A few weeks ago, the seasoned Spanish developer MercurySteam announced its next project: a new PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC game called Blades of Fire. Set in a medieval dark fantasy universe, Blades of Fire is a third-person action-adventure game that follows a warrior named Aran de Lira who, after being gifted with a sacred hammer, goes on a quest to assassinate the tyrannical Queen Narea with the help of a trusty companion. In the game, players are given the ability to assemble a wide variety of different weapons, each with their own special abilities, and they can attack specific parts of an enemy’s body to deal maximum damage.
Unlike many modern AAA video games, Blades of Fire looks like it came straight out of the Xbox 360 generation. It has many of the elements of the games from that time period, from a dull color palette and a gruff-looking protagonist to a dark fantasy setting and heaps of gory combat. MercurySteam’s latest seems to be a callback to the era of edgy, single-player action games from the late 2000s and early 2010s. Even though Blades of Fire is a new IP, it bears a strong resemblance to some of MercurySteam’s works from that period, like the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games.
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Blades of Fire Looks Like a Spiritual Successor to the Castlevania: Lords of Shadows Games
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 1 & 2 Took the Castlevania Series in a Completely New Direction
Konami’s Castlevania series is best known for its genre-defining 2D action RPG entries, such as Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood. However, the franchise has dabbled in the 3D action game genre on several occasions. MercurySteam’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is one of the most recent 3D installments in the series, and it’s also regarded as one of the best. This game, which came out in 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, served as a reboot of the Castlevania franchise. It replaced the side-scrolling, exploration-based gameplay loop of its predecessors with a God of War-style, third-person action combat system.
Despite shaking up the traditional Castlevania formula so significantly, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow sold quite well and was largely praised by major gaming publications. Thanks to its success, the game received two follow-ups: a 2D side-scrolling spin-off for the Nintendo 3DS called Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate and a direct sequel named Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Although Lords of Shadow 2 wasn’t nearly as well-received as its predecessors, it wrapped up the plot threads from the previous Lords of Shadow games. Since its release, there has been no word on a sequel to the game being in development.
Blades of Fire and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Have Some Notable Similarities
Even though Konami and MercurySteam probably won’t release a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 3 anytime soon, Blades of Fire seems like it will be a spiritual successor to this series of games. Not only do Blades of Fire and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow have similar-looking fantasy settings, they also have God of War-esque combat mechanics and are played from a third-person perspective. In addition to this, Blades of Fire features open-ended, interconnected level designs that are filled with places to uncover and alternate paths to explore, much like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
Blades of Fire Takes Inspiration from Many Aspects of MercurySteam’s Best Games
Looking at the game as a whole, Blades of Fire appears to combine a lot of the great elements from some of MercurySteam’s previous works. It takes the explorable levels of Metroid Dread and Metroid: Samus Returns, employs the gritty aesthetic of Severance: Blade of Darkness, and adopts the hack-and-slash combat system of the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games. Blades of Fire may not be a one-to-one replica of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, or of MercurySteam’s other titles, but it’s pretty much the closest game that fans will get to a Lords of Shadow 3 in the near future.
Action
Adventure
Tactical
- Released
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May 22, 2025
- ESRB
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M17+ For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language