Blue Fire Analysis – A Zelda and Darksouls duo

These days, it’s rare that I play something that catches me off guard. Even the most unique indie games tend to be fairly straightforward in terms of mechanics and premises. I might be a little jaded, but lately nothing has come out that really surprises me… until I can play the beautiful Blue Fire by Robi Studios published by Graffiti Games.

What at first seemed like a generic third-person action platformer turned out to be something completely different, and best of all, it turned out to be an addicting and entertaining hybrid of different kinds of games. In Blue Fire, players control an anonymous protagonist who wakes up in the mysterious world of Penumbra, now invaded by darkness. Armed with a sword and the typical “dash”.

From the start, I didn’t expect Blue Fire to be inspired by games like Dark Souls. While its fight is more frenetic than that of the popular FromSoftware series, things like bonfires, coins that reset on death, and an interconnected world limited to progression all make their way here, and it works. Going through Twilight takes up most of the game time, and I enjoyed discovering its secrets.

Technical section

Blue Fire is a modest title in its technical section, let’s not forget it’s not a big AAA production. However, the level and story design works well and there are times when it even ends up looking very appealing. It is inevitable to see some nods to more popular games like Zelda, although that is not the goal of its creators, the inspiration is there.

If I would like to say that during our testing of the game there were areas where it was literally impossible to play due to some flickering

Even so, I still detected some artifacts or marks on the screen that I imagine they will resolve shortly. For the rest, the framerate is stable and the image quality does not interfere with the experience.

In the sound part nothing to emphasize, the audio fulfills its function but does not come out at all. Neither the songs you remember when you turn off the console nor the sound effects worked. However, this part is forgiven, like I said it is not millionaire development.

Finally, note that the game is translated into Spanish, which many of you will be grateful for if you can follow the thread and instructions.

Playability

I always enjoy a good platform game, and even better if it offers multiple ways to jump, run over walls, and run through the air. Blue Fire has arrived and it turns out that is exactly what it does. Not only is it a platform game, but it also contains some hack and slash. While waiting for Silksong, there is room for another challenging platform game. Can Blue Fire light up our world?

You’ll wake up in Twilight, an ancient fortress covered in deadly corruption and It will be up to you to save the world (There, without pressure). There are many dangers awaiting us there, but if you fail, don’t worry! You will rise again to fight another day in true Dark Souls style as you are sent back to the last checkpoint you unlocked. After that you have to go back to find your spirit / ghost which was left where you died in order to get your money back.

You’ll want to collect it because it costs money to activate new shrines / checkpoints, or maybe you’d like to buy emotes… for some reason. The payment checkpoint is painful because if you can’t pay it, they’ll send you back even further to the previous checkpoint… Blue Fire is a 3D platform game with a lot of fighting. The main focus is the traverse, helping you navigate through Penumbra and face challenge areas called Abyss, where sometimes the camera does not help you progress and you have to start the area over again due to an error. calculation in the jump, and does the grip on the projections leave a lot to be desired.

You will also find Zelda type dungeons where you will get items that will improve your skills and help you travel through Penumbra feeling more powerful.

From the start of the game you have a dash and a basic jump with which you can bypass the first areas of this world. As you progress, you will get, among other things, the double jump and the wall race. At first it can be a little uncomfortable to walk through Penumbra with just a jump and a multi-directional dash, but the game opens up a lot more as soon as we unlock a power up.

At the start of the game your powers are limited and there are a lot of blocked areas in our path, but that really makes the experience more difficult. The fight starts off a bit tedious considering your vulnerability, with little to defend yourself. It doesn’t take long to grab a shield bubble and find more powerful swords. Even as I got stronger, I continued to prefer the platform in combat.

You’ll also find Spirits you can equip and further upgrade your abilities, and a group of characters you can interact with to purchase upgrades and abilities. Be prepared to need a lot of ore (the in-game currency) to buy upgrades and items; this is also what you need to unlock shrines to create save points. I wouldn’t have had a problem with this if it wasn’t because sometimes when you get killed you can’t get it back because the spirit doesn’t appear where you died so that you can regain lost ore.

Although Blue Fire is its own game, it’s hard not to think of a Hollow Knight 3D with a hint of Zelda and Dark Souls. The influence of Hollow Knight is where the platformer shines. The more you unlock and can move around, the better. Zelda-type dungeons also contribute to the game. Elements of Dark Souls creep into their most painful moments: The game doesn’t always communicate clearly whether you need a skill to progress, or which shrines and items from. healing replace bonfires and Estus pots. I enjoyed Blue Fire the most when it allowed me to jump and run around tough obstacles, explore the world, and finally find a place to save in new areas.