King's Field (series)

King's Field (キングスフィールド) is a role-playing video game series developed by FromSoftware. It is known for its brooding atmosphere, labyrinthine dungeons, and difficulty.^[1] Titles in this series have been released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, and various mobile phone platforms.^[2]

King's Field was released for the PlayStation in Japan on December 16, 1994, 13 days after the PlayStation console itself went on sale. The game's fully 3D, first person perspective was groundbreaking among role-playing video games of the time and received significant critical acclaim.. The next two King's Field titles followed in quick succession: King's Field II on July 21, 1995, and King's Field III on June 21, 1996. King's Field IV was released several years later for the PlayStation 2 on October 4, 2001.^[3]

Games

PlayStation

The first game in the series, King's Field, was released only in Japan. While it was not officially localized into English, a fan has written a full English translation patch.^[4]

In King's Field, the player takes the role of Jean Alfred Forrester. He is searching for his missing father, Hauser Forrester, who disappeared along with his soldiers while exploring a dead king's underground graveyard. Shorter than the others in the series, King's Field includes five floors. The main aspects of gameplay consist of first-person battles, puzzle solving, and exploration.

After the success of the first game, King's Field II was also released in the United States, under the name King's Field. In the sequel, the player takes the role of Granitiki prince Aleph (アレフ・ガルーシャ・レグナス) (alternatively named Alef/Alexander) who is shipwrecked on Melanat, an accursed island that has drawn the attention and forces of the new king of Verdite—and an old friend—Jean.

In King's Field III (released in the US as King's Field II), the player takes the role of Verdite prince Lyle (ライル・ウォリシス・フォレスター) as he struggles to uncover the reasons behind his father Jean’s sudden descent into madness and restore his kingdom. This time around, a large portion of the game takes place above ground, but the main aspects of gameplay remain unchanged: first-person battles, puzzle solving and exploration.

PlayStation 2

King's Field IV (released as King's Field: The Ancient City in the US) was the first game from the series released on the PlayStation 2 console. The entire game takes place within the Land of Disaster, where the forest folk once dwelled until an evil curse came upon the land. The player takes the role of Prince Devian of the Azalin Empire who has been given the task of returning the cause of the blight, the Idol of Sorrow, back to the cursed land. His journey follows the downfall of the Kingdom of Heladin and the exploits of Septiego the Sword Master who led an expedition of over 1000 men in a failed effort to return the cursed Idol.

PlayStation Portable

King's Field: Additional I is the first game of the series released on the PlayStation Portable. It was only released in Japan and was never localized to English; however, the game came with a mini-instruction manual in both English and Chinese for grey import buyers. The "Additional" series uses a step-by-step style of gameplay, rather than free-roaming.

King's Field: Additional II, the sequel, also only found a Japanese release, and was never localized to English. It featured the ability to import the player's character from Kings Field: Additional I, including all equipment and statistics.

Microsoft Windows

Sword of Moonlight: King's Field Making Tool is a King's Field designing tool for the Microsoft Windows platform which was released in Japan. It lets the user construct free-standing King's Field games which may be played independently, without having Sword of Moonlight installed. It also contains a full remake of the first King’s Field game originally released on the PlayStation.^[5] A fan made full English translation is available as an unofficial patch.^[4]

Mobile phones

King's Field Mobile is a KF title released in Japan but was available for purchase and download to anyone with a compatible cellular phone platform.^[6] It was followed by two sequels: King's Field Mobile 2,^[7] and King's Field EX.^[8]

Merchandise and other media

To commemorate their 20th anniversary, From Software released the special collection package called the King's Field Dark Side Box in 2007, which contained a reissue of the four King's Field games which had previously been released on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, as well as soundtracks for all six games, a map of Verdite, and other bonuses.^[9]

Reception

Critical reception for the series in general was extremely polarized in that people tended to either hate it or love it. Common criticisms include: slow moving player character, low number of game characters (NPCs), difficult gameplay, and muddy colors. Others often cite these very things as what they like about the series.

As opposed to other combat based RPGs, King's Field focuses more on exploration and a dark brooding ambiance. The slow character movement facilitates streaming data from the game disk which eliminates loading screens that plague most PlayStation titles. Fans say the lack of loading screens aid in becoming absorbed into the artistry of the title by removing constant reminders that "it's just a game".^[10][11]

Legacy

A spiritual successor to the series, named Demon's Souls, was released February 5, 2009 in Japan for the PlayStation 3, followed by its own successor, Dark Souls for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on September 22, 2011, which went on to become a franchise. Bloodborne, which shares several similarities to Souls games, was released for the PlayStation 4 on March 24, 2015.

References