Bound by Flame puts the player in the role of a victim of demonic possession, where it is necessary to choose between the evil powers that are offered or rejecting them in favor of developing heroic talents.

[5] Taking place in the fictional land of Vertiel in the middle of a war between the Elves and Red Scribes against an assembly of immortal necromancers known as the Ice Lords and their undead empire, the Frozen Shadows, the story follows an unnamed mercenary known only by the pseudonym of Vulcan, a demolition specialist in service to the illustrious sellsword company, the Freeborn Blades.

The Freeborn Blades are under the employment of the Red Scribes in their attempt to hold back the army of undead Deadwalkers in service to the Ice Lords.

During a mysterious ritual conducted by the Red Scribes, something goes wrong and Vulcan is possessed by a fiery demon, endowing them with inhuman powers of strength and magical abilities of pyromancy, which they then use to overpower and defeat an undead Juggernaut beast.

In an interview, Derivière stated, "I really wanted to capture a sense of loneliness and despair with the music so I created unique soundscapes to support the different locations and atmospheres."

Excessive and inappropriate swearing and profanity to give the game an artificial edge as well as out of place jokes and misplaced dialogue and information have also been cited.

"[23] Adam Beck of Hardcore Gamer had similar sentiment as other reviewers, opining "Bound by Flame is a charming RPG that's fundamentally and mechanically flawed.

"[21] On the other hand, Brittany Vincent of Destructoid wrote, "It's rough around the edges; a discount Witcher, by many counts, but it also possesses a certain degree of playability that I find devoid in other, more polished outings.

"[14] Others have praised the demon power's trade-off, crafting system, beautiful soundtrack, and that your choices and interactions factor heavily into how events play out and people react to you.