Bound by Flame Reviews
In the end, I wish there was more to Bound by Flame. I adored the crafting system and have come around on the combat system once I mastering the act of parrying, but I still wish there was more. Spiders has turned down the swearing in the game (compared to Mars: War Logs), but Vulcan has his/her outbursts for no good reason. The game is dialogue heavy, and provides a ton of backstory on the towns, the people and the quests in the game; just don't look at the characters while they speak.
Given the price of Bound by Flame, I believe that it is a little overpriced and tries to be a triple A title that unfortunately doesn't add anything new to this genre. From a gaming perspective it works but it needed some more game testing and probably a revamped skill system that makes you feel out of your depth. Nonetheless, I've seen far worse Western RPG's and thankfully Bound by Flame ticks most boxes.
The game isn't bad, it's just not great, and I was expecting a little bit more than a generic western fantasy RPG with competent combat from the studio that brought us the tantalising Of Orcs and Men.
Whatever caused it, our save was irrevocably corrupted and any chance of playing Bound By Flames beyond our review went down the pan with it. Not that this should be the death knell for your purchase decision too, you probably won't encounter the same game-breaking problem and maybe you haven't experienced the worlds of Westeros, Tamriel and the Northern Kingdoms. Good for you. Not only are you more likely to enjoy all the talking between every fight but there are four seasons of compelling HBO drama and several weeks of exhaustive, back to back playtime across two chart-topping video game franchises, once you're done.
[W]hile Bound by Flame has heart, it ends up being a forgettable dull experience.
There are some solid mechanics here that are marred by some significant issues, preventing the game from becoming a classic.
The ideas are great, but some are too complex, tightly packed and don't compliment one another. It's the simple ideas that have really stood out and the fact that you share your body with an inner-demon, but the general vibe of the game felt half-assed. It's another game that needed a second look-over before heading to market.
Bound by Flame is a game that many will undoubtedly gain a huge amount of enjoyment from. Shortcomings of bad character interactions and weak contributions from NPCs are something that's easy to look past on.
Bound By Flame had potential, its excellent crafting system and skill trees are a good basis for any RPG, but the unbalanced combat system doesn't do a good job of exploiting them. The characters and story are hard to care for when most characters lack any emotion and expletives are used in every other sentence. If you are desperate for an RPG to play in your wait for The Witcher 3, then Bound By Flame could satisfy your needs for a short period of time. Bound By Flame doesn't bring anything new to the RPG genre, nor does it improve on any existing elements. A short play-time combined with an uninteresting story and unbalanced combat makes Bound By Flame tough to recommend, it frankly just isn't a good game.
Bound by Flame by all accounts ends up being a rather mediocre experience. There are various systems and mechanics that work brilliantly, but are sadly overshadowed by a largely forgettable story and a flawed combat system that ends up testing your patience rather than testing your mettle.
The entire war never appears and most consequences are forgotten. If that doesn't sound fun to you, then don't get it. Yes it did satisfy that a-bit-less-hard-than-Dark Souls-please RPG itch while I played it, but Bound By Flame is not a game I'll be returning to. Shame. Make the corridors a bit wider next time please.
In reality, there isn't much to say about Bound By Flame. It's not a horrendous travesty that all action RPG players should avoid, and similarly it's not a stellar blockbuster that all Dark Souls addicts should pick up. It just feels very mediocre and generic. Nothing stands out about the game and nothing really holds it down aside from its graphics at points. It's a simple fantasy action RPG that won't replace any of the big names out there, but will keep you amused for 10 hours if you have some money to burn.
A sad fact of life it may be, but go into Bound By Flame with low impressions and you're probably not going to come away disappointed. Those hoping for the appropriate stop-gap until The Elder Scrolls VI though will be left wanting. Bound By Flame is relatively harmless fantasy by numbers that is difficult to recommend beyond a budget-priced pickup, or if you're in the utmost doldrums waiting for a big release.
The raw nature of the dialogue, the impressive depth of the companions and their personalities, the artistically impressive and varied environments and the typically over-heroic culmination of the story combine to deliver a package that somehow forces you to forget the downfalls and just enjoy a basic, old-school RPG experience that tried too hard at being something it isn’t.
The fantasy RPG is more than a little crowded, and breaking into that genre is likely to be a difficult task. With the help of Focus Home Interactive, the marketing campaign behind 'Bound by Flame' raised more than a few eyebrows, including my own. Everything about the game had me interested and I was more than a little excited to occupy my time with this new adventure in between some of the bigger AAA titles still to release. Not without its shortcomings, 'Bound by Flame' is still an ambitious title for developer Spiders. It sets an interesting, albeit familiar, tone, and delivers an enjoyable and addictive combat system. Unfortunately, this being a grand adventure, the developers should have realized the importance a well-acted character can have on the final product. Had the game been voiced by more qualified actors 'Bound by Flame' could have become a major sleeper title for 2014. Instead, these poor performances have left an unfavorable impression. It's worth visiting for the combat mechanics, but staying for the duration may be a difficult task.
Bound By Flame wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and its chest, and its legs, borrowing cues from pretty much every ARPG around. Its an earnest attempt by Spiders, as are most of their games, but the elements here feel slapdash and dishevelled. At best, Bound By Flame might offer a spot of B-movie-esque filler while you wait for Dragon Age and The Witcher III. At worst, it's a clunky, hot mess of a game with an over-inflated price and little to offer of any distinction.
Bound by Flame is not by any means bad, but it's not spectacular either, falling into the category of good but lacking some elements to make it great. The combat has its issues, some parts of the story feel a bit contrived, but for the most part the game is pretty solid.
As I'm sure anyone can tell from the discombobulation of words here, I have struggled with my thoughts about Bound by Flame. I have enjoyed it, I really have, but how can I explain it to others? What about it makes it something I must recommend to all of my RPG-loving friends? The sad truth is that there is nothing extraordinary about it to tell anyone Bound by Flame should be on their must-play lists for 2014. Most of the game is very well done, but none of it is that innovative or imaginative. It's fun, but it's a slightly above average RPG.
Ultimately it pains me to say this, but Bound by Flame is B-Grade. I hate calling it that as it means people are going to immediately assume that by saying so I'm saying it's inferior, but that's not the case at all. The game is constrained by budget and underproduced so there are technical and visionary flaws in the game, and it's disappointing that Spiders decided to stay on the safe side of narrative boundary pushing for the first time in its existence. But an enjoyable theme and combat system is just enough to make Bound by Flame addictive enough that it succeeded in holding my attention from start to finish.
It really just boils down to one question: Can you ignore the missteps and missed opportunities and simply focus on the entertaining gameplay, or will you be unable to get past those flaws? That's the key. This is why you're seeing such a discrepancy of scores. Some people can get past the flaws and enjoy themselves; others can't.