Bound by Flame Reviews
So much of Bound by Flame induces boredom or irritation that it seemed the best recourse to seek out a style of play that facilitated, if not outright enjoyment, at least an absence of hostility. Well, better that an aggravating game permit you to play around its points of aggravation than to force you to suffer them in earnest. In the case of Bound by Flame, I merrily sheared away until nothing remained.
It sums up Bound by Flame well that although you'll be deciding which end of the moral spectrum to play throughout, you're still presented with the same options by the end of the game. This is a badly planned game that clearly suffered from time, management or technical issues during development and is best avoided.
Right off the gate, Bound by Flame features a combat and leveling system that shines among the competition, and the crafting side to the game gives RPG fans more than enough to keep them playing. The narrative sees a drop in overall quality, but it's enough to see exactly what developer Spiders has given gamers with its gameplay elements. The future is bright for Bound by Flame.
Bound by Flame is playable, but it lacks anything compelling to keep you invested. When you aren't dealing with poorly balanced design you are yawning at its dull world and uninspired RPG mechanics. Bound by Flame is more akin to Spiders previous efforts rather than the many better action-RPG titles they attempted to borrow from.
In reality, there isn't much to say about Bound By Flame. It's not a horrendous travesty that all action RPG players should avoid, and similarly it's not a stellar blockbuster that all Dark Souls addicts should pick up. It just feels very mediocre and generic. Nothing stands out about the game and nothing really holds it down aside from its graphics at points. It's a simple fantasy action RPG that won't replace any of the big names out there, but will keep you amused for 10 hours if you have some money to burn.
The game appears to be a product of magical thinking, as if throwing together watered-down tropes from games like The Witcher might somehow yield a finished product.
Whatever caused it, our save was irrevocably corrupted and any chance of playing Bound By Flames beyond our review went down the pan with it. Not that this should be the death knell for your purchase decision too, you probably won't encounter the same game-breaking problem and maybe you haven't experienced the worlds of Westeros, Tamriel and the Northern Kingdoms. Good for you. Not only are you more likely to enjoy all the talking between every fight but there are four seasons of compelling HBO drama and several weeks of exhaustive, back to back playtime across two chart-topping video game franchises, once you're done.
Even with the lack of depth, the game is still fun based on its difficulty and the fighting system.
For every great thing Bound by Flame does, it messes up critical gameplay components like the combat. There's this sense that the game can't get out of its own way, and only die-hard high-fantasy fans that aren't afraid of getting torched by a budget title should check this one out.
There are some solid mechanics here that are marred by some significant issues, preventing the game from becoming a classic.
Admire Spiders for their ambition, but as with its prior efforts this is again a case of reaching too far and spreading too thin. The result is a game that feels incomplete despite its comparatively short length for the genre.
Bound By Flame strives to live up to its forefathers, and while it doesn't exactly fail, it does make some serious mistakes that drag the experience down.
Though Bound By Flame is an interesting game, it felt lacking. A little more could have made this game one of the best.
A sad fact of life it may be, but go into Bound By Flame with low impressions and you're probably not going to come away disappointed. Those hoping for the appropriate stop-gap until The Elder Scrolls VI though will be left wanting. Bound By Flame is relatively harmless fantasy by numbers that is difficult to recommend beyond a budget-priced pickup, or if you're in the utmost doldrums waiting for a big release.
Bound By Flames is a fun and very competent RPG whose pros clearly overshadow its cons. It's not perfect, it's not from a big budget studio, isn't 100+ hours, and it doesn't say Scrolls, Age, or Souls on the box, but any fan of the genre should give it a legit shot -- I think they'll be pleasantly surprised as I was.
Bound By Flame is a frustrating game to write about as it is frustrating to play. It's not a terrible game, though, but an uneven one that could have used a lot of extra development time. It prizes the idea that you can play your own way, but it is heavily biased toward one style.
Given the price of Bound by Flame, I believe that it is a little overpriced and tries to be a triple A title that unfortunately doesn't add anything new to this genre. From a gaming perspective it works but it needed some more game testing and probably a revamped skill system that makes you feel out of your depth. Nonetheless, I've seen far worse Western RPG's and thankfully Bound by Flame ticks most boxes.
The fantasy RPG is more than a little crowded, and breaking into that genre is likely to be a difficult task. With the help of Focus Home Interactive, the marketing campaign behind 'Bound by Flame' raised more than a few eyebrows, including my own. Everything about the game had me interested and I was more than a little excited to occupy my time with this new adventure in between some of the bigger AAA titles still to release. Not without its shortcomings, 'Bound by Flame' is still an ambitious title for developer Spiders. It sets an interesting, albeit familiar, tone, and delivers an enjoyable and addictive combat system. Unfortunately, this being a grand adventure, the developers should have realized the importance a well-acted character can have on the final product. Had the game been voiced by more qualified actors 'Bound by Flame' could have become a major sleeper title for 2014. Instead, these poor performances have left an unfavorable impression. It's worth visiting for the combat mechanics, but staying for the duration may be a difficult task.
The ideas are great, but some are too complex, tightly packed and don't compliment one another. It's the simple ideas that have really stood out and the fact that you share your body with an inner-demon, but the general vibe of the game felt half-assed. It's another game that needed a second look-over before heading to market.
Bound By Flame defiantly has potential to work, but due to having so many problems the game ends up not reaching that full potential… well it doesn't really come close at all. The crafting system and level up system showed the game had promise as well as something going for it, but once you get deep into the game you start to learn what went wrong. There is still some fun to be had in this game, so if you are a fan of RPG's maybe wait until the price comes down to try this game as I can't recommend a full retail purchase unfortunately.