From young indie developer ROBI Studios comes Blue Fire, a spiritual successor to The Legend of Zelda with a difficult twist. The name "Blue Fire" is even a reference to a common element seen in the Zelda universe. While puzzles in the game may not be as difficult as the Water Temple, Blue Fire's temples can only be explored with 3D platforming maneuvers, with the added challenge of somewhat Souls-like combat.
But it's an ambitious project for a small team of people, between the Zelda and Hollow Knight-inspired graphics and the underdeveloped combat system, and it became visible to some critics who felt that Blue Fire bit off more than it could chew. In narrative, as well, Blue Fire relies on being purely a Zelda successor without much real story to tie the gameplay into the premise. Still, if players come looking for a challenging platforming experience, they'll meet their match with Blue Fire, and it's undoubtedly the shining star of the game.
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IGN (Brendan Graeber)
"Blue Fire provides an impeccable platforming experience with the just right balance of abilities to master and challenges to test you, making its bleak and corrupted world a joy to explore. Its Zelda-like dungeon experiences may end a bit too soon before it begins relying on overly familiar backtracking, but it doesn’t dull the fun of dashing around obstacles and fighting enemies alike. And even when the pacing of its main path falters slightly, the irresistible lure of its inventive challenge rooms kept me coming back for more."
Score: 8/10
PC Invasion (Andrew Farrel)
"It’s rare for me to play a game that I desperately want to like but often can’t stand playing. Blue Fire is a lot like The Legend of Zelda crossed with a platformer and then mixed with tacked-on Souls-like elements. While the level design and movement controls are above average, the game has many nagging problems and design oversights that pile higher and higher as you play it. There’s clearly talent and some strong ideas on display here, but they’re buried under a mountain of surprising frustrations."
Score: 4.5/10
Gamereactor (Jack Oxford)
"Enemies are incorporated smoothly into the game's platforming, often acting as obstacles of sorts. The bosses, although interesting in design, were often easy and somewhat of an anti-climax at the end of a difficult temple. The Forest Shrine's boss was notable for this, going down in only a few attempts in comparison to the many, many attempts I had at the platforming leading up to it. Annoyingly, when dying against the bosses and in the temples, you will usually be thrown right back to the start of the temple, forcing you to re-do certain segments, although this could be seen as a fair punishment for a game over."
Score: 8/10
Noisy Pixel (Orpheus Joshua)
"In regards to performance, Blue Fire was mostly adequate. There was rarely ever any graphical oddities or slowdown, though they did crop up now and again. Unfortunately, at least in the build I played, it was impossible to remap controls in-game. This is not a massive hindrance, as you can alter your control setup from Steam proper. Still, it would be far more convenient if remapping controls in-game was possible. Hopefully, this is a feature patched in soon. Also, to note, I experienced several seemingly random crashes when performing screen transitions, so it is best to save whenever applicable."
Score: 8/10
Game Spew (Dan Lipscombe)
"Ultimately, we’re left with a game that doesn’t appear to know exactly what it wants to be. Without the platforming, Blue Fire might have been a Souls-like adventure game. Without the combat, it would excel at precision platforming. But with both aspects in the mix, it doesn’t quite stick the landing of either."
Score: 6/10
Of course, there's always the price tag to consider, and with indie games, weighing their worth can be a bit more difficult. Blue Fire can be completed in around 10 hours, but doesn't offer a major replayability factor. At $19.99, some critics felt that Blue Fire wasn't worth their money, due to their frustrating experiences with the game, while others absolutely adored it.
Blue Fire is best suited for those who love a good challenge and overcoming difficulty by getting better and better at parkouring. It can be brutally punishing at times and exhibits a level of backtracking akin to Skyward Sword, but for players who have the patience and skill needed for platformers like Spelunky or Celeste, Blue Fire is a great follow-up challenge.
Blue Fire is out now for PC and Switch, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming at a later date.
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