes it scrubs the bottom with its nose.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Blades of Fire is far from a masterpiece; it has graphical and technical weaknesses, with occasional noticeable shortcomings. However, thanks to smart gameplay decisions, masterfully crafted mechanics, and creative details, it manages to make you overlook most of these flaws. If only the development team had a bigger budget, these well-designed mechanics could have been backed by the same level of technical polish. Still, Blades of Fire succeeds in thoroughly pleasing fans of the genre—even surprising them at times. Despite its imperfections, it absolutely deserves to be played and given a chance.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Blades of Fire has some brilliant ideas to make a forge based Soulslike game, but it failed to execute these ideas to the point it broke the game's pacing badly
Review in Arabic | Read full review
If you're a fan of Souls-like games, Blades of Fire is a must-play. It introduces unique mechanics that may not suit everyone, making it a very specific experience. It's not as accessible as God of War, but also not as punishing as traditional Souls titles'landing somewhere in between. While it may not look like it at first glance, this is very much an RPG at heart, not just a hack-and-slash.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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.
Overcoming an uninteresting and confusing beginning to the game, as well as flawed level design at times, can be a big challenge here. In any case, there is a lot of interesting stuff in Blades of Fire and an originality that needs to be highlighted in the combat and weapon creation system, even though the game is otherwise heavily inspired by other works.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review