I tried the demo for Queen's Domain last year and liked it a lot⁠—though it definitely had some friction I wasn't sure about. The full game launched on October 30, and I eagerly rushed through the parts I'd already played in the demo.

Turns out, that demo cut out right when things were about to go nuts.

Five hours in out of an estimated 30+, and Queen's Domain is easily one of my top games of the year. I am only begrudgingly writing this, because I'd rather be playing right now.

Queen's Domain starts out resembling other entries in a growing subgenre of indie King's Field-likes, paying homage to the first-person dark fantasy RPG series FromSoftware put out before its soulsward turn. In its first half hour or so, Queen's Domain distinguishes itself similarly to fellow genre standout Lunacid: Fantastic art, maybe even better music, and a mastery of nostalgic intangibles (menu, UI, sound cues, etc.) After beating the first boss, Queen's Domain rewards you with a magic airdash sword, and it's at that point that the game truly begins.

Queen's Domain is a very deliberately paced game and, like a lot of first-person RPGs, it starts out feeling like your boots will always be on the ground. Think the difference between Doom and Quake: You can mostly tell when a game will let you get some air or not.

But once I was rocking the Holy Sword, Endu? Holy shit . Queen's Domain's first area opens up like some wonderful clockwork contraption.

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