Bound By Flame

+Responsive controls. +Great graphics. +Good progress, without to much back and forth. +Good game length. +Excellent price. +Can save at any time. +Easy and non-demanding craft system. +Ok story. Played from couch, on TV with gamepad :) Played via Heroic Games Launcher on Linux Fedora 42, everything works perfectly.

If you demand smooth gameplay, pristine graphics, and a long, complex storyline, look elsewhere. This is not a AAA title. If you want a good combat system and characters (albeit some cheesy dialogue) in a basic storyline -- and can look past "jank" and budget limitations -- this game can be a lot of fun. Having now finished it twice using very different combat styles (yes, contrary to what you might have heard, you can make it through as a tank without ever using pyromancy!), I can say it's solid, endearing AA fantasy fare, but not a "hidden gem." For a handful of dollars you could do much worse.

I recommend you play Mars War Logs before Bound by Flame, but definitely still play Flame, not because Mars is a good game or even Flame is a good game, but because GreedFall is a good game and Steelrising is a good game. You cannot fully appreciate Spiders' journey over the past 10 years without going back to the beginning. For those experienced with Mars, here are my reasons why Flame deserves 4 stars while Mars only 3: 1. The background story is more interesting and the game's plot is more cohesive. No transitioning from one act to another and suddently the world is upside down, and your MC is introduced to political struggles you didn't even know he had. 2. Your have more companions and they are more fleshed out from the game's beginning, instead of crammed in at the end of act 2 with no chance for you to care before the game ends. In fact, your companions can die before the end of the game. 3. Perhaps the most important, you can cheese your way through all the combat of the game. I use the term "cheese" fondly. By that I mean as a RPG player you don't have to "git gud" to progress in the game. You still can; there are ample opportunities. But by carefully managing your skills, your companion, and your crafting items, you can easily eliminate every enemy and boss in the game with the right strategy and, in some cases, a bit of patience. I just did on Buffalo difficulty. In fact, you can bypass every enemy in the game other than bosses, though your XP and progression will suffer. Gone are the incessant small arena-type locations in Mars, gated by doors and ledges that you cannot interact with in combat, so once combat starts your only choices are win or die. 4. Oh, and the music is fantasic. Haunting vocals. Try to find samples online. Without a doubt, there are better action RPG out there for the same cost in money and time. However, I played GreedFall before, and after Mars and Flame, Spiders is becoming one of my favorite action RPG devs, for their growth.

I've finished this game three times, for it (supposedly) has three different ways to finish it. First, that's a lie. No matter the way you take, it barely have a effect on the end. You thought the "color end" of Mass Effect were ridiculous ? If yes, you would think the endings of this one are a fraud. Second, to do short, graphics are barely worth of the game's gen. Third, don't be fooled by the "RPG-like" skills tree, the only one that actually works is the fire (equivalent of mage), the thief and the warrior are completely useless when arrived to the last level. Oh, and don't even think about buying any stuff to the smiths, it'll ruin you and you can simply find better stuff in the next level. And if you're thinking "I can just buy the better stuff in the end of the game". You can't, it's too expensive. Finally, the story is half-made, characters are barely interesting, voice acting is at "actors knew how to read their text" level and most of the monsters are just frustrating. I just gave it two stars because the game has not so many bugs.

Disclosure: I haven't tried the GoG release, played on PS3 hardware. So Bound by Flame is an interesting little game that I had originally played, a fun budget title from the PSN back in the day. For $7 CAD? You literally gonna go wrong. Make no mistake, this is not a Triple A title, it is firmly B Tier and that's a very good thing. The world needs more B Tier games. Overall story is pretty good, nothing truly innovative but honestly it approaches some themes better than other big budget games. Mechanics? A great Action RPG with a couple of different build options...that have a lot of impact on the game's overall plot, story, and ending. Want to be a fire-slinging demon swordsman? Power comes at a price, but rejecting the corruption makes things much harder on yourself. Overall, I love Bound by Flame and was really wishing it would be ported to PC...and then it was. Hurray!