Bound by Flame

[Gusington]

Anyone know anything about this game? Looks like an ARPG...just started seeing chatter about it on GMG, Steam, etc:

http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/us/en/pc/games/action/bound-flame/#item-s5

[Jarhead0331]

Was wondering about this one, as well. Reminds me of the Witcher.

[Gusington]

Yeah me too...going to check out some videos later and.check out the studio. Weird how games like this just suddenly pop up. Intriguing...

[Nefaro]

Is it a 3rd person over-the-shoulder view?   :-\

[Gusington]

I know most people don't like the 3rd person view but I do...looks like it is is 3rd person, yes. But the game's site has me intrigued...Iike what I am reading about the gameplay and good/evil dynamic and what appears to be at least a semi open world.

[Nefaro]

3rd person wouldn't bother me, but it depends on the gfx engine.  One of those situations that can make me physically ill.  :-\

[tgb]

From the little bit of a video I watched and some commentary I read, this plays very much like the Game of Thrones RPG or Of Orcs And Men, which to me means wait until it hits the $10 mark.

[Gusington]

I forgot about the way you get sick sometimes, 'Nef.

tgb I get a similar vibe...hard to put a descriptor on why, though.

Before I get another ARPG I would finally like to make a decision on which fantasy 4x to get too.

[Gusington]

The reviews on Steam are very good. Definitely getting this, but not for 40.00. Going to wait to see if I can get at least 25% off.

[Grimnirsson]

The reviews overall are not positive though...

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/bound-by-flame/critic-reviews

[Sir Slash]

Yeah, Gamespot ripped it a new one--- 4 out of 10. Ouch. Could be improved in time though.

[Tpek]

It's not a bad game.

Quite nice, though certainly has some faults.
Most of these faults though are things that are too common in RPGs these days anyway.

Its gameplay is very similar to Mars War Logs, with a theme that is instead some dark-fantasy that feels like it was completely ripped off several
popular contemporary fantasy creations (undead hordes invading from the north like in aGoT, one of the companions looks like the stock character of Guild Wars,
music is very similar to a lot of other ones, etc etc...)

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Giant Bomb has a Quick Look video up for the PS4 version.  Ignore the hosts and you can get a look at a good 40 minutes of gameplay. 

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-bound-by-flame/2300-8869/

[Gusington]

Hmm - true about the Metacritic overall ratings...

[spelk]

I'm quite enjoying it - its sort of like a Dragon Age Lite(tm).

I captured this, a quick bit of action at level 19 in Bound by Flame, just to give you a flavour of the sort of pacing and action available.

I've found it does really matter which order you tactically take on the enemies, favouring the Ice archers first, then moving on to heavier stuff. Your companion does help a bit, but tends towards being a bit flimsy in battles  with large numbers of enemies.

You should be able to see the timing (or lack of it) needed to block and then counter in a time slow-mo attack.

I must say, the clunky combat has grown on me a lot. From my experience I'd say ditch the target locks as soon as you feel able to, because it makes the combat much more fluent, you can rush in, hit and pull out, and dance about if you want - anything to save your precious health.

The crafting system is really enjoyable, because its not so much a grind in itself, and you're constantly collecting and transmuting stuff up the pyramid. Then you can tool up your weapon to suit your style, if you've got the resources. Making a 19 damage weapon a 24 damage set on fire and knock over weapon is a real tangible boon from your resource collecting. As is adding mana and health drip feeds to your armour.

There are some instances where you can game the system a bit. Lets say your companion is dead, you're struggling,  if you can get to a point where the enemy can't see you (round a corner etc, not behind obstacles), they will return on patrol and you can heal up a bit, and eventually your companion will revive and run back to you. So you can scum it this way and rez your companion for nothing, in certain situations. Doesn't work on bosses all that much, but for common grindy encounters you can help yourself out in this way.

I've also noted that the crossbow, even at low damage, can knock some enemies off their feet. An enemy prone is an enemy sliced and diced in double quick time. So now I always craft up a crossbow bolt or two and use it on archers if I can, get them to the floor and wallop they are no more.

Similarly now and then, the explosive traps can come in useful, but they are quite expensive resource wise, so I only use them very sparingly. On bosses they do next to nothing anyway.

Overall, I've put in about 18 hours I think, I'm level 19 going on 20, and I'm enjoying the combat and the storyline. So I'm well chuffed with the title. Its exactly what I wanted!

We shall see how it pans out later on. I wish I could respec all the precious points I wasted on ranger daggers and I could've stacked up the great sword stuff. I've spread my points around way too much, that may prove my undoing!