[Disclaimer: This review-copy was provided by the developer through Save or Quit. You can also read/listen to my previous thoughts on Spiderweb Software’s games from the article and video links down below. The video review is now available.]

https://youtu.be/v75kx8iJEx4

As someone who has played every single Spiderweb Software game within the last three months—okay, not every single entry (I am sane and mortal,) but at least one game from each series—my greatest fear was of getting burned out by the seventeenth (or the twenty-fifth) entry. To my surprise, Queen’s Wish was more refreshing of an experience than I ever expected, which wasn’t simply due to the fact that I played it from the start on the Veteran (Hard) setting. Although the added difficulty did play a role in my appreciation for the many added touches to the same tried-and-true mechanics, what reinvigorated my fondness for Jeff Vogel’s games was how much excess fat was taken off. While I wouldn’t go as far as to declare that Queen’s Wish is Vogel’s best game or his greatest story, Queen’s Wish is undoubtedly the best-paced adventure he has ever made.


Now, in most cases, my preferred choice of challenge as well as how many previous games are under my belt wouldn’t be stated so bluntly in a review. Even if you are someone with no prior knowledge of a developer or his or her games, your opinions can be just as valid as my own if you substantiate your arguments as well as reexamine your own points from another perspective. The reason for highlighting these aspects is to help explain to fans as well as to newcomers why most of the new deviations aren’t to the game’s detriment.

Once, and if, you get over the initial confusion about the many mechanics integral to Queen’s Wish, you’ll eventually realize that, while some elements could use more polish, this game is not a case of dumbing down; it would be far more appropriate to call it streamlining old traditions. For anyone who doubts me, you can read Jeff Vogel’s blog post illustrating the importance behind these alterations to the same Spiderweb song-and-dance.(Or, you know, you could play the lengthy demo for yourself.)

However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s go through this whole adventure from the beginning. Much like Avadon, you aren’t given any immediate customization to your character’s archetype; however, you are given much more “extensive” cosmetic options—and I use the quotes here as a relative comparison if you’ve played these games. Unlike any other Spiderweb Software game to date, there are no real classes as every character can become whatever he or she wants to be. Character stats do exist in some form as thresholds for the number of abilities you have in one specialty, which no longer makes upgrading feel like hoarding that one dump (“dumb”) stat from past games. Abilities are also unrestricted to weapon categories or armor classes, so if you desire to make a halberd-wielding sorcerer with plate armor or a rogue with priest and mind-bending abilities, then you most certainly can.

Although you are given various warrior-focused skills from the get-go, you don’t have to keep those skills nor any skills you may accumulate. This departure is another major change as you are meant to constantly experiment with your party composition, especially when you are given four Haven soldiers after the first main quest. You will also be heavily encouraged—but don’t let old man Jeff or me stop you—to replace your four compatriots with your new vassals after you acquire your first fortress in each new land. These three vassals have clan-specific abilities much like the protagonist with no class restrictions, but the vassals’ abilities are geared for specific play-styles; the Haven soldiers apparently don’t have time to become as cultured as you. This system, while I will always vastly prefer my CRPG parties with six, focused adventurers rather than accepting the boring four-man archetypes (Healer; Tank; Thief; Mage,) does address the inherent problem with many modern RPGs by heavily incentivizing and rewarding diverse hybrid-classes with as few limitations as possible.

Another important mix-up from previous games, which is also tied into the player’s progression, is the addition of the fortress-building mechanics. This mechanic, depending on how much and when you utilize the full extent of these features, can either become the most superfluous or the most beneficial addition to your own party. These fortresses not only provide you more resources the more side quests you complete in a given area but also are the home for your upgradeable gear, potions, armor and weapon components as well as provide you other useful combat benefits. Some of these buildings require specific resources available in each region (iron, stone and quicksilver) and there is a maintenance budget to keep you from getting everything all at once. Instead of viewing these mechanics as being something separate from the player, it would be more useful to think of them as another extension of the player’s progression as these forts give you better odds of survival rather than having the player focus solely on the arbitrary number of his or her own level.

Now if all these changes to player progression were isolated from the core gameplay, then it would hardly be worth all the extra effort. These features haven’t changed anything that didn’t already exist in other games; you might reasonably argue that this process complicates something as simple as choosing four classes and rolling with the punches. However, it’s how these changes work with the improvements to dungeoneering that tell the real story.

Dungeons as well as combat encounters have always played a prominent role in previous games, so it’s not surprising that these changes have also been the most controversial. For starters, while random encounters on the over-map still exist, these encounters nor the dungeon’s trash mobs (Jeff’s classification, not mine) give you any XP. Instead, the only way you gain XP is by slaying bosses or by completing quests, which are far greater incentives to go off the beaten path for a side quest rather than by grinding weaker foes. Perhaps this one addition alone is why so many dungeons for side-quests can often yield far more entertaining encounters such as the encroaching lava in the quicksilver mine while fighting off dozens of slimes. Additionally, side-quests also provide you resources for the forts that you can use to improve your gear, so you rarely have to stop your adventures in order to go find somewhere to level-up or to obtain rare ingredients in some obscure place.

You can read the rest of the 3.2K word review on Save or Quit with visual aids and a link to the video.[saveorquit.com]

If you enjoyed this review, please consider listening/reading my thoughts on the rest of Spiderweb Software's games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Ml6JQQFc8