Blue Fire |OT| A Tiny Inferno

[ced]

These checkpoints are complete ass, I just rage quit after an hour of making no progress, finally getting to the next and dying from fall damage next to it. Made it back only to see my body wasn't there so I didn't have enough cash to unlock it.

Then I died trying to collect cash, fuck.

 

[SunBroDave]

I kinda wish I'd waited for more reviews before impulsively pre ordering like I did last week, a pretty silly mistake I made.

I haven't started it yet, but my enthusiasm for it has dimmed somewhat.

It's in the backlog anyway, not sure when I'll get around to trying it.

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Did you pre-order on Steam? If so, you can refund it.

 

[Jonnykong]

Did you pre-order on Steam? If so, you can refund it.

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No Switch unfortunately.

I've played this game for an hour tonight and.. I really want to like it, but I'm finding it rather annoying 🤷‍♂️ The combat is a bit crap, and the platforming is rather punishingly difficult and precise. It's quite irritating when you accidentally use the dash and it sends you off in another direction than the one you want just because you happen to accidentally hit the analogue stick ever so slightly the wrong way.

 

[Nabbit]

Thanks for all of the info on the game Phil32, it's much appreciated.

 

[totofogo]

About to dive in on Switch! I took a minute or two quick peek at it during lunch and the game ~feels~ really good, better than it looked in gameplay for sure. The rumble feedback on hits feels nice and the game feels smoother than your average 30 fps title to me.

Also, that opening cutscene and the games look give off major Botw vibes

 

[ShineALight]

Made it past the first dungeon last night and, while I feel kinda bad asking for help because it's been fun going in blind, I'm over being lost. The next area I need to go to is

Spoiler

the graveyard, I think. I found a locked door to there but I don't have a key. Assuming I just beat the first boss in the forest dungeon, how should I proceed?

Thanks! Enjoying the game so far.

 

[Phil32]

Made it past the first dungeon last night and, while I feel kinda bad asking for help because it's been fun going in blind, I'm over being lost. The next area I need to go to is

Spoiler

the graveyard, I think. I found a locked door to there but I don't have a key. Assuming I just beat the first boss in the forest dungeon, how should I proceed?

Thanks! Enjoying the game so far.

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IIRC, you need to

Spoiler

Use your abilities in the stone city area to reach the very top section where there are two horizontal gray beams you need to cross to reach a small alcove where a bar and barkeep is, who will give you a key and a side quest to do.

 

[ShineALight]

IIRC, you need to

Spoiler

Use your abilities in the stone city area to reach the very top section where there are two horizontal gray beams you need to cross to reach a small alcove where a bar and barkeep is, who will give you a key and a side quest to do.

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Wow, I was right there. Thanks so much. One last question (for now, anyway): is it okay to sell all ore, or do they have any other use? Thanks!

 

[Phil32]

Wow, I was right there. Thanks so much. One last question (for now, anyway): is it okay to sell all ore, or do they have any other use? Thanks!

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Do you mean the Sapphire/Ruby/Etc. things you get from treasure chests? If so, yes, they are just to sell to help you afford things faster. Hope I'm on the same page with your question here and you're not referring to something else!

 

[totofogo]

It throws me off how the controller vibrates so much when the enemy attacks. It feels like feedback that they hit you, and them hitting you doesn't feel much stronger lol.

 

[totofogo]

Handheld mode is beautiful as well on Switch. I continue to be impressed, this deserves so much more attention!

Game feel and presentation is great, but there are some odd choices from what I've seen so far. For example, what's the point of kicking you out of voids or burning your consumables in them if progression of orbs collected is saved no matter what?

EDIT: just got my first crash going through an area I had already been, so not repro'able in any specific way

without spoiling, it's cool to see references to other indie darlings!

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

I just finished the second dungeon, which was very good, really enjoying the platforming challenges, and some of the NPC's. Quick question though. On the loading screen it keeps giving the hint that you can hold the attack button to do a charge attack, but this doesn't seem to work for me on Switch. Is it something you have to unlock or is it bugged out for me?

No Switch unfortunately.

I've played this game for an hour tonight and.. I really want to like it, but I'm finding it rather annoying 🤷‍♂️ The combat is a bit crap, and the platforming is rather punishingly difficult and precise. It's quite irritating when you accidentally use the dash and it sends you off in another direction than the one you want just because you happen to accidentally hit the analogue stick ever so slightly the wrong way.

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It starts off pretty meh, but gets better after the first hour or so. It really starts to feel like a platforming focused Zelda game after the first bit.

 

[Phil32]

I just finished the second dungeon, which was very good, really enjoying the platforming challenges, and some of the NPC's. Quick question though. On the loading screen it keeps giving the hint that you can hold the attack button to do a charge attack, but this doesn't seem to work for me on Switch. Is it something you have to unlock or is it bugged out for me?

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It's a [non-mandatory] unlockable ability to find. I mentioned the location in a spoiler earlier in the thread.

 

[Sander VF]

I'm stuck.

Where do I find the Graveyard Key?

edit: This game is so platforming-focused, that even an optional charge slash move is functionally a double jump... on top of the actual double jump that you unlock later AFAIK.

 

[Sander VF]

Anyone? This game doesn't have any guides yet and I can't find anything about a graveyard key.

 

[Phil32]

Anyone? This game doesn't have any guides yet and I can't find anything about a graveyard key.

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Check here.

 

[Sander VF]

Check here.

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Thanks!

I had actually been in that part of the city area, but I missed the door.

 

[Don Draper's Hat]

It took me quite a while to find that key too.

This game is in dire need of a map. I'm currently searching for four Soul Vessels. I've found two, but fucked if I can find the others. And it feels like I've looked everywhere now.

Platforming in this game is great, everything else is a bit annoying, the combat especially.

 

[kyle mechlachlan]

I played about 20 minutes of this before giving up on it. The combat is honestly really bad. It's swimmy, imprecise, the timing is just weird. After dying twice to the third enemy it presents (on the stairs with the little maggots nearby), then respawning back at the literal start of the game, I shut it off and requested a refund.

Having Souls-like mechanics aren't inherently beneficial to game design and nothing about this game seems to be benefited from having them.

 

[locke_21183]

Enjoying this a lot, though it's straining so hard to feel like Hollow Knight - the music, the atmosphere, the pacing and tone of the dialogue and sort of "after the Fall" ruiny backstory. Mostly getting there!

Also I've never played a game with so many typos.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Enjoying this a lot, though it's straining so hard to feel like Hollow Knight - the music, the atmosphere, the pacing and tone of the dialogue and sort of "after the Fall" ruiny backstory. Mostly getting there!

Also I've never played a game with so many typos.

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As much as I love Hollow Knight, it's a very derivative game, just like this. There's nothing wrong with it. I think the game has enough of it's own unique elements to allow it to stand on it's own, just like HK. If anything I think this game is trying to be Zelda in terms of it's tone, pacing, and story.

 

[Jonnykong]

Is there any point in collecting all 30 of the orbs in the void levels?

Cos I managed to finish one last night after grabbing 28 of them and still got the health upgrade.

 

[locke_21183]

The orbs can be exchanged for extra spirit slots. Spirits don't seem that important at the start but when you see what the ones you get let you do, you'll want as many as possible.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

I've been playing for a bit, and I'm onto the part where you have to defeat the three lords. I have to admit, I have mixed thoughts about this game.

I think the movement is really good. It's honestly what's been getting me through the game, because normally I wouldn't be into the type of Dark Souls vibes it kind of goes for, but it's just really fun to move around.

I think the best parts of the game for me are the void challenges. They're basically platforming challenge areas, and mostly I thought they were really fun. The backgrounds are unique and kind of trippy, it feels like you're on another planet which I thought was cool. I would honestly buy a game that's just these, especially if they added some music. Sometimes the difficulty isn't fun, I thought the ones with the conveyor platforms were kind of tedious and there are a few that were honestly just too difficult for me. But overall, I really enjoyed these.

The rest of the game is where things get a little more mixed for me. It kind of has a Dark Souls/Hollow Knight feeling, the environments are mostly really bleak and dull-colored, and the story feels really vague without much context. I'm honestly just not really into this. The environments just aren't enjoyable to be in for me, and the lack of much story/interaction gives the game an isolated feeling. I will admit I liked the forest village area, but overall the environments just had a kind of bleak/depressing feeling that I didn't want to be in.

Some other things: I think the music is pretty good, there are some surprisingly good songs. I also like most of the character designs, especially the little villagers and the main fire guard dude who talks to you in cutscenes. And I like the different costumes. The bosses honestly felt a little low-budget and forgettable to me. The combat in general I don't think was a highlight. Maybe it's just because I prefer platforming in general, but the combat usually just felt tedious to me. The fights against the lords especially just aren't fun imo.

But, yeah, those are my thoughts I guess. I don't think it's bad, I just wish they would have made the environments a little more colorful/inviting, maybe given it more of a story, and done more with the platforming/less combat. I guess those are all personal preference things though.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Just beat this at 97.5% at around 20 hours. It was pretty fun but not outstanding. Platforming was great for the most part, though the camera could be annoying at times. Some of the void challenges were REALLY tough. I really enjoyed the two dungeons the game had to offer... I just wish there were more of them. Music, visuals, and overall atmosphere I really enjoyed. The game chugged along on the Switch in certain areas which could be annoying. Bosses were pretty underwhelming though except for the final one which was quite good. NPC's were decent and there were some ok quests but nothing mindblowing.

If anything, it was refreshing to play a 3D game that emphasized platforming. It's a pretty decent game overall that I just wish was a little better.

 

[totofogo]

Bowser's Fury has distracted me from this but I wanted to stop by to share this adorable gif from the BF site. (Oh no, BF is the abbreviation for Bower's Fury and Blue Fire lmao). I feel like it should have a home in the OP.

EDIT: the video on this page is even better and shows all the available platforms. I can't find a way to embed without distort though D:

PC, Xbox One & PS4 | Robi Studios

That’s right, Blue Fire will also be available for PC, Xbox One and Ps4!!!

www.robistudios.com

 

[Sauce Marlow]

I've had this game crash on me no less than TEN TIMES while fighting the fire boss. This is just flat out unacceptable.

 

[Dancrane212]

New update:

 

[totofogo]

New update:

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Awesome!

 

[Dancrane212]

Announced for Stadia:

 

[Dancrane212]

Physical release on June 25th:

 

[Deleted member 3017]

I just dropped this game after around three hours. It's just not very good. I really cannot stand the combat (it's honestly worse than 3D Zelda combat and that's saying something), the level design is absolutely awful, the checkpoint system is incredibly frustrating, and the damn WALL RUNNING just feels really, really bad. I gave it a fair shake, but I can't recommend this at all.

 

[jimboton]

Just finished the game. I liked it pretty much all the way, special mention to the Abandoned Path tower and the second temple, the game really comes into its own at that point and there's some beautifully challenging 3d platforming to be had. If there had been more of that I would consider Blue Fire one of the great games of this type, as it is I found it a bit too short and you become perhaps a bit 'overtooled' towards the end with double dash, wallrun extension, invisible platforms and whatnot (though the hardest void challenges remain pretty hard).

Overall I recommend it if 'Hollow Knight 3d' sounds appealing now that most of the bugs and glitches seem to have been fixed (I had just the one crash in my playthrough and the game allows to save progress anywhere).

 

[Dancrane212]

Included in Stadia Pro next month:

This Week on Stadia: Your free Stadia Pro games for June are almost here!

Four new free games are headed to Stadia Pro starting June 1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III - It doesn’t get more hardcore than this standout JRPG from the masters at Nihon Falcom. MotoGP20 - Blazing speed. Custom careers. Motorsports action at its absolute finest. Blue Fire -...

community.stadia.com

 

[DonnieTC]

Included in Stadia Pro next month:

This Week on Stadia: Your free Stadia Pro games for June are almost here!

Four new free games are headed to Stadia Pro starting June 1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III - It doesn’t get more hardcore than this standout JRPG from the masters at Nihon Falcom. MotoGP20 - Blazing speed. Custom careers. Motorsports action at its absolute finest. Blue Fire -...

community.stadia.com

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Available now. Also OriginalPenguin94 did a pixel count/performance analysis and confirmed it's running at 4k (native) /60 FPS: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stadia/comments/npv8ie/blue_fire_runs_at_4k_60fps_natively_on_stadia/

 

[DonnieTC]

Played for around 30 minutes on Stadia. Fun game, will definitely continue playing. Hah, can't say if I finish though...I start so many games these days with the intention to finish but never do. It does indeed look very crisp and runs buttery smooth. Here are some quick screenshots I took:

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[Dancrane212]

Xbox port releasing on July 9th:

 

[Kito]

I got this game pre-ordered from Target's B2G1F deal and can't wait for it. I'm really looking for another console 3D platformer with tight controls that's actually challenging, too.

The Astro's Playroom time trials put me deeply in the mood for more tight platforming challenges. I already have A Hat in Time, I was let down by the lack of challenge in Rift Apart's challenge rooms, had a blast with It Takes Two's challenges, but is there anything else out there that would do the trick? I tried revisiting the Crash remakes and the controls and camera really put me off, and Spyro is more about exploring than it is competent platforming.

I need something good and I need it now! Thanks so much for any advice!

 

[Dancrane212]

July 23rd release date announced for PlayStation:

 

[Dancrane212]

Teasing new content?

​

 

[Dancrane212]

The developers confirmed free updates are incoming for Blue Fire:

Umbra? Von? A giant Void?! We're happy to share a small sneak peek of some of the content we've been creating and look forward to making a formal announcement soon... For now, we can confirm we're working on free content updates for the game!

We're also excited to share an art dump that we've put together showcasing some of our favorite characters, environments and art assets from Blue Fire. Since we're a small team, each member had to fulfill several roles during development and most art pieces were created with the collaboration of the entire art team!

Click to shrink...

 

[Dancrane212]

New update:

​

Notes:

Hey everyone!

It's been six months since Blue Fire launched and since then we've been hard at work addressing big post launch issues and working on getting the game to all major platforms! Having passed this last milestone, we're hyped about improving the complete experience! In the next few months we'll be releasing updates that include new features, balancing and bug fixing as well as new exciting content we can't wait to share with you. 😄

Today, we're happy to release the Sword of Steel Update!!! This update includes a huge amount of game enhancements, game balancing, bug fixes and stability improvements that we've been eager to get into Blue Fire. We've spent a lot of time analyzing players feedback and reviews since launch and are happy to incorporate much of that into this update!

Here's what's in the Sword of Steel Update:

Major game balancing & enhancements:
* Added Void checkpoints on newcomer
* Removed costs to unlock checkpoints on newcomer and recommend
* Enemy Attack Collisions changed from traces to real weapon collisions
* Enemy Contact damage removal on several enemies
* Enemy speed, damage, intervals and attack adjustments based on difficulty
* Fall damage reduction and adjustment based on difficulty
* Added spirit UI recharge icons
* In depth Analytics framework
* Beira Shards Fire Keep reposition
* Gameplay improvement on certain Voids
* Many other game improvements!

Stability improvements:
* Crash fixes (handler c++)
* Garbage Collector fixes
* Fix performance issue on low end devices after long play sessions

Bug Fixes:
Player controller, speed run timer, UI, menus, progress, data management, inventory, enemies, collisions, camera, bosses, level unloading, void progress, game percentage and a ton of other fixes.

We're also planning upcoming updates, so feel free to keep sending feedback that you'd like to see in the future!

Cheers,
Robi Studios

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[DaniThePinguim]

I finished the forest dungeon and I am enjoying my time with this after I got it free from Amazon games. Wall Run/Jump is a bit wonky though and made one of the voids challenges harder than it should be.

 

[Oinone]

My first session had some highs and lows with a lot of nitpicks, but overall I'm really enjoying the game. Especially the Zelda DNA.
I finished the first temple and am ready to go to the cemetry now.

The platforming is fun and I'm enjoying the challenges in the void so far. But the controls feel a tad too wonky for how precise things have to be at times. (And fuck time limits forever.) Somehow unlocking the wallrun made it even worse for me. Now it feels like my little guy doesn't grab ledges as consistently as before. The camera can be a problem on top.
It gets worse through the fact, they put important merchants behind platforming passages, with no shortcut to unlock for an easier way to come back in the future. I needed so many tries to get into the tavern, the thought of going back alone pains me. There is really no need to make it so cumbersome.

I needed some time to get into the combat, and I don't really like you have to toggle lock on. I prefer holding the button. Difficulty is more on the easy side so far, though. You get more HP through the challanges quickly and the potions heal a lot. They are also dropping constantly, and upgrading the amount is cheap as well.

My biggest gripe so far might be the lack of any sort of map. Especially in dungeons. I tend to struggle quickly with orientation in any kind of game. And given how much Blue Fire relies on backtracking, it's really hard to find something again.
I also don't get the appeal of the Dark Souls emotes, Aside from being a little cute, I guess. The chest chase seems just like a tedious way of forcing me to backtrack with a huge possibility, I might return and still not own the right emote, cause I can't remember the exact symbol on the plate.
What it does better than Zelda are the crystals in the chests for sale instead of throwing cash at you, you often can't even carry more of right now.

The one big thing, that is really fucking with my brain though - who puts Cancle on Y??!! What did B to hurt them?

 

[Oinone]

Finished the second temple and now got told to kill the shadows to be allowed to meet the princess.

Unlocking the double jump has been an absolute game changer. It makes the platforming so much better and even the wonky wallrun a bit more doable. (I still think the way to the tavern is bullshit, though.)

While I'm better with the combat by now, I still don't like it too much. I don't know how to put it into words though. I don't feel too much in control, I guess. Also don't like using the shield and prefer to use the mana for shooting instead. I wish the feedback for you getting hit would be better. I often have to check my hearts to be sure if I got hit or not.
I'm still surprised by the low difficulty outside of platforming. I have yet to die from losing all my hearts. Didn't even come close yet. This got me somewhat curious and checking further, the game got a lot of balancing patches in various ways. Guess this was a way more brutal motherfucker upon release.

I still would love a map and I got super stuck once, where I misjudged a distance, I thought I couldn't make, thus misreading the level structure and walking completely off base. I was super frustrated and confused and more or less glitched my way further, being just stuck on every way. I had to check Youtube and died inside a little, when I understood my mistake.
So while this was mostly on me, I still think, the level structure could be designed slightly better at times. And seeing this was also a point in their patchnotes, I feel a bit redeemed. ^^

 

[Oinone]

Finally continued playing, and started to collect the glowing orbs in some areas. This reminds me a lot of the hunt for shadow insects as Wolf-Link in Twilight Princess.
I kinda like it (although more dungeons would have been more interesting), but the black/white vision with those strong vignettes is really annoying. I feel like I can't see shit.

At times the platforming can get pretty wild. In the sense of I'm not sure if it is really intended the way I'm doing it, because it seems like brute forcing something speedrunner style or so. I'm mainly thinking of collecting the glowing orbs in the Temple Garden and how to get up to the rusty bells there. Weirdly enough, the charms to enhance the platforming are hidden behind those weird passages.
With all those charm upgrades, I feel a bit op for some platforming. I'm also filthy rich and bought everything relevant by now. (i.e. all charms and health upgrades) My mana is maxed out too, and only buying the other robe colors is left for me.

But then I went into the fire area, what was a headache in itself.
I already found the entrance last time I played, but decided to not go there yet. Now after a week long break, I couldn't remember where said entrance was, and with no map I busted my brain and ran around in circles. In the end I needed a guide.
Enemies do a lot more damage and I don't even know how you are supposed to fight that dragon-like worm, shooting fire balls from a distance. He hides, when I come close, and when I'm far away, I can't lock him on to shoot him down with mana? Also turns out, now that I have started a second row of hitpoints, the potions don't heal fully anymore. And the destroyable objects in this area don't seem to drop new potions as much as before.

The final blow to my session was finding the void challange there, Oriane's saw. It's so unfun and feels even unfair in parts.
I hate this in general, when I'm forced to keep moving, while also having to avoid objects with their own pace blocking my way. When the timing is only slightly off, you are already doomed to fail. It feels like RNG in a way. I even got super close to the end with 27 orbs collected. But the last part is just too terrible and long, there should be another checkpoint. I'm sure I had tried on with one there, but not like this. During those parts the wonkyness of the controls comes into play more again on top.

 

[Oinone]

How could I not mention the cute NPCs so far? I met Joggo and then joined the bunny sect. All those costumes hanging on the line in their home killed me! ^^
Talking about killing... I also became a home owner, but at what cost? When the game showed me "Push" I thought, sureley they can't mean- *presses A*

I fought my first shadow boss Samael. Quite the chaotic fight I more or lessed tanked my way through. His attack spamming gives little room to breath. It's also hard to readjust the camera to see, where I have to land in this chaos.
I also did more higher ranking challanges, and those were betther than Oriane's Saw. It helped Gerardo's Anger, that the laser beams are not instant death for a change. When doing Lucua's Climb, the biggest enemy becomes the camera, that goes crazy in those narrow tunnels for the later half. Sometimes I died just because I couldn't see shit. Flaws like this are super annoying. After getting the orbs, when I had to redo parts, I went around outside fo the tower, and they clearly had you doing this in mind. Otherwise they would have put spikes there.
There should only be one challange left, I haven't found yet.

 

[Oinone]

And finished. The main game, that is. With pretty much everything seen and done the ingame timer showed me 14 hours.
The boss fight in the sewers and the fire area were pretty similar and I disliked the arena being reduced to smaller pillars. I found it quite hard to see, where I am and have to land with all the chaos and camera. The fight in the ice area was better in this regard.

The queen itself confused me and I had to quit and look up, how you are supposed to do damage. I was using the shield to avoid hers, but that rarely worked, and I just didn't understand why I could deal damage at times and other times not. I think the idea is, to parry perfectly here. But I've never used the shild prior and didn't really understand, how it was meant to work in the boss fight with her.
When I googled, what the deal is to begin with, I just followed the tip of an IGN walkthrough and jumped off the arena and would dash back in, when her shield went back.
Again I found the constant attack spamming exhausting and some effects made it very hard to see anything. I died in one of her later phases, my first death. Second try was already miles better though and beat her.
The - pretty much not existing - ending cutscene was a bit of a letdown. For how much lore they do present at times, they do very little with it at other times.

Getting all the emote chests was disappointing as well. Really just more shit to sell for money, I don't need. I expected something more interesting from them.

After beating the queen I looked up how to enter the post game area and looked around there a bit. Reminds me somewhat of Godhome from Hollow Knight. I'm not too sure how much I am up to another round of void challanges. I did enjoy the platforming presented there, especially the lower difficulties. But the controls and often even more the camera tend to ruin them in a frustrating way. I'll just see how far I am able and or willing to make it. I would at least like to get all 8 keys to see behind the door, though. :/

 

[Oinone]

Put another two hours into the DLC void challanges and even managed to beat some of them. But this shit is way too brutal for me, some of them are really wild. That's out of my league and isn't really fun anymore to me.
In one of them, I even encountered a bug, making it unable to beat it. Bubbles are supposed to spawn constantly for you to hop in and be transported further. But for whatever reason, said bug makes them hit each other and pop, so that I can't fly with them. A quick google search made me find someone with the same problem, but no solution. I have no idea, what triggers the bug and no interest of restarting the level over and over, hoping to reach the checkpoint again and maybe this time they spawn correctly.

Overall I liked the game and had a pretty good time with it. Mostly the wonkyness brings it down. Combat is only okay, boss fights too chaotic, the platforming suffers from camera and controls. Still traversal and exploring were fun, the world is beautiful and the NPCs are all super cute.
It's still a wild ride to read all patch notes and see, what they changed throughout. Especially the idea of no checkpoints during the void challanges or having to unlock them with money is wild to me!