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Bound By Flame

Bound by Flame is a game that many will undoubtedly gain a huge amount of enjoyment from. Shortcomings of bad character interactions and weak contributions from NPCs are something that's easy to look past on.
Bound By Flame Game Cover
59%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, stability
64% User Score Based on 1,935 reviews
Critic Score 54%Based on 25 reviews

Platforms

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Bound By Flame Game Cover

About

Bound By Flame is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Spiders and was released on May 8, 2014. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

"Bound by Flame" is a fantasy action RPG that lets you customize your character's appearance and choose your gender. Your decisions and interactions with the demon inside you will impact the story's direction and your companions' behaviors. The game also features a crafting system for creating and upgrading weapons and armor, with unique customization options such as separate blade and hilt choices for your sword.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
Bound By Flame screenshot
+5
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64%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,935 reviews
story456 positive mentions
grinding83 negative mentions
  • Engaging story with interesting characters and moral choices that affect the outcome.
  • Dynamic combat system that allows for different playstyles with three distinct skill trees.
  • Good graphics and a haunting soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere.
  • Combat can feel clunky and unresponsive, especially when facing multiple enemies.
  • Final boss fight is frustratingly difficult and poorly balanced compared to earlier encounters.
  • Limited enemy variety and repetitive quests that can make the gameplay feel tedious.
  • story
    1,511 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Bound by Flame" is generally described as engaging yet flawed, featuring a classic fantasy narrative about a mercenary possessed by a fire demon, which influences character development and moral choices. While some players appreciate the intriguing premise and the impact of decisions on the storyline, many criticize the execution, noting issues with pacing, character depth, and dialogue quality. Overall, the game offers a mix of interesting lore and cliches, but often feels rushed and underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more from both the plot and character interactions.

    • “The story is simple but enjoyable, especially because it gives you some hints in the early stages that you can put together to understand things that will be confirmed or revealed later. I always find stories like these more engaging as I prefer to understand things on my own rather than have the game exposition it to me. That said, the pieces of the puzzle are pretty explicit and easy to put together.”
    • “The combination of branching paths, a morally charged storyline, and a haunting score provides enough substance for those willing to overlook technical shortcomings.”
    • “The story is intriguing, characters are underdeveloped but the quests are fine.”
    • “I enjoyed the characters at first, but by part 3, which is the last section of the game, their character progression and impact in the story really falls flat in my opinion.”
    • “The story fails to captivate, and many characters remain one-dimensional and bland for most of the game.”
    • “The game feels both unfinished (literally, the story ends with multiple antagonists remaining) and unpolished.”
  • gameplay
    537 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Bound by Flame" is characterized by a mix of dynamic combat and challenging mechanics, though it suffers from clunky controls and balancing issues that can lead to frustration. While the crafting system and skill trees offer some depth and replayability, many players find the combat repetitive and the overall experience marred by poor enemy design and level layouts. Despite its flaws, the game provides an engaging RPG experience for those who appreciate its narrative and world-building, though it may not satisfy players seeking polished mechanics or innovative gameplay.

    • “The gameplay is dynamic, much smoother than Mars: War Logs, Spider's previous game, and is challenging enough to be fun without being hard.”
    • “The crafting mechanics are really solid, and I appreciated that the main choices made actually impacted the game and gameplay, which is something a lot of choice-based RPGs don't do.”
    • “The gameplay is challenging and has some layers of complexity.”
    • “The combat system is challenging and, unfortunately, frustrating, as poor balancing and clunky controls undermine the gameplay.”
    • “This should've been a basic linear RPG for up to 4-5 hours, but instead you spend 12 due to janky souls-wannabe mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay is unforgivingly hard, but doable, especially when you've spent years playing souls games and know how to git gud.”
  • graphics
    474 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while the visuals can be decent and occasionally beautiful, they often appear dated and lack the polish expected from more recent titles. Some users appreciate the unique art style and atmospheric design, but others criticize the stiff animations, repetitive environments, and graphical glitches that detract from immersion. Overall, the graphics are seen as acceptable for a mid-budget game released in 2014, but they do not stand out in comparison to contemporary AAA titles.

    • “The graphics are good, even though there are not that many different enemy types and areas.”
    • “The graphics are very pretty.”
    • “The graphics are polished, yet they don't bog my system.”
    • “Graphical fidelity often appears dated, with stiff facial animations and repetitive environmental assets that undermine immersion.”
    • “The graphics are really bland and dated, with basic textures, blocky shadows and are pretty unrefined to look at.”
    • “The graphics just look 'off.' During the cutscenes, the characters always seem way too shiny.”
  • music
    309 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising the soundtrack composed by Olivier Deriviere for its memorable and atmospheric qualities that enhance the overall experience. While some players noted that certain tracks felt out of place or repetitive, the majority found the music to be a standout feature, often describing it as beautiful, immersive, and fitting for the game's themes. Overall, the soundtrack is frequently highlighted as one of the game's strongest aspects, contributing significantly to its emotional depth and engagement.

    • “The game benefits greatly from its soundtrack, composed by Olivier Derivière, which adds dramatic weight to the battles and narrative beats.”
    • “The music is amazing and gives off a feeling of epic adventure, featuring low, slow relaxing melodies whenever you are in the safety of one of your camps or in a village, and intense tunes whenever you are engaged in a fight, or any other dangerous situation.”
    • “I do not know how it happened that a game with such a small budget managed to receive one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in games in years, but it did, and it makes the game all the better for it.”
    • “The music, the gameplay, and the lore are all fighting each other instead of working together, making this game feel bad to play.”
    • “The music was mostly running in the background without noticing it, so there were no soundtracks I would listen to outside of the game, but most likely you won't get bored with it until you finish the game.”
    • “The music is okay, but becomes repetitive early on, having the same menu tune pop up almost every other cutscene.”
  • humor
    108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding the dialogue to be unintentionally funny or delightfully absurd, often featuring crude jokes and witty one-liners. While some appreciate the humor as a refreshing change from typical RPGs, others criticize it for being poorly executed or overly reliant on profanity. Overall, the game's comedic elements, particularly from the protagonist and certain companions, provide moments of genuine laughter amidst a backdrop of uneven storytelling and gameplay mechanics.

    • “The main character Vulcan sometimes cracks the silliest jokes at just the right moments, catching me off guard and making me laugh out loud several times, even though he is usually pretty serious.”
    • “There's some fantastically subtle humor in this game that, if you get it, will definitely make you choke on your beverage of choice from laughter.”
    • “The characters are great, the script is hilarious, and the environment is fun and engaging.”
    • “The hero is joined by an entourage of sidekicks I would never have seen before if I hadn't played any other game. It's like a collection of ripoffs: Morrigan is a sort-of-indecent, sort-of-evil, yet sexy like a turnip; Tali/Aerie/Shani are every sexy bookworm ever; Carth/Sten embody the 'my life is forfeit, I lost my reason to be' trope; and every elf is just 50% more forgettable in design, with witty yet still unfunny undead characters like a rotting Alistair.”
  • grinding
    85 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and unengaging, with many players noting that combat feels clunky and repetitive. Players often find themselves spending excessive time farming for materials and experience, leading to frustration, especially during boss fights that require significant grinding. Overall, while some players appreciate the challenge, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Unresponsive controls, unreliable target locks, main questlines that suddenly lock you out of side quests with no warning, and tedious boss fights make this unworthy of the time invested.”
    • “The game becomes more tedious with its poor level design, non-stop backtracking and endlessly respawning mobs as you go on.”
    • “It's not that it's hard, it's just tedious, boring, and frustrating, especially when taking out a lot of creatures at once.”
  • stability
    55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent crashes, bugs, and glitches that significantly impact gameplay. While some users experienced minimal issues and found the game enjoyable, others highlighted severe problems such as freezing, audio bugs, and graphical glitches that detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the game is considered unpolished and in need of further optimization to address its numerous stability issues.

    • “Anyways, give it a try, the game isn’t even that expensive, and it’s not buggy or broken, it’s a great RPG.”
    • “Positives include good graphics, no glitches/crashes, and good variety in the leveling system.”
    • “I found the game to be fairly bug free, other than archers shooting at you despite facing another direction, and two random crashes which seem to be linked to a compatibility issue with my GPU (AMD Radeon 6950 HD).”
    • “It's a buggy game, and still crashes to the desktop several times with no warnings or error messages.”
    • “All in all, very unpolished, buggy and not very well thought out.”
    • “Game is still very buggy and while fun when it works, it simply is a waste of money.”
  • replayability
    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The replayability of "Bound by Flame" is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the multiple paths, endings, and character choices that encourage exploration of different playstyles. While many acknowledge the potential for replay through good/evil routes and character builds, others find the game lacks sufficient depth and excitement to warrant multiple playthroughs. Overall, it offers some replay value, particularly for those interested in achievements or exploring different narrative outcomes, but it may not be compelling enough for everyone to return after the initial experience.

    • “But it has many ways of playing, different paths to follow, so lots of replay value if you enjoy the gameplay.”
    • “The good/evil paths give the story plenty of replayability and definitely make it worth the price regardless of whether or not it's on sale.”
    • “Not only that, but there's plenty of replayability as I discovered during my second playthrough; choosing different choices not only affects the ending but also events along the way too.”
    • “It suffers from poorly designed combat, boring quests, awful balancing, and a complete lack of content, meaningful decisions, and replayability.”
    • “Not only that but there's plenty of replayability as I discovered during my second playthrough, choosing different choices not only affects the ending but also events along the way too.”
    • “+ not much replay value; after you finish the game once, you probably won't feel inclined to do it again.”
  • atmosphere
    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of "Bound by Flame" is widely praised for its rich world-building, compelling lore, and strong musical score, which together create an immersive experience. While the initial locations are engaging, some players feel that the atmosphere becomes generic as the game progresses. Overall, the game successfully captures a grimdark tone, though it is noted that certain aspects, like voice acting and combat, could use improvement.

    • “The world of Vertiel serves as an atmospheric setting, a land ravaged by necromantic armies and overshadowed by the menace of the ice lords.”
    • “Decent graphics and effects, outstanding music and atmosphere, combat that requires focus, timing and skill to master, interesting characters and story, enough to keep you engaged from start to finish.”
    • “The atmosphere, story, and characters created deep immersion for me.”
    • “After playing for only two hours, I was extremely bored with the repetitive combat and dull atmosphere of the whole game.”
    • “Must say I expected far more from this... there's also something about the atmosphere that feels unfinished.”
    • “The cinematic is pretty bad, it seems really boring on how they design the in-game cinematic, which makes you not feel the game atmosphere.”
  • optimization
    44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including lag and unresponsive combat, while others report smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems. Many users noted that the graphics are decent, but the overall optimization is inconsistent, leading to frustration for those with higher specifications. While a few players found the game well-optimized, the general consensus leans towards it being poorly optimized, with frequent stuttering and performance drops.

    • “The game runs smoothly with very few performance issues.”
    • “I have so far not encountered a single glitch, bug, or weird physics incident; it all runs smoothly and perfectly - which is rather impressive, considering the AAA industry can never seem to get that part right.”
    • “Animations look good too and overall the game seems to be very well optimized.”
    • “It's an unoptimized, overambitious, buggy experiment, with occasionally campy and unconvincing voice acting, but one with lots of heart and passion.”
    • “Terrible optimization, low framerates, miserable graphics etc.... just grabbed this on the sale though as I wanted an RPG to get over boredom.”
    • “But even that little piece of praise goes out the window, because the game is optimized poorly and manages to actually run worse than much better looking similar games, such as Shadow of Mordor.”
  • character development
    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the intuitive systems and potential for growth through leveling and perk trees, while others criticize the lack of depth and variety in character arcs and designs. Many reviews highlight that the characters often feel flat and generic, leading to a less engaging narrative experience. Overall, while there are moments of strong character development, the execution is frequently seen as flawed, leaving players wanting more from both the characters and their interactions.

    • “Forget Mass Effect's boring paragon/renegade nonsense - this is how you do character development!”
    • “Character development is pretty well done: by leveling up, one can spend attribute points, which can be put into one of three perk trees.”
    • “The level of character development and interaction left me wanting to explore all of the dialogue options simply to learn more about the detailed world of Vertiel.”
    • “The plot, character development, and limited gameplay options don’t encourage multiple playthroughs.”
    • “The last chapters just feel like they needed more character development for your companions and more story.”
    • “The characters involved that attempt to drive the lore are also themselves bland and lacking true character development.”
  • emotional
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding the romance arcs deeply impactful, while others criticize the dialogue and character development as awkward and uninspired. Many reviewers express a lack of emotional investment due to flat characters, inconsistent storytelling, and poor voice acting, which detracts from the intended emotional depth. Overall, while there are moments of poignancy, the game's execution often falls short, leaving players feeling disconnected from the narrative and its characters.

    • “Forget Witcher, forget Dragon Age - Bound by Flame has the most emotionally devastating romance arcs!”
    • “I felt invested enough in the world and in saving it that I accidentally did an evil run, since the plot made me feel like I wouldn't be able to save it if I did a cookie-cutter, paragon playthrough.”
    • “It's heartbreaking.”
    • “Boring story, small RPG elements, and slow pace of the game just didn't get to me.”
    • “Awfully clunky mechanics, unsatisfying skill tree, boring story, and uninspired characters.”
    • “Honestly hard to recommend with the awful controls, boring story, and lack of quality.”
  • monetization
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its lack of microtransactions, loot boxes, and paid DLCs, which contributes positively to the overall experience. However, some players express concerns about potential deceptive advertising regarding in-game content and the quality of the supporting cast.

    • “The big win, in my opinion, is that the game does not feature any microtransactions, loot boxes, paid DLCs (yet), or any other shady cash-grabbing features.”
    • “I also just noticed that I never encountered a couple of the mobs shown in the images on the game's store page, so either I was weirdly unlucky, they looked nothing in-game like they're being advertised, or it was straight-up deceptive advertising.”
    • “Of course, it's hard to do something about the supporting cast who're about as three-dimensional and entertaining as advertisement leaflets.”
    • “Forced choices in a game that pushes the 'your choice matters' advertising.”
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54%Critics’ scoreBased on 25 critic reviews
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14h Median play time
14h Average play time
9-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Bound By Flame is a role playing game with fantasy theme.

Bound By Flame is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 14 hours playing Bound By Flame.

Bound By Flame was released on May 8, 2014.

Bound By Flame was developed by Spiders.

Bound By Flame has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Bound By Flame is a single player game.

Similar games include The Technomancer, Mars: War Logs, Lords of the Fallen, Of Orcs And Men, Risen 3: Titan Lords and others.