I don’t recall ever conducting an interview in such a cool, atmospheric setting before, but this past week found myself sat in front of a crackling log fire inside a kooky ancient cottage, on the grounds of a generations-old fully working forge.
And just as cool is the fact I was sat down with Enric Alvarez, veteran of the games industry and CEO & Founder of MercurySteam, a chap who worked on one of my favourite entries in the Castlevania series (Lords of Shadow), not to mention the sublime Metroid Dread.
We were present, however, to chat about the promising new action adventure title, Blades of Fire, mere minutes after playing it. It was a chat as warm and enlightening as that smoky old fireplace.
LLC: Having played the game, it is pretty obvious why you are holding this event here. Blacksmithing is a focal point of the game. But where did the idea come from, and how did the concept evolve?
Enric: It comes from two sources. On one hand, the medieval fantasy setting is something we are very comfortable with. We love it. The founders of our studio began their careers working on a very, very old game – Blades of Darkness – which shares part of the name with Blades of Fire, and a few other things. And we simply love to be in this kind of world. It is a third-person action adventure, and we came up with the idea of “OK, what would happen if, one day, in a swords and sorcery world, someone, somehow, casts a spell that turns steel into stone?” It was that simple.
And it had us talking for some time, it was interesting. To put a hero in that position…he has a problem! There are no tools to kill the Queen, who cast the spell in the first place. So we need to forge. And that idea grew in our minds as something that maybe hasn’t been seen before, certainly not the way we did it. We thought it would be something worth developing and offering to people, because it is quite simple. It’s quite clear, right? There are no weapons unless you forge them!
And what about the concept of the actual Forge itself?
The Forge itself was a totally different thing. It was a very long and complex process in order to make sure that each and every decision made in there impacts the combat, but not in a way that doesn’t allow you the freedom to decide what weapon you would like to use. We were very excited about the whole idea and shared it with 505 Games. And they said to us: “Yeah! Lets go for it. And that is how it all started!”
What sort of literature or even movies were you influenced by?
We are not young any more! We were very influenced by movies like John Boorman’s Excalibur. Comics too, especially Frank Frazetta. Like I said, we are very fond of medieval fantasy settings, we like to get absorbed in these environments. And we are also avid role-playing gamers. Blades of Fire is not exactly an RPG – it is an action adventure. But I think roleplaying games were an influence. Us guys in the studio – which started 30 years ago – we share similar tastes. A taste for action and adventure, and coming back into that kind of setting after so many years, was something that we wanted to do, and we are glad we had the opportunity to do it, and that 505 also saw something in the proposal.
What were your inspirations? You made Lords of Shadow, and the lead looks a bit like a Belmont…
First of all, the game we all started our careers with many, may years ago was Blades of Darkness with Rebel Act Studios. It was here that the founders of MercurySteam met. It is unavoidable that this game had a strong influence on Blades of Fire. Castlevania too, no doubt about that. Especially from a staging perspective, and the care we like to put into a fantasy setting. If we are developing a single player game, we want to offer you a setting that sucks you into it, that immerses you.
This all has to do with a rich world, a dense world, full of little animals doing this and that. Breakable stuff everywhere. We see our games like a sequence of paintings. That was pretty obvious in Castlevania because of the fixed camera. Of course all these years later the hardware is much more capable to show you a lush environment, with cameras turning in every direction. But for sure, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow had an influence on this.
What about the influence of Souls-like titles?
We like a lot of the Souls games. This is not a pure Souls-like, but it does have a few elements of it, like the anvils that allow you to save your progress, go to the forge, and fast travel.
The voice acting in Blades of Fire seems very natural. Can you tell us a bit about the process?
We decided at the beginning that we wanted to come to the UK for the motion capture and that we wanted the same actors performing the motions to provide the voice acting. I like what you said about how natural their voices sound, and this was the intention. When the voices are added later, you never get the same texture, the same quality. I feel we really got this right.
Because the actors have a motivation for what they say?
Yes, exactly. And I also have to say, they are very good actors, very competent people. I mean, we had a great time filming here in the UK. They touched my heart, we became friends during the process, and they fully understood what we wanted. What we wanted from the beginning was: you are not a hero. You are a common person. You are a youngster. You are an old man. You are not a hero all the time. I want everyone to sound natural. I want you to sound believable, you know what I mean? And I think this comes across.
Vulnerable: that’s what I felt.
Yes. Vulnerable. Because this is a big task! The hero is taking on the impossible. It is absolutely impossible. We are very proud of the characters, the mini adventures you are going to have in every setting, with very, very special characters, and I cannot wait for players to get their hands on them, so to speak. Voice acting is primarily important for us as this is a narratively driven game. The quality was achieved because we got everything in one go, the motion capture and the voices. It is crucial to get that right vibe.”
What other aspects of the project are you most proud of?
How everything came together: especially the Forge. This was a bit of a risky bet. The Forge is a central pillar, but this isn’t a Forge simulator. It was incredibly tough to make all of the decisions you make in there translate into the combat. It was challenging and required a lot of prototypes until we got it. I think we got it right. This is a game where you can go through the whole game with three or four weapons, and simply reforge them with the best skill you have, because the steels evolve so that the better the steel, the more effective the weapon.
There are almost infinite possibilities, right?
More or less infinite, yes!
I liked the Forge Memory, which allows a fast track way to forge weapons based on your previous blacksmithing. That will be good for the more impatient players!
We did reach points where we questioned the complexity of things, whether things were going to work, or be either too simplistic or time consuming, you know? But the Forge Memory saves you a lot of time unless you want more stars on your weapon. But – as soon as you get a three or four star, which is reasonable, you don’t need to do it again, you can apply the skills using the Forge Memory and that’s it.
If you could forge anything within the forge, what would you make?
That is a nice question. I have to admit, I haven’t forged anything in my life!
Apart from all these weapons you have been talking about?
Haha in the game, yes, apart from that! But I have to say I have a lot of respect for forging, as this is a human activity that has lasted for thousands of years, you know? And it is something incredible, magic, even, how you turn stones into a delicate piece of metal. It is something that amazes me, and I think why we went into making this game. It was the realisation of a dream, but became a nightmare as it was very, very challenging.
In terms of forging, I am not a vampire, yet we did Castlevania! It’s just that both of these things fascinated us and for me personally, especially the forge, it is something that is magic for me.
But what would you forge, if you could make anything?
I am a big fan of the great sword so possibly a claymore! The Scottish one, you know, the big thing!
Thanks to Enric for his time, and 505 Games for organising the event. Blades of Fire is coming to PC (Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X on May 22nd. Read our hands-on impressions, here.