Across the Obelisk: Amelia, the Queen Review Summary

The DLC adds a fun, versatile character and substantial content that shines solo or in co-op, though an ad-filled launcher, a slow weak Queen, and underwhelming ice damage hold it back.

Fun and versatile new character: The new character is widely praised as fun, interesting, and versatile across multiple clusters. Players enjoy her in both standard and sandbox modes.

Affordable and good value: Many reviewers find the DLC reasonably priced and a good deal, especially considering the hours of gameplay it offers. The pricing feels right for the content provided.

Frost mage is extremely strong: When played as a Frost mage, the character is extremely powerful, with some builds considered broken. She excels as a front liner and pure damage dealer, making high-difficulty runs easier.

Pet is awesome and strong: The new pet is highly praised for being both cool and powerful. It offers useful abilities like buff purging and stealing, and synergizes well with certain builds.

DLC adds substantial content: The DLC introduces a new character, a new pet, and fresh mechanics, providing a ton of new content. It is seen as a good update for an already great game.

Unwanted launcher with ads: Players strongly dislike the forced Paradox launcher, which shows ads for other games and was added without warning. Some believe it exists to sell player data, and many threaten refunds unless it is removed.

Queen lacks speed and damage: The Queen lacks speed for a tank role and cannot deal damage well as a mage-type character, with her cards giving tank-like shields and poor damage output. She becomes weak later due to no consistent damage source and no reliable cost reduction.

Amelia lacks mind damage cards: Half of Amelia's talent tree and mechanics focus on Mind damage, but the normal mage card pool has almost no usable cards for it. Players note that dealing actual mind damage requires specific items or her conversion cards, limiting build options.

Ice damage is weak overall: Players consider ice damage ineffective in the game's numerical design, with ice spells being weak and the Queen's ice-focused damage output disappointing. Block generation from ice spells is also underutilized.

Queen's best gear tied to rifts: Her best equipment is tied to specific Rift events in the first three acts, forcing very specific routes on the world map. Since Rift events are absent from the final zone, obtaining duplicates is unlikely.

DLC adds playable hero character: The DLC introduces a new playable character, often described as a frost mage queen, with unique skins, card backs, and gameplay. This is the most frequently mentioned aspect of the DLC.

Unique companion pet included: The DLC includes a pet that can purge buffs from enemies and later steal them when upgraded, adding a new tactical layer.

Adds new cards and mechanics: The DLC introduces new cards, such as Winter Orb and Ice Lance variants, and new mechanics like stacking layer caps and warp points.

Mind damage skill tree: Part of the character's talent tree and mechanics focus on Mind damage, with skills including an Insanity portion and an Eldritch ability.

Rift events for unique gear: Her best gear is obtained through Rift events in the first three acts, which also provide party experience and unique equipment for non-traditional damage types.

DLC purchase causes launch failure: After buying the DLC, the game gets stuck on an endless loading screen and cannot be launched. This issue appears consistently for affected players.

Paradox launcher blocks game launch: The Paradox launcher prevents the game from launching, causing errors over multiple days. Uninstalling the launcher can also lead to crashes on launch.

Recommended if you enjoy base game: Multiple reviewers recommend buying the DLC if you already like the base game, indicating it is a natural extension for fans. This sentiment is positive but conditional on prior enjoyment.

Wait for a sale: Several reviewers suggest waiting for a discount due to general DLC pricing concerns or uncertainty about value. This reflects a common cautious purchasing stance.

Support quality developers: Some reviewers highly recommend the game and encourage supporting the developers because the product is high quality. This reflects appreciation for the base game's quality.

Strong Frost specialist recommendation: Players looking for a powerful Frost specialist or frost mage for the elementalist will find this DLC worthwhile. The character fills a specific elemental niche.

Mixed value opinions after play: Some players feel the DLC is not worth its price after spending more time with the character, while others consider it a good value purchase. Opinions on value are divided.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $15.00.

Hardcore Deck Synergy Min-Maxer: Theorycrafts mage/insanity/chill teams, compares stacking rates, and min-maxes run efficiency. Motivation: Optimizing character and status-effect synergies to build efficient teams. Stance: buy.

Casual Co-op Dabbler: Plays goofy multiplayer runs with simple builds and low-pressure experimentation. Motivation: Lighthearted social fun and easy-to-understand deckbuilding. Stance: buy.

Value-Conscious Character Buyer: Builds around the new character and pet, but waits for discounts unless strongly attached to the character. Motivation: Getting a new character/pet with unique playstyle at a fair price. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The review set contains no explicit Steam Deck-specific reports, but the dominant technical theme is the Paradox launcher plus startup failures. Several users describe the launcher as required, poorly made, ad-serving, or newly inserted; others say it is bypassable or harmless. A subset reports the game crashing on launch or failing to open after launcher or DLC changes, which pushes the experience into the broken band.

Linux and Proton: The provided reviews contain no explicit references to Linux, Proton, SteamOS, Wine, or a native Linux build. The only complaints concern the Paradox launcher and a launch crash after uninstalling it; under the audit rules, these generic launcher and crash reports cannot be counted as Linux/Proton compatibility evidence.

Monetization: The reviews discuss an optional character DLC priced around $5/€5, with disagreement over whether the content justifies the price. Some reviewers call it overpriced or advise waiting for a sale, while others say it is a good value and explicitly reject pay-to-win framing. No review provides direct evidence of in-game purchases, gacha pulls, loot boxes, paid power, paid convenience, battle passes, or currency obfuscation. The evidence supports a traditional paid-DLC model, not predatory monetization.

DLC price considered fair: Reviewers find the DLC fairly priced and affordable, especially compared to other DLC. The game with all DLC is also sold at a low total price.

Paid cosmetics and characters: Amelia is sold as a DLC, and new characters are sold as paid content. Cosmetic skins, including a Halloween skin pack, are also paid.

DLC brings fresh ideas: The DLC is described as bringing fresh ideas and a large amount of new content. It includes a single character with skins, card backs, unique gameplay, and world map interactions.

Queen underpowered vs Elementalist: The Queen character is compared unfavorably to the free base-game Elementalist in damage and chill stacking. There is little reason to use her over Evelin.

Negative reviews target launcher: Many negative reviews for the DLC are unrelated to the hero, instead focusing on the launcher. The DLC itself does not add the launcher; it came with a separate update.