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Forums - Gaming Discussion - King's Field: The series no one ever played!

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Since no one had the balls to do it I'll take the chance and create a thread about it. After playing through King's Field 1,2 and 3 I think I'm qualified to give my opinion about these games and tell you "souls fans" why you should play this eye melting games. I won't put any image in my thread so I don't hurt sensible eyes, if you are curious about the graphics just type: "King's Field" on google.

I'll start one by one.

King's Field 1 (JPN only)

The first game in the series is a japan only game! But even though it's a relatively unknown game and there is very little text on it, a poor soul in the internet made a translation patch for it. So you can go search for it, you have no excuses!

The first game in the series was released in 1994, it's one of the very first games for the PS1 (and it's in 3D) so you can expect low quality graphics. In fact they are so bad that you don't have a door texture for most doors in the game, you just know they are there because they stick out of the walls. This is made worse by the fact that the game uses a first person view so there is no 3D model of your hero to contrast with the boring walls. Deal with it you pussy.

You start the game as our hero (I don't remember his name at all) and you have to explore the royal cementery of your land (Verdite) to search for your father and stop the evil forces of... evil. In short the story is simple and it's laid out for you. There are a couple of NPC's (they are creppy as hell, they don't have faces!!) through the game and they offer a bit of backstory to the plot which is nice. The story isn't why you play this game though...

The combat! You have an HP meter a MP meter and a stamina bar so it's the same stuff you see in the souls games. You can equip a variety of armor and weapons that increase different stats. You have Slash damage, Blow damage, Stab damage and so on. These are very important since different weapons offer different increases on these stats and some enemies are weaker to one stat than other. For example a spider is weaker to Slash damage than the other type of damage. A Skeleton is VERY weak to blow damage. In short, you don't have to use the same weapons all the time.

You attack by pressing Triangle (or was it square? I don't remember...) and consume your stamina bar. If you use the full bar you will deall full damage and different weapons have a different recovery time. So, now that you have th basics you need to play it like a pro because enemies deal serious damage in this game! Luckily for you the AI is a bit dumb so the secret to playing the King's Field games is to engage into a "Circle-Strafe" pattern to move behind your enemy and deal damage while you move away from their attacking range. This is done by turning and pressing the R1 or L1 button. It's incredibly engaging and satisfiying but I can't do it justice by typing this into a wall of text, go and try it out for yourself.

There is also magic in this game but you learn it either by leveling up or talking to NPC's. It's flashy but it doesn't do a lot of damage, at least until you get the more powerful spells, that's when shit gets serious! Magic has a stamina bar too so you can't go around spamming fireballs like a pyromaniac.

The formula of this game is pretty basic. Progress is made by exploring the area you arrive to, (finding hidden doors and chests) getting a key and using it on previously locked chests. There are a total of 5 areas in the game and they get increasingly harder.

Let's not talk about the sound or the music ok? It's repetitive and it just fits but it's nothing special. The ending credits theme is nice though.

So, what's so special about this game? It's incredibly rewarding! Exploring the areas in search for new equipment or killing enemies to level up you feel rewarded for everything you do. You get stronger or get better armor, it's all progress and it's fascinating.

Oh this game has the moonlight sword too! Which is in my opinion the best design for a weapon ever made.

One final thing: The game is slow. Your turning speed is slow, the movement is slow, and you can't run. You need to have patience and that's a trait that not many modern games have so if you are going to play this game, make sure you have the balls to do it. Oh and about the maps... you get one in the game but it's not complete so you need to be careful if you are going to guide yourself with that.

I gave it 5 stars in my backloggery. That doesn't mean it's a masterpiece, I just find it perfect... but that's just my opinion.

King's Field 2

This one was released a year later on japan in 1995 but it eventually made it's way to the west in december of that year! So if you can find it you can enjoy it in english. Be aware that the game is called King's Field and not King's Field 2 since it was the first game of the series to be released outside Japan.

The game puts you on the role of Alexander in the island of Melanat in search of the moonlight sword. Your objective is to get the sword and retrieve it to Alfred, the king of Verdite.

The game is very similar as the last game in its core, you still use swords and magic and the old "Circle-Strafe" strategy for most enemies. The game is a bit faster than the last one, you can run and you don't turn around as slow. A big improvement!

The big change in this game though is that you aren't going to explore 5 levels. You are going to explore a big island! And you won't have to wait for loading times!! (there is only one loading time when you boot up the game) Melanat is a big island full of interconnected places and lots of NPC's to talk to. This is the one thing that makes it so different than the last game but it makes it so much better. Now you have a full world to explore and it's all so perfectly designed! It honestly feels like the change from Demon's Souls to Dark Souls.

The story is told by the various NPC's and it's a far more interesting one than the last game. There are a couple that stand out and get to be "memorable" like Leon Shore or Gigi and her father.

Magic in this game is learned by obtaning crystals hidden around the world. The spells look a lot cooler and they are useful for different types of enemies, making the combat a lot more fun.

There are more maps in this game and you need to get them all since some of them map different parts of the area. Luckily for you, the places you visit aren't overly complicated.

Another very important addition to the game is the Crystal Flasks and the Dragon fountain. This fountain has to be activated by placing 2 Dragon crystals on the pedestals of the fountain. This will make the fountain active and let you be revived by Dragon Crystals! There will also be 2 streams of water where you can fill your Crystal Flasks with HP potions, MP potion, a status recovery potion and a gold potion that heals most of your HP and MP!

The last addition (and probably the best) is that you can use warps near the save points. They are called guideposts and you need the key and the gate to warp. You place the key on the guidepost and use the gate to warp to it. It's a nice addition that makes exploration a lot smoother... provided that you know where to use them! Don't worry though as you can take out the keys from the guideposts and put them on another one but you need to be strategic when you place them.

As always, we don't talk about the music or the sound ok?

Last but not least i'd like to mention that the moonlight sword can be obtained to be used as a weapon.Here's how you get it:  It's behind the final boss and you have to get behind him to grab it. Then die and get revived by a dragon crystal in the dragon fountain. There you have it! Go and slash monster with it now!

I also gave this one 5 stars but that's just me. It's overall superior to the last game.

King's Field 3 AKA "The best King's Field game"

Released a year later King's Field 3 made it's way to japan and north america in the same year (1996). As King's Field 2 appeared as King's Field in North America, this game appears as King's Field 2  there!

The plot is a continuation of the last game. Alexander the hero from the last game uses the moonlight sword to seal Alfred the King of Verdite who went insane with power in his own castle. The world gets infested with monsters and the only guy who can save it is you, Lyle! the son of King Alfred. You need to break the barrier that Alexander created and kill your father!

The story is laid out to you again and you can grab backstory elements from the various NPC's in this game. Leon Shore makes a return in this game and there a a lot more "memorable" NPC's this time around.

The combat and magic are the same except that you now learn magic by upgrading your elemental attributes (by using crystals or by constant use of the same element spells). There are a lot more armors and weapons than in previous games!

Progress is the same as with any King's Field, explore the area, search for keys, open previously unlocked chests, talk with every NPC, advance to the next area. You also have a weapon now called the Excelletor that needs to be leveled up to it's third stage to advance in the plot (you need 26000 EXP). It's worth to mention that you don't need to use it to level it up so don't even think about it. It's useless.

There are no more guideposts, now you get key items that warp you to different locations (Dragon Fountains) and later on the game you get one that let's you warp to every fountain in the game! This is very useful since these Dragon Fountains are placed in convenient places so you can go to lots of places from those.

The world is bigger and a lot more open than the last game, which is better in my eyes. Not everyone liked this change in style but I feel it wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be. You now have only one map that works like an auto map, it goes around showing parts that you already explored which is possibly the best addition to the series. Sadly the hidden doors won't appear so you have to search for them as usual.

There is one area in the game that makes use of the Orladin Key's (the Path of Poision) that uses an exact number of them if you want to search the area to it's full completion. It's better to visit this place after going through the Orladin Temple maze where you get spare keys but I recommend using some of the maps in gamefaqs to help you. It's also the only game in the series that have maps in gamefaqs that outline all the items to be found which is very useful. I recommend using them if you are having a hard time, there is no shame in using it you pussy.

As you might have guessed... the moonlight sword is back in the game! You need to repair it though and doing so enables the true ending of the game so you better find it or else all will be for naught!

Yup we don't talk about music and sound again... ok?

So why is it the best King's Field game? The world is bigger, there is a lot of cool equipment (equipment in this game makes some of the equip in the souls games look like shit) to get, the spells look awesome and it's simply superior to the other two. It's the longest of the three and I love it. 5 stars/My opinion.

 

So why would a Souls fan play this series? First of all, Demon's Souls is a spiritual successor to the King's Field series. So curiosity is a good reason.

But the most important reason is because it's a lot like those games! You need to accept the first person view and the horrible graphics, but look deep and you will find they aren't very different! There is some stuff in the Souls games that are there thanks to the King's Field games like the moonlight sword and even Seath!

TL;DR: Read my wall of text you idiot, I spent an hour writing it!

 

 



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

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I was thinking TL;DR when I saw your TL;DR comment. :p



I've had my eyes on these games (at least the ones that saw North American release) for a while now. Hopefully, I can pick them all up through eBay and other second-hand markets. They look like a lot of fun.



Samus Aran said:
I was thinking TL;DR when I saw your TL;DR comment. :p

I can't complain! At least you checked it! 

...



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

Veknoid_Outcast said:
I've had my eyes on these games (at least the ones that saw North American release) for a while now. Hopefully, I can pick them all up through eBay and other second-hand markets. They look like a lot of fun.

You might also want to give Eternal Ring a try! It's the same as the KF games but it's way easier (and cheaper) to find!



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

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Anfebious said:
Veknoid_Outcast said:
I've had my eyes on these games (at least the ones that saw North American release) for a while now. Hopefully, I can pick them all up through eBay and other second-hand markets. They look like a lot of fun.

You might also want to give Eternal Ring a try! It's the same as the KF games but it's way easier (and cheaper) to find!

Oh really...

I actually have Eternal Ring, but didn't realize it was very similar to King's Field. Maybe I can push it closer to the top of the pile.



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Anfebious said:
Veknoid_Outcast said:
I've had my eyes on these games (at least the ones that saw North American release) for a while now. Hopefully, I can pick them all up through eBay and other second-hand markets. They look like a lot of fun.

You might also want to give Eternal Ring a try! It's the same as the KF games but it's way easier (and cheaper) to find!

Just looked it up. Only $5.97 at my local used games store.

I'll stop by there this afternoon :)



outlawauron said:

Oh really...

I actually have Eternal Ring, but didn't realize it was very similar to King's Field. Maybe I can push it closer to the top of the pile.

Yup! It's also a very short and faster game (around 13 hours they say) so it's a good way to start the series. It has a ring creation system and that's probably the only significant difference from the KF games.



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

wow, you put a lot of effort into this well done!, also its kind of cool they gave the Moonlight Great sword some use in the story, since they have used that sword in every single one of their games including the Armored Core series, its a little cool Easter egg of From Software.

if the game ever gets to PSN i might give it a try, i mean in all honesty i could just download it and play it on my PC but i really don't like gaming on PC plus From Soft deserves every penny for their awesome games.



I played the first game (in Japan the second one) and I loved this game!