Blue Fire is the sort of game that makes you think of other games you'd rather be playing. it invokes its inspirations openly, not even hiding its clear admiration for Wind Waker and other Nintendo games. thing is, it doesn't do anything with those inspirations. there is no meaningful design to be found in this game. pointless systems (crafting, sidequests) overlap and exist for seemingly no real purpose. movement is stiff, not very satisfying; the same can be said for the combat. three hours in, nothing about it stood out. no areas, no characters, no music, no story, no gameplay - nothing. instead, Blue Fire is the sort of game where you hit a switch to do an annoyingly timed puzzle that isn't difficult in the slightest but is frustrating due to your movement and collision. there is absolutely nothing exceptional to be found in Blue Fire. it is deeply, direly unessential.

i really, really hate being so harsh on an indie game. these devs clearly do have a lot of talent, this game just isn't inspiring or thoughtful in any way, be it narrative or design. there's nothing about Blue Fire that i walk away with. there's nothing memorable, nothing exciting. it's a pastiche of better games melted into a bland soup of a game. also why do so many indie games have protagonists that are just little blobby guys with a white helmet