Review: While the Iron’s Hot Puts You to Work as a Blacksmith

While the Iron’s Hot is a blacksmith sim that seems promising, but also happens to be a Switch game that gets in its own way. Due to various minigames, crafting execution, and the method in which you take on new challenges, it can feel a lot like a tedious day job.

While the Iron’s Hot begins with an amateur blacksmith attempting to reach Ellian Island. After an attack on the boat taking them there, they wash ashore outside of Stal village and meet a former blacksmith named Drystan. Apparently, it isn’t exactly the crafter’s paradise players expected, but by building up their repertoire and helping others, the village could thrive again and players could fulfill their dreams.

The thing about While the Iron’s Hot is that it attempts to add more gameplay in where I think it didn’t need to be there. Actually crafting equipment, tools, and other items involves a series of unnecessary minigames. Each piece requires certain parts, which means melting down metal, hammering it out, possibly sharpening it, and finally finishing it, for example. There are timing-based segments associated with melting, hammering, and sharpening, which you could end up doing one-by-one, and it gets really tedious. Especially considering these segments aren’t very challenging. As for the arranging, you can automatically piece them together when a recipe is pinned, which helps.

However, you’ll need to keep recipes pinned to figure out what you need for that, but it isn’t still isn’t exactly intuitive to remember which items to forge. Especially if you have multiple quests open. I keep notes about games I’m playing for work on my iPad while I’m playing them, and I found myself keeping track of how many of various bits and pieces I’d need to create to get everything done. 

I suppose what bothered me most, beyond the tedium of the creation minigames, is that there isn’t much incentive to really do well in them. If you have one poor quality part, I noticed sometimes the general overall result can be optimal so long as the rest of the process was okay. Also, while there may a few situations where the quality really does matter, most of the time you aren’t too harshly penalized for poor results. So you get a little less money. Honestly, the way I was playing I ended up with a surplus due to constantly crafting.

But then, the interruptions are something that come up a bit in different ways. While the Iron’s Hot attempts to follow a rather smooth and pleasant pace as you pursue your blacksmith dreams. As you explore Ellian, you’ll happen upon new people and places. Characters have a lot of personality even though you might only talk to them once or twice, and there’s a sense of satisfaction that comes as you find new quests, items, and recipes. Seeing your home village grow thanks to your efforts and collecting of items is motivating too. However, since you don’t actually interact with many of the people you see milling about, it also felt a little disappointing. 

However, there is also a downside to some quests. In certain cases, there will be items you’ll need to create for major quests. However, you’ll be told to make it, but not given any follow up about how. This means that side quests aren’t really optional. I felt pressured to do everything possible when I’d see it, because there was a chance I’d need the recipe or reward associated with it later on. If I didn’t, then I’d feel like I hit a roadblock until I did do anything supplemental or search around more to find out what was keeping me back.

While the Iron’s Hot is an interesting take on a blacksmith simulator, but it feels like the game can be a tedious chore sometimes. I enjoyed it, but only if I also took regular breaks, made sure I did absolutely everything, and tried not to get rid of any items that had any chance of being useful down the line. I appreciate the concept, but the execution isn’t quite there.

While the Iron’s Hot is available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.