Queen's Wish: The Conqueror - mini review

[airboy]

Below is the text of my review of Queen's Wish: The Conqueror by Spiderweb Software.  If you want screenshots, you need to view the review at:

https://averysgameblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/03/queens-wish-the-conqueror-review/

Queen's Wish: The Conqueror is a turn based, small group RPG.  Spiderweb is an independent software developer which offers games with a lot of story, simple graphics, and turn-based combat.  The low level graphics with a top down view may turn off many gamers, but Spiderweb's games offer generous demos, a reasonable price, and a ton of gameplay for the gaming dollar.

This review is based on more than 45 hours of play and completion of the game at the normal level of difficulty.  I finished almost every quest in the game. 
In Queen's Wish your main character is a lay about, youngest of three children of the Kingdom of Haven.  Your Mother (the Queen) used a portal to conquer a continent in her youth.  Then a horrible calamity struck causing the loss of the conquered territories.

The Queen had three children with your character being the youngest.  Although you had received the best training possible, you had done nothing with your life.  The Queen tells you it's time to grow up, and has you tossed through a portal to the continent which resents Haven entirely, or resents it for abandoning them previously.
Ships with materials and a limited number of troops sailed months ago and are ready to build forts to help establish hegemony over the three groups of people inhabiting the land.

You have a four person adventuring party that breaks down into the traditional categories of mage, healer, and fighter.  The main character can gain powers which provide healing or party buffs.  Any character can gain powers in the mage, healer, or fighter groups.  But there are a limited number of level-ups (I finished at level 20).  I used the initial party and specialized with one pure fighter, one pure mage, one pure healer and the main character having the buff skills from the Haven Royalty plus fighter skills.  Eventually, all of the characters picked up some healing skills and the healer became a marginally good fighter.

There are a lot of quests and some choices to be made.  There are four areas.   You start in the central area which is marginally under Haven's control at the start.  You must make decisions on how you wish to rule (merciful, greedy, ruthless, etc....).  In the other four areas you must decide which faction you will support to rule over the other factions within an area.  You can equivocate for quite a while, but eventually you must decide which side to back in each area.

Typical of previous Spiderweb releases, this is a very combat heavy game.  You gain experience points primarily by completing quests.  And as you complete quests more and more raw materials will come under your control (stone, iron, wood and mercury).  You use these captured mines to build your forts.  For example, you can build a carpenter shop in each castle.  There are a total of 8 castles which can be completed.  If you build 7 carpenter shops (one per castle max), then the best bows are available to your party.  However, your party can only wield weapons and equipment which they qualify for based on how many levels they obtain in the mage or fighter tracks (support track does not unlock equipment).

Building shops in your castles also consumes materials monthly.  Thus, in addition the regular complete quests and conquer areas you have a mini-game building and stocking castles.  If you build the second castle in the three initially independent areas – you start having problems with theft and raids.

I've played quite a few Spiderweb releases.  I enjoyed Queen's Wish: The Conqueror more than any of their other series.  This game follows traditional sword & sorcery patterns which I enjoy.  It was different, but not so different to feel weird.  Geneforge, some of the releases which take place underground, and backing the evil Avadon empire all three were less enjoyable settings than Queen's Wish.

I also liked the meta-story of conquering the lands by capturing resource producing areas, and building and stocking castles.  You must balance your character levels, equipment, resource production, and castle building/stocking activities.  If you let the meta-game get out of whack you cannot properly equip your party or fully conquer any of the three disputed areas.  This was an enjoyable level of empire building without becoming overly time consuming.

In sum, if you like party based, turn combat games which require minimal computing power and graphics capability you will enjoy Queens Wish.  This is a superb game to take on a tablet or a small laptop while on the road.  You will get a lot of play out of this purchase.  Last, you can try a long demo before purchase to see if this scratches your gaming itch.

Demo at: http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/queenswish/index.html

[Sir Slash]

That looks very Habit-Forming AB. I played the demos to some of the earlier games, what makes this one different?

[airboy]

I liked the castle building part.  I also enjoyed the meta-story of subduing former vassals.  Geneforge was too weird.  In Avadon you were a henchman of an evil empire.  This is still Spiderweb graphics and turn based combat - which people either like or hate.