20 Years Of King's Field (With Loophole572)

4,544 views · Published 22 December 2014 · 11:12 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: RetrospectiveGaming · 2014 · Gaming

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Me and Loop take a look back King's Field 

Loophole572- https://www.youtube.com/user/loophole572

The King's Field Series Turned 20 Years Old On December 16, 2014  

From Hardcore Gaming - http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kingsfield/kf01.htm

What is King's Field?

King's Field was produced by the Japanese software developer From Software, otherwise known for the Armored Core series, the cult classic PlayStation 3 release Demon's Souls, and its Xbox 360/PS3 spiritual successor Dark Souls. It is played in the first person, with full 3D movement, although it does not at all resemble a first person shooter, particularly in how slowly your character moves.

Playing the game, little concession is made to the player. You begin each game with weak attacks, little or no magic, healing items or much of note. Expect regular one or two-shot kills from even the first enemy encounters. Visuals are spartan, oppressive, not helped by the PlayStation's rather limited 3D capabilities. Levels comprise mostly of corridors, rooms, and corridors (with some occasional and major exceptions). Locked doors requiring the usual round of keys - not all are reusable - and they become a focus for exploration.

There is little, if any, direction given to the player in any of the games. The experience of playing King's Field is ultimately slightly confusing at first, but ultimately massively open-ended and atmospheric. The purpose of the gameplay is simply a little more involved than hacking and slashing, and the games don't play all of their cards immediately. Discovery is absolutely crucial, and a main draw in King's Field.

There are four primary games in the series - the first, second and third on the PlayStation, and the fourth on the PlayStation 2. Westerners were lucky enough to receive English translations for most of the mainline games, as well as the off-shoots Eternal Ring and Shadow Tower. What possessed From Software to make this effort isn't clear outside of whatever success was received by the first game in Japan. The games are not text-heavy though, which is traditionally a major issue during translation of a game. For reasons unknown, the first King's Field never made it to the west and as a result localised editions of the second two games were "re-numbered" accordingly. King's Field 2 was the first game to receive an English translation, and was released in the USA and Europe just as King's Field, without a number. Kings Field 3 was again "re-numbered" for the West, and made it to the USA as King's Field 2. There were also two PSP games titled King's Field Additional, as well as three mobile games, but none of these have made it outside Japan.

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