It’s easy to identify many of Blue Fire’s potential inspirations. Its platforming, combat, and overall structure harken back to the sprawling maps and challenges of Hollow Knight, its handful of dungeons could pass for shorter versions of those in most Legend of Zelda titles, and its progression mixes many elements synonymous with From Software’s Souls series. But developer ROBI Studios struggles to bring all of these elements together in a cohesive fashion, and the addition of the studio’s own ideas to the mix weighs down Blue Fire’s otherwise exceptional platforming.
Blue Fire’s most prominent focus is its platforming, which permeates every action you take across its 12-hour adventure. You start with just a jump and a dash, and Blue Fire immediately makes great use of these limited mechanics by giving you a satisfying amount of control over your movements. The length of each jump or dash is tied to the length of a respective button press, which means you can easily cancel either action in mid-air and have greater control over your aerial movements. This in and of itself isn’t unique to Blue Fire, but the fine-tuned feel of movement makes leaping around each varied biome in its world a treat.
These basic movements are coupled with a growing repertoire of moves that you acquire as you progress, including movement speed boosts, wall-running, and double jumps. Blue Fire introduces these new mechanics gracefully; you have plenty of time to get to grips with one before being tasked to learn another. Eventually, stringing them all together feels like you’re conducting an elegant ballet in mid-air, accurately timing and weighing each button press with care to make sure you’re making pin-point jumps around areas designed to challenge these skills.
Discussion about this post