Bound by Flame

Bound by Flame features a combat and leveling system that shines among the competition, and the crafting side to the game gives RPG fans more than enough to keep them playing. The narrative is a drop in the overall quality, but it's enough to see exactly what developer Spiders has given gamers in its gameplay elements. The future is bright for Bound by Flame.

It really just boils down to one question: Can you ignore the missteps and missed opportunities and simply focus on the entertaining gameplay, or will you be unable to get past those flaws? That’s the key. This is why you’re seeing such a discrepancy of scores. Some people can get past the flaws and enjoy themselves; others can’t. It’s that simple.

Bound By Flame was almost made to be divisive. If you love gameplay above all else, then this will be an enjoyable experience for you. But if you're more of a story-driven gamer, then it would be wise to steer clear of this particular title.

The game is constrained by budget and underproduced so there are technical and visionary flaws in the game, and it's disappointing that Spiders decided to stay on the safe side of narrative boundary pushing for the first time in its existence. But an enjoyable theme and combat system is just enough to make Bound by Flame addictive enough that it succeeded in holding my attention from start to finish.

Most of the game is very well done, but none of it is that innovative or imaginative. It’s fun, but it’s a slightly above average RPG.

Bound by Flame is a different and strangely addicting action roleplaying game. It is marred by a few bugs in the quest system though. While you wait for The Witcher 3 you could do much worse than this though. Recommended if you lust for a new RPG adventure with crafting, fun combat mechanics, interesting characters, less traditional dialogue and a great style.

Bound By Flame is an ambitious action RPG with a lacklustre story, an annoying camera and disappointing graphics. It's a nice attempt at greatness, though it doesn't quite nail the high notes.

Bound by Flame is a great, terrible game.

Let's be realistic: Spiders ain't Bioware and Bound By Flame is not Dragon Age. But the french studio tries it's hardest and gives us a quite hard RPG, far from the mainstream easiness of games. Each fight is an adventure, you better be a fan of Dark Souls than Super Mario RPG to enjoy that game. Anyway, you will have to close your eyes on some real flaws (weird level design, poor AI, boring script..) Happily, Bound By Flame is coming at a time where RPG are quite rare. If Spider's game won't replace Dragon Age Inquisition or Risen 3, it can be a way to wait until those latest editions come out.

Bound by Flame fails to deliver on its promises and this is mainly because the combat system is simply not good enough. It's decent enough to play though, but way too generic to stand out.

It is a budget RPG and it feels like one, but that's not always a bad thing.

While never truly bad, Bound by Flame is rarely much better than serviceable either. [Issue#245, p.60]

Bound by Flame is a little overpriced considering its gaming flaws.

The story, writing and the role-playing part of the game is distinctly previous-gen play, if not older.

If you can look past the poor narrative and weak character dialogue Bound By Flame is a solid action RPG. The combination of fire and sword is an exciting duo which flows seamlessly in battle. However, you can’t help but feel that, with the PS4 in mind, Bound By Flame has been rushed to fill a gap in the market.

As a mid-range title it would have been fine with the amount of content, but released at near full retail, it's bitten off more than it can chew; something that tastes especially poor when the meal hasn't been fully cooked.

Good ideas, but the lack of budget/time/experience, or whatever the reason was, resulted in a game that could have been much better. Still, if you know what you're buying, it can be an entertaining experience.

If you've been burning with anticipation for a fantasy RPG on Sony's newest console, Bound by Flame may be worth a look – but be sure to keep your expectations lukewarm.

Bound by Flame is a low budget action RPG that doesn’t really shine. The plot varies depending on how you tackle it and the gameplay’s really challenging but there’s not much else to it.

For every great thing Bound by Flame does, it messes up critical gameplay components like the combat. There’s this sense that the game can’t get out of its own way, and only die-hard high-fantasy fans that aren’t afraid of getting torched by a budget title should check this one out.

Bound by Flame hardly surpasses an 'ok'. Poor visuals, odd gameplay mechanics in a really hard game, with many unbalanced situations. However, it fills up that lack of RPG games of the new generation.

Bound by Flame aims high, tries to take on Dark Souls and The Witcher, but disappoints. It's a shallow attempt at riding the success of other fantasy-franchises. It's full of cursing, moral decisions based on, well nothing, a standard setting and something that's supposed to resemble a combat system.

Releasing an Action-RPG this unpolished during the current PS4 drought was opportunistic. That's the best we can say about this. [July 2014, p81]

Bound By Flame had potential, its excellent crafting system and skill trees are a good basis for any RPG, but the unbalanced combat system doesn't do a good job of exploiting them.

Bound by Flame is such a cliché when it comes to setting, characters and story, which is why the game never surprises. A decent combat system and crafting might keep your attention for a short while, but not long enough to really surrender yourselves to the characters and their battle against the Ice Lords.

You might find something interesting in the dark fantasy lore, but the background is ultimately wasted. Gameplay is boring, full of issues, and generally underdeveloped. A rushed project, and nothing can save it from mediocrity.

In Bound by Flame, Spiders deliver an action-RPG that just about manages to remain playable throughout, but offers not a single “wow” moment. An interesting but limited crafting system and an atmospheric fantasy world don’t make up for run-of-the-mill writing, 2-dimensional characters, imbalanced combat, and a rushed, unsatisfying narrative.

It’s not a horrendous travesty that all action RPG players should avoid, and similarly it’s not a stellar blockbuster that all Dark Souls addicts should pick up. It just feels very mediocre and generic. Nothing stands out about the game and nothing really holds it down aside from its graphics at points.

So much of Bound by Flame induces boredom or irritation that it seemed the best recourse to seek out a style of play that facilitated, if not outright enjoyment, at least an absence of hostility.

With lofty ideas way above its station, this schlocky action-RPG is a well-meaning mess. [July 2014, p.76]

Juddering. [July 2014, p.93]

Bound by problems and suffocating great ideas.

It's difficult to justify players paying full new game price for Bound by Flame, particularly for the premium cost PS4 version. Ultimately, the game has an interesting premise and selling points that on the face of things are worthy of attention, but the scope aimed for is such that the resources and timescales devoted to it sadly had no hope in achieving.

With inspiration from several other fantasy role-playing games Spiders Studio try to mix the best of different worlds. As a consequence the game never feels unique nor mindblowing. The combat is sometimes satisfying but soon becomes repetitive and boring. In addition, the is horrid and the voice acting even worse. For a role-playing game Vulcan's adventure ends quickly and abruptly and never becomes more than a game in the genre soon to be forgotten.

After putting my time in with Bound By Flame, I'm left with the sense that the Spiders team has badly overreached. There are some superb ideas on display here, but none feel like they even begin to tap their full potential, and the experience overall feels rushed and incomplete.

Simply by staggering across the finish line first, Bound By Flame may seem to be an attractive proposition for PS4 RPG fans, but don't be fooled. With its shonky cut-scenes, its outdoor sound effects that play indoors and its linear maps, this is in no way a current-gen experience. It's a budget offering at a premium price - and a poor one at that.

Avoid Bound by Flame at all costs, this is really not a game worthy of your hard earned money.

A Frankenstein’s monster of other people’s ideas, that if not for the sleazy script would be laughable in its desperation to include every fantasy cliché imaginable.