Bound By Flame - Review Roundup #2

Well it's time for the second round of reviews for Spider's new RPG Bound By Flame. As usual the scores are a mixed bag, and I posted them in no particular order.

PC Gamer - 54/100

The combat is fun in parts and the characters grew on me, but so much more of Bound by Flame is tedious, frustrating, and unpolished.

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Strategy Informer - 6.5/10

Spiders wanted Bound By Flame to be their big breakout hit but penny-pinching on theirs or their publisher's side will hold them back. The combat system works pretty well once you get over the lack of a roll button and it actually gets very satisfying as soon as you get used to it, as well as level up a bit.

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Analog Addiction - 6/10

Bound by Flame is anything but an RPG. Its focus on combat and its great soundtrack are redeemable qualities, though not enough to compensate for being so rough around the edges.

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Escapist Magazine - 2.5/5

Bound By Flame would be an immensely likable game, were it not for just how slipshod it ultimately feels. Its individual components are well crafted, but when brought together, the result is something that just isn't quite right.

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Gamereactor - 7/10

Spiders manages to deliver a compelling story; enough to raise our verdict a couple of notches from our original impression. However, the team immediately have a list of fixes they need to attend if they revisit this world.

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Saving Content - 2/5

Bound By Flame is an average RPG held back by budgets and serious design flaws outweighed by its ambition. By the game’s end, I was happy that it was over, as in that I didn’t have to play it anymore.

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Gameranx - 5/10

In the end, I called Bound by Flame a “side-quest” because RPG aficionados could play this game to pass the time but it’s not an essential experience for fans of the genre. However, I recommend skipping this one if you’re not a huge fan of RPGs in general

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Gamingtrend - 65/100

Ultimately Spider’s follow up to Mars: War Logs is a far better effort than its predecessor. You can’t help but appreciate the effort put forth, as well as the fantastic concepts and new approach to storytelling. Bound by Flame provides engaging mechanics and choices that actually matter, if you can stomach the horrible voice work.

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OnlySP - 6.5/10

Bound By Flame is a conceptually interesting fantasy RPG world with great crafting and music, marred by unpleasant combat that prevents it from truly taking off.

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Destructoid - 7/10

A solid game that definitely has an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun

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More information.

I've just finish this game, in 22 or 23 hours, and really enjoyed it. Good graphics, good scenario, good gameplay, everything is well done.
I'm just a bit sad that this game is not longer : 40 euros for a bit more of 20 hours of gameplay that a bit high in my opinion.

Those reviews... jeez. I'll be looking forward to Gamebanshee's write-up.

Drithius said:

Those reviews… jeez. I'll be looking forward to Gamebanshee's write-up.

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I'm not surprised by the reviews as every Spider release gets the same scores. Each game on Metacritic averages at 50-65 so it's just more of the same to me.

Having said that after encountering a few bugs I have played, and finished the game twice in three days. I enjoyed my time with the game, but it has faults.

One thing I agree with the reviews on is the the high price, and game length.

I bought it and it is similar to spiders other work. Sadly you can really tell budget was a major concern. Just when I thought the game had started. " lets kill all the ice lords" the game ended. Sadly over priced for the content you get.

if they only had a scripting genius, to increase replayability of the game with CnC an intp intj

I am enjoying the game a fair bit. As an (action) RPG it’s about 7/10 I guess, about the same as the Metacritic user rating. Maybe 6/10 if you’re a more generalistic, big budget title gamer.
At about 20 bucks for PC or 30 for console I think it’s a reasonably safe recommendation for RPG fans.

It’s not a 7/10 because it’s consistently a bit above average, though. Rather, the quality is highly variable. Voice acting and dialog varies from pretty bad / mediocre to pretty good, same with visuals. Combat system probably needs a bit of work, I am enjoying it but based on reviews and comments it looks like some combinations of character build / companion NPC / difficulty degree make some encounters too hard.
So it’s a mix of elements within the game’s main components that I would rate 8/10 or even occasionally 9/10 as well as stuff that is 5/10 (or even 4/10 if you’re very critical or just plain annoyed) or 6/10.

What I will say is that there’s enough good stuff in it, particularly given Spiders’ small size and presumably limited budget, to give me a fair amount of confidence in their future products. There’s definitely an overall improvement in quality compared to Mars War Logs, and with a bit more time, money and manpower their next game has a good chance of simply being good, without major ifs and buts.

I know going in that a Spiders game is not going to be a AAA title, but it is also not a AAA price either. I have played about 6 hours so far and I am enjoying the game. So far there doesn't seem to be quite as much back and forth as Mars War Logs which was my biggest complaint about that game. It's a definite improvement over it's predecessor.

This goes downhill in its later stages. I was perfectly happy with it early on, but I have little desire to pick it up for the final slog. It does the dissolve-into-combat-heavy-corridors-finale thing.