Post by Darth_Dan in The Dark Queen of Mortholme comments

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I've played through the anti-game a number of times and...

First off, I love the way the characters and their change is built up.

The hero in their relentless improvement, and the queen in her fondness of the hero. So many aspects come together to really make me feel this game... The reflection in the floor, the sound. The way the hero's sword clatters to the ground as the queen pulls their body to her heart. The battle theme abruptly ending when the hero is easily slain.

Second, I feel like some aspects could still work better. Sometimes, the hits from the 2nd form claw attacks just don't register and it's brought me down when it felt like staying alive mattered the most... But more about this.

Third, related. I think the plot hasn't been entirely honest with me. The whole premise, the whole message the hero had been bringing is - "there is hope as long as you keep trying". And yet... I don't think this story leaves me any hope. Any hope of surviving and changing. Any hope of walking out through that door and seeing that gatehouse, that waterfall which used to hide that fancy sword. Any hope of the hero deciding not to strike the queen down after all that she's shared and all the ways in which she may have changed.

I love the story. I love the characters. I love the endings that exist. I just feel cheated that there isn't another way. That a story about change cannot be changed. That the story about hope is hopeless.

DeeeLulu48 days ago(+2)

I like the way you are going with this... 🤔

Mosu47 days ago(+3)

I feel you there. It's a story about change through the eyes of someone who cannot change; a story about hope from the point of someone who doesn't understand it. Importance highlighted through lack, if you will.

If it helps... I myself consider there to be meaning in the game ending the moment of the Queen's death. The game tells the story of the Dark Queen of Mortholme, but beyond its end the title is no more. I like to think that the person bound to that role is released from it.

Darth_Dan47 days ago (1 edit)

Thank you.

Though I think "someone who cannot change" is a little inaccurate towards the Queen here. From the way I perceived the story - she moreso doesn't believe in change nor in having capacity or need to do so - but she does evolve as in that view as the confrontation escalates. Or, well. Has the capacity to do so. That part is left up to the player.

I agree entirely that the game's ending is well placed. That no matter how this story would end, it would end with the Dark Queen of Mortholme being no more.

I just wish there was room for a little hope before that final screen. Just a little bit of that purple flame of rebirth or whatnot, if the circumstances were right.

I actually think the death animation for the Queen is phenomenal, in how she appears to be absorbed into the Hero's sword. I see that as a sign - that the Hero will forever carry the imprint she left in their memory. But it is always the same - whether the hero's last words are just to put her to rest, or to acknowledge her change. I think it works the best in the ending where the Queen gives the Hero her blessing, though, beyond any other.

Mosu46 days ago(+1)

Thoughtful meta, thank you!

I think the motivation behind writing little confirmation of whether the Queen will be able to resurrect or not after the game ends is because all the dialogue happens within the reign of the Dark Queen. Before it's over, before the status quo ceases to be, it's still bound to treat her capacity to change as an unknown.

You're absolutely right that the Queen's fate is left to the player; to their understanding of who or what she is and how metaphorical death is in this world, to their beliefs about change. It's a fair point that this uncertainty has potential to come off as a tad grim, perhaps moreso than I expected it would. Still, that freedom has resulted in a wide variety of interpretations, which has been fascinating for me and hopefully valuable for the players.

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