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.
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.
Lunacid was the closest to what I wanted out of a King’s Field game when it came out (still missed a few marks IMO), and Queen’s Domain has taken that spot for sure and is my personal Game of the Year. :-]
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.