Bound by Flame

 PC
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 437 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 219 out of 437
  2. Mixed: 136 out of 437
  3. Negative: 82 out of 437

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  1. Usser
    May 9, 2014
    7
    Its Good Game
    +Its have very good dark story
    +You feel the weight of your hero when you fight
    +Good Graphic on pc

    -Voice acting
    -Sometimes bugs
  2. Bustardo
    May 9, 2014
    7
    No idea why this is getting such low reviews from people. This is a fun RPG aimed at adults. I'm not very far into it, but so far I've found nothing to complain about. Most of the bad reviews seem to stem from strange complaints such as "Well the combat system could have been more like this other game I like... etc." If you're on the fence and you like RPG's definitely give it a try. I'mNo idea why this is getting such low reviews from people. This is a fun RPG aimed at adults. I'm not very far into it, but so far I've found nothing to complain about. Most of the bad reviews seem to stem from strange complaints such as "Well the combat system could have been more like this other game I like... etc." If you're on the fence and you like RPG's definitely give it a try. I'm going to write a better review once I complete it, but so far I've been having fun.… Expand
  3. johnangel
    May 9, 2014
    7
    A nice and fun game, it isn't skyrim or dark souls but it's a nice enjoyable game and good at what it does.
    Could use a patch or two.
    I don't get all the negativity really.
  4. Drogmir
    May 9, 2014
    7
    This game strikes me as something like a B movie version of Kingdoms of Amalur mixed with The Witcher 1.

    Storywise it's a kind of dark fantasy dark that's reminiscent of Dragon Age's you're the chosen one go save the world. Except that your character is a foul mouthed mercenary idiot, so it's kind of funny watching him spout really strange lines completely inconsistent with the    This game strikes me as something like a B movie version of Kingdoms of Amalur mixed with The Witcher 1.

    Storywise it's a kind of dark fantasy dark that's reminiscent of Dragon Age's you're the chosen one go save the world. Except that your character is a foul mouthed mercenary idiot, so it's kind of funny watching him spout really strange lines completely inconsistent with the atmosphere of the game.

    Your companions have enough character to make them interesting but not really that compelling. At the very least though they're more interesting to listen to than your main character.

    The demon aspect is a little underplayed but what is there works well enough.

    Gameplay wise- it's like an inferior version of Kingdom of Amalur's sort of scrappy skirmishing with deadliness more in vein with Darksouls. It's clear that Spiders didn't really take the time to balance it out as the skill trees are only worth investing into the Ranger mode and Pyromancy since their combat's interrupt mechanic makes anything slow a death trap.

    Graphics: They tend to vary from pretty nice to something cheaply off.

    Music: Actually pretty good, the vocals do a really good job without sounding too generic.

    Overall I liked it for what it is, a cheap B-movie worthy Fantasy fare RPG. It's functional but never brilliant. With a larger budget and a better writing team it could have been phenomenal instead of a good time waster.

    In a lot of ways it really does reminds me of the Witcher 1 before it received an overhaul patch which replaced the dialog to make it less silly and tonally weird. I think that's the kind of thing this game needs along with combat re balancing. If they could deliver it in the form of a patch it would go up 1-2 points easily.

    I only paid about $27 for it and I feel that's a fair price. Any higher though and I might have felt ripped off for the quality delivered.    … Expand
  5. Masatshi
    May 9, 2014
    7
    I thought this game was crap. Thankfully, I did not listen to the bad reviews and played it myself... okay I admit, the graphics suck, technically its a bit of a mess and the voice acting is really bad sometimes, but I like the gameplay, the story and the characters. This is not a hack-n-slay game, you have to think in battle, otherwise you die very quickly. If you think this plays likeI thought this game was crap. Thankfully, I did not listen to the bad reviews and played it myself... okay I admit, the graphics suck, technically its a bit of a mess and the voice acting is really bad sometimes, but I like the gameplay, the story and the characters. This is not a hack-n-slay game, you have to think in battle, otherwise you die very quickly. If you think this plays like DmC or something, go look elsewhere. This game is like a snack if you are hungry. It will not completely satisfy you, but you will be happy until the next big meal comes along...… Expand
  6. Proelio
    May 9, 2014
    5
    A mediocre game in all aspects. Visually it is awful. The music is fine, although the voice acting is painful. The story is absurd, childish and poorly led, on the other hand, it seems that the script is written by a 14 year old boy, full of expletives and cheap swagger like something out of DmC. All characters have a cocky, shameless and sassy attitude, like stupid clones.

    Luckily, the    A mediocre game in all aspects. Visually it is awful. The music is fine, although the voice acting is painful. The story is absurd, childish and poorly led, on the other hand, it seems that the script is written by a 14 year old boy, full of expletives and cheap swagger like something out of DmC. All characters have a cocky, shameless and sassy attitude, like stupid clones.

    Luckily, the gameplay gets saved, thanks to a relatively interesting battleplay but burdened by a rough and robotic movements and animations, plus a bad control. The customization system by crafting is simple but interesting. Partners give a little sparkle to the fighting.    … Expand
  7. rlilewis
    Feb 5, 2015
    6
    How any self respecting reviewer can give this game a 2 out of 10 (see "VideoGamer") is mind boggling. After just completing my full playthrough (clocked at 16 hours on steam) I think this game is actually worthy of 6/10 and I can easily see myself doing another run to find how the other alignment or combat styles play out.

    I'd like to confirm that I didn't get a single crash through    How any self respecting reviewer can give this game a 2 out of 10 (see "VideoGamer") is mind boggling. After just completing my full playthrough (clocked at 16 hours on steam) I think this game is actually worthy of 6/10 and I can easily see myself doing another run to find how the other alignment or combat styles play out.

    I'd like to confirm that I didn't get a single crash through this game and very few glitches that are even worth mentioning; I once dodged through a wall but didn't get stuck and it didn't impede my play, that's honestly all I can remember and it happened one time. This in stark contrast to games like Battlefield 4 and Rome 2 Total War, no doubt given 9 out of 10s from these idiot critics.

    This game was clearly designed for a controller but you can play with mouse and keyboard and has rebindable keys. I personally used an xbox style controller for my first playthrough and there are definitely some annoyances in the button mappings, the A key especially on the controller gets used far too often for opening doors, sheathing your weapon, picking up loot and even breaking stealth. On the flip side the B and Y buttons are barely used aside from hotkeys in combat. The keyboard/mouse combo has less shared function keys so I will probably use this for my next playthrough.

    I really don't understand why many are saying the voice acting and script writing are terrible; from these 2/10 professional imbecile reviewers I was expecting something on par with a terrible porn movie yet what I actually got was solid and often times humorous dialogue from unique sounding characters; it's such a breath of fresh air not to hear Steve Blum in a video game!

    The story is cliche and nothing amazing but it's serviceable and got me emotionally engaged on a few occasions, certainly more than I could say for the utter snore fest that was Skyrim.

    This game does seem to have a fascination with cut scenes, which can be very annoying especially if you're playing a stealth character that up till that point had remained undetected before suddenly being thrown into a cut scene and having your weapon switched out and stealth blown for no reason.

    Combat can be frustrating at times, but after learning the quirks of the combat system and speccing my character properly I could go for long periods without dying but if you drop the ball you can be very quickly killed. The boss fights are the real annoyances but at the same time they force you to think up strategies on how you're going to handle them using all the tools and skills available to you. There is definitely room for improvement however as the combat can feel clunky. The ranger for example has a dodge ability but they will only dodge backwards meaning you can often get backed into a corner. It would have been nice to dodge around an enemy or when dodging backwards have the ability to go further back in a single dodge. Also the ultimate ability for the range was terrible and I very rarely used it; it takes far too long to cast, doesn't last long enough and is just underwhelming for an ultimate ability.

    Another sticky point in the combat is the companions of which you can normally only have one. I think the game could have been significantly improved had they allowed 2 companions to cover your weaknesses. It doesn't help that the AI for your companions is about as intelligent as the moron that critic from "VideoGamer" that gave this game a 2/10; mage or archer characters for example will often just stand in a single spot getting repeatedly hit by melee attackers and none of the companions use their skills in an efficient manner, most of the time they will just spam the same skill over and over again despite the type of target they are fighting.

    All in all I thought this was a solid yet ultimately deeply flawed 6/10 action RPG game that I would recommend to fans of the genre although if you are a call of duty addled imbecile you may want to give it a pass.    … Expand
  8. Chaeote
    May 12, 2014
    7
    Ok, first off, the game isn't BAD... just...troubled.

    I'm gonna break it down into sections so you can understand easier. Also, gonna draw a lot of comparisons so you can see where this fits within the genre as a whole. Graphics: Pretty damn good actually, not SUPER realistic, but they fit the fantasy vibe, and the textures are GREAT, I'd put it about half-way between Dragon Age 2,    Ok, first off, the game isn't BAD... just...troubled.

    I'm gonna break it down into sections so you can understand easier. Also, gonna draw a lot of comparisons so you can see where this fits within the genre as a whole.

    Graphics: Pretty damn good actually, not SUPER realistic, but they fit the fantasy vibe, and the textures are GREAT, I'd put it about half-way between Dragon Age 2, and The Witcher 2.

    Sound: The soundtrack is GREAT. A bit repetitive when you spend so much time in one area, but what game isn't?, besides it's soothing. The sound effect are passable, though the fire spells could use a bit more bass-level oomph to em.

    Gameplay: Again, not bad. Repetitive combat? Sure, at times, one way around this is to max one of the Melee skill trees and get really good at dodging (daggers), or parrying (2-hander), It feels like a stepped up version of Dragon Age 2. Simple, but with a few little tricks here and there.

    With one problem: It's stupid hard. No, not just "hard", Dark Souls is HARD, this is STUPID. Enemies can make attacks that you can't, can stun-lock you (being knockdown, pushed back, and then clobbered over the head is just dumb when you cant do the same to the enemies).

    I know it sounds like a cheap way out...but just play the game on the lowest difficulty. There's no reason not to, and it seems to actually put the enemy damage on par with your own.

    The crafting system, is great too, everything is upgradable, and changes appearance with each upgrade. You have to pay attention though, cause certain upgrades aren't available on every piece of armor. So you have to decide if you want the armor that you can upgrade to increase your protections, or do you give some up for a piece of armor with bonus fire damage upgrades?

    Voice Acting/Writing: ...... ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    Ok... The voice actors themselves, aren't BAD, in fact I've noticed a few recognizable voices in the game too (Felicia Day, Claudia Black, a few others). The actual voice acting is... sub-par, it justs sounds like it's lacking production value, and sounds like it's phoned in a bit. People are harping on the female leads voice actor, and yea, it's weird, sometimes she sounds like Laura Bailey (which i can't confirm if it's her or not), but sometimes she sounds....drunk, is the only way I can put it, there's this weird slur she has in random scenes, that just sounds out of place.

    I'd say the biggest problem though, isn't the voice actors, but the writing.... holy **** A lot of the dialog is just FORCED, with meaningless (and weird) swearing. Right in the beginning of the game, the male protagonist will say "Caught with our asses hanging out", which makes sense... but then the female protagonist says "Caught with our asses in our hands"...uh what? Shouldn't it be "...with our dicks in our hands?", or be the same as the male protagonist?

    There's also a LOT of lines, that I know are suppose to be snarky and sarcastic, but the way they come off, is just weird, like when actors take their roles just a bit too seriously, even though they're playing in a comedy.

    The writing is probably the biggest complaint I have, but honestly, if you can put up with the writing and voice-acting from games like Risen, or Dragon's Dogma (which, let's be honest, the voice acting in those games...wasn't very good...) Then you'll be fine here.

    Speaking of which, I'd say the overall feel of the game, is very much Dragon Age 2 crossed with Risen. If you like those, give this a try, the game isn't perfect by any means, and there's definitely some noticeable... errors, in it's production value, but it's not BAD.

    Besides, except for Dark Souls 2, what other Action RPG/ Dungeon Crawler can youn play right now, until Witcher and Dragon Age 3 come out?    … Expand
  9. OutWithTheOld
    Jun 30, 2017
    7
    It's obviously not a high budget masterpiece, but i enjoyed it a lot.
    -Graphics are fine, apart from the speech animations, which seem to throw me back to ps2 era.
    -Story is decent. The whole demon possession is a great concept. The execution is a little lacking however. Some of the voice acting is a little stiff and the humor is hit or miss. -Combat really saves the game, but its not    It's obviously not a high budget masterpiece, but i enjoyed it a lot.
    -Graphics are fine, apart from the speech animations, which seem to throw me back to ps2 era.
    -Story is decent. The whole demon possession is a great concept. The execution is a little lacking however. Some of the voice acting is a little stiff and the humor is hit or miss.
    -Combat really saves the game, but its not for people who want to bull rush through. You're going to get your ass kicked, especially if you're impatient.

    All in all I'd say it's flawed, but enjoyable. Get it in a sale.    … Expand
  10. AbeMC
    Jul 10, 2017
    5
    Bound By Flame is a checklist attempt by a small studio at a BioWare-style RPG. High level of polish, decent story, and some interesting characters, but claustrophobic level design, low-res textures, unexciting voice acting, and a nonsensical final boss make this a “meh” recommendation.
    Total size on my hard drive: 4.7 GB
    - - I’m putting a negative at the top because it needs to be    Bound By Flame is a checklist attempt by a small studio at a BioWare-style RPG. High level of polish, decent story, and some interesting characters, but claustrophobic level design, low-res textures, unexciting voice acting, and a nonsensical final boss make this a “meh” recommendation.
    Total size on my hard drive: 4.7 GB

    - - I’m putting a negative at the top because it needs to be seen, even if you don’t bother with the rest of the review. The final boss is insanely hard, even on easy mode. Search the forums, you’ll find pages of threads asking for help. It is possible to play the entire game a certain way, and be completely unprepared for the final boss. Craft tons of traps and crossbow bolts, they will help. But be prepared for at least a dozen attempts. Given how easy the rest of combat is in the game, the final boss is nonsensical ****

    + The choice and consequence is real. Several choices are mutually exclusive, and actions taken throughout the game can affect certain story aspects prior to the ending fight. Depending on your actions taken in the game, all ending choices may not be available to you.
    + Incredibly high level of polish. The game may have been made by a relatively unknown developer with small resources, but everything from the menus to the sound effects to opening doors all has a high-quality look and feel. Never had a single crash, either.
    + Clean and clear in-game user interface.
    + The story seems fairly standard at first, but once you delve deeper into who or what is “bound by flame,” the narrative drives itself forward at a good pace.
    + While not deep, there is a nice crafting system for customizing weapons and armors.
    + Outside of combat and cut-scenes, manually save or quick-save anywhere, any time. Also has a good checkpoint system.

    +/- Voice acting is hit-or-miss, sometimes within a single role. The protagonist might have a boring delivery of some lines, then be spot on with the next line (for male or female). Most of the supporting voice-acting is well done.
    +/- The graphics have some excellent god-rays. Otherwise, they’re serviceable but nothing outstanding. They look more like 2010 than 2014 (which is when Bound By Flame released). Not saying that’s a bad thing – some games from 2010 have fantastic graphics – but they definitely don’t look like more recent releases.
    +/- Combat is timing-based. If you try to bull through every situation, you might survive, but you’ll go through consumables fast (and you WON’T survive the final boss, no matter how hard you try). Timing block or dodge correctly allows the use of ripostes / counters.
    +/- Characters are generally well-drawn, even if they fit into adventure story cliches. Attempts at humor mostly fall flat.
    +/- Decent soundtrack by Olivier Deriviere, but the looping ambient tracks are either not long enough (they loop too quickly) or there aren’t enough of them.

    - Short, about 8-10 hours. I have so many hours in the game at the time of writing (47) because I rage-quit and completely started over several times before I figured out the "correct" way to play. (The rage-quits were inspired by the final boss.)
    - Some choices have real consequences, several do not. Temper your expectations.
    - Inconsistent language. “Yeah, whaddaya think?” can be heard seconds after a common soldier says, “By your leave, my lord / lady.” Also plenty of f-bombs thrown around to demonstrate that Bound By Flame is a “serious” game.
    - Enemies are endlessly re-used.
    - Warrior can’t tank damage that well, making Ranger the only viable class.
    - The characters might have potential, but there is never enough time to know them. While the curious will click through the dialogue, there’s little reason to do so.
    - Close, claustrophobic levels. Most of the levels are a series of corridors. Sometimes this works in the game’s favor – one of the them feels like a maze – but that close, confined feeling persists throughout.
    - No facial animations. The mouths move correctly when a character is speaking, but it looks wooden and awkward.
    - The romances are short and add very little to the game. Almost as though somebody was following a checklist of things in a BioWare game. “Dragon Age has romance-able characters? Then we need some, too!”

    And, as previously mentioned, that final boss. That final boss and ending is narratively the best part of the game. Resolve things, make an important choice while some fantastic music plays – but the frustration of dying over and over still lingered and completely ruined any chance the ending had to leave a good final impression. When combined with the numerous game design elements that are close to the mark but fail to hit, Bound By Flame can never reach the height of its aspirations.    … Expand
  11. CasualPCGamer
    May 12, 2014
    7
    In Bound by Flame you play as Vulcan, a Mercenary of the Freeborn Blades possessed by a 'Flame' Demon.

    The story is quite well thought out and was compelling enough to keep me playing till the end, now on my second play-through. With a few large-impact decisions to make, the game adds a quite a little replay value to it. There are also a horde of optional side-quests for you to    In Bound by Flame you play as Vulcan, a Mercenary of the Freeborn Blades possessed by a 'Flame' Demon.

    The story is quite well thought out and was compelling enough to keep me playing till the end, now on my second play-through. With a few large-impact decisions to make, the game adds a quite a little replay value to it. There are also a horde of optional side-quests for you to complete; which I completed all that I could find, i probably clocked around 17-18 hours of gameplay. I will not elaborate on this any further for risk of spoilers, but it does keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next.

    The graphics is beyond a doubt, quite beautiful, despite minor glitches, such as NPCs (Non-Playing Characters) disappearing prematurely or even whilst talking to them, but we have to keep in mind their limited budget for this game and it isn't exactly game-breaking. The layout of the map isn't always convenient or elegant, but it's not too linear or dull either. My only complaint is on Act III, when you find yourself in a labyrinth of corridors and continuously running up and down to reach your destination, having no town portals or anything related to quick-travel. Having to constantly check your map to navigate to certain areas can give you a small headache. Luckily, Act III appears to be the shortest.

    With a compelling and engaging storyline and decent graphics, comes the game's downfall: Gameplay and Combat. Despite the default and standard UI (User-interface) which is pretty easy to understand, the combat and camera can be just dreadful at times. With a lock-on system that annoyingly seem to miss some targets after one is killed, having to keep locking on can be tedious. Among that keeping an eye on targets can be difficult with the way the camera controls. It can take some getting used to, especially for those without patience; but after about 2 hours you'll be dodging and parrying like a pro; which can be repetitive at times but still; the addition of slow-motion effects for critical hits makes up a little. The Warrior Stance seems to be completely useless as it feels so slow and out of place I immediately switched to Ranger. Annoyingly, dodging is also limited to the Ranger's class, which makes the Warrior Stance an even more bad choice. In my experience, the Crossbow is also irrelevant as later on it does very little damage, even after upgrading it. The game also suffers from some imbalances, as just after the Prologue I was shooting fireballs like there was no tomorrow, one hitting all enemies from close range through Act I and even most of Act 2. I was able to get most of the Pyromancer spec just by playing the Prologue. Despite these quirks and issues, once you get the hang of the Combat it can become mildly addictive and fun.

    The game has quite an elegant crafting system, in which you can use ingredients looted from enemies and chests to craft exploding traps (which i rarely used), bolts for your crossbow, and health and mana potions. You can also combine certain ingredients which can then be used to upgrade every piece of equipment you own, except your helmet afaik. Gear can also be dismantled for certain ingredients, which I personally felt was more fruitful than selling them. Upgrades on gear are also seen visually on your character. All in all a nice addition to the game.

    NPC's are a huge part of the game, as it should be in an RPG. Hundreds (if not thousands) of voice-recorded dialogues are available should you care to listen to them. I, of course with my OCD, exhausted nearly every option there is. Companion NPC's don't exactly have the highest DPS, but they serve as a decent distraction which can sometimes allow you to get in that killing blow from behind. They have their own spells which they cast autonomously, some heal and some damage. You have the ability to configure their behaviors somewhat, but I found that it doesn't really matter all that much.

    The soundtrack, if I'm not mistaken, changes between Acts, although if you listen to every dialogue like me, listening to the same ambient sound can drive you mad. So a little repetitive, it still captures the environment to a point of satisfaction.

    I would have hoped for a longer and more concise ending cinematic, but considering all the other cinematics throughout the game I can't complain too much. The animations in the cinematics are really good, seeing Vulcan busting out some Bruce Lee moves is really entertaining to watch. The speech animation is awful, however. I find that every time someone speaks I'm yelling "Enunciate!!". Still the rest of the animations are pretty decent.

    So despite some quirks and problems with the Combat system, Bound By Flame throws you into an entertaining and beautiful world with a decent plot and quite memorable characters. If you are an RPG fanatic like me, and still waiting for Dragon Age: Inquisition, I would definitely recommend Bound By Flame.    … Expand
  12. cizzlebot
    May 9, 2014
    7
    It's disappointing to see so many negative reviews, which clearly stem from a lack of patience and unrealistic comparisons to other, higher budget games. Bound By Flame is it's own game, with plenty of fun and charm. When you go in with an open mind and enjoy the game for what it is, you'll be happy you did.

    The story is interesting and not entirely unoriginal, like many would have you    It's disappointing to see so many negative reviews, which clearly stem from a lack of patience and unrealistic comparisons to other, higher budget games. Bound By Flame is it's own game, with plenty of fun and charm. When you go in with an open mind and enjoy the game for what it is, you'll be happy you did.

    The story is interesting and not entirely unoriginal, like many would have you believe. There is nothing dull or stale about it. You feel like you want to stop the bad guys, because it's important. What's even more interesting is HOW you stop them, based on decisions that will impact your character, and the story itself.

    The variety of NPCs and companions is also really nice. There's a huge range of personalities and the unfiltered conversations/banter is refreshing. Some of the voice acting leaves something to be desired, but overall it's done well enough, and seems more realistic in it's raw, unrefined state. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, which I highly appreciate in these types of games. A little humor goes a long way.

    The combat is fluid and feels "right" when you get the hang of the controls. Don't expect to blindly button mash your way through the game -- you'll die, a lot. The three skill trees are all useful, but definitely consider going heavier in one over the others for your main play style and damage output. The more you play and develop your skills, the more you'll feel like you're actually getting stronger.

    The music in this game is actually one of my favorite things about it. It's absolutely beautiful, and gives the game a very good vibe.

    The graphics are good. They're nothing crazy or jaw dropping that will push your PC over the edge, but it would be somewhat trivial to ask for anything better. There is plenty of variety in environments, characters, equipment, and weapons -- plenty to look at and enjoy.

    Overall, I simply do not understand how anyone can think this is even remotely a bad game. If they gave it a real chance and took their time playing, I believe they'd have a very different opinion after a few hours. Anyway, if you're still on the fence and ABSOLUTELY need some kind of comparison, I'd say it's like a mix of Risen, The Witcher, and Dragon Age 2. Although seriously.. It really is it's own game, and it's a lot of fun! Don't let the bad reviews scare you away. I truly think it's worth the purchase, especially if you can get it at a discount, which we all know there are plenty of these days. :)    … Expand
  13. PEnchan707
    Mar 23, 2020
    6
    I've mostly enjoyed my time with this game. Though it's ambitious, overstretches its reach in places and also rough around the edges, it's still one of the better rpgs out there.

    The graphics are decent enough to provide a good atmosphere, with a more adult, gritty feel than say, Kingdoms of Amalur. Animations are good as well as the combat effects, magic etc. The voice acting is    I've mostly enjoyed my time with this game. Though it's ambitious, overstretches its reach in places and also rough around the edges, it's still one of the better rpgs out there.

    The graphics are decent enough to provide a good atmosphere, with a more adult, gritty feel than say, Kingdoms of Amalur. Animations are good as well as the combat effects, magic etc.

    The voice acting is inconsistent with a handful of decent ones and the rest ranging from bad to mediocre. The script itself is also of varying quality, but is good enough to be genuinely funny at times and also of a decent enough level of quality to keep yo engaged when it matters most. The style is more Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings though, so be aware there's bad language to be heard everywhere.

    The soundtrack is, overall, very good, with some atmospheric ambiance tunes as well as some decent pieces of more dramatic music.

    The combat system itself is above average, with two main fighting styles supplemented with traps and magic (again, somewhat like The Witcher) and requires you to switch between them based on the type of enemy you are facing and their numbers. You'll probably need to play a higher difficulty setting to enjoy this facet fully though since an easier setting will allow you to simply click your way through. As with the rest of the game though, it can be rough around the edges.

    There's an upgrading system for weapons and armour which is nice and adds some customisation both in effects and visualisation but it's not particularly deep. Still, it adds rather than takes away from the game so it's definitely good to have.

    The U.I and menu's are straightforward and easy to use.

    The story is a blatant melange of a currently popular fantasy tv show and other recent movies but is delivered sincerely enough, with enough heart and backstory to hold your interest, even if it doesn't last long in the mind. The choices you make also feel as though they matter, even if the actual impact within the game world isn't particularly strong.

    The more I write, the more I realise how much it reminds me of the original Witcher in terms of game mechanics, style and ambition. It's a game which is very good despite needing a bit of forgiveness for some of the design elements and uneven quality, though it must be said I still enjoyed the original Witcher substantially more.

    Surprised at some of the really low, 4/10 or worse, reviews out there. I'll be cheeky and make an assumption and say that if it was a game from a big publisher you could add 2-3 points to those low scores.

    As for myself, I couldn't find a way to do decimals and 7 seems just a bit too low. A 7.5 rounded up then :)    … Expand
  14. ParasiticYoshi
    May 10, 2014
    7
    I'll admit I had some high expectations for this game to be honest. It didn't deliver to them at all
    Pros!: Funny dialog, I had some funny moments in this game, some moments your siting there and just laughing so hard at the stupidity of it you just cant help. (I played this with 4-5 other people at the same time.)
    Demonic morality mechanics: This is where it had the most fun with my    I'll admit I had some high expectations for this game to be honest. It didn't deliver to them at all
    Pros!: Funny dialog, I had some funny moments in this game, some moments your siting there and just laughing so hard at the stupidity of it you just cant help. (I played this with 4-5 other people at the same time.)
    Demonic morality mechanics: This is where it had the most fun with my friends, we would vote for every choice to make, and some funny things happened some no so... and the whole turning into the demon if your evil enough is quite fun.
    Now the cons:
    Romance: it would have been better to just not include it. for me it was kinda random, one moment I'm looking that this relic of power talking with my companion and the next thing i know I getting a make out scene and then a fade to black. I didn't even think i was romancing my companion!
    Combat: For the love of god this has to be the biggest killer for the game in my opinion, The warrior stance tree is useless, You have no back step or anything similar, Ranger stance tree is nothing but just mashing back-step and tapping right click for uncharged heavy attacks. Pyromancy tree its only useful with the Ranger stance, Your fire skills aside from flaming weapons and the fire armor skill are useless for the most part.
    Graphics: They look pretty good. I'd compare them to Mass Effect 2 as far as quality goes. Though there's a big problem with the quality of the maps structure, mapping and attention to detail, The first 2-3 areas are wonderful looking. (The mountain side, Swamp, and parts of the frozen city.) Then there are other places that are just copy and pasting of props and such.(Blackfost Domain)

    But in light of all of its short comings If you can get your hands on it for 20-30 bucks its worth checking out, Its a type of dragon's age/kingdoms of Amalur cross over with some demon morality mechanics.
    It;s a good game to play in your off time with a bunch of friends to play around with, Don't take the game seriously or you'll be let down.    … Expand
  15. MadclownJack
    Jun 15, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Oh man...It's them again...I mean, what's there left to be said? Should i talk about the squandered possibility for a good game, hell, a coherent plot to emerge from all of this? Maybe about the lackluster graphics, the weird, rigid battle system and confusing menus? Same as "Of Orcs and Men" and "Mars War Logs", the story gets lost in stupid, STUPID dialogue. The characters are boring and possibly bipolar, their voices void of any semblance of emotion, but somehow chock full of unnecessary curse words and something that can only be described as unwarranted "gritty epicness". They constantly spew exposition and make you feel like you're on the outside of a really fun, engaging inside joke. There's a really ridiculous moment, when your character is possessed by an unknown force and manages to beat a huge boss, after which they go from deathly frightened and confused to cocky in two lines of text. Spiders should seriously try and get better voice actors. I don't believe preschoolers read this badly. The plot is basically every fantasy RPG you've ever played. There's some GoT elements here and there, a little Dragon Age, Witcher, in short, it's appears to be a love letter to current popular trends with the purpose of reaching a wider audience and confusing all of them. You should play this game as just for the sake of experiencing it. It's like a B movie that you can play.… Expand
  16. SilverStone
    Jun 25, 2014
    6
    Deleted it after I finished it. It's an OK game which gets even interesting at a certain point. It feels like they've done the beginning, the middle (loved it, but only the gameplay not the story) and the ending is....well. I didn't feel that it was the ending.. felt like something is gonna happen after. However the closure is there and it is acceptable. You know there are games whichDeleted it after I finished it. It's an OK game which gets even interesting at a certain point. It feels like they've done the beginning, the middle (loved it, but only the gameplay not the story) and the ending is....well. I didn't feel that it was the ending.. felt like something is gonna happen after. However the closure is there and it is acceptable. You know there are games which you beat and leave on your PC just because.. this I deleted instantly. One time game. Said for an RPG.… Expand
  17. R6ex
    May 11, 2014
    7
    Oh, I was so hungry for a decent RPG game ... and the sudden appearance of Bound By Flame was a pleasant surprise! I'm in the midst of my 2nd playthrough, and having the kind of fun not too dis-similar to my past new-game-plus for Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. Sure, this is an Indie title, nowhere near as polished as the aforementioned AAA titles, but I'm enjoyed the story and amOh, I was so hungry for a decent RPG game ... and the sudden appearance of Bound By Flame was a pleasant surprise! I'm in the midst of my 2nd playthrough, and having the kind of fun not too dis-similar to my past new-game-plus for Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. Sure, this is an Indie title, nowhere near as polished as the aforementioned AAA titles, but I'm enjoyed the story and am still having fun building my character to both have romance and conquer the world! :) For $33, I learnt to ignore the poor facial character animation and focus on what positives it had offered - absorbing soundtrack, a decent story that catches my attention, sweet NPC options I can romance, pretty nice graphics at 1080p60fps on my PC and engaging tactical battles. Its nice to have this title to tide me over till DA:I hits in October, but for others who're less keen on RPGs, this title may be worth only $20 to you. For me, it was $$$ well-spent as it gave me a good time when I needed it. While this title is probably a 6.5/10 in reality, I think the effort and timing of the release of this kind of title deserves more support.… Expand
  18. janki
    May 12, 2014
    7
    The game has a lot of potential bud sadly a lot has been rushed. Biggest issues include, bugs, under developed npc companions, clunky combat at times. The story is decent and could be developed into something better. ACT I is really good but the game just goes downhill from there.

    I feel the game is decent. SPIDERS is a small studio so I wasn't expecting a game like the Witcher or    The game has a lot of potential bud sadly a lot has been rushed. Biggest issues include, bugs, under developed npc companions, clunky combat at times. The story is decent and could be developed into something better. ACT I is really good but the game just goes downhill from there.

    I feel the game is decent. SPIDERS is a small studio so I wasn't expecting a game like the Witcher or Dragon Age. It's enjoyable. Only that.    … Expand
  19. elManicho
    May 10, 2014
    5
    The goods: + awesome crafting system, equipment can be upgraded on the fly and change visually with every upgrade. + nice music + good UI + bugs are few and non game breaking, nothing that can't be easily squished with a patch or 2 + 3 skill trees, mix and match for some customization.
    The bads:
    - Generic story, predictable and unoriginal. Lore and motivations of different factions are    The goods: + awesome crafting system, equipment can be upgraded on the fly and change visually with every upgrade. + nice music + good UI + bugs are few and non game breaking, nothing that can't be easily squished with a patch or 2 + 3 skill trees, mix and match for some customization.
    The bads:
    - Generic story, predictable and unoriginal. Lore and motivations of different factions are not developed. Nothing to write home about.
    - poor dialog and voice acting
    - average gameplay, clunky combat consisting of mashing 2 buttons from start to finish with the occasional flame spell and trap thrown in, lack of tactics as all encounters plays the same.
    - bland "hero", one liners that felt forced and lack of charisma made me indifferent about the protagonist
    - companions are useless in combat, forgettable, and have no depth and characterization. You can solo the game and not miss anything of note.
    - lack of a credible antagonist, just witless undead, no Irenicus or Saren here, move along.
    - unpolished, stiff animations, but can't ask more from a relatively small studio.
    - plastic graphics that breaks what little immersion I tried to have. again Bound By Budget.
    - Ending is rushed and quite frankly as insignificant as the rest of the game.
    - short campaign with no replay value (13 hours on highest difficulty, with all side quests done, most are fetch quests)
    Overall not impressed. Can hold some interest if lower your expectations, you don't mind spending $40 on an average game and have nothing else to play.    … Expand
  20. RedDestiny
    May 10, 2014
    6
    Overall (6/10): Combat starts off challenging, then certain upgraded traits make them a cakewalk. Enemies only increase in HP, not in tactics or difficulty. Crafting is upgrades-only, no actual equipment is made, but only found. Story is straight-forward, but unfortunately with no surprises. Most characters aren't well-developed, with some bad-voice acting making it worse. Wait for theOverall (6/10): Combat starts off challenging, then certain upgraded traits make them a cakewalk. Enemies only increase in HP, not in tactics or difficulty. Crafting is upgrades-only, no actual equipment is made, but only found. Story is straight-forward, but unfortunately with no surprises. Most characters aren't well-developed, with some bad-voice acting making it worse. Wait for the price to go down, or for the next RPG to come out. Bound by Flames is a decent RPG experience, somewhere about 30-40 hours to complete.

    Story (6/10): We don't get closure on all characters, a certain sorceress is notably missing in the epilogue, and some members of your initial mercenary group are unaccounted for. There are WILD leaps in logic during some story segments, most notably the one by your Captain near the end of the 2nd act (the Elven City), and character development is spotty with most of the characters, with the Knight (Randval) being the worst. The ending is, sadly, disappointing.

    Gameplay (7/10): The beginning is harder than the end, where it boils down to attack-attack-dodge-attack. Once certain traits are upgraded, you can follow that pattern ad nauseum. Enemies don't change tactics when you increase the difficulty, nor do they have much variety. In the end it's a matter of wearing down their HP bars (and those bars get HUGE in the last act). The crafting system is quite simplistic, with upgrades to equipment allowed, but crafting actual gear is not. Instead, gear is found and can then be upgraded.

    Visuals/Audio (7/10): Music fits the atmosphere, but is generic, and forgettable. Visuals remind me of a cross between Dragon Age Origins/2. Hilarious glitches where a character constantly/suddenly changes between standing/sitting, and having companions stand idle in the background while you fight a boss, are quite entertaining, but immersion-breaking. The voice-acting is serviceable in most of the game, but with some hilariously-bad exceptions.    … Expand
  21. expellite
    May 12, 2014
    7
    This is not a 10/10 game, undoubtedly and I just want to help the game but be sure that it's more than a 7/10 game. This time I agree with Gameinformer which gave it 8 out of 10. I just installed the game and played it for a few minutes and guess what! I loved the atmosphere of Vertiel. I like everything except voice acting which can be neglected for a low budget game.
  22. Nataraja
    May 11, 2014
    5
    General Impression: Bound by flame is a decent skill based action RPG. It won't set the world on fire (no pun intended) but it is still a decent game that is mostly hindered by its rush to market and limited funding. It is very underdeveloped but is most interesting for its entry as a new IP (great atmosphere), combat mechanics, difficult but not unfair rule set (yes, you will die AGeneral Impression: Bound by flame is a decent skill based action RPG. It won't set the world on fire (no pun intended) but it is still a decent game that is mostly hindered by its rush to market and limited funding. It is very underdeveloped but is most interesting for its entry as a new IP (great atmosphere), combat mechanics, difficult but not unfair rule set (yes, you will die A LOT), and decent but not incredible graphics rendered by the proprietary Silk engine. I should also mention that if you played Mars War Logs and either liked or hated that game, your reactions to this game are bound to be identical as they are VERY similar.

    Character Development: 1 - One of my biggest issues with the game is that Vulcan (they always refer to him as Vulcan, just like Commander Sheppard is always Sheppard) is NOT a likable character no matter what you do. He is, frankly, a complete **** no matter what. I suppose that is a design choice but a very poor design choice in my mind, as when I act as a hero my actions need to reflect that role. In Bound by Flame that is not possible. That may be due to the demon that is your new room mate, but if I am struggling to keep my humanity it needs to be worth my time to do so and that means being a person that I can like - a decent human being. Otherwise I may as well just be demon and let it take over and blame being a complete **** on my new found soul possession. This is where Spiders really missed the boat.

    Story: 4 - This is where I care the most and unfortunately I found that I didn't care about the story because I hated my character. The story is full of cliche but has moments of originality. The conversation trees are occasionally interesting and the lore is pretty expansive. Vulcan was such an over the top **** that I just wanted him to shut up and stop with awkward and painful dialog. Overall the story is okay and not earth shattering by any means and suffers from inconsistent writing and dialog.

    Voice Acting: 5 - The voice acting is extremely variable - ranging from cringe worthy to above average even within a single actor's performance. The Captain is the best of the voices followed by Randval but the rest of the cast is uneven at best. For example Vulcan, the main character, is at times spot on but when the dialogue is awkward, which is more often the case than not, his (I played the male version) voice acting makes it even more awkward with a tone of "you really want me saying this?" under the poorly written and painfully delivered lines. Sybil is the WORST voice with a slight Valley Girl inflection and is so amateurish that I found it painful to complete dialog with the character.

    Combat: 7 - The combat system is interesting in its reliance on the three varieties of skills and you MUST become proficient, at a minimum, with 2 handed weapons dual wielding. The game is NOT forgiving for button mashing in a Diablo-esque manner and requires timing like Ryse or in some sense Dark Soul 1 & 2. Patience is REQUIRED. You cannot button mash through encounters, particularly boss fights. If you do you WILL DIE, repeatedly until you change your tactics. In that sense it is very much like Dark Souls and you are left with knowing that it is not the game that unfairly killed you but your own mistakes that killed you.

    Game play systems: 7- The lock on targeting is awkward and at times will drop off completely for no reason or will switch to an off screen enemy making it frustrating to work with. Companion NPCs are varied in their usefulness but are clearly meant to complement your main playing style. Traps are useful and add a great strategic twist to the game when dealing with groups of enemies. Conversation trees are a nice touch though not well developed.

    Crafting: 7 - Crafting matters and plays a role in the game as it is the edge that you will need to overcome certain encounters. The crafting system is well done but the resource access errs on the side of being too scarce.

    Customization: 5 - Very limited character creation but crafting provides a decent level of customization.

    Sound: 7 - Decently developed sound but not incredible.

    Soundtrack: 9 - The best part of this game is its soundtrack (with the exception of the intro score that I did not care for) is excellent and the best part of the game.

    Overall score: 5. If Spiders had more resources and spent more time in development - particularly writing and voice acting - this game could have easily hit good instead of passable and been in the range of an 8. I do think that Spiders has tremendous potential as a company and with better access to capital and other resources could become a strong indie developer.    … Expand
  23. Ingrod
    May 18, 2014
    5
    I played through all the game and definitely this is a not buy.
    The combat can be fun but at times it will get frustrating, some of the hitboxes or FX of some of the spells of they enemies are horribly displayed, archers can and will fire when you are right behind them facing away from you which I found stupid.
    Lip sync was horrible, in the end I would just read the subtitles rather than    I played through all the game and definitely this is a not buy.
    The combat can be fun but at times it will get frustrating, some of the hitboxes or FX of some of the spells of they enemies are horribly displayed, archers can and will fire when you are right behind them facing away from you which I found stupid.
    Lip sync was horrible, in the end I would just read the subtitles rather than look at the character models wiggling their mouths in weird ways.
    Huge amount of backtracking from one quest to another without the world being open or adding a decent amount of optional quests to make up for it.
    Graphics were enjoyable, lightning was good, I really enjoyed the music but I must say the changes from tracks at the final area with the final boss were really bad and confusing.    … Expand
  24. farshal
    May 9, 2014
    6
    Dull dialogs, bad vocalizations, bad map designs, not an open world , bad combat , unnatural animations etc. etc. etc.

    The year 2014 , and we have a 6-7gb files of this game ... Don't expect too much...
  25. 0hope
    May 12, 2014
    6
    First of all most ppl compare Bound by Flame to Mass Effect or some other more famous game which is kinda wrong considering difference in budget of those game. If it can be compared to anything it is to its predecessor Mars:War logs and must say that there are some improvements like bit better story telling and actually bearable voice over.

    But regarding combat game have same issues    First of all most ppl compare Bound by Flame to Mass Effect or some other more famous game which is kinda wrong considering difference in budget of those game. If it can be compared to anything it is to its predecessor Mars:War logs and must say that there are some improvements like bit better story telling and actually bearable voice over.

    But regarding combat game have same issues which leads me to believe it has to do with their game engine. Controls are bit clunky at times but once you get used to them game is actually enjoyable. And while talking about combat there comes next problem, difficulty curve is static with rather nasty jumps at certain points in game but it starts rather high on beginning of game regardless of difficulty that you chose.
    Which has probably turned off most ppl but once you get few levels, upgrades and what not, game becomes better if you manage to hold your interest in it that long.

    I have finished the game twice and actually had fun with it but it would be a lot of better if they rebalanced game as there are balance issue in skills as well. Especially underpowered feels warrior stance because its slow thus making you easy to interrupt.

    Other then that i only wish that 'world' maps ware bit bigger as they are used for all side/main quests in area but at least the recycling part of old maps is not as bad as in Dragon Age 2. Basically you clear one area do some progress in story and then move to another. Main story does it job serving as distraction so the feeling of deja vu does not lurks around of every corner.

    My score is 6/10 with some rebalance patch that could easily be 8/10 so if you love rpgs and even more Bioware type of rpgs then its worth buying or at least waiting till its on sale or something.    … Expand
  26. Witcharob
    May 20, 2014
    5
    I pre-ordered this game expecting it to be fun, it had a lot good ideas (not original, but good). I normally don't buy a game before I see a review and this game has reinforced doing that practice. What a disappointment!

    Every single aspect of it is poorly executed: the characters, the voice acting, the development of the story, the GAMEPLAY! This game is the definition of mediocre at    I pre-ordered this game expecting it to be fun, it had a lot good ideas (not original, but good). I normally don't buy a game before I see a review and this game has reinforced doing that practice. What a disappointment!

    Every single aspect of it is poorly executed: the characters, the voice acting, the development of the story, the GAMEPLAY! This game is the definition of mediocre at it's best. One thing that particularly annoyed me was that fact that the theme track keeps playing over and over, both in menus and in game.

    If you want an immersive, flexible, good story, good gameplay western RPG, play Kingdoms of Amalur instead. Bound by Flame is pretty much a failed version of it.    … Expand
  27. nima1990
    May 20, 2014
    6
    Bound By Flame is an ok RPG that comes handy at these times of RPG cravings. No dark souls II is not an RPG. Voice acting, the ending, narrative, everything is mediocre at best, but combat is fun and some visuals are stunning. overall it was a pleasing experience for me that could even top dragon age if the ideas were executed properly and the game was no notoriously short.
  28. fawert1
    May 11, 2014
    5
    Dark Souls II makes this game look like total garbage. The visual is decent but that's it. Combat mechanic - bad; Voice acting - terrible; Story - didn't get it. Overall, wouldn't recommend this as an action RPG (or any game genre this piece of trash is considered to be)
  29. PresCthulhu
    Jul 6, 2014
    6
    I would say the game is medicore in every possible way. Okay graphics, passable story, hard combat system with okay mechanics. The demon possession thing was done before (and I think better) in Dark Messiah. The music is good, but the voice actors are mostly terrible. Since it was done by a small studio and I had some fun with it and since thankfully I waited for a sale I would rate itI would say the game is medicore in every possible way. Okay graphics, passable story, hard combat system with okay mechanics. The demon possession thing was done before (and I think better) in Dark Messiah. The music is good, but the voice actors are mostly terrible. Since it was done by a small studio and I had some fun with it and since thankfully I waited for a sale I would rate it slightly about 5...… Expand
  30. adff500
    May 18, 2014
    5
    Pros:
    + Great Music
    + Companions + Crafting + Graphics are ok on max settings + Stable release day one (very rare nowadays) Cons: - Horrible,clunky and unfair combat system - You cannot knock down enemies - You cannot grab enemies - You cannot roll or jump - Enemies can knock you down in single blow - When enemies knock you down your collision is always on,so you get hit again    Pros:
    + Great Music
    + Companions
    + Crafting
    + Graphics are ok on max settings
    + Stable release day one (very rare nowadays)
    Cons:
    - Horrible,clunky and unfair combat system
    - You cannot knock down enemies
    - You cannot grab enemies
    - You cannot roll or jump
    - Enemies can knock you down in single blow
    - When enemies knock you down your collision is always on,so you get hit again until you die
    - Unbalanced classes (Healer is the best)
    - Unbalanced shop prices (Healing Potion 40 Gold and Mana Potion 150 Gold !! )
    - No Co-op or Multiplayer (Why not? There are six characters)
    - The Replay value is questionable as your decisions dont change the story or levels much.
    - Despite the 7 Ice Lords several times mentioned in the game,you will see only one of them. (I get it, if the base game sells well,we will see DLC with the rest)

    Average Hack-and-Slash game for one player only. If you like games like Hunted: TDF or LOTR: War in the North,this game might be for you. Wait for sale.    … Expand
  31. Banhammer0
    Jun 9, 2014
    5
    I had some fun with this game but it's been a drag mostly, with no incentive to finish it.
    I think the worst part is the writing and the story - characters feel flat and silly, including the PC.
    PC is a big problem, because well, he's a dimwit. You usually play smart guys in cRPGs, that are sly and cunning. Well our main hero aka the random mercenary with nopersonal story tries to be as    I had some fun with this game but it's been a drag mostly, with no incentive to finish it.
    I think the worst part is the writing and the story - characters feel flat and silly, including the PC.
    PC is a big problem, because well, he's a dimwit. You usually play smart guys in cRPGs, that are sly and cunning. Well our main hero aka the random mercenary with nopersonal story tries to be as well but (probably unintentionally) he often comes off as mentally challenged compared to other characters that literally have to explain him what's happening. This and other issues made it impossible for me to hook up on the story and actually care. World development was such an issue - do we get a world map, a travel system, some nice books with lore ? No, nothing - just your imagination and best guess to guide you through this shallow world.
    The combat is the strongest part of the game, it requires a bit of thinking, looks good and controls feel responsive. Skill trees are another strong part, they are pretty well designed and you can specialize into 2h weapons, two daggers or fire magic, although you will be able to almost max out two of the trees if you do side quests.
    It has a lot of flaws but some well done parts too, so it would be unfair to say it's a bad game - it's not a good game either, just an average 5/10 title.    … Expand
  32. Sabatasso
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    Despite it's rather unflattering reviews I decided to give this game a chance. I'm glad I did, it's fun and pleasing to look at. Is it hard? Well, that depends on your difficulty settings and the difference between easiest and second easiest (couldn't remember the names of the settings at the moment) is huge. I played on the easiest setting because I didn't find the combat as rewarding asDespite it's rather unflattering reviews I decided to give this game a chance. I'm glad I did, it's fun and pleasing to look at. Is it hard? Well, that depends on your difficulty settings and the difference between easiest and second easiest (couldn't remember the names of the settings at the moment) is huge. I played on the easiest setting because I didn't find the combat as rewarding as it easily could've been. By that I mean that the actual combat mechanics is interesting enough, it's the lack of interesting enemies that limits the system completely. The story is fairly decent and the game does have a small degree of replay value. Once or twice, perhaps. I usually play only once and I feel that my decisions matter on the story, on a second playthrough this may change but since that's never going to be an issue for me either way, I'm quite pleased.

    This is not a GOTY contestant in my opinion, but worse games have won before so nothing would surprise me. This game got less freedom than Skyrim but overall Bound by Flame is a better game on every other account. I give Bound by Flame a score of 7.    … Expand
  33. Panica3643D
    Jun 16, 2018
    7
    Очередная коридорная RPG от Spiders, только в другом setting. Немного лучше, чем Mars: war logs и Of Orcs and Men. В некоторых моментах даже затронуло (музыкальное сопровождение классное).
  34. Nerp47
    Aug 17, 2018
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Much Like Spiders' previous game, Mars: War logs. Bound by Flame is a good game held back by a small budget.

    Pros:
    +Combat is slow,tactical and enjoyable.
    +Combat animations are well made.
    +Music quality is top tier but isn't used to it's full effect
    +The game succeeds in presenting a dark and gritty world in which most of everyone is dead or dying.
    +The Crafting system is well made and incentivises exploring and looking for Materials.
    +Materials are almost never hard to come by, and if you're like me, you like to explore every nook and cranny looking for something.
    +The game offers a wide range of weapons and armour and all of them are made differently. As far as i remember, not once did i come across a weapon that looked exactly like another weapon.
    +Character personalities are a huge step up from Spiders' previous games with a handful of characters really standing out.
    +Boss battles were surprisingly well done most of the time.

    Cons:
    -Once again,while the story is not bad, it's still not good. The story feels (again) like a book poorly implemented into a videogame. The only difference is that this time the pacing is better
    -Voice acting is mostly bad around the board with a handful of characters sounding right sometimes,while other times it's really bad.
    -Combat can feel quite unfair depending on how you use your skill points. Making some parts of the game downright impossible at harder difficulties unless you make your character perfect.
    -The game stresses your role in the Freeborn Blades quite a few times but falls flat, because the only weapon relating to your role is a mine that,unless made in bulk and spammed, becomes pretty useless later on.
    -Throwing in a new companion character so close to the end of the game, only to have that character be the most interesting one in the game.
    -Vulcan always sounds like an **** even when doing good things which feels really out of place, and sometimes feels like the developers wanted you to play the game as an evil character. Still a massive improvement over Roy from Mars War Logs.

    In the end. Bound by Flame is a mediocre game made by ambitious people but held back by a small budget and maybe even inexperience. Here's hoping we get a game set in the same universe with a bigger budget in the vein of The Technomancer.    … Expand
  35. kabskannar12
    Apr 19, 2020
    7
    === [Audience to Address] ===

    To Standard RPG Players. === [Sounds and Music] === Average === [0 Graphics Quality] === Normal === [$ To Buy? ] === Wait for a discount and buy only if you have free time. === [ System Requirement and Optimization] === Plays a Midrange computer. === [ Gameplay Mechanics] === Average === [ Difficulty Level] === It depends    === [Audience to Address] ===

    To Standard RPG Players.

    === [Sounds and Music] ===

    Average

    === [0 Graphics Quality] ===

    Normal

    === [$ To Buy? ] ===

    Wait for a discount and buy only if you have free time.

    === [ System Requirement and Optimization] ===

    Plays a Midrange computer.

    === [ Gameplay Mechanics] ===

    Average

    === [ Difficulty Level] ===

    It depends on the difficulty chosen.

    === [Playability Time] ===

    +20 hours over side quests

    === [Story] ===

    One of the fantastic stereotypes

    === [Bug] ===

    There are a few.

    Score: 10/7

    Note:

    Average graphic quality. Optimization is good. The story is ordinary, but the processing in the game has been very bad. At least we have more say in the course of the main story and side missions compared to skyrim. We can be really good and bad. But the game has a soulless mood that repeats itself.    … Expand
  36. TheTownDrunk
    Jan 16, 2021
    6
    BOUND BY FLAME is not a bad game, but don't expect triple A game quality: graphics upon its release were OKish at best, with pretty poor animations and voices reach from cringe-worthy to downright atrocious. Also don't expect an open world: levels are mazes that make you maneuver several detours which are mostly empty spaces until you you reach your destination.
    Enemy designs and world    BOUND BY FLAME is not a bad game, but don't expect triple A game quality: graphics upon its release were OKish at best, with pretty poor animations and voices reach from cringe-worthy to downright atrocious. Also don't expect an open world: levels are mazes that make you maneuver several detours which are mostly empty spaces until you you reach your destination.
    Enemy designs and world designs are hit & miss: the skeletons at the beginning were genuinely creepy looking and among the best in any game, while the swamp creatures (and level) were rather poorly designed. Don't expect much of a reward for exploring - only dead-ends with nothing to see.
    Your character is a rather unlikable person and I did not like some of the dialogue choices you pick don't match up what he/she actually says.
    What BOUND BY FLAME does right is it's story: you play as a female or male mercenary who can be slightly customized at the beginning (don't expect many options though). Early on you are possessed by a fire demon and how much control you allow the demon to take of you depends on you and your decisions. The more control you allow the demon the more powerful your pyromancy gets and you'll even change visually.
    Combat is fun for the most part and offers customization by leveling and picking perks among skill trees that range from two-handed melee, sneaky dual-daggers, ranged weapons and pyromancy magic. A bit more combat depth however really would have made a difference and some enemy constellations are not very well balanced. It did remind me a bit of the very first WITCHER game's combat, not as bad, but reliant on timed paries and attacks.
    Overall BOUND BY FLAME is not a bad game. If you can live with its weaknesses the dark story can be a breath of fresh air, also that you can tackle the quests head-on without the distraction of an open world.    … Expand
  37. aecsuter
    Aug 17, 2022
    6
    This game divided my opinion a lot, if there was the option I would give it as neutral.
    The game started very interesting, with a nice combat to play and a very promising story.
    But the story is getting more and more shallow, it seems that they wanted to do something big and then the money ran out. The combat ends up getting a little repetitive at the end, mostly because they are the    This game divided my opinion a lot, if there was the option I would give it as neutral.
    The game started very interesting, with a nice combat to play and a very promising story.
    But the story is getting more and more shallow, it seems that they wanted to do something big and then the money ran out. The combat ends up getting a little repetitive at the end, mostly because they are the same enemies.
    I liked the Weapon system, but there is not a powerful weapon in late game, so i ended up with one from the middle game.
    The secondary quests add little or nothing to the narrative.
    I finished the game very disappointed. The gameplay isn't bad, but it could be better. The story that could be incredible ended very disappointing. As I said at the beginning, if I could I would give a neutral.    … Expand
  38. PenetratorGod
    Aug 20, 2023
    6
    Bound by Flame is a fantasy RPG about a mercenary captured by a flame demon. It's up to the player to decide whether the main character, writhing in the demon's clutches, chooses the demonic power within him or the human side. Other than that, there's not much else to say. I finished the game, but I had an extremely ordinary and average experience. If you have no other games to play andBound by Flame is a fantasy RPG about a mercenary captured by a flame demon. It's up to the player to decide whether the main character, writhing in the demon's clutches, chooses the demonic power within him or the human side. Other than that, there's not much else to say. I finished the game, but I had an extremely ordinary and average experience. If you have no other games to play and you have a lot of free time, it is playable, otherwise there are many games much better than this.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
66
#66 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 42
  3. Negative: 13 out of 42
  1. CD-Action
    Jul 25, 2014
    65
    There is potential in Bound by Flame but I can’t review this game without using some harsh words. It’s linear and clichéd, combat should be better and many elements could be more complex. Still I believe that with more money, people and time Spiders would be able to play in the major league. [07/2014, p.54]
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Jun 12, 2014
    70
    French indie developer tries to engage adult audience with this RPG. Too bad the world is generic and script is dull as a wooden blade. If you show a few tits and curse like a sailor, that don't translate to a game for adults. On top of that the game mechanics are dull and repetitive. You don't challenge Witcher with this kind of setup. [June 2014]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Jun 7, 2014
    30
    Ugly, stupid and riddled with cliche, Bound by Flame has car crash fascination but little else to recommend it. [Issue#249, p.62]
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