Bound by Flame is an upcoming RPG due for release this Friday. Developed by Spiders, it revolves around your character, Corky–a Warrior of the Pure-Blades– and his endeavours to help defeat the Lords of Ice. The Pure-Blades’ primary purpose is to protect the mages, known as the Red Scholars, who believe they have a way to overcome the might of the Lords of Ice. You are pitted into this fantasy world of good and evil, but with a conflicting crisis over right or wrong yourself; the demon within you grows. But how much will you allow it to do so?
“There is not enough space inside you for two souls. That demon wants your body. It will control you more and more, until it has replaced you completely…”
These words are uttered by an anonymous wise man on the new launch trailer for Bound by Flame, as a cinematic montage depicts the transformation of your possessed character.
The selling point of this game is the different ways in which one can choose to fight and the different ways in which plot outcomes arise as a result of the choices you make.
Ways to influence such outcomes of the game are affected by your relationships with the other NPCs that fight alongside or against you, and the way in which you develop your character through the Talent Tree. There is also an intricate crafting system, that allows you to use parts of things that you scavenge from various areas in the game, and from the corpses of your foes.
The talent tree is made up of 3 main classes which are: Martial Techniques, Way of the Shadow, and Fire Magic. Martial Techniques are the standard “Warrior” type melee skills. Way of the Shadow implies a more tactical blend of agility and stealth, using double-blades. Fire Magic obviously sounds the coolest, allowing you to summon fire spirits, flaming blades and fireballs. However, to utilise Fire Magic, you must allow the demon within you to become more of a part of you–you must become evil.
So no prizes for guessing exactly how you may change the outcome of the later game and ending. But by looking at the bold, grandiose aesthetics of this game, I doubt its intentions were to ever be of such ilk. Just check out how blatantly awesome these ghoulish demons look… If I get around to playing this game I’ll hedge my bets with the baddies, thanks.
