Queen’s Domain wants you to know that it's inspired by King’s Field. From its key art and font choice that arguably are too on the nose, to its title that I have to assume was in close competition with Ruler’s Land and Monarch’s Plain, this game is very overt with its goals. For that reason I was shocked by just how much Queen’s Domain absolutely outshines its own inspiration. This is so much more than a modern take on King’s Field. Just as apt would be comparisons to Metroid Prime, or perhaps From Software’s titles that succeeded King’s Field like Dark Souls. In other moments as I wandered the intricately woven yet lonely world, I was reminded of the work of Fumito Ueda in games like Ico.

Queen’s Domain is a first-person action RPG. You play as a prince who, after setting sail in search of your father, winds up washed ashore on an island full of ancient ruins and monsters. Your only real direction is from a surviving member of your crew, who hands you a rusty sword and instructs you to recover the holy Sword of Endu. From here on out, you’re more or less on your own. NPCs are sparse. There is no formal quest system or map, and fast travel is extremely limited. This is a game about exploration. What makes that work so well is how good Queen’s Domain is at rewarding you. From hidden doors signposted by bits of environmental storytelling to its tucked away on ledges and in corners, every inch of this world is worth exploring.

It would be easy for a game like Queen’s Domain to quickly become overwhelming, which is where some of its more Metroid-like elements come in. The aforementioned Sword of Endu has an ability called a wind dash, which serves both as an alternate attack and a way to extend your jump. Once acquired you’ll be able to use it to cross gaps and access new areas. As you progress you’ll gain additional charges for the wind dash, opening up more areas. Beyond the sword you’ll also find other melee, ranged, and magic weapons. These can be leveled up in addition to your normal character leveling. Some weapons even evolve and gain new abilities once they reach a high enough level. You can have three primary and three secondary weapons equipped at any given time. Each one does a certain type of damage and different enemies are weak or resistant to different damage types, so you’ll need to employ a wide array of loadouts.

Queen’s Domain makes use of savepoints placed sparsely across the environment. You can also rest at savepoints to regain health but doing so respawns enemies. This itself is a well worn system but Queen’s Domain’s implementation is a little odd. Enemies also respawn over time, even if you don’t rest. I found this somewhat broke the risk reward system implicit in this setup.

The Switch 2 version of Queen’s Domain is a largely smooth experience. Some loading screens on respawning hung for a while but I never had any crashes in my time with it. The one major performance exception comes in select boss fights. In one particularly large scale encounter, I was able to tank the frame rate into the teens by using a fire spell on the boss. It isn't common, but when these bottlenecks hit, they do hit hard. That said they’ll represent a very small fraction of your time with the game. For the most part you’ll travel seamlessly and smoothly through this incredibly designed world without issue.

There were multiple moments in my time with Queen’s Domain where I paused to simply appreciate some subtle design element. I found myself re-treading parts of the map in my mind after I’d stopped playing, trying to think of what paths I’d yet to explore. Queen’s Domain has a pretty harsh difficulty barrier at the outset. But once you click with the combat and the slow explorative pace that the game is built for it is impossible not to be sucked in. Everytime I thought I had done everything, some new path would open. This world is impossibly dense and endlessly compelling. If challenging and somewhat esoteric action RPGs appeal to you, Queen’s Domain will likely be one of the best you’ve played in a long time.