If you’ve had the pleasure of beating a soulslike game such as Elden Ring, then you’ll know just how satisfying it is to finally conquer its many bosses. If you want to get technical, the soulslike formula can be broken into two sections, exploration-combat and boss-combat, and the boss-combat sections are often the most memorable and definitive. This is why a recent, bite-sized Steam release called The Dark Queen of Mortholme, which basically puts you in the role of an Elden Ring boss, is so interesting.
The Dark Queen of Mortholme follows the titular Queen as she repeatedly faces off against an ambitious hero. It’s a simple experience by soulslike standards, lacking the grand environments of a game like Elden Ring and the mechanical complexity of a Lies of P, but the inspiration is clear nonetheless. The boss character is almost comically large in comparison to the player-character, who must learn attack patterns and hit box windows to emerge from this David and Goliath duel victorious. The difference, of course, is that the roles are reversed, and this simple trick makes Steam’s The Dark Queen of Mortholme more refreshing and clever than it has any right to be.
The Dark Queen of Mortholme Is a Must-Play for Soulslike Fans
A roster of soulslike bosses can be briefly defined as: beings more powerful than the player-character by increasing orders of magnitude; the first boss might be a legendary warrior, while the last boss may be a literal or figurative deity. It’s exceedingly rare, in a good soulslike, at least, to beat one of these imposing forces on a first try, and so the process of repetition winds up being the player’s greatest strength. They can learn the boss’s attack patterns, identify its vulnerabilities, and eventually seize victory from the jaws of defeat. The satisfaction of this ultimate triumph is perhaps no more pronounced than on repeat playthroughs, when every boss’s attack patterns have been burned into the player’s muscle memory.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.
EasyMediumHardPermadeath
This is exactly the feeling that The Dark Queen of Mortholme inverts, putting the player in the position of inevitable defeat from the start. The only way to “beat” the game is to be finally defeated by the tiny nemesis, who will gradually memorize the Queen’s moves and weaknesses just like the player would, in a traditional soulslike. Ironically, this underscores the power fantasy that a soulslike can offer: you might lose hundreds of times in Elden Ring, but you only need to beat a boss once, and they’re gone for the rest of the playthrough. It’s like Groundhog Day, but without the existential dread—generally speaking.
It’s Short, But The Dark Queen of Mortholme’s Story Is Surprisingly Great
To be frank, Mortholme’s gameplay, while satisfying, is nothing to write home about. You only get a handful of different attacks, and a new set upon entering your “second phase,” all of which the NPC-controlled hero will learn to dodge before too long. All told, it only takes about an hour to beat the game, if you’re taking your time, but it’s an experience meant to be replayed. Much like other time-loop games like Slay the Princess, The Dark Queen of Mortholme has several different endings, but none defined as canon, meaning that you can toy around with its narrative premise for additional surprises and insights.
If soulslike games are about overcoming impossible odds, then The Dark Queen of Mortholme is about accepting when things need to come to an end. A short and sweet narrative grows from this thematic root, and it’s quite interesting because of it. And with it only costing $5, The Dark Queen of Mortholme is certainly one of the better cheap games you can get on Steam.
