Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2026
Blades of Fire
Developer MercurySteam
Blades of Fire is a 2025 action-adventure game developed by MercurySteam and published by 505 Games. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 22 May 2025. It received mixed reviews from critics and failed to meet the sales expectations of 505 Games' parent company Digital Bros. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
339 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
176 positive · 56 negative
95% range 70–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 176 | 56 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
107 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
540 of 718 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 339 · most liked first***Since this review, devs added hotfix for 'clarity' in menu options. Although a few commented here with ways to completely disable it through config files.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →PS+ Extra lineup for June: blog.playstation.com/2026/06/10/p... -Final Fantasy XVI -Sonic X Shadow Generations -Kingdom Come: Deliverance -Life is Strange: Double Exposure -Farming Simulator 25 -Blades of Fire -Black Desert PS+ Premium -Gitaroo Man (this game is great btw)
unlabelledView post →Available today in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog: 🚜 Farming Simulator 25 🔥 Blades of Fire ⚔️ Black Desert …and more. Full details: play.st/4v4Gq7i
unlabelledView post →Publisher behind Blades Of Fire and Crime Boss Rockay City suddenly gets cold feet when spending might result in good game
unlabelledView post →I played through the whole game back at its original launch and its a really fantastic experience with some interesting takes on some familiar genres that also does its own thing. I really liked the combat especially using mouse wheel to add down or upward strikes into the mix. Feels very satisfying when you bonk an enemy on the head who is blocking his front or smack someone in the nuts with a Happy Gilmore swing. Crafting is a bit of a faff but you get used to it and you can really phone it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gosh, I really hope people don’t sleep on Blades of Fire coming into the end of the year. It seems like it’s gonna be another dad-coded Soulslike, but the game loop is simultaneously more expansive AND concise than most of those games Everything works together It’s not at war with itself It’s WILD
unlabelledView post →Blades of Fire has some interesting ideas, but the combat system doesn’t feel properly balanced in its current state. The main issue is how easily your attacks get interrupted. If you get hit at almost any point during your swing, your attack is cancelled—even when you’re already deep into the animation. This becomes especially frustrating with heavier weapons, where you’re expected to use slower, stronger attacks to deal with armored enemies, but you rarely get the chance to actually complete…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire completely surprised me in the best possible way. This is not Dark Souls. But it's also not just another generic action RPG. Most importantly: it doesn’t feel like another UE5 cookie-cutter project. The game runs on its own engine, and honestly, that alone already gave it personality for me. The combat system is absolutely fantastic. The way weapon crafting directly affects gameplay is something I wish more games would dare to do. Want more damage? Use a heavier blade. Prefer…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The demo was fantastic. But after you get about 3 or 4 hours in, it turns into a completely different game. Tons of enemies spawning over and over again in little tiny hallways. You try to swing your sword and you can't because it bounces off the wall so you can't hit anyone. But they can all hit you. Their swords don't bounce off walls. And the spear mobs just keep spawning over and over. Poking you with the spear front the front and back at the same time because there's so many. It's just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Got that Dawg in him? Nah, got that DWARF in him" - My friend watching me max star a weapon. I'm really enjoying this game so far, there's 3 major loops that lead into each other: Exploration, combat and Smithing. Here's a summary of my favourite parts of each: Exploration - Maps are of a good size that if you're looking for *just* story progression, you can move through them quickly, there's also plenty of checkpoint stations that you can fast travel to. If you're a collector, the Devs make…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This week's Fully Ramblomatic is on Blades of Fire, the new game from the developer of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Metroid Dread. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibHZ...
unlabelledView post →Very underrated game. I really hope that the Steam release will help this game. C'mon guys, yes, this is not a cutting edge game. But it has fun and more or less unique gameplay, stylish visual and a good story. More than that it has great optimization, Blades of fire made on Mercury's own engine and has zero stutters, not like all these UE5 garbage games that we have nowadays. I definitely recommend this game, guys we need to support developers like MercurySteam which are making games for us.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire, the next game from MercurySteam, is coming to PS5 on May 22 ⚔️ Get your first glimpse of weapon forging and combat: play.st/3QGN81m
unlabelledView post →First things first: I'm glad to see popular studios trying out new IPs and experimenting with new mechanics. I also tried out the 2.0 demo and found out the nice improvements over the original game. Now, with that said: after 6 hours I feel Blades of Fire doesn't understand the most basic concepts that make a game fun. The opening hours are enjoyable and full of rewarding exploration and fair but tough combat. Sure, it can be a bit wonky at times, but once it clicks it's fun to approach…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire - new gameplay (Game Informer) www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVuo...
unlabelledView post →I'll update my review if the performance is addressed soon, but for now I think it needs a lot more optimization. For what it is/ how it looks there's no reason it should be making my system work so hard. Updated review as of 5/26: Going on almost two weeks since launch now. The game has not received a single performance update, but the devs have taken the effort to run a rewards campaign asking (bribing) players to convince people to buy the game (or even buy it a second time). "Your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of those games where my recommendation will sound like I’m insulting it, but I think this is one of those perfect 7-out-of-10 games. The writing is laughable but also sincere, the gameplay is considerate but also a little janky, the UI is pretty bad but the game itself is pretty accessible. It’s not just that it counters its low points with high points; it’s that those low points are kind of proof that it was not a mistake. This is what the game meant to be. It reminds me a lot of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Metroid Dread studio's latest is Blades of Fire, a brutal blacksmithing action game with a cruel Dark Souls core. Read our first impressions here: www.eurogamer.net/metroid-drea...
unlabelledView post →Now that the game has been freed from its Epic store prison cell, actual human beings can finally check it out! First impressions: The game feels like a Ps3/360 era game that somehow slipped through the cracks and only just now got released. In a good way, to be clear. Decent voice acting, great art direction, terrible UI design, some out there character designs, simplistic but fun combat and genuinely surprisingly in-depth smithing mechanics. I'm definitely having a good time so far! If…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire comes to Steam on May 14th (Version 2.0) store.steampowered.com/app/2091020/... www.youtube.com/watch?v=tniq... -New Game + -Titanium Mode -Photo Mode -Full key remapping -New achievements -Steam Deck supported & more
unlabelledView post →Honest to god, a great, although flawed game. I would love to rank it higher than a 7/10, but objective thinking just won't let me do it with good conscience. Whats great: )The customization of your gear, and almost entirely your gear, with only upgrades to health and stamina found through exploration. Love it. ) The feel of the game itself. This feels like a videogame, I know that sounds dumb, but it's been a while since something felt this much like a classic oldshool game. Cheesy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A 'Blades of Fire' Demo will be released before the game launches on May 22nd.
unlabelledView post →I struggled with Blades of Fire – a game I really wanted to like. bsky.app/profile/game...
unlabelledView post →Today @ 3PM CDT Lords of Shadow's TRUE SUCCESSOR | The Blades of Fire Normalstream Mercury Steam's newest action game is out and we're not sure if it's Souls or Nu-God of War or what, but we're gonna check it out on the PROFESSIONAL PS5! www.twitch.tv/gigaboots
unlabelledView post →Not Fun. Looks Good. Runs Good. Not fun. There are way to many systems in this game that are not fun to use, and the game forces you to use them constantly. You cant just play without thinking about something else all the time. Weapons can become dull, which is separate from durability, which is separate from number of repairs left. You permanently lose weapons after a while, so you have to farm parts to make new ones, which damages the ones you have. But that is not so bad. What is just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been sitting here trying to think how best to articulate my disappointment without sounding like I'm riding the bandwagon, but I think I'd more likely replay Blades of Fire than Metroid Prime 4 for a 3D Metroidvania kick. Prime 4 is bland and the parts of it that feel inspired made the game worse.
unlabelledView post →Game Informer Blades of Fire feels like a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow spiritual successor. youtu.be/UVuopdMyucA?...
unlabelledView post →A quick review since it's still on initial sale as of now, and there's a lot of game here for $30. The overall structure is souls-like including those Dark Souls bonfires, in this game they're anvils where you can rest and replenish (but all enemies come back to life), or do various things to upgrade your character or weapon. The combat is interesting with each controller face button assigned to a swing in that direction -- north being overhead smash, east and west being left and right swings,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had some time to sit & digest more thoughts on Blades of Fire. I'll say I think it def feels destined to get a following. A massive 40 hr + action/adventure game. Different & unique combat. No character stats, all loot/crafting forge mechanics. A game that I feels get better the longer I play it.
unlabelledView post →Completed this on Epic, but bought here as well. A fantastic game with some great mechanics, including a pretty fun forge mini-game and satisfying combat. I really enjoyed the setting and story as well. Highly recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want to play a game without yellow paint, and why with hyper-realistic graphics that's maybe not a great idea, play Blades of Fire and scream your head out because you've had to listen to the same ghost of an old man bumble around for 15 seconds before he spawns the button you can push.
unlabelledView post →As of casually finishing full game campaing with complete exploration on "STEEL" difficulty: One of the best pseudo souls-like metroidvanias i ever played. Combat is fluent and easy, parry and evade is beginner/casual friendly, enemy design is fun and comes in good variety, minibosses and bosses have fun-to-counter gimmicks and moves. Crafting feels respectfully meaningful and game gives you A LOT of extra resourses, you almost never going to run out of crafting or repair materials. General…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →MercurySteam's Blades of Fire is a game filled with great ideas, yet frustrations with level design and weapon durability hold it back from greatness. Our review: www.rpgsite.net/review/17470...
unlabelledView post →'Blades of Fire' the next game from Mercury Steam (Metroid Dread) launches May 22nd on Xbox Series, PS5 and PC. youtu.be/wFDarIpwXsg?...
unlabelledView post →weapon degrade way to fast, constantly trtying to get matrerial to build/repair weapon instead of progressing ....
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire is something i hope gets 2 sequels, and becomes remembered as fondly as Darksiders or God of War. I own this on epic, and know its quality well, as most of my playtime is on that save. Epic exclusivity could be a death sentence, in this case it wasn't. YES! Energetically YES! Thank the people who spoke kindly of it on forums, and on youtube, and people who saw what was and is. FIRST OFF! Not a souls game. It has elements of that, checkpoints and lock on combat and respawns and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blades of Fire is honestly one of the biggest surprises I’ve played in a long time. The dark fantasy atmosphere, brutal combat, weapon forging system, and exploration feel incredibly immersive. Every fight feels heavy and satisfying, and the world has that mysterious feeling that keeps pushing you forward to discover more. What I love most is that the game doesn’t try to copy everything from other soulslike games. It actually has its own identity. The forging mechanics are unique, the combat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting game with very questionable company decisions (like releasing on epic first and very late on steam the same day than subnautica) If your like action + weapon simulation and tuning this is your game (like a more polished and arcade version of half sword). The story is also good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's my review of MercurySteam's new game, Blades of Fire! www.pcgamer.com/games/action...
unlabelledView post →Blades of Fire is jumping from Epic to Steam with big upgrades and Steam Deck support https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/02/blades-of-fire-is-jumping-from-epic-to-steam-with-big-upgrades-and-steam-deck-support/ #BladesofFire #Steam #SteamDeck #Gaming
unlabelledView post →Craft weapons and get called fat by a Final Fantasy cosplayer. Good times. The progression system is nice. You unlock new weapons by killing enemies and find new weapon parts from totems and other enemies as well. There isn't stat allocation, but you do find power up items to increase your health and stamina. Its not a souls-like, per se, but it is *like* a souls-like game but way more approachable for casual play. There are bonfire-like checkpoints in the levels you can fast travel between,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy #FreePlayDays! Game Pass members can play Breakout Beyond and Atomicrops this weekend, while all Xbox members can jump into Skull & Bones, several Destiny 2 expansions, and a 10-hour trial for Blades of Fire, all for free: news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/0...
unlabelledView post →In the history of videogames, few subgenres have become as ubiquitous and pervasive as the soulslike, and while this is not the time or place for a wanky dissertation on why soulslike good, it is a genre that is always aimed squarely at our monke-given pattern recognition: Fail problem, identify, address, resolve; repetition that tempers frustration as much as rewards being avoided. This is all to say that Blades of Fire is a game that, while clasped in the trappings of the soulslike (estus,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game would be good, if some dev did not huff paint fumes and decide to have the first 'dungeon' are of the game also be yoshi island escort quest where you have to protect a tiny skeleton child who will fall off your back if you get hit once or twice, get kidnapped and then respawn on the other side of the map, requiring rescue. Oh, but you also canst fast travel while ferrying the skeleton child and also you have a respawning, teleporting nemesis style pursuer enemy coming after you constantly…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I genuinely can't recommend this game as much as I tried to like it as someone who's a lot into games like Gothic, Souls-likes and other RPG's this just isn't it. A game needs it's jank to have it's charm but this game's got too much jank and feels like a chore more than anything else. It heavily reminds me of DS2 on it's PC release. Enemy placement wasn't well thought out and the weapon durability bug was something for sure. This game feels just like it. The game will spam hordes of enemies…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do not even try to play this game if you're not a hardcore fan of Souls and Souls-like games. You will drop this game in second location (crimson fort) which is actually the beginning of your suffering. Even for fans this game is a bit too much in some aspects: 1. Level design a is labyrinth with huge amount of closed doors and you usually do not know where is the key and sometimes where you should go. Most shortcuts are useless. Map is useless even more. 2. Insane amount of backtracking.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, the game is okay and probably worth the money on sale, but I just can't recommend it. After about 15 hours, the game felt more and more like a chore. I pushed through to the end, but it wasn't always enjoyable. The story and characters aren't very well written, and while the combat is fun for a while, it loses its appeal after a certain point. In particular, it felt strange that the heavy attack seemed somewhat useless. Though maybe I just didn't fully master the combat system. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →'Blades of Fire' Reviews: EuroGamer 4/5 XboxEra 7/10 TheSixthAxis 8/10 PushSquare 7/10 Cultured Vultures 7/10 SavePoint Gaming 5.5/10 Console Tribe 80 Gamesradar+ 4/5 OC 73: opencritic.com/game/18521/b... MC PS5 75: www.metacritic.com/game/blades-...
unlabelledView post →For context Mercurysteam's latest game Blades of Fire was an enormous flop last year. It came out on PS5 and Xbox Series and EGS but is about to release on Steam this week. Hope everyone lands on their feet.
unlabelledView post →37~ hours in and I feel like the story keeps introducing characters and themes the player should already know? I have no idea who any of these characters are besides the little back story it gives in text. The combat is very unrewarding to be honest. The weapon forging while unique is almost always redundant. Slashing weapons are nigh useless. Piercing weapons are always good. Bludgeoning weapons are meh. I cant stand the dialog between the characters outside the cutscenes. I honestly cannot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's like God of War was combined with a souls game (but it has difficulty sliders for employed parents <3). I really enjoyed there wasn't a true stats system, but you "leveled up" by making greater power weapons as a master forger. Was a real interesting take on a leveling up system and I had a lot of fun playing the mini game in between fights. I'm not finished, but I really like this game and that it's not something I need…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please release an optimization update. This is ridiculous
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warning: Long read. After a year of exclusivity, the latest MercurySteam entry, Blades of Fire, has finally reached gamers. I am a Lords of Shadows enjoyer, so I was eager to see what the next title would be. However, the aftertaste is more bittersweet than absolutely positive. Quickly about the positive aspects. The gameplay is very good. The fencing system is not only fairly unique, but also makes many battles very dynamic and intense, especially when enemies change the armor parts or your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Consider this a negative review for the initial playthrough but a positive one for new game+. The game is charming and I enjoy the action, as well as the variety of different weapons so it's not like you're ever forced to use one you don't like. That's the good, now onto the bad. The game is baffling in several regards. 1) You can make lots of different weapons, but for some reason, the devs don't give you enough inventory space for each of them, forcing you to scrap some of them.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EDIT: I got to a section where skeletons keep spawning and you have to shut coffins so the kid can do his magic, but the spawn rate is just high enough that they knock you away and force you to restart the coffin-shutting process again. Very infuriating. Not recommending this game purely for that section. I want to like this game, I really do. I can see the vision the devs had for this title with the focus on crafting your weapons and using the right weapon at the right time for the right…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Likely the most underrated game I have ever played Combat is very fun, the story is fairly interesting, the interactions between the MC and the kid are funny, and the forging of weapons, with all their different parts for each, adds something that I had never found in other games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At first glance, I thought Blades of Fire was some sort of remake of a 2010s title. It has a whiff of a old-school tittle in the best way possible, feeling like a genuine tribute to that era. The gaming sphere is oversaturated with hyper-realistic games, so its refreshing to see a larger project embrace a more stylized art, feels like a breath of fresh air. From what I’ve played so far, most of the world is incredibly well fleshed out, and the same goes for the characters. I also really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bought this on a whim becauses i am a fan of ssouls games and blacksmithing. The game is very very good. The combat mechanics of being able to strike around blocks is great. some people may not like the forging but i love it, it scratches my brain. this is a 9/10 easily for me. The only thing i knock it down one point for is that at least so far, 2 hours in the writing is not the strongest. The story is good but could be improved on. Definitely recommend this game for 30$ great pickup
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →MercurySteam's Blades of Fire is coming to Steam on May 14 through 505 Games with Steam Deck support. A 2.0 update has also been revealed for all platforms featuring New Game Plus mode, photo mode, and much more: www.rpgsite.net/news/19590-b...
unlabelledView post →Blades of Fire is a great adventure with an addicting combat loop, great crafting mechanics, and it's actually quite playable on the #SteamDeck. A copy was provided by 505 Games for review. Written: steamdeckhq.com/game-reviews... Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=70z6...
unlabelledView post →
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