Forget the idea that sorcery builds will let you stroll through this Soulslike with ease. The classic tactic many of us relied on in Demon’s Souls or Elden Ring turns into the game’s main threat here, because in The Bearer & The Last Flame the ultimate villain is none other than Merlin himself.
To make sure you end up resenting magic, most of the area bosses will act as his servants. Other creatures, such as hydras, will also appear, but mages will stand as the primary opposition. That means patience will be required, along with solid command of parries and dodges, and careful calculation of every strike if you want to overcome The Bearer & The Last Flame. There are no shortcuts.
The Bearer & The Last Flame is a Soulslike that avoids the open or semi-open world structures made popular by Elden Ring or Code Vein II, and it also steps away from the elegant and agile Bloodborne legacy so well reflected in Lies of P. Instead, it chooses to return to the roots of the genre and treat Demon’s Souls as its main reference, especially by incorporating the new features and changes introduced by Bluepoint. “My main reference, even in the voice acting, is the Demon’s Souls version by Bluepoint.” “This allowed me to discard things that didn’t convince me, such as the weight of the original game (…).”
“I think Elden Ring lets you go too fast on horseback.” “I believe a good challenge should be going from bonfire to bonfire and arriving without dying, and Elden Ring’s open world kind of kills that essence,” explains Javi, lead developer and designer at Dark Ripper Studio and author of The Bearer & The Last Flame. “I’ve also given the lore more structure (…).” “Every time you finish a level, the narrator appears and explains what happened.” So, if you do not like the direction From Software has taken with its latest productions, keep an eye on this game.
Javier structured his video game much like Demon’s Souls did. There are five great realms that hold a power Merlin craves, and the player is tasked with thwarting his plans and killing him. “For me, The Bearer & The Last Flame is that broken archstone that Hidetaka Miyazaki never gave us, the one we thought would be DLC.” The journey through each of these areas will take a total of 20 hours. “I don’t like to frustrate the player. The bonfires are close to the boss. I find games that require multiple playthroughs to get the platinum trophy incredibly tedious. I don’t want any frustration in that regard. If someone gets frustrated, let it be fighting a boss.”
“I don’t like to bother the player. The bonfires are close to the boss.”
But all these ‘criticisms’ that Javi levels at Hidetaka Miyazaki do not mean that The Bearer & The Last Flame removes all those trollish Souls-like systems. We’ll still have to go back and recover lost souls, we’ll still encounter ambushes hidden around corners, there are no difficulty levels, and yes, there are also poisonous swamps where we’ll die hating everything as we rot in them.
With these elements, The Bearer & The Last Flame seems to be aiming for a Soulslike feel, similar to games like Wuchang & The Fallen Feathers. This excellent Soulslike maintains the challenging boss fights, but it does away with things that were present in Silksong, such as the tedious return to the Last Judge every time you die, or the ridiculously easy beating you get from that bank in the Ant Kingdom. The Bearer & The Last Flame eliminates all of that, demanding melee combat, traversing labyrinthine environments, leveling up, developing a good build, and racking your brain to defeat its magical bosses. Is this the beginning of a new era for Soulslikes, one where trolling is a thing of the past?
“I’ve written the entire story for the game (…).” “To do so, I drew heavily on The Lord of the Rings, both its legends and its architecture (…).” “I’ve incorporated the distinct horizontal and verticality of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games into my game.” “And I haven’t forgotten to include secrets hidden behind invisible walls.” With a proposal that seems to prioritize quality-of-life options and move away from excessive trolling, portraying magic as an enemy rather than a friend, returning us to the more linear and primal Souls experience, and focusing more on combat with swords and great weapons than on self-discovery of the lore, The Bearer & The Last Flame shows promise. The pre-order campaign begins on February 2nd, while the game will be released on March 6th. Javi assures me that the game will also play well on Steam Deck and will run at 60 fps on consoles and PC.
While the concept sounds great to me, and the return to the spirit of Demon’s Souls – with a touch of Blade: The Edge of Darkness – is appealing, the next step is to test whether the most important elements work. Javi has assured me that he’s dedicated four long years to perfecting every parry and dodge, indicating that this was the most challenging part of development. All of this needs to function flawlessly, especially considering that the bosses, which will include mages and many other creatures, appear to specialize in combining both melee and ranged attacks.
The homework is done and there’s a real desire to cut off Merlin’s head in this promising Soulslike
I liked Lies of P, but it’s true that neither its recovery time after a fall nor its parrying was entirely smooth. Plus, there’s the camera issue. Will The Bearer & The Last Flame also suffer from these problems that plagued us so many times on PS3? We’ll find out in March. For now, I can only say that the groundwork has been laid and I’m eager to take down Merlin in this promising Soulslike made in Spain.
Forrás: 3djuegos
