Making a video game is no small feat, and that’s especially true for AAA titles likeBlades of Fire. Being developed by the Madrid-based studio MercurySteam, which worked previously onMetroid: Samus Returns,Metroid Dread, and theCastlevania: Lords of Shadowseries,Blades of Fireis an upcoming Soulslike that isn’t afraid to forge its own identity.
On a recent visit to MercurySteam’s studio, Game Rant sat down with some ofBlades of Fire’s lead developers, many of whom have been working at the studio for well over a decade.Blades of FireLead Game Designer Joan Amat is one such developer, and he spoke all about the game’s most important features, as well as the highs and lows of video game development.This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Blades of Fire is a Soulslike That Isn’t Afraid to Break the Mold
Q: How did you set about creatingBlades of Fire’s fantasy world?
A:We have specialties. We are a team that has made games before, so everyone takes on a different part. We have our director, Enric (Alvarez), and he has the vision. He communicates that vision to each lead and team. That vision means something different to each department. We talk to leads like Arturo (Serrano), the Art Director. He works on his part, we work on ours, then we compare and see if they’re going in the same direction.
Basically,Blades of Fireis about weapons, so we had to talk about enemy size and weapon size. That’s the kind of thing we’re coordinating on but everyone has their specialty. I am a Systems Designer, so I designed the Forge, the combat, and the RPG elements. We just made sure our ideas were converging into something.
Q:Blades of Fire’s control scheme is quite a bit different to other Soulslikes. Was that a deliberate decision to makeBlades of Firestand out?
A:No. You have to go with what’s coherent and what the game needs. Sometimes you have to do things that are original, and you have to be brave about the player reception. Are they going to be weirded out? Well, if that is really what the game needs, then we’ll do that.
Sometimes you have to do something exactly like a popular game has done before. If that is what the game needs, then you have to be brave and say, “Yeah, we did that because it works in our game.” We’re not trying to create something distinct just because it has to be distinct. Systems have to serve each other.
We have a unique control scheme because we need to have four directions of attack. You make weapons for a purpose, with a goal in mind. That goal is sometimes to have speed or reach, sometimes it’s to penetrate armor. So we need armor, we need helmets. Because we have helmets, we need to be able to attack the head. Then we need the four directions of attack.
The control scheme comes from those needs. We, as gamers, know there’s some learning needed when we switch games. ButBlades of Fireis a long game, and hopefully, players will like the game because the control scheme makes sense for the gameplay systems.
More and more, games are about finding a target audience. Platforms are so much better, and there’s much more choice, so having a personality is more important than ever. We have to be proud and comfortable with our game.
Weapons Are “The Absolute Soul” of Blades of Fire
Q: Do you have a favorite weapon inBlades of Fire?
A:Just one? I absolutely cannot decide. I helped to design them all. The weapons that I love most are those that I can use like a can opener for a specific enemy.Blades of Fireis designed around the need for specific weapons to take on higher-level enemies. You should be able to feel a natural difficulty spike, and you should be able to solve that withthe Forge system. I try to use weapons like a can opener, targeting specific enemies.
Q: Is there one specificBlades of Firemechanic you can’t wait for players to get their hands on?
A:Absolutely. It’s the ability to name swords. Sword-naming is so important. That’s something that playtesters and previewers can’t really experience, because it’s not really their true save file. Caring about weapons is the absolute soul ofBlades of Fire.
When you playBlades of Fire, you make a weapon, then another weapon, then another. They’re tools. But eventually, you’ll get some resources that require you to choose what you’re going to make, and you’re going to make a weapon and say, “This is the one.” Then you might start using it, and you might fall apart! You might realize that wasn’t the one after all.
Then you’ll keep looking for the one. Sometimes you have to farm a specific enemy to unlock that weapon, but eventually you’re going to find the one. You’ll invest the materials, you’re going to repair it every time. Some enemies might cause a difficulty spike with that weapon, but you’re going to adapt, because you really like that playstyle. Even if that enemy was designed to screw with that specific playstyle, it’s askill-based game, so you can power through if you really want to. That one is going to have a custom name.
But there’s this loop inBlades of Firewhere weapons don’t get better. When you forge a weapon, it’s as good as it’s ever going to be. It might get worse, but not better. It will gain Reputation. Just like in the real world, an old katana might be reputable because of what it’s done. Reputation is one ofBlades of Fire’s key mechanicsthat allows you to acquire better weapons.
That weapon you originally fell in love with will eventually break. It’s doomed. But as the game progresses, you’ll get better materials, better weapon parts, and you will fall in love again. It might be the same weapon again, but with new stats, like longer reach. You’ll want to make new decisions, and you’ll want to come back to the Forge. It’s these relationships that makeBlades of Fire’s weaponsspecial.
Q: What’s one movie, TV show, comic, or novel that inspired you while makingBlades of Fire?
A:Me specifically? I fell in love withForged in Fire(theHistory Channel reality competition show). We were watching that TV show, and we felt like experts. The feeling that we could identify the weapons, know the names, and feel like experts. We wanted to make a game that captured that same feeling. You might not be a weapons expert, but hopefully you’ll playBlades of Fireand you’ll learn all about weapon parts and names, even if we’ve Hollywood-ized it likeForged in Firedoes.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit about how you first got into the video game industry?
A:It was 14 years ago. I’ve always worked at MercurySteam. Before that, I programmed slot machines. But then I became a level designer. When I started at MercurySteam they were inpre-production forCastlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. They had just releasedLords of Shadow’s first installment, a different team was working onCastlevania: Lords of Shadow -Mirror of Fate, and I started onLords of Shadow 2from the beginning.
I worked for the full length ofLords of Shadow2’s development, then I moved toRaiders of the Broken Planet, which becameSpacelords. When that finished, I started withBlades of Fire. It’s funny, I’ve worked on three games in 14 years. I’m very lucky, though; I was there at the beginning of three games. Some people might have worked on eight games, but that might be because of cancellations or because they were brought in at the end to finish the game. We have a really stable workforce here at MercurySteam.
Q: What is that feeling like? Taking a game from its very first step through to completion?
A:It’s absolutely great, of course. The fact that you remember your state of mind and the discussions you had back then, when it might have been called something completely different. And in this industry, things happen. Publishers change. So some games don’t start as what they become.
Blades of Firedid start as pretty much what it became. We had the concepts of “What if I could make my own weapon? What if I was playing this game, but the weapons were mine?” from the start. But these were just words up in the air, promises. We’ve followed through, and we’ve iterated a lot, and features have come and gone. But you can tell that the spirit is still there.
Q: What’s one key lesson you’ve learned during your career, and how has that affectedBlades of Fire’s development?
A:On a personal level, making video games is something I think you should do with other people. You’re only as good as the team is.Blades of Firehas a really solid team. Some departments had already matured, and that meant we started with a really solid base.
The team always needs to grow and mature. There’s knowledge we’re accumulating that needs to be consolidated, and teams need to be diverse. You need to have roles, and you need to have well-balanced teams. The good thing withBlades of Fireis that we started with a well-balanced team instead of having to recruit along the way. That’s allowed us to have more mature discussions about the why and how of certain aspects of development. If we are interested, if we’re learning, and we’re communicating well, the game is going to go great.
Q: How does it feel to be this close to the finish line withBlades of Fire?
A:It’s the greatest moment. You work on a game for many years, and these weeks are really cool. We’re speculating, we’re having fun, we’re laughing more than ever. You almost don’t want to say “I have a good feeling about this,” just in case, but it’s really cool.
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