I went into myBlades of Firedemo at GDC 2025 with little ballyhoo or expectation . I came out ridiculously excited about it .
If you have n’t see ofBlades of Fire , it ’s a new action game all about forge from MercurySteam , the developer behindMetroid DreadandCastlevania : Lords of Shadow . Its gameplay feels Souls - inspired , but it pose out from any other action game I ’ve play in how combat works . Not only do players need to spurt their own weapon and upkeep them through repairs with gather resources , but they also need to be very specific on where and how they assail enemies .
While the controls are a bit smelly ab initio , Blades of Fireit provided some of the most fun I had at GDC 2025 . If you like action games that take sheer swing and do n’t just stick to literary genre conventionalism , Blades of Fireshould be on your radiolocation . This game has the potentiality to surprise hoi polloi when it launch a duo of month from now .
Forging a new kind of combat
In myBlades of Firedemo , I fought through a Greenwich Village full of soldiers and a gargantuan troll under the ascendence of an evil queen . Some Soulslike influence could be seen on a surface level with level aim , how punishing foeman dispatch me , and how I dropped something authoritative when I died . Blades of Fireadds so many unparalleled gameplay systems on top of that , though , that I would n’t call it a Soulslike of necessity .
All of those standout features relate to the weapon system the thespian wield . I did n’t have to crush Christ Within or heavy attack button when I enter scrap with an enemy . Instead , fighting is directionally based , as I could direct the head , torso , or sides of enemy by hitting the boldness button on my controller . I could also opt whether or not I wanted to slash at or stab enemy , which could vary the blast brio and hurt I dealt .
This directive fight scheme makes each fight a bit of a puzzler , as I had to lock onto enemies , see where they were weak , and attack consequently . Enemies would block if I kept assail a individual arena , so I had to keep changing my fire , too . This control scheme get some getting used to , but as I begin getting the knack of it toward the end of my demo , I was having a blast withBlades of Fire . It ’s the most unique combat I played in a game sinceFor Honor .
Players derive resources by defeating enemies and can use them at forges find throughout the secret plan to repair weapons . Players can also teleport back to The Forge and create a weapon from scratch by playing a forging minigame . During my demo , I chose to forge a mallet called Basher and spent a lot of my playday after hitting enemies in the principal with it .
These gameplay organization made me care about my weapons in a fashion I commonly do n’t in game unless they ’re a Legendary or Exotic item . I forged them , named them , and had to actively like for them . It also made the feeling all the more brutal when I lost them after I died . Having a artillery I worry about be the cost of death , and having to press my way back to call up it , is a stack more engaging on a personal grade than just recollecting a currency or some resource following each death .
In all those fashion , Blades of Fireprovides a invigorated take on the action secret plan genre I was not expecting when I began present the game at GDC 2025 . It forthwith became one of my most hoped-for game , and I ca n’t wait to see how these systems trifle out across a whole adventure whenBlades of Firelaunches .
blade of Firewill be released on PC ( as an Epic Games Store single ) , PS5 , and Xbox Series X / S on May 22 .
