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I'm not going to lie, the idea of smithing weapons during the Middle Ages, while the world is turning upside down around you, but all your worries are steered towards your anvil and hammer, is as good as any.
Knowing this, I was hooked immediately after I got the chance to play such a game. Before that, I played Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, whose smithing mechanics were nothing short of spectacular, and I was thinking: a game whose mechanics revolve around smithing alone would be a total hit.
Was I wrong? Yes and no. The idea is okay; the execution, not so much, but still, Bladesong gave me a different kind of entertainment, and if for nothing else, I'm very grateful for that alone.
Story
I must be honest, I didn't expect a story at all from Bladesong, given the kind of game it is, let alone a good story, but the story here surprised me very much.
It is told in a not-so-traditional way. You're a blacksmith in search of work that will put the bread on your table, and something like that was in short supply in the Middle Ages. Yet, your skills will soon come forth, and before you know it, folks will start knocking at your door, first to make them some simple swords, and once your name becomes well-known, work will overflow.
Speaking of the door, that will become your obsession number one at the beginning of the game: to find a place where you'll be able to perform your trade. At first, it will be a rented tent, and later, you'll own your smithy, which will elevate things considerably.
This is your part of the story, and apart from it, the game will tell you the story that happens around you as well, and this one will be dark as hell. I won't say much about this story to avoid spoilers, obviously, but the way it is told, and the way the story writers didn't shy away from some unconventional methods, is just fantastic and very brave, to say the least.
Gameplay
The gameplay segment is where Bladesong is supposed to shine, but sadly, the accent here is on "supposed to", because even though the ideas of Bladesong are pretty unconventional and genius, when it comes to the execution, everything falls apart.
This is a sort of table game which can only be controlled with a mouse and keyboard. The camera perspective never shows your character, but only the hammer that is wielded through the air, and that's completely okay. What isn't okay are the commands you must press to execute some actions, which are surgically precise and will eat up the last nerve in your body.
Let me explain. To do something, you'll have to click with the mouse on some textual commands on the screen. Once you hover the cursor over the icon or the text, it will get highlighted, which is usual. However, to execute an action, you'll have to click ten-plus times on the command, because for some unknown reason, the game won't register your clicking.
I thought it was an isolated case at the beginning of the game, but it wasn't; all the time while I was playing, the game failed to register commands to the point where I almost dropped the game, rendering it completely unplayable.
Apart from that, the game suffers from a very boring gameplay loop. You'll receive orders from people for smithing weapons. Each weapon will have some requirements, like, for example, a customer will require the sword to be curved or have a special pommel. If you meet those requirements, even if you fail the most important ones, like, for example, not adding a hilt on the sword, it will still be okay, and the customer won't complain.
At the beginning of the game, you'll have to manage your resources carefully, but once you enter the city and get your own smithy, you'll have so many tasks to do and weapons to smith that you'll swim in money. This will disrupt the overall economy of the game, which will make the game quite boring and very repetitive.
Speaking of gameplay loop, the one in Bladesong seems simple yet effective. There is no reinvention-of-the-wheel kind of gameplay here. To craft a blade, you'll need materials, like iron ingots or the like (better and more demanding swords will require better materials), and you'll start with hammering.
The hammer floats in the air, and you control its swings with the mouse. This mechanic allows you to use a kind of speed and force simulation with the speed of your mouse movements.
The animations of steelworks are too simple for my taste. For example, there is no heating animation, only hammering, pommel and hilt adding, and that's it. The animations in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Ghost of Yotei are way better and more realistic, even though those two games are not about smithing; the smithing is just an additional activity.
Visuals and Sounds
Bladesong is an average-looking game, and that's the best and the most honest description you'll get. Truth be told, such games are not made to die in beauty while playing them; make nice gameplay that will captivate players, and the looks fall into the second row.
Still, I don't mind when a game looks good, but Bladesong is definitely not such a game. The biggest visual issue of this game is the same environments in which the game takes place. The story will be told in comic book-like moving images, while the part where you take a hammer in your hands will be shown in the same room.
All the time while playing, you'll stare at the same scene, and pretty soon you'll have enough; I know I did, and apart from the boredom induced by the gameplay, you'll feel bored by the graphics too, which definitely doesn't help to keep you in the game.
Sounds and sound effects are nothing spectacular; not good, not bad, and definitely not worth mentioning. The music that plays in the background is sort of soothing and can have a relaxing effect on you, but no soundtrack made me remember it, so it tells you everything you need to know about it.
Conclusion
Bladesong is a game carried heavily by its concept. The idea of living as a mediaeval blacksmith while a grim world unfolds in the background is fantastic, and the surprisingly strong, boldly told story adds real weight to it. Sadly, frustrating controls, technical issues, and a repetitive gameplay loop stop the game from living up to its own potential.
Even so, it’s not without charm. There’s a certain calm in the rhythm of the forge and a curiosity that pushes you to see what happens next. If you can look past the clunky execution, Bladesong can still offer a unique, mood-driven experience, just not the deeply satisfying smithing game you would have wanted it to be.
The Good
Unique blacksmithing-focused concept- A surprisingly strong and bold story
The Bad
Unresponsive and frustrating controls- Repetitive gameplay loop
- Broken in-game economy balance
- Limited visual variety
