Despite the limited choice of titles available on the PS4 we still don’t have a fully fledged RPG. Bound by Flame aims to change that with it’s focus directly on combat and character progression, which is a good plan. There’s a lot that can be forgiven in an RPG provided it has a strong combat system and meaningful characters. First thing’s first, character customization.
Or in this case the complete lack of character customization. Setting up a character is one of the best parts of an RPG for me. Painstakingly getting everything just right whilst trying to remain at least slightly unique. It’s one of those ‘sit back and relax’ moments that usually only occur in RPG’s. I say this without trying to be cruel but I don’t know why Bound by Flame bothered having customization. I decided to set up a female character and changed her name. I know, how adventurous.
There really isn’t anything else to change apart from hairstyles, and there’s only about 6 of those. But very soon into the game I raised an eyebrow as a character called me Vulcan, which is the default name. They also insisted on referring to my character as if she was a man which I can’t imagine would please her at all. My advice is don’t change any of the few choices you have for character customization, the rest of the game simply isn’t made to handle them and there’s not much choice anyway. Stick with a guy called Vulcan and you won’t get annoyed every time someone refers to you by the wrong name – or gender.
After that you are presented with a reasonably short cutscene that introduces the main characters and plot of Bound by Flame. Character animations are not great. There’s a reliance on exaggerated hand and arm movements the likes of which you might expect from early PS3 games, and that’s being generous. Character’s torsos are fixed in place firmly like lifeless tree trunks as they talk waving their arms as if practicing semaphore without the flags.
And to accompany that there’s some equally overacted voices. Every bit of speech sounds like it’s being read from a script. There’s little emotion in the words and no fluidity to conversations. The joking and banter between characters is at best not funny and at it’s worst just plain embarrassing. And to further compound things the lip syncing varies between poor and hilarious. On more than a few occasions I was reminded of moments from Kung Pow. I’m not expecting The Last Of Us but when a character literally starts speaking several, very noticeable, seconds before his lips start moving it’s difficult to ignore.
And so Bound by Flame makes a very bad first impression. It seems to start the game by using all the things that aren’t what you would call its strengths. The introductory scenes don’t take long but a little combat right at the start would have helped players see past some of these problems. Instead the first thing Bound by Flame does is barrage you with all the things it’s not so good at. But striving on you soon find yourself in the games tutorial.
Which has definitely been well thought through. It’s about the right length, covers everything you need to know and doesn’t patronise. A few words appear in the form of a pop-up and then you’re allowed to try your new skills on a conveniently spawned enemy. I was never left wandering aimlessly for hours only to realise I just needed to push ‘x’ or something else the game decided I didn’t need to know but at the same time Bound by Flame shows no intent on holding your hand.
And after everybody shuts up and lets you go do some fighting it becomes more than obvious that combat is where Bound by Flame is comfortable. There are three stances available to you, the ‘Ranger’, the ‘Warrior’ and not much later the ‘Pyromancer’. The Ranger specialises in using daggers and has a dodge ability rather than the Warriors block and counter. The Warrior wields an impressive claymore and relies more on hitting things very hard on the head with a big sword than speed and grace. The Pyromancer class allows you to use spells and abilities based around fire and is available to either class without switching roles – which can be done at the press of a button during battle.
There’s nothing intrinsically complex about the combat but it is satisfying. In between hacking away at your foes you’ll need to time your blocks/dodges to avoid taking big damage and winding up dead. Enemies hit pretty hard even quite early in the game and death is a real possibility even in standard fights if you get sloppy which helps keep things interesting. We’re not talking Dark Souls but still you need to pay attention when engaging the enemy.
Unless you can’t see them. As an example very early in the game you will need to make your way through a swamp. There are trees and wildlife everywhere and everything either shoots some sort of organic death barb at you or just flies at you to ruin your day and generally make life hard. When the camera goes tight and three giant mosquito things wall bang you the fun soon wares off. Add to that the one that’s now off screen and therefore impossible to dodge and you’ve got yourself a pretty annoying situation that soon gets diffused by your death. It’s not a regular thing but I found myself being overly cautious and sometimes kiting enemies so it didn’t happen.
Upgrades are well thought out and balanced so that you feel the constant need to progress but don’t become a demigod within the first 10 minutes. Reading through the list of potential upgrades and abilities can seem disappointing but once you’re a few hours in you start to notice those small chance increases and minor changes to moves have made a real difference.
But ironically the decisions that your character faces make little to no difference on what happens. You’re basic choices are to follow the instructions of the demon that inhabits you or to defy it and help humanity. But in all honesty these moments have little effect on the gameplay and in come cases you will play the same quests regardless of what you choose. It’s not the linearity that bothers me but the illusion of choice.
In one respect Bound by Flame’s reliance on combat and upgrades is a success. They haven’t reinvented the wheel but there are strong mechanics that are satisfying and rewarding. But honestly the good elements just aren’t good enough to make up for Bound by Flame’s lack of characterization, poor voice acting and script writing and lack of imaginative plot. The visuals are distinctly average and the rigid character movements are ever-present. There’s some good music and definitely some RPG combat fun but it’s just not enough to make up for everything else.
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