This Dark Fantasy Action-Adventure Transforms You Into A Tactical Forge Master

It's often joked that MercurySteam is the "real" metroidvania studio, being the only developer to officially work on both the Castlevania and Metroid series--a point further illustrated with large displays of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns at the front of its office in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid. Its new game, Blades of Fire, however, harkens back to an even earlier time, acting as a spiritual successor to Severance: Blade of Darkness.Released on PC in 2001, Blade of Darkness was a Conan-inspired dark fantasy third-person action game that was the sole release from Rebel Act Studios, whose members--including studio co-founder and Blades of Fire director Enric Alvarez--would go on to start MercurySteam. While a commercial flop at the time, its combination of dark fantasy visuals with hardcore combat mechanics is now considered a precursor to the souls-like genre."In reality, Blades of Fire is kind of a return to our origin," Alvarez explains. "Nowadays, the mould of dark fantasy with difficult and precise combat has become popular, mostly thanks to From Software, so we saw our opportunity to go back to our roots, which has made me feel young again."Continue Reading at GameSpot

Apr 30, 2025 - 16:34

This Dark Fantasy Action-Adventure Transforms You Into A Tactical Forge Master

It's often joked that MercurySteam is the "real" metroidvania studio, being the only developer to officially work on both the Castlevania and Metroid series--a point further illustrated with large displays of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns at the front of its office in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid. Its new game, Blades of Fire, however, harkens back to an even earlier time, acting as a spiritual successor to Severance: Blade of Darkness.

Released on PC in 2001, Blade of Darkness was a Conan-inspired dark fantasy third-person action game that was the sole release from Rebel Act Studios, whose members--including studio co-founder and Blades of Fire director Enric Alvarez--would go on to start MercurySteam. While a commercial flop at the time, its combination of dark fantasy visuals with hardcore combat mechanics is now considered a precursor to the souls-like genre.

"In reality, Blades of Fire is kind of a return to our origin," Alvarez explains. "Nowadays, the mould of dark fantasy with difficult and precise combat has become popular, mostly thanks to From Software, so we saw our opportunity to go back to our roots, which has made me feel young again."Continue Reading at GameSpot