I’ve been excited for this game since putting in 8 hours into a 2 hour demo a year ago. Its a kings field like made by a 2 person Dev team with a retro aesthetic. I’ve got about 20 hours in and I’m absolutely blown away.
It plays very much like a metroid prime game mixed with kings field. Exploration is the star of the show here just like prime. It seems like every corner you turn there is some secret you missed despite having been down this hallway a million times. The main island is stacked vertically and as you unlock power ups you can reach new places. Pretty much everything you can see you can get to eventually if you try hard enough.
The atmosphere is a gloomy fantasy world filled with weird characters and kind of obtuse lore. Very much in line with a dark souls game. Visually its just stunning with the detailed pixely 3d look and dense layering of the world. Everything is in a ruined state enhancing the worn in feel of the world.
Combat is fine. I didn’t think I’d like it as I’ve come to hate souls likes but I actually dig the kings like combat. Its all about spacing and footwork than dodging and parrying which there is a button for neither. Each swing of your weapon drains your stanima bar and does little damage but charging it up unleashes a powerful strike. You also have ranged weapons that you recharge automatically over time and are great for dealing with pesky enemies or luring them away and picking them off.
There are a ton of weapons across three main damage types slash, thrust, and impact. Enemies have strengths and weaknesses to different weapon types. The weapons level up with use, and some have special secondary attacks.
The only downsides are the music and some confusion on where to go sometimes. . Some areas the music is pretty good but a lot of areas its just bad. Either way the tracks are very repetitive. The nature of the game can leads to completing an area then not really knowing the next goal or where to go. The crunchy visuals can also lead item drops and scenery blending together.
Anyway that’s my long rant about how much I love this game and I’m trying to get everyone to play it. Seriously worth checking out the demo at least.
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This game truly reminds me of how games once were. No hand holding, sometimes frustrating but ultimately satisfying, resource management and strategically saving and healing, backtracking and finding shortcuts, and it’s deep in terms of exploration and progression. It’s incredible
Also duck store song goes quack quack quack
My experience so far with Queen’s Domain:
Pre-game - “I loved Lunacid and people say this is like Lunacid. Hell, Steam is giving me a discount since I already own Lunacid.”
Phase 1 - turn music down to .1
Phase 2 - Remember what kind of game this is, set expectations. This is a Kings Field and Kings Field moves sllllloooooow.
Phase 3 - “Oh wait, wow I have a lot of combat options”
Phase 4 - “Air Dash Sword go Brrrr”
Phase 5 - “Holy shit, how do I get all the way over/up/down/across there?”
Phase 6 - “This Mimic is going to haunt my nightmares forever”
Phase 7 - “Is this Boss a Blue Whale on armored chicken legs?”
Phase 8 - after climbing Tower of Knowledge “Wait, the map is HOW BIG?!”
Phase 9 - What do you mean I’m less than 10% done?
Phase 10 - Holy shit is my GOTY going to be a retro throwback to a game I never actually played?
Hahahah perfect summation. Yeah I got past what I played in the demo and had less than a 10th of the bestiary finished and realized this was gonna be way bigger than I thought. I havent played lunacid but I picked it up in a bundle on steam. Will play after QD and OoT remake.
I loved Lunacid too. Mmmm I might have to pull the trigger in this one, sounds great.
Don’t forget, the map goes so far down too. Like there’s TONS of shit below the surface - literally.
Yeah. This game rips.
At first I was like “this is neat but I can see how it would get frustrating becuase it’s so slow”.
Then you get the air dash sword and it basically turns into Metroid Prime. I knew that going in but I didn’t realize how much exploration there actually is.
I would say the combat is still way too slow and because of it also kinda boring.
But I’m willing to turn a blind eye to all the shortcomings this game has because the exploration is that good. It’s scratching that FROMsoft exploration itch so well it feels like the world is envisioned by Miyazaki himself, all the way down to having a poison lake. I don’t even consider it a spoiler because when you see it the first thing you’ll think is “that’s a poison lake”.
Yes I’ve been playing almost every day. This game is a real gem. I’m running around all the time, trying to find all the secrets and the game is taunting me all the time. Look at this loot, you want this loot right? Good luck finding out how sucker!
All the wandering I’m doing it’s very confusing what is actually progression and what is just finding neat stuff. Then I do this crazy shit I half remembered seeing earlier, thinking it was some kind of obscure secret. Nope that was actually progression, lucky I found it. Then you fall down a hole and get ganged up by a bunch of enemies you’ve never seen before. You hit one and the health bar barely moved, Game over! Now how did I ever get there?
I love this game, I love the graphics (have the retro filter on), love the music (shop music = best music) and love the challenge. The game sucks you in and you just want to play more of it. I feel like this might be my GotY for sure!
Yup this exactly. Usually I hate back tracking but I don’t mind it here. Worst case I’ll just have leveled up some weapons best case I find something new. Its always been best case. Definitely my GoTY. I might not even get to Ocarina at this rate.
I just wish they hired a composer!
Maybe with the success its having they’ll go back and have it done right.
Fuck yeah, it’s harder than the demo led me to think, but it’s so good. The flying sword mechanic makes exploration very fun, I’ve done all kinds of crazy jumps to out of the way ledges or holes and been rewarded with tasty chicken.
Combat feels a little rough at first, stamina management is punishing. But later, when you can throw out 6+ each of 3 regenerating throwing weapons while stamina recovers, it’s more comfortable.
Addendum: Manticores can eat shit though. Fuck manticores, all my homies hate manticores.
No shit, my big long comment up top there? Was very nearly just “Fuck Manticores”. 3 Manticores in a row on the way to the Necronomicon can get stuffed.
Yup. I’ve played for 15 hours so far and have only just gotten to the lower levels of the mausoleum. I love the feeling of collecting and upgrading the different weapons.
I found the jump that takes you to Verdant Hollow but promptly got my ass handed to me and ported out of there quick. I also found the entrance to the Underworld and fought one guy and immediately noped out because of the darkness.
Yeah I just got to the mausoleum but too many spiders. I’ll have to play on the weekend, not right before bed. Yeah I went down the well immediately died.
Meanwhile I need to force myself to stop playing or else I’ll just go all night lol.
Tbh it helps that the spiders in this game are kinda cartoony. And the telegraphs are easy to see. There’s a ruined building on the ledge just to the side of the bridge from the Library to the Mausoleum, and I went down there to check it out and got absolutely fucked by “Mechanical Spiders.” So you have that to look forward to, too.
Yeah scratch that I played for 2 hours after getting home. Ooops guess I’ll just have spider nightmares tonight.
I’ve been meaning to check this one out - It looks pretty good.
It is exceeding the expections I had from the demo and then some.
I played the demo and loved it, glad to hear the full game can keep that momentum.
