Fire Review Blade – IGN
Blog Andrew Joseph 20 May , 2025 0
I always look forward to it when the studio steps out of its comfort zone to create something unexpected. Fire's Blade is a 3D Action-RPG from developer MercurySteam, known for its star Metroid's Fear Its actions are rooted in Devil's City In the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 ERA, that's it. Combining past successes, allowing you to control a blacksmith who makes his own destructive weapons seem like a promising concept. Unfortunately, the superb hand-making part of this long fantasy adventure is overshadowed by an imbalance that lacks true depth.
You play Aran, a civilian who gets the chance to forge the legendary hammer, which makes him seek to stop the queen who has put the kingdom into destruction. The three pillars of Fire Blade are satisfying but simple battles, pleasant weapons making systems, and emotionally unaffected stories. It's very unbalanced, but at least enough to keep me relatively entertained within 55 hours of reaching the first round of credit. But the conclusion found there was only an unsatisfactory conclusion, which was necessary for the “real” ending required for the post-match scavenger hunt, and in the end I left little enthusiasm behind.
Starting well, the handmade system is the tallest of the three pillars, holding the fire blade. Through the hammer Aran received at the beginning of the journey, he could create the powerful weapons necessary to eliminate all weapons standing on his path. Initially, you could only make one singular weapon, a heavy weapon called Hyssop, causing a devastating strike, but use a lot of stamina with each swing. But after Aran conquered enough enemy types, you will unlock the blueprint of them waving his weapons. Demolition of 60 skeletons unlocks Claymore, which they will swing awkwardly, while shooting down only five spears from the Queen’s Transformed Army Grant, which can pierce the distant damage from a distance or cut damage in a circular strike. Find and remove each new enemy to expand your arsenal to make it a pleasant cycle and encourage me to knock down stronger optional enemies whenever they appear.
Interacting with the forged anvil (used both as a resting point and a quick travel system, can transport you to the mysterious forgery, allowing you to create these weapons. When you do this, you can adjust several aspects of them: for example, the double hammer is limited to customizing the size and shape of the head and handle, where large weapons (such as the Glaive) also have the option to add a pommel. These options modify the weapon in a small but obvious way, adjusting your favorite weight, balance and damage, and changing the maximum stamina of Aran and the stamina of dodging when used.
The last part of the forged weapon is the actual forging itself. After selecting the material, the weapon is finished in most games, but the fire blades actually make you hit the heated metal to match the shape of the weapon. The system, while just unceremonious and confusing, was quickly becoming a favorite part of the journey due to the lack of detailed tutorials. The steel bars of the weapon are similar to audio visualizers, some will shrink when impacted, while others will grow when you strike. The better you do, the longer the weapon will last, and you need to land it on the part or trade it to the allies for specific and often rarer materials. It took me six weapons before figuring out the proper technique of strength, tilt and width of each strike, but once I did, I found myself having the highest ratings to formulate weapons every time.
For those who end up not loving making, there is an option to skip the process the first time, but the maximum number of times you can fix will be limited to the best results you create manually. This subtly accelerated my return journey to the forging, as I often prevented the replacement of weapons until nothing could be repaired, turning the long process into a short journey that brought me back to the action faster. Fire Knife even gives you the option to name weapons before they appear, which I initially reserved primarily for weapons like Captain Falchion (such as Captain Falchion) or for weapons that let me axe – but ultimately, when I see them reaching their final form with the best materials and enhancements, they are given a legacy that suits them, like Gae Bolg or Masamune.
Although there are 35 different weapons to use, with different speed, range and other attributes between each weapon, unfortunately the battle boils down to just eight attacks. These are done by pressing a button on the controller that matches a part of the enemy you are hitting: so the triangle/y will hit the enemy's head, the circle/B will hit the right, and so on. If fatal, there are also charging attacks that can cause higher damage and dismember enemies, resulting in more terrible deaths. It is disappointing, though, that enemies who use blunt weapons or pierce weapons have the same animation on the heads, and they are seen getting older after the first twelve times. There is also no combination of attacks that can provide any real benefits, so the left and right strikes are almost the same as unconscious spam. If it weren't for the use of Paris and perfect dodge, which provided a small opportunity for safe revenge, the battle would have been more bland than it is now.
As enemies begin to have different levels of resistance in each body part, it becomes more necessary to carefully choose the direction of the attack, and certain similar elements can even move these weaknesses into battle. To its credit, Fire Knife does have all kinds of enemies to fight – unfortunately, almost everyone is a humanoid creature. This means that even though they all have their own unique quirks and attack patterns, I was impressed with anything new that I threw at me. Outside the boss, which can be a huge behemoth that can shake it even more, trolls are one of the few interesting regular enemy types: they have continuous healthy regeneration and two health sticks that require you to drain a bar and then dismember the limb with a charged attack before trying to finish them. But such mechanics are the exception, not the rule, and the predictability of each enemy's obvious telegraph attack means that combat is usually just my Parry time.
If you do get caught up in a battle, the power of the legendary hammer means Aran won't die for a long time. However, his temporary death is fined for discarding your weapon in that location, similar to how you are in such a way as the soul, blood echoes and other currencies in the game. The dark soul or Blood source. Thankfully, the Fire Blade is more forgiving, as any weapon falls somewhere and becomes a stone and stays in the world forever until Aran retrieves it. This is a welcome change to the formula, as it would be very frustrating to permanently lose the potential of a weapon you invest heavily after a continuous death.
Finally, and most unlikely, the most disappointing Fire Knife pillar is its story, characters and world exploration. Aran prevented the Queen's pursuit did maintain a decent pace, but it never surprised or marveled me, many moments looked like they should Imbalanced delivery can hinder impact. At some point after killing a main boss, he just fell on his knees and sat there until I bumped into him again – it felt like it was to do more, but there was no conversation and no talent. It was just this formerly important character landing on the ground in a cold way. Fire Blade is also one of the most disappointing endings I have in a while, with few solutions and then immediately sending you to a treasure hunt, which is too long if you want to figure out what actually happened.
The character is often an all-in-one stereotype and often has conversations to further implement its simple nature. Aran often says he is not smart enough to solve puzzles without the help of Adso, a young scribe who accompanied his journey, although Adso didn't give much advice when it stated obvious. Adso is Aran's brave brain, the decrypted manuscript you find, reading ancient languages to reveal paths or secrets, and occasionally magically sealing the coffin in battle. Adso also regularly comments on Aran's scale climb, as Aran rarely responds or finds opportunities to get funny, which ultimately feels like an inappropriate humor. Despite meeting for the first time during open hours, they wrote for a long time, just like they knew each other for a long time, which made moments like this unparalleled.
The cast is Master Forger Glinda, a quirky wood-type witch who lives in the house of the flying beetle, while Arwen is an impatient and hard young girl who only participates in the last dozen hours, but conveniently proves very important. Over time, the incredible similarities between these characters and the characters in it Mars and God of War ragnarok Becoming increasingly distracting. Aran is just a less sensible, somewhat less charming Kratos, Adso Deciphers, and notes enemies and other elements of a world similar to Atreus, Glinda plays the role of Freya, and Arwen is essentially a less prominent Angrboða. You even battle a giant snake at some point and explore places that are strongly similar to temples above nine lakes. Different games using similar character prototypes or tropes aren't new in themselves, but it does start to feel deriving here, especially when the fire blades aren't that hot in such direct comparisons.
This is not the only way it gets stuck, as a bland map system often makes exploring secrets very cumbersome and confusing. There are lots of small paths to find optional collections, such as shrines, for upgrading weapon customization options, items with added healing bottles on the chest, gemstones for maximum health or stamina, and different dyes to customize Aran's outfits. However, many locations have multiple levels of elevation, except when staring at a one-dimensional map, hoping you can read it correctly, you actually know which level you are at until you reach the right destination or the wrong destination. You can leave the markers on the map to create color stripes in the world as a guide, which can at least help with the compass at the top of the screen by increasing the distance and elevation prompts, but that's only half the measure.