Bound by Flame: Review

French studio Spiders has long and persistently developed games that ideally fit the definition of “mid-budget European RPG”. They seem to be made diligently, according to all the laws of the genre, and at the same time use many of the best ideas from super hits, for example, from BioWare. But they always lack something to stand on par with the projects of the same Canadians. So were they Faery: Legends of Avalon, And Of Orcs and Men, And Mars: War Logs. This is how it turned out in the end Bound by Flame. Although somewhere until the middle the game looks very decent.

Some Vulcan players in the finals still have the same brutal man in armor and a helmet, while others have a demon with horns, because of which he cannot wear helmets.

Winter is coming

As in Of Orcs and Men, The French came up with an original plot device. There we played as a little goblin and a big green orc, here we played as a brutal schizophrenic man. No, he didn’t escape from the mental hospital. It’s just that a demon has settled in his head and periodically talks to our hero.

This unpleasant event occurred as a result of an unsuccessful ritual, with the help of which a group of magicians tried to stop powerful necromancers. The latter, wanting to become immortal, conducted blasphemous experiments with forbidden magic, and as a result, numerous troubles befell the fictional continent of Vertiel. Now, just like in Westeros, winter is coming here. And people, elves and dwarves are constantly attacked by armies of the walking dead, led by those same crazed necromancers.

More, let’s say, traditional magicians, using the above-mentioned ritual, tried to prevent the undead and their leaders, and our hero, nicknamed Vulcan, guarded them along with other mercenaries from the Freeborn Blades order. Then something went wrong, and now it’s getting really hot inside Vulcan – the demon who has settled in it belongs to the element of fire.

Inner Demons

As you can see, the setting itself is a fairly typical and banal fantasy. But the idea of ​​a demon living in the hero’s body is really interesting. Mainly because the fire parasite not only talks to our mercenary, but also tries to subjugate his soul. And yet we can resist him. Or don’t resist.

Periodically, the player has a choice: to do as the demon suggests, or in his own way, maintaining honor and decency. You can, for example, drink a potion to protect your mind from the influence of others before going into the lair of a dangerous monster, or not do this and agree with the demon to take the energy of this creature into his own hands.

The game has a day and night cycle, you can even go to bed. But this is practically not used in gameplay at all.

That is, all this is realized as an internal struggle in the head of the main character. They made one decision – the level of submission to the demon decreased (and it is naturally calculated as a percentage), they made another – it increased. Moreover, the higher this level, the more dramatic the appearance of our Vulcan changes – horns appear, his eyes begin to sparkle with an evil fire, and his skin darkens. Even his voice takes on infernal notes. In the end, if you do not resist in time, flashes of fire will begin to burst out from under your skin, and the hero’s appearance will simply scare away those around him. Agree, this doesn’t happen very often in RPGs.

Together with a half-demon mercenary, a half-naked necromancer who has lost her strength travels around the world; a knight errant who talks about himself exclusively in the third person; the elf is a traitor to his own people. And finally, an immortal spirit with secular manners and a somewhat cynical sense of humor, who has been changing bodies for 6 thousand years, and now resides in the form of a dried-up skeleton with a crown on his head.

And you can communicate with each of them. Partners will gradually reveal details from their past, share opinions about Vulcan’s other companions, and even ask for help. For example, the extremely inquisitive daughter of the magician whom we guarded at the very beginning of the game will ask to talk to the immortal spirit… about his sex life.

And also in Bound by Flame moral www.fantasticocasino.co.uk dilemmas come across – and not only in connection with the confrontation between man and demon in the soul of our hero. Free a pretty witch or listen to a magician urging you not to do this and leave her to die in the swamp? Betray the elves and doom them to certain death in order to learn more about the experiments of necromancers, or not? And the finale will not happen without moral torment and self-sacrifice.

In other words, the potential and ideas in Bound by Flame quite “bioware”. Another thing is that the authors never fully implemented any of them. Moral dilemmas are not so complex, and they (as well as situations that influence the outcome of the struggle between the demon and the man in the soul of the protagonist) do not occur as often as we would like. Some decisions even create only the illusion of choice. And the plot itself develops linearly.

As in Mars: War Logs, the game gradually stores information about enemies, from which you can learn about their weaknesses.

It’s the same with partners. The fork in the road, when we can somehow dramatically influence the companion’s attitude towards the hero and even quarrel with him, happens only once in the entire game. All new topics in conversations with companions arise strictly according to the plot, and not depending on how we behaved there.

There is safety in numbers

However, the main problem is not at all that the authors did not tighten up some details related to companions and moral torment in the soul of the main character. On the contrary, it’s good that these situations exist at all. Otherwise play Bound by Flame there would simply be no need.

This sounds strange, considering that there is a fairly detailed role-playing system and good combat. But here again the question arises about potential and its implementation. The hero has three fighting styles (and, accordingly, three branches of skills) available to him: power, focused on powerful melee weapons; fast, relying on stealth and daggers; and also, in fact, demonic, allowing you to throw “fireballs” at enemies. You can learn any abilities and switch between strong and fast styles at any time.

Each of them has its own interesting features. The warrior can kick opponents to unbalance those defending with shields. If you place a block in time, Vulcan will automatically carry out a counterattack. And the ranger can bounce away from the enemy, avoiding blows, if you do everything quickly and correctly. In addition, in any style, you can pause the game to change your stance, drink a potion, or order your partner to choose a different tactic.

Each companion has his own skills and his own fighting style. Someone knows how to heal an ally, someone knows how to take control of an enemy, and so on. Considering that you are allowed to take only one ally with you, and enemies in Bound by Flame are really very strong, the choice of a party member gives what is happening an additional tactical load. The strength of the opponents (even at an average difficulty level you have to work hard) forces you to be careful about the choice of equipment and the ability to improve it with the help of various useful ingredients – the latter need to be collected and combined with each other.

Run, Vulcan, run!

In general, at first it’s interesting to fight, gain levels and tinker with equipment. But the further we go, the more obvious the problems with game design and balance become. When you are forced to run back and forth for a long time through equally dull locations and constantly fight with frankly “over-pumped” enemies, who are also reborn with each new visit to the map, “the evening ceases to be languid”. Why the authors didn’t implement a basic fast travel system is beyond belief!

And if in the first half of the game these dashes are somehow motivated by numerous side quests, then later the secondary tasks either disappear completely or become completely primitive. As a result, you simply run away from your opponents, just to get to the final as quickly as possible and find out how it all ends.

Not everyone is in Bound by Flame so bad. There are really strong scenes here, there are charismatic characters and absolutely gorgeous “bosses”, for whose design alone the authors would like to give some kind of award. And in general, compared to, for example, Mars: War Logs the French have clearly taken a step forward – at least in graphics, controls, navigation and general convenience. But they again did not have enough budget, and perhaps even effort or patience, to realize their own potential one hundred percent.

Pros: interesting plot; colorful partners; good dialogues; promising role-playing and combat systems.
Cons: monotonous location design; lack of a fast travel system; none of the interesting ideas have been brought to fruition; battles gradually become boring.

Bound by Flame

Best comments

I liked the game. Indeed, since the time of Mars, Spiders have significantly stepped forward. I would like to support the studio, it’s clear that the guys work hard. You just need to gain some experience. I didn’t regret buying the game. If the spiders develop at the same pace, their next game should be a treat.

I don’t agree with the review about the dialogues, the dialogues there are great, which, to be honest, I didn’t expect from a game like this. Listening to them you really get into the skin of the hero (+ they also provide humor).

I would give it “commendable” only because there is fish for lack of fish and cancer. Although I didn’t force it, I got bored.
During the first half of the game, stabbing three opponents is fun for several minutes. Then not so much. The funny thing is that bosses differ from ordinary opponents only in size and a slightly larger set of skills. But the tactics against them remain the same: “punch-punch-dodge” – repeat until victorious.

In fact, I would also like them to do something better.
It’s clear that the French can do better. It’s clear that their budget is clearly not Biovar’s.

For example, the orcs had a very, very good grafon (albeit in some places). Well, the optimization was excellent, I didn’t encounter any bugs at all.
But if I support the ruble now, then I’ll have to play this.
And I feel sorry for the time for such a game. I want it to be commendable or even amazing.

Therefore, I wish them success, but I will not buy their products until they rise in quality.

I remember the history of GRIN. The studio has made some good games throughout its life, not “commendable” or “amazing”, but you can’t call them bad either. But their latest game, Bionic Commando, gave me a feeling that I haven’t experienced from any other game. And when I found out that the studio was closed immediately after its release, I was just upset. I feel the potential in Spiders and really hope that they will find a way to realize themselves fully and deliver “commendable” and “amazing” results. I believe in these developers, but you can’t help them with faith alone, that’s why I bought their products, which do not meet high standards. I just really hope they can live to see the moment when they shine as nothings.

I’m wondering if the guys who are doing the video and text review of this game communicated with each other during the process? There are too many contradictions.

A good, high-quality review that objectively examines both the pros and cons of the game. The assessment, in principle, is fair, but as noted above, there is no fish… If you like role-playing games with an interesting plot, I definitely recommend it. (yes, the plot is not complicated, but it is presented in an interesting way, the dialogues are lively and well written, they are interesting to read. A small moral choice or here and there the illusion of it adds additional interest)
The game has potential, as does the studio, if they earn good money, which will be enough for them for a couple of years of development – they may well make a piece of candy!

Yesterday I finally mastered this game. I don’t regret spending money and time, in principle. I liked the game.
There were no problems with overpowered opponents until almost the very end of the game. A roller dodge in quick mode can save you from any situation. I myself was swinging with a bias towards pyromancy, and the tactics of fighting ANY enemy boiled down to: give a couple of pokes from the hand – dodge the blow – give a couple of pokes – throw a fireball point-blank (which is important) – dodge. If necessary, shoot with a crossbow. I used stealth often, threw a few points at it. It really helped to start a fight well, because only some opponents could survive a blow from stealth + a fireball.
It seemed to me that there were enough different weapons and armor (though I played through the rest of the game with daggers that I found in the second act, but these are minor things). I was pleased with the local opportunity to upgrade equipment. In the same Witcher, improving armor did not affect its appearance in any way. There are also elbow pads, shoulder pads, and handles for every taste. There is even a semblance of crafting, if a crossbow and bolts were useful (especially with a good crossbow and the necessary perks), then I could not find a use for traps. At the beginning – yes. They deal quite a lot of damage and also have AoE. But in the end, the mobs get thicker. It’s easier to stick it with a sword and throw fireballs at it.
The plot isn’t all that bad. Although it is not particularly original, it was still interesting to follow (the ending was incredibly spoiled; only the last 2 lines that the GG says depend on our choice). There are even a couple of interesting characters. The witch Edwen (in general, it seemed to me 1 in 1 Morrigan from YES: O), whose story was interesting. But to be honest, I waited until the last moment for the moment when she would overturn GG. But this didn’t happen. The living dead Märtres was also very funny, if I’m not mistaken. But his image is also very hackneyed for me.
The feature with the demon inside was implemented well, although it could have been done better. In the same Prince of Persia 3, more emphasis was placed on this. The entity in the prince’s body regularly reacted and even communicated directly with him. Right there – a couple of times in dialogue, and communication somewhere “in an unknown place”. All. No history of this demon was given (I still didn’t understand who the last boss was, because a completely crazy bacchanalia had already begun).
Musical accompaniment is liked only at certain key moments. The rest of the time, hellish garbage plays in the background.
Bound by Flame turned out to be a really average European role-playing game. And at any other moment, no one would have noticed its release, like the good Kingdom of Amalure at one time. But there’s one thing to remember. This game came out at the right time, it now has no competitors in the RPG genre. All fans of the genre can check out this game. In my opinion 7/10.

Oh, French spiders don’t have enough patience… After all, they can create an interesting story – Game of Thrones (if I’m not confusing anything, then Martin had no hand in writing the plot), turn the template foundations of a fantasy RPG upside down, making the main characters a hefty orc and a foul-mouthed goblin in Of Orcs and Men, build a good combat system in Mars: War Logs… And now in Bound By Flame they tried to cross everything together. I don’t think it turned out that bad. If only the French had patience, and a bigger budget. Then they would have fired, at least I believe so.

Bound By Flame… Damn it made me play on the difficulty "BULL" – the equivalent of "Difficult". I thought I’d mess around with using mines, crossbows and upgrades. I regretted it very soon, when in the swamp I was stabbing another revived mob with a huge supply of health, no, not like that, with a HUGE supply of health. I struggled with the final boss for two days and still couldn’t beat him, a friend spoiled the ending, but based on his Steam achievements he guessed how it would all end.
The game is really not a masterpiece, but it’s worth supporting the developers, if only because of hopes for future projects.
The only thing that really jarred me, just like in Mars: War Logs, was just the googly-eyed models of the female characters.
Otherwise I agree with those who have posted above.
For all RPG fans to play.

You, apparently, have not reached the third chapter – almost all the bosses there (except for the troll from the swamps and the Juggernaut from the beginning of the game) become ordinary opponents.