A few weeks ago, the seasoned Spanish developer MercurySteam announced its next project: a new PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC game calledBlades of Fire. Set in a medieval dark fantasy universe,Blades of Fireis a third-person action-adventure game that follows a warrior named Aran de Lira who, after being gifted with a sacred hammer, goes on a quest to assassinate the tyrannical Queen Narea with the help of a trusty companion. In the game, players are given the ability to assemble a wide variety of different weapons, each with their own special abilities, and they can attack specific parts of an enemy’s body to deal maximum damage.
Unlike many modern AAA video games,Blades of Firelooks like it camestraight out of the Xbox 360 generation. It has many of the elements of the games from that time period, from a dull color palette and a gruff-looking protagonist to a dark fantasy setting and heaps of gory combat. MercurySteam’s latest seems to be a callback to the era of edgy, single-player action games from the late 2000s and early 2010s. Even thoughBlades of Fireis a new IP, it bears a strong resemblance to some of MercurySteam’s works from that period, like theCastlevania: Lords of Shadowgames.
Blades of Fire Looks Like a Spiritual Successor to the Castlevania: Lords of Shadows Games
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 1 & 2 Took the Castlevania Series in a Completely New Direction
Konami’sCastlevaniaseries is best known for its genre-defining 2D action RPG entries, such asSymphony of the NightandRondo of Blood. However, the franchise has dabbled in the 3D action game genre on several occasions. MercurySteam’sCastlevania: Lords of Shadowis one of the most recent 3D installments in the series, and it’s also regarded as one of the best. This game, which came out in 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, served as a reboot of theCastlevaniafranchise. It replaced the side-scrolling, exploration-based gameplay loop of its predecessors with aGod of War-style, third-person action combat system.
Despite shaking up the traditionalCastlevaniaformula so significantly,Castlevania: Lords of Shadowsold quite well and was largely praised by major gaming publications. Thanks to its success, the game received two follow-ups: a 2D side-scrolling spin-off for the Nintendo 3DS calledCastlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fateand a direct sequel namedCastlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. AlthoughLords of Shadow 2wasn’t nearly as well-receivedas its predecessors, it wrapped up the plot threads from the previousLords of Shadowgames. Since its release, there has been no word on a sequel to the game being in development.
Blades of Fire and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Have Some Notable Similarities
Even though Konami and MercurySteam probably won’t release aCastlevania: Lords of Shadow 3anytime soon,Blades of Fireseems like it will be a spiritual successor to this series of games. Not only doBlades of FireandCastlevania: Lords of Shadowhave similar-looking fantasy settings, they also haveGod of War-esque combat mechanicsand are played from a third-person perspective.In addition to this,Blades of Firefeatures open-ended, interconnected level designs that are filled with places to uncover and alternate paths to explore, much likeCastlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
Blades of Fire Takes Inspiration from Many Aspects of MercurySteam’s Best Games
Looking at the game as a whole,Blades of Fireappears to combine a lot of the great elements from some of MercurySteam’s previous works. It takesthe explorable levels ofMetroid DreadandMetroid: Samus Returns, employs the gritty aesthetic ofSeverance: Blade of Darkness, and adopts the hack-and-slash combat system of theCastlevania: Lords of Shadowgames.Blades of Firemay not be a one-to-one replica ofCastlevania: Lords of Shadow, or of MercurySteam’s other titles, but it’s pretty much the closest game that fans will get to aLords of Shadow 3in the near future.
