Image Credit: Steam Store Page
Playtime: ~30–60 minutes (multiple runs for endings)
Completion: Story finished | Multiple endings explored
Platform: Steam
Played/Reviewed: 2025
Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (6.5/10)
🧠 First Impressions
The Dark Queen of Mortholme flips the script — instead of playing as the hero, you step into the pixelated shoes of the final boss. It’s a brilliant concept: second-person narration, haunting atmosphere, and a story that asks what happens when the hero just… won’t stay down.
Right away, the pixel art style and music set a strong tone. It feels grim, theatrical, and unique. The dialogue choices keep you on edge, and your interactions with the hero meaningfully shift the story toward different endings. For a game that can be finished in under an hour, it packs in surprising emotional weight.
⚙️ Gameplay & Challenge
If you’re expecting an action-heavy indie fighter, pump the brakes. Combat here is entirely scripted — you only get six moves, 3 on the first phase and 3 on the second phase. the Queen moves slowly by design, and the “fights” are more narrative devices than actual mechanics. It works for the story, but if you came in for a challenge, you might leave disappointed.
Image Credit: Steam Store Page
As you keep defeating the hero, he will come back. With new gear or new game knowledge. He will start dodging every move and at some point you will not deal any damage to it as he moves as he knows every move.
The real challenge isn’t the combat, but the technical frustration:
- No save system – if the game crashes (and it often does near the end), you restart from scratch.
- No skip button – replaying the same dialogue gets tiring fast.
- Slow pacing – the deliberate animations drag on when you’re forced to repeat them.
On the flip side, choices and endings give the story replay value, and when it works, the atmosphere is spot-on.
🎨 Art, Music, and Atmosphere
- Pixel Art: Beautifully detailed, haunting, and expressive.
- Music: Atmospheric and immersive, pulling you deeper into the Queen’s doomed struggle.
- Writing: Emotional and surprisingly heavy, with endings that hit hard depending on your choices.
The presentation is stellar — you can feel the love poured into every frame.
📝 Category Breakdown
🎮 Gameplay: 6/10 – Interesting idea, dragged down by crashes
📖 Story: 8/10 – Emotional, original, and meaningful
🎨 Art: 9/10 – Gorgeous pixel work
🎵 Music: 8/10 – Haunting and effective
🧾 Overall: 6.5/10 – Solid, but flawed
✅ Final Verdict
The Dark Queen of Mortholme is an indie gem buried under technical rubble. The story, art, and music deserve praise, but the lack of polish, crashes, and missing QoL features make it frustrating to recommend without caveats.
Still, if you’re intrigued by the concept of playing as the final boss, it’s worth a shot — especially since you can test it for free on Itch.io before buying the Steam version.
🔥 Clay’s Take
“This could have been a cult classic if not for the bugs. The art and story are phenomenal, but the lack of saves and constant crashes almost killed my patience. Still, for the originality and emotional punch it is a game that I would recommend.
Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (6.5/10)
Recommendation: Yes
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