Queen’s Wish: The Conqueror

I'm somewhat obsessed with all the Spiderweb Software game series, and of late, Queen's Wish has been on the top of my list of their games.
There's everything here I've been looking for in a good RPG for years now. It has excellent writing and a compelling story with amazing world building, which is my personal biggest driver (and is true for all of their other franchises), and the game loop is just right. Tactical combat is turn based and fast paced with reasonable depth and no extraneous elements. Exploration is satisfying and the world is large and feels very lived in (and the fast travel option becomes more and more useful as the game progresses). There is a lot of content, yet none of it feels like it's there just as filler (there is some repetition in mine-cleansing quests, but it's not too problematic).
What I also like is that character progression and equipment procurement is meaningful. Each level brings much needed ability increases, and 1 added level might make a difference between a quest being possible to complete or not just yet. Equipment is rare and relatively expensive, so there's no meaningless looting here - every find is useful.
Base and kingdom building adds one more layer, and is well integrated with the questing and exploration aspects of the game. There's an interdependence between personal quests and the state of your colonies that feels natural and adds to the overall experience in a way which makes it larger than the sum of its parts. Evolving familial and personal connections are a cherry on top.
There's also an elephant in the room with these games. For what it is, I find the graphics quite compelling though. Queen's Wish doesn't try to be flashy (on the contrary, it embraces its scrappiness), but I find the graphics appealing nevertheless, and they are very readable and quite varied. No sprite or character portrait here will win an art contest, but there's many little details scattered throughout the world, and each tells a story, which to me is, again, the most important thing in a game like this.
Finally, I'll add that I'm playing this mostly on the Steam Deck, and it's great! Almost all game text is presented in dialog boxes that take a relatively small central portion of the screen, which works great with Steam Deck's ability to toggle zoom in and out on a mappable key press. I set the display zoom to 220% is settings which allows me to instantly zoom into the text portion for dialogs and for reading tool tips on the small screen. I mapped the left trackpad to an on-screen menu with numbers 1 through 6 which I also positioned centrally, so it appears overlayed on top of text popups for choosing dialog options. Loaded up with all Spiderweb games, my Steam Deck is almost like a specialized ebook reader for choose-your-own-adventure books filled with tight tactical combat. I love it!
To me, these games are like cozy adventure books with surprisingly compelling, deep and multifaceted stories, and Queen's Wish is unique among them.

I am loving my time In Queens Wish: The Conqueror. I find it engaging and while it was a bit slow to start it gets better. I like all of their games that I have played by them.

Great game! It does a lot of things different than most CRPGs I've played, but I think the swings it takes in gameplay pay off for the most part. Even with how simple the graphics are, there's a lot of experience here, knowing how to make easily usable and readable UIs with enjoyable world and dungeon maps, even with just basic tiles. Really liked the story and how it explored how the banality of evil can seep into any culture. It also only took around 50 hours, which is brisk for this genre. Gets a thumbs up from me.

I absolutely adore this game.
Jeff Vogel is a master craftsman, and this is one of his best works (though, if you ask his fanbase this is considered to be one of his 'not so great' pieces, deviating narratively and mechanically from the other core titles in a way that some don't like... though I find this analysis to be... wrong).
Queen's Wish captures that feeling of 'living in a place' and 'playing a role' (roleplaying) in such a superb way.
Like always, try to put aside your desire for modern graphics or super high fidelity art, and instead engage with the artwork here as presented... it is lovely, gorgeous, engaging, intimate, and full of personality in a way that is not immediate at first glance, but rapidly captures you and leaves you enthralled.
This is a 10 out of 10 game. Mechanics, story, world, gameplay, and fun.

Queen's Wish is another great title from Spiderweb Software in which you take on the role of a Prince of Haven who is sent to a war-torn land to prove yourself by conquering it. During your journey, you have many options - some of which will earn you points with your mother; others of which will bring you her ire. You also get to build up a series of forts which will extend your power and give you bonuses.

I enjoy pretty much every Spiderweb Software game that's been made. The key points for me are the huge open worlds with lots to explore and discover, the plethora of choices that change the outcome of the story, and the rich unique world settings.

Very fun as a swift and streamlined Spiderweb title, a snack or brunch compared to the feasts of Geneforge and Avernum. Character stats, abilities and progression are simplified, and having to do most "dungeons" in one run is a satisfying (and well-balanced) challenge in place of crunchier encounter-by-encounter tactics. Writing is as solid as ever, with a lighter tone than Jeff's larger series.
Fully understand the reviews that wanted this to be a larger and slower title, but I am happily enjoying what's on the plate.

Great stuff if you like story-driven RPGs and don't mind 90s-style graphics.