Bound by Flame

Bound by Flame is on sale on steam (75% off) it's a pretty cool medieval fantasy RPG and my personal GOTY for 2014 (with Shadows of Mordor and Assassin's Creed Unity battling for the second place).

It's a third person game with a gritty setting featuring a doomed world, some scholars and a bunch of mercenaries. It looks gorgeous considering it's an indie game and it has some of the best designs I've seen for armours, weapons and sheaths (for once they look like they could actually be used in combat and not things that come from an anime and hang in mid air). Combat can be demanding so you have to learn how to parry and use counters and rely on all the options at your disposal (traps, crossbows, fire). Once you get your bearing combat becomes really good and puts Dragon Age Inquisition to shame (I've seen videos of so called reviewers who complained about combat because they didn't bother to pay attention and learn the basics).

The story itself is much more exciting than the latest Dragon Age but the way NPCs are implemented made me think of Bioware games (not a bad thing). The game feels less claustrophobic than Mars War Logs (made by the same company) but it tends to reuse some locations (probably because of the budget even if it makes sense story wise).

The voice acting is ok but some voices are really good (the female protagonist is definitely badass). Last but not least the music was composed by the man responsible for the Remember Me and Assassin's Creed Black Flag soundtracks (which were incredibly awesome).

It's not a flawless game by any means and there is some room left for improvement but it gets many things right and I can only imagine what they could do with a larger budget.

The game is currently on sale.

And again.

Looks quite awesome.

It may be a low budget game but it does look and feel really good.

I won't lie, the combat takes some getting used to but it gets pretty cool once you learn how to time your moves.

I love the combat - it's the kind of fighting style that I really enjoy, so much more interesting than plain hack 'n' slash.  Plus, the boss fights take a bit of working out, so there are tactical elements.

It's a good, solid game Nakia with an intriguing narrative and the choices you make can effect physical changes on your character.  

Out of curiosity Cara, which character did you take with you to help kill the beast in the swamp that killed the guards who went to investigate it?

I mostly took Edwen as a follower. I find her abilities to be really useful when facing mobs and bosses.

Glad you like this game Sue.

You can't have Edwen as a follower until after you've killed this particular beast.

I took the elven archer which appears to have been an unusual choice, but he worked really well in the scheme of things.

Right, it's been a while sorry. If I remember correctly I think I did take the elf as well. Don't get me wrong I like Sybil but she wasn't much help with my gal.

This game is a bit like Bioware games when it comes to NPCs (definitely a good thing) so it doesn't hurt to change followers once in a while and try something a bit different.

Too true! I did experiment with them all, but found Sybil very useful in the main. I asked her to focus on healing me instead of fighting and that worked really well.

From what's been written on the Bound by Flame forum, it appears most favour using a tank rather than an archer or healer for the beast battle, but I suspect much is down to how each individual likes to play the game. I found that once the tank was down, he was down, whereas the archer got back up and re-joined the melee, allowing me to out manoeuvre the beast and attack from behind. Also, while the beast is smacking the archer one, you can plant mines in appropriate places i.e. Here I am, come and get me - BOOM!

Loved it - there is greater scope and range in the fighting department than at first appears - such fun

Indeed. I've played my lady Vulcan as a frontline fighter mostly so I'd rather have some extra support while she does her thing.

I think people who criticize the fighting in this game expect to be able to get through the fights by holding down the same button (which is almost all you have to do in the latest Dragon Age).

Some would be reviewers have posted that the combat isn't good but it's obvious they didn't even bother using the flame powers, the crossbow or the traps. Reading some comments made me doubt that some people paid attention to the tutorial about dodging either...

The game is currently on sale on steam, 80% off so it's definitely a bargain.

Yet another sale on steam.

The game is worth every cent. It has some incredible music and if you're interested at that price you can't go wrong.