ActuGaming.net Blades of Fire, le dernier jeu de MercurySteam, est un échec commercial pour son éditeur Le studio espagnol MercurySteam a souvent eu l’occasion de montrer son talent lorsqu’on lui confiait […] L'article Blades of Fi

Should Sony embrace a PC future? (Sony/Metro) The Thursday letters page is surprised that Nintendo Switch 2 stock is relatively easy to find, as one reader looks forward to Hellblade 2 on PS5. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk Box it up Hearing about the rumours of the next gen Xbox being basically an ordinary PC makes perfect sense and is not a surprise to me. I think it’s the only logical move left for Xbox, even if I’m not sure how they’re going to make any money from it if Steam and the other stores are going to be on there.PC gaming is quickly taking over, so my question is whether the PlayStation 6 could also be a ‘PC in a box’. It may sound crazy but a few years ago, so too would the idea of Sony games appearing on PC. I really don’t see what the argument would be against it, especially given how expensive the PS5 Pro already is. Making the next PlayStation, or at least the PlayStation 7, a PC means Sony don’t have to spend nearly as much on hardware R&D and can instead concentrate on making games. Something that they don’t seem to have had the time or money for this gen. I think especially as streaming starts to take off, as the preferred casual method for playing games, it will only be the PC that is left as an alternative. It’s sad in a way but, personally speaking, as long as the games are still good I don’t really care that much.Purple Ranger Doomed highlight I’ve just beaten Doom: The Dark Ages and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think your review was accurate but since I was playing it for free on Game Pass the faults didn’t really bother me. However, I have to comment on the story, or rather the fact that Bethesda chose to highlight as one of the most important new features of the game.It’s a complete non-event: boring and cliched, with no characters of any interest. Even the game seems to lose interest because there are very few proper cut scenes in the second half, not that that’s a problem. None of it is a problem, really, because who wants a story in a game like Doom? So why did Bethesda make so much of a fuss about it? If it had been good that would’ve been one thing. If there’d been a lot of cut scenes that would’ve been something else. But it was just nothing. I really don’t understand why they ever thought to mention it.James Speed of Mercury Is there a chance you will review Blades Of Fire, please? I’m very interested in MercurySteam games; I love both of their Metroid games and I’m that one person that liked all three of their Castlevania games (yes, Lords Of Shadow 2 was unfocused and padded out, but I loved what it got right so much).Your reviews are the ones I trust the most so if you do have the time I’d appreciate it, the few I’ve seen have been quite mixed. Thank you, keep up the excellent work.Beastiebat (PSN ID) Currently playing: Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Metroid Dread, and Elevator Action -Returns- S-TributeGC: Thank you. We’re trying to get it done but we’re a bit behind this week, due to staff holidays and press events. Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk News update There’s a couple of things I’ve not seen yourselves or any readers mention lately, so I thought I should bring them up.The Sea Of Stars DLC is out now! It’s absolutely free too, which seems crazy because it looks quite substantial. I’m looking forward to playing it this weekend when I have more time. Another thing I’ve not seen mentioned is that Hogwarts Legacy on Switch 2 can be bought at a huge discount if you own the game on Switch. Around £10 reportedly. You can even buy the game on Switch in the sale now and then buy the Switch 2 version, costing under £30 in total, it seems, which is a great deal. It’s not an upgrade as the Switch 2 game isn’t a port. Keep up the great work! I don’t write in much, but I still read every morning. I finally prefer this than the Teletext days now.Fatys Henrys GC: Thank you for your patronage. Old and new Excited to hear some actual news about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and that it will feature at least one whole new city. However, I hope that the game features both the whole of Night City and the new one. Strangely, I can’t think of any sequels that do that. With GTA, they don’t include the previous game and the new one, and I’m not sure anywhere else does either.Weirdly, the only example I can think of that did that is Pokémon Gold and Silver, which had the whole of the map from Red and Blue (thanks to no less than Satoru Iwata himself). I’m sure there’s technical reasons it doesn’t happen usually but while the PlayStation 5 and beyond may no longer show much of a graphical improvement perhaps there’ll be able to do things like this more easily.Kankor The end of the beginning So, after being reminded that my mother’s partner doesn’t like me very much I’ve cheered up with two lovely pieces of news. Stellar Blade is getting a sequel, very soon. It releases on PC next month. The second announcement is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 on PlayStation 5 in the summer. This is something I was highly anticipating. Just the graphics alone makes it worth the time. So, after this and Gears Of War also releasing on PlayStation I’m not asking if Xbox is truly dead. It’s a fact that Xbox is indeed only kept afloat by Game Pass.This is only the start. Halo will release on PlayStation 5. Fable. Avowed. State Of Decay 3. Starfield. The list goes on. In hindsight this is deserved. Because of the Xbox One’s failure Microsoft lagged behind an entire generation and Sony raced ahead, never looking back. I never brought an Xbox One, actually. The PlayStation 4 was my choice in 2013 and after picking up the last one, at Argos in 2014. I never gave the Xbox One a second look. Today, Microsoft are still suffering from their malignant decisions and it is thoroughly deserved. If I was Phil Spencer I’d cancel the upcoming handheld, because that is leading up to a fail, much more so than the Xbox One. Not even ASUS can save Xbox.Shahzaib Sadiq Direct from the source I’m always fascinated by Nintendo’s Ask the Developers interviews, they’re so in-depth and genuine and I don’t think they get enough recognition. Nintendo’s reputation is of being secretive and distant, but Sony and Microsoft would never do something like this. They just have carefully worded developer quotes that were probably written by a marketing person anyway.Who would’ve guessed they’ve been planning Mario Kart World for eight years or that they were already making Switch 2 games, based on preliminary specs, in 2020? I guess that’s the sort of time you need but it’s very interesting to get exact dates and to hear it from the horse’s mouth.Onibee In stock now I’ve managed to bag myself a Switch 2 pre-order after you put your article up on where to buy it. I was going to hold off; eventually decided I can’t resist the temptation to play the new Mario Kart. But I think it will be a good long term investment and there’s no ruling out that there might be an eventual price increase of the unit, like there’s been recently with other consoles.After I managed to get my pre-order done about a week ago or so I’ve visited some of those retailers, websites just to see how lucky I got managing to pre-order it in the first place. I’ve been able to see deals every time; different deals but there’s always been at least one available with Mario Kart or the Zelda pack or camera or SD card bundle. I’ve checked out of curiosity about four or five times and could have dropped on a pre-order again and again, so does that mean Nintendo is actually beating the scalpers? Or is it too expensive or is there a lack of interest? I couldn’t for the life of me get an Xbox Series X day one, at the start of the generation because of the use of online bots, but it seems something has changed for the better with the latest Nintendo console release. That’s got to be a good thing for everyone, except the scalpers.Nick The Greek GC: It’s hard to tell but there’s no indication of a lack of demand, given analysts think Nintendo is being too cautious in its sales predictions. They always said they wanted no shortages at launch, so we guess their plan worked. It was probably helped by the fact that the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 came out at the same time, during Covid, and so were competing for manufacturing time and resources. By contrast, Switch 2 has a clear run at a quiet time of year for games. Inbox also-rans I had literally no idea that Fortnite wasn’t on mobile for the last five years. I would’ve figured that was its biggest format, but I guess you’re saying it wasn’t?MouseGC: No, it’s one of the smallest. Apparently not even Fortnite fans want to play with touchscreen controls. I would never, ever in a million years pay £80 for a video game. Even if I got it for cheap later, the fact that it was at one point that much would still put me off.Gribbly More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk The small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What is Rockstar Games’ best game? GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

RT Blades of Fire🔥 Are you ready to #ForgeYourLegend? The Blades of Fire demo is OUT on Xbox Series X|S.⚔️ REMEMBER: Your progress will carry over to the main game at launch.🔗 https://505.games/BoFDemoXbox#BladesofFire #MercurySteam #505Games

After promising to release a demo “soon” for Blades of Fire, MercurySteam has confirmed that it will be available on May 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. According to the developer on BlueSky, it includes the first few hours of the hack-and-slash action RPG. Your progress will also transfer to the game when it launches next week, which means this is based on the final product. Blades of Fire is available on March 22nd for consoles and PC and focuses on Aran de Lira as he embarks on a quest to defeat Queen Nerea. The latter ascended the throne after her father’s passing and has been on a reign of terror, cursing the kingdom’s steel into stone. Wielding a mystic Forge hammer, Aran can create his own weapons to fight back. The blacksmithing portion is more than just a crafting exercise. It’s a full-fledged system that deeply influences combat and tactics. Head here for more details and check out our feature on the tile. ⚔️ Things to know about our upcoming demo! ⚔️🔥 We're launching on May 15th!🔥 We've packed a lot in! Experience the first few hours of #BladesofFire.🔥 Your save data and progress will carry over to the main game at launch! 💬 We can't wait to hear what you think. #ForgeYourLegend— Blades of Fire (@bladesoffire.bsky.social) 2025-05-13T16:03:54.413Z

Bleak Sword takes the challenging combat of games like Dark Souls and distills it down to the essentials for a compelling adventure on iOS, macOS, and Apple TV. Learn how Unity developer more8bit kept streamlined the project with a clear vision and smart prototyping to launch this Apple Arcade hit.Mobile developer Luis Moreno Jimenez (more8bit) has worked in the games industry for more than 20 years. “I started pretty early doing little 3D models and crude animations, and fantasizing about the games I would like to make,” he says.At 17 years old, he joined Enigma Software, where he spent three years working on different prototypes and the RTS-RPG hybrid Excalibug. His next role was at MercurySteam, first as an animator on games like Scrapland and Clive Barker’s Jericho, and then as lead in-game animator on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and its sequel, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.“Years working closely with gameplay programmers and gameplay designers has been very beneficial for me in the long run,” he says. “I got to see how they tackle gameplay specific problems from different points of view, understand what works and what doesn’t, and pick up little gameplay tricks here and there. I’ve also learned how to finish and close projects, which is something very important if you’re working solo.”Inspired by the growing number of indie innovators finding success outside large studios, Luis decided to pursue the dream of making his own game. He experimented with a couple of different engines before choosing Unity. “I felt that if I was going to learn a programming language, it would be better to learn a more established and general one like C#.”From the outset, Luis knew he wanted to make a mobile game, and he had a clear idea of what Bleak Sword would look like. The game features 2D sprites rendered in a 3D environment. All game assets use minimalistic pixel art, brought to life in a lo-fi, monochrome style.“The first thing I came up with was this aesthetic,” he explains. “From the very beginning, the main character was as you see in the final game. I thought this minimalistic style would look cool on a handheld or mobile screen, so I chose mobile as my first target platform.”Gameplay took several rounds of prototyping. “The first version of Bleak Sword was 2D,” says Luis. “Another was open world, like a mini-Witcher 3, but that idea soon proved to be too big for one person to do in reasonable time, even with minimalist graphics.”Eventually, Luis landed on the concept of “diorama-based arenas,” where each level is confined to a small square. “This was the structure I was looking for – the two ideas matched perfectly as both have a minimalistic design approach,” he says. “The great thing about Unity is how quickly you can put together a few assets and try out different ideas. It definitely saved me months of work in the experimental phase.”Bleak Sword’s base game contains nine different chapters, each containing 10 diorama-based arenas. Every chapter has new enemies to conquer and culminates in a unique boss encounter.“I knew from the start that I wanted to have very different settings. Because the game loop in the original game was designed specifically for short, quick, intense sessions, if the settings were too similar, it could bore the player,” says Luis.To keep the experience fresh, Luis created different types of terrain, obstacles, enemy types, and gameplay elements. “You have chapters with water, environmental traps, weather conditions that can affect gameplay, and so on,” says Luis. “Players can also hide behind trees or other objects when enemies throw projectiles at them. I tried to balance each arena together with the enemies, so each level is a little different and has the potential to create memorable moments.”One of the game’s most memorable chapters is the Northern Passage, where combat happens on horseback in a perpetually scrolling environment. Luis used Shader Graph to prevent enemies and objects from coming into view beyond the bounds of the scrolling diorama.“Enemies on that level have a script that changes their material. When they spawn, they are created outside the arena using the shader that hides pixels. When they enter the arena, the script changes the material and uses a normal shader, making them visible.”Going mobile gave Luis the opportunity to experiment with control schemes and create a uniquely challenging Soulslike, a genre not often seen on handheld devices. “I wanted to make an action game playable with one hand – no onscreen joysticks or buttons,” he says. “When people play mobile games on their commute, they’re usually holding onto the bar with one hand and playing with the other.”The controls are simple but effective: Players swipe to roll in a direction for movement, tap once to attack, and tap and hold to charge an attack or counter a blow from an enemy.In early prototypes, Luis used Unity’s built-in Input System because it was easy to set up and implement, but switched to Rewired from the Unity Asset Store later in production. “I was very happy in general with the plug-in – it helped a lot with the original Bleak Sword’s development, especially with the Apple TV controls.”more8bit’s publisher, Devolver Digital, pitched Bleak Sword to Apple, who added it to their library of Apple Arcade exclusives in 2019. The game was a hit, receiving praise for its fluid and responsive gameplay.“I’m very happy with how things went,” says Luis. “It definitely allowed me to continue on this indie adventure.”So, what’s next for Bleak Sword? This year, Devolver Digital announced Bleak Sword DX, an expanded and improved version of Bleak Sword for PC and Nintendo Switch™ with updated controls, visuals, and a brand-new campaign.“I can’t wait for players to try the new DX campaign mode, which I think is a lot of fun and pretty challenging, especially with the addition of two more difficult modes,” says Luis. “I’m also excited for players to try their hand at the new Boss Rush mode or see if anyone can get a crazy high number of rounds in Endless Arena. I put a lot of work into this game, and I hope players enjoy their time with it!”Check out the Bleak Sword DX case study to learn how more8bit brought his debut game as a solo developer to more platforms.*Nintendo Switch is a registered trademark of Nintendo.