Blades of Fire heads to Steam with 2.0 update

Announced last year, Blades of Fire was presented as MercurySteam's spiritual successor to the hack 'n' slash Blade of Darkness. Interest at launch was muted — the game "arrived to all the fanfare of a tax audit." MercurySteam has dubbed the (non-Mercury) Steam version "Blades of Fire 2.0," which adds a New Game Plus mode for experimenting with weapon parts and skins, a new difficulty called 'Titanium', and a 'Boss Revival' mode that lets players replay boss fights to earn rewards.

The update also introduces elements transmutation so players can change material types on weapons, smooths animation transitions for combat and exploration, and folds in "expanded death and mutilation variations." Blades of Fire slices into Steam on May 16, and a demo is available now.

PC Gamer's initial reception leaned warm: reviewer Kerry Brunskill praised the combat and crafting while noting it sometimes felt like a God of War knockoff. "Blades of Fire may not be polished steel, but there is a shining nugget of something good in here," they wrote.

bladesoffire, mercurysteam, steam, newgameplus, titanium difficulty, boss revival, element transmutation, weapon skins, demo, pc gamer