For a while, it looked as if Mercury Steam would only be known for their mediocre Castlevania reboot trilogy until they got the keys to Metroid and did an okay-ish Return of Samus remake and the superb Metroid Dread. Coming off of Dread has set expectations high, and the big question is whether it was a fluke.
Mercury Steam may have had a breakthrough with a 2D metroidvania, but their bread and butter has always been barbaric 3D hack and slash. They began their career with Blade of Darkness, more like Dark Souls than King’s Field ever was. It even had directional dodge rolling, starting classes, and directional attacks.
With 2D sci-fi metroidvania action behind them, Mercury Steam is back with what they know best: brutal, dark fantasy 3D melee action. Was Metroid Dread a fluke? Or has Mercury Steam evolved the action game genre? Find out in our Blades of Fire review!
This is a review coupled with a supplemental video review. You can watch the video review or read the full review of the below:
Blades Of Fire
Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: May 22, 2025
Price: $59.99
Blades of Fire’s story is like an epic dark fairy tale. The plot is simple and comes down to a hero who treks across the land to battle an evil Queen. What elevates the scenario is the attention to detail in the characters and overall lore and world-building. It’s not much of a metroidvania, but there is incentive to return to prior areas for HP or stamina upgrades that were previously unreachable.
Aran is a humble blacksmith who lives alone in the woods. He’s a bit of a smartass but gifted with any weapon he picks up. His story begins when an acquaintance gets murdered by the newly crowned Queen’s guards and becomes the steward of a mythical forging hammer. In the wake of the assault, Aran adopts Adso, the youthful smart-ass scholar.
With nothing left to lose and wielding a magical hammer that endows him with the power to craft all kinds of weapons, Aran sets out to defy the Queen with Adso in tow. Aran’s mission may seem simple, but it’s a long way to the Queen’s keep, and each new location brings new adventures and intrigue as they flesh out the world and characters develop.
Blades of Fire is mostly a linear set of connecting stages seamlessly flowing together, but each place is like an open-ended dungeon. The pace of the adventure is brisk, and each area is big, sometimes far larger than you’d expect. Sometimes, it’s easy to get lost while exploring since areas fan out in dense labyrinthine mazes with impressive verticality.
Blades of Fire’s level design is pure genius. The variety of layouts and architecture gives every location a profound sense of place and context that makes sense in the world. Most importantly, there is never a moment when any of them feels dull. The vistas are typically breathtaking, and precarious ledges and secret alcoves feel cozy.
The amazing designs extend to the characters as well. Blades Of Fire has an art style that’s exaggerated enough that it doesn’t feel like bland realism but also doesn’t conform to the tired Fortnitey illustrative design you see everywhere.
The character designs can be best described as “idealized exaggeration”. Aran is built like a Frank Frazzetta render, and Adso is likely to be a hit with twink enjoyers. Even the enemies look awesome and sport some heavy metal-looking designs. Glinda, the grouchy old hag, is hilariously grotesque and freakishly obese, yet nimble as a ballerina. She looks like something out of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.
Anyone who’s a fan of the 2018 God of War soft reboot will take notice of similarities. In some cases, it seems like it can be a bit much. The close and intimate view of melee combat, the little-guy side kick, the witch who lives in a shack built on a shelled creature, and the fact that a hammer is a critical plot point make Blades of Fire seem too dependent on what God of War built.
Even the combat has a similar look and feel to God of War… yet Blades of Fire does it better, and it’s thanks to its innovations that help it stand out. All four face buttons are for attacking. For PlayStation 5, cross is a lower body attack, square is a left attack, circle is a right attack, and triangle is the head attack. Blocking and dodging are mapped to the left trigger and bumper, respectively, with most contextual actions mapped to the right bumper.
Aran’s strikes fluidly connect when chaining the different face button attacks. Each of the different weapon types has bespoke properties when dealing with the many enemy varieties, and heavy blows are connected mid-combo when holding down a button. Aran is a savage fighter and capable with many combat styles and weapon types, making him feel like he’s some kind of ultimate warrior.
The highly aggressive combat system will need players to use all four face buttons because not all weapons are effective against all enemies. Sometimes, using the right kind of weapon on specific parts of a foe will get you by if you find yourself hopelessly devoid of piercing types, but this is also a lesson in learning to carry a range of different types.
Blades of Fire‘s combat is rock solid and bloody as all hell, but Aran is defined by the weapons he uses. Everything in the game centers on weapons so much so that when Aran falls in battle, he doesn’t lose exp like in a soulslike, he drops his currently held weapon instead. Retrieving your weapon is a corpse run, but more painful if you lose it.
Forging a weapon comes down to collecting materials found from smashing stuff or defeated foes. Players are going to want to fight anything that moves because every scrap of material is helpful. Bigger and more dangerous one-time enemies drop more valuable materials. This inevitably leads to some crafted weapons becoming precious, increasing the tension of battles.
Blacksmithy is such a critical aspect to Blades of Fire that there’s an elaborate minigame dedicated to it for making weapons. Hammering bars to get them to align with the weapon’s contours is tricky and painstaking. This truly emphasizes the craftsmanship Aran pours into his work and determines the number of repairs allotted to the weapon.
From the blade shape, the pommel, hilt guard, and even the handle, every aspect of Aran’s arms is custom. Each piece and the material are a contributing factor to the weapon’s effectiveness. New weapon types are discovered when defeating foes, and Aran gets inspired by finding them while exploring.
Repairing weapons has a limit depending on the star rating. Aran can make the most devastating flamberge, but it won’t last if players half-ass the process it takes to build it. Thankfully, players can skip the process by “remembering” and copying the same rating from prior builds, but only for a respective weapon type, which is handy when you want to take multiple twin axes you like, on the go.
Since weapon stats determine Aran’s attack strength, blocking ability, speed, range, and dodge range, the only other way to upgrade stamina, HP, and the healing flask is to find their “pieces”, Zelda-style. This is a preferred way to build stats since it limits players from cheesing tough bosses and fosters more of a reason to explore, since more HP or stamina is always needed.
Blacksmithing is an art form that often goes unappreciated in video games, where weapons are typically treated as disposable tools. Blades of Fire is steeped in discipline and reverence of the craft, yet still whimsical and daring enough to let players get creative. The tense and thrilling combat and exploration will satisfy the most hardcore fans of the action-adventure genre, and for a long time too.
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.
Blades of Fire was reviewed on PlayStation 5 using a code provided by 505 Games. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Blades of Fire is now available for PC (via Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
