Bound by Flame release date!

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That's just two months from now…
I hope it's good. If so, I'll probably buy it at full price just to support these guys, even though I have a gaming backlog so long it's no longer funny…:-/
 
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Mars: War Logs (same dev, same publisher) has been on Steam too. So I guess it'll be the same for BbF.
 
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Publications have been hyping this up but they've shown little gameplay yet. Normally when developers are shy with releasing gameplay it means the game is awful. This was the case with the Game of Thrones RPG, The Last Templar, The Cursed Crusade and The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts.

I'll wait for reviews but going by the company's track record and the fact that they're reticent, I'm not expecting much.
 
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Publications have been hyping this up but they've shown little gameplay yet. Normally when developers are shy with releasing gameplay it means the game is awful. This was the case with the Game of Thrones RPG, The Last Templar, The Cursed Crusade and The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts.

I'll wait for reviews but going by the company's track record and the fact that they're reticent, I'm not expecting much.

I would'nt judge solely by that. While not commercial successes I found the game of thrones and the last Templar to be quite fun.
 
I would'nt judge solely by that. While not commercial successes I found the game of thrones and the last Templar to be quite fun.
I agree with you I also enjoyed every one of their games. I don't really care what the reviewers say, as that's all that matters to me.
 
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I didn't enjoyed at all the single RPG from this studio that I played in part ie Of Orcs of Men. But Mars: War Logs looked like a quite solid good action RPG I still have to play.

I agree that no gameplay trailer is most often suspect, but for this game it's wrong because there's one. It tries condensate in a short trailer all the gameplay element ie there's more words than usual but it does the job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypv9KLZaIK4
 
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Think I'll check out the reviews on this one first. More interested in Deck 13's Lords of the Fallen. Same dev that brought us Venetica which i really enjoyed.

Lords of the Fallen
 
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I didn't enjoyed at all the single RPG from this studio that I played in part ie Of Orcs of Men. But Mars: War Logs looked like a quite solid good action RPG I still have to play.

I agree that no gameplay trailer is most often suspect, but for this game it's wrong because there's one. It tries condensate in a short trailer all the gameplay element ie there's more words than usual but it does the job:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypv9KLZaIK4

And it shows wonky gameplay with hit detection way off.

It's been hyped up over nothing then.
 
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Can't wait to play it.
 
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So I just finished Bound By Flame and give a short review. I've played as a good-guy dex-fighter, so I always chose to not fall for the demon and spent all my skill points in the ranger skill tree (when it was complete, I invested all further points in pyromancer).

Pros:
  • it's an RPG

  • some interesting characters
    e.g. a highly eloquent undead, or a witch which turns against you depending on choices

  • 3 different combat styles (two handed sword, dual-wield, caster)

  • choices with consequences (I think)

Cons:
  • Combat. That's my biggest con. It's just too difficult. For the most parts of the game I had a lot of trouble fighting. It isn't difficult per se, but the monsters have a lot of HP, so the fights take a long time. And you die pretty quickly. That means you have to stay concentrated quite long and do the same thing (dodge, attack, sometimes run) over and over again. In the boss fights you have to drink a lot of potions, lay traps etc. In the last chapter I lowered difficulty from medium to easy and it was ok then, I managed to do the boss fights on first attempt. On the very final fight I just couldn't stand it any more and used cheats. That's an absolute exception, normally I'm motivated enough to beat games at least at lowest difficulty. But I was just bored by combat and the fight was very tough.

  • Respawns. So again you have to do the same battles with the same "tactics" over and over again. Later in the game I just ran past some mobs as I hadn't the nerves to fight again.

  • Minimal Party. You can select only one companion to go with you. I don't understand this limitation. It's not for technical reasons as there are 2-3 plot related events where you fight in a party of 3 or 4. Combat would have been easier and more interesting. You e.g. could have created a classic party with dex fighter, tank, caster and archer.

  • Linearity. You have 2-3 hubs, but exploring the surroundings isn't very interesting. You won't discover anything surprising you. Of course you can't go back to previous hubs. That's not a big drawback, because you have a quite…

  • Boring world. The locations don't feel alive. For example in the small village you're in, when you go to the public house, there are 2 or 3 guys standing there doing nothing. Later when you are in some resistance hideout near the enemy, you have just some underground corridors with very few pepole statically standing around.

  • Gear. Yes, you can craft and modify your stuff, but to me that was boring too. There wasn't a single moment, where I euphorically thought: "Yes, that's my new sword/armor/helmet OF DOOM, now I'm going to kick ass!". New gear just has minimal benefits (if at all).

  • Beards. Well, generally beards are great (I own one too). But at the start of the game you meet 3 or 4 important characters (eventually including the player char) with dark hair and full beard, all looking quite similar. Of course, bearded men are the pinnacle of evolution, but for pragmatic reasons there should have been less beards, so you could tell who's who more easily.

  • Character customization. You can select from 4-6 faces and hair styles, so it's really minimalistic. And you can set a name. This custom name is never used IG, not even in subtitles. Instead the default name "Vulcan" is used.

Overall I'm quite disappointed and would rate it 5/10. It was an instabuy for me as I saw a lot of potential in Mars: War Logs and expected an even better game. This potential (if existent) hasn't been exploited at all. In the end, I even liked MWL better than BBF. Better combat, better exploration, more alive game world. I don't know if their funds got low or if this is scam, but especially with the combat and respawns they artificially lengthened the playtime which in my case was about 26 hours, where I tried to do all side quests. Perhaps combat is different if you go for warrior or pyromancer, haven't tested. And perhaps it's a bit unfair, because I just started replaying Witcher 1 and when I entered the first tavern, I just thought: Wow, there's life in here. BBF can compete in no way here.
So I suggest you don't buy it. Wait until it's on sale for 10€/$ and give it a try. If you like the combat, you may have fun.
 
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