The Dark Queen of Mortholme

It's hard to truly say it's not worth getting when it's only $5 but honestly that's how I kinda feel. This is less of a game and more of a story being told were you get to hit buttons in between and honestly I remember seeing the earlier versions on social media and was excited. However the whole "the AI learns your patters and gets better as you fight it" is kinda misleading. It's more like the AI gains the ability to perfectly avoid you as so as you hit the attack button, and due to how slow the attacks are there isn't any variation. Put it simply you're simply waiting for it to be scripted to mess up. In that regard the one sided-ness of this game is accurate to boss fight to a degree. The issue is that it's not fun which is a shame cause the story is quite good. I've never encountered a game that is fun in idea but then a chore in execution, it's left me conflicted but I can't in good conscience say this is worth even $5. It's bizzare how unsatisfying this game is.

I... don't know how to feel about this game. Concept? 10/10. It's the reason I and many others wanted this game. Execution? So so. It's a fun 30 minute time waster, but that's kind of all the game can be with how quickly you're on the ropes. Loved the dialogue, I was actually a little moved by it. Both the hero and the villain had their reasons to fight, to not give up, and both were worth cheering for. Like most games, the hero was given everything needed to try again and again in hopes of one day succeeding. The problem? You're not the hero. You're at a disadvantage the moment you show an attack, and the disadvantages stack quickly. I've seen some reviews say the AI learns too quickly, but honestly? It feels how a real life player would act. See a move once or twice, and you start to figure out how to prepare for it. That's the problem with the game in my eyes, players learn and they learn quick. It's realistic, and it hits you quickly. So, I'm leaning towards recommend here beca...

This will sound harsh, but it is taking into account the 4.79 USD/ 7.29 CAD price point. At this price, I expect more than 1h of gameplay to sink my teeth in. The game's premise is very cool and fresh. The pixel art is also pretty great. But that's kinda it. The dialogues are OK, but also, they create a sense of 'there's more', and ultimately leave you hungry. My gripe with this game is not so much that it is short (plenty of those games to go around, e.g. Firewatch), but that it feels the trailer, and even the description oversells the idea. Honest trailer/description: - Unleash Queenly Chaos: Wield the ever-evolving arsenal of the Dark Queen’s most devastating attacks. The arsenal doesn't evolve. It's 2 sets of 3 attacks. - A Relentless Foe: Face a persistent Hero in a final showdown to end all final showdowns. The hero keeps coming back. - Handcrafted Pixel Art: Painstakingly designed for impeccable game feel. Beautiful art! But also: it's 'only' one room. Impeccable gam...

The concept is great, and the dialogue is interesting; however, it feels more like a demo than a full release. Although it isn't priced as a complete title, I find myself wishing for more content. I would love to see new phases, areas, or anything that could encourage more dialogue in this narrative.

This is a nice concept, but it is a demo, not a priced game

The concept for this game is very cool but I feel like its just treating its players as if we are stupid. Even though the game acts like the hero is getting better, you never actually have any power to beat him. The fights are essentially scripted and you could simply mash the same button repeatedly until its the hero's time to fail. If you go into this game for anything else other than the story, I feel you should think twice before buying (even for 5$). As you can see from the reviews on this game, almost no one spends more than an hour playing it.

Great concept, great design, but far too short and linear to warrant the price tag. Its a shame as it was really fun to play, but has 0 replay ability

The game has incredibly misleading tags. Romance is one of the top tags and it's just a complete lie, there's not romance in this game. Like you could interpret the hero/villain dynamic as romantic but if we're getting into "you could ship it if you wanted to see it that way", literally every single piece of media ever would be romance. It also had the LGBTQ+ tag, which is not really confirmed at all. The Queen is a woman, that's obvious enough, the hero is a being of somewhat ambiguous gender, and then there's no romance between them so there's no reason to have the tag because simply the presence of a character with an anonymous gender is not good enough for me.

[H1]An indie gem buried under technical rubble, but still shines through.[/H1] Before anything else: don’t trust the user tags. This isn’t a romance, it isn't an otome and it isn’t LGBTQ+. What it is, however, is an emotionally heavy pixel-art indie gem that flips the perspective: you play as the boss, not the hero. And that twist makes for a meaningful, memorable short story. The good first: the pixel art is stunning, the atmosphere is strong, and the music pulls you right in. Choices matter, too: your interactions with the hero shape the endings and add real weight to your decisions. Character development hits hard, sometimes in gut-punchy ways, and the game is packed with emotion for its short runtime. The controls are simple, achievements clutter-free, and the Steam version even supports controllers. If you want to test the waters, you can try the free version on Itch.io, though that one lacks achievements and controller support. Now for the big caveat: this game is short ...

Really cool and niche game. However not worth the $5; it was about 30 minutes of playtime to 100% the game. Nothing wrong with the game itself just the price.