my favourite of the PS1 King's Field games easily, I love the location and how interconnected the island is, and the general atmosphere is fantastic
The interconnected world is neat especially for PS1, it's nice to have a variety of weapons and spells that don't just make each other obsolete and I like the way different in game maps have details in different areas.
But unfortunately just about everything else has aged like milk. The combat feels like being a tank that's trying to perform melee attacks with its turrent, the areas often lack any identifiable landmarks and consist of 1-2 textures making navigation awkward and visuals ugly, and making progress is usually a matter of random exploration that doesn't feel like progress as it's not clear what you were trying to accomplish in the first place. What finally made me quit was a boss near the end that was not only a ludicrous difficulty spike but also required clearing a boss rush just to try again.
But unfortunately just about everything else has aged like milk. The combat feels like being a tank that's trying to perform melee attacks with its turrent, the areas often lack any identifiable landmarks and consist of 1-2 textures making navigation awkward and visuals ugly, and making progress is usually a matter of random exploration that doesn't feel like progress as it's not clear what you were trying to accomplish in the first place. What finally made me quit was a boss near the end that was not only a ludicrous difficulty spike but also required clearing a boss rush just to try again.
PSA: if you're emulating, get the European (PAL) version. The USA one emulates badly as there is no framelimiter, so it speeds up and down CONSTANTLY. PAL version has a consistent (low) framerate as the gods intended.
Essentially a 3D dark fantasy metroidvania-style classic. (Only 1 year after super mentroid came out lol)
King's Field 2, AKA King's Field in English. It's... actually pretty great? Like, yeah, it's janky and clunky, but that's what makes it kind of cool? It grows on you? Honestly, if you have patience for it, and you're interested in seeing how these games evolved, it's worth playing.
this shits kinda goated ngl!
this game starts off WAY more rocky than King's Field 1, you will absolutely feel ten times more confused throughout because not only is the world far more expansive and interconnected, there's also a lot more secrets to find, the game is two or three times as long, and the walkthroughs and online maps are way shittier than they are for King's Field 1.
but once you get used to it and push further into the game, you'll learn to love this game for its new features and changed design style compared to King's Field 1. the run button is a GODSEND, Crystal Flasks are way better than one-time-use consumable recovery items and allow for MP recovery, and NPCs are actual characters with individual stories, relationships, and sometimes even small questlines.
the technical aspects of this game are also very intriguing, the (mostly) seamless world with hidden loading zones leads to a very enjoyable and smooth experience without waiting for loading screens, and the graphical presentation is significantly more impressive across the board compared to KF 1, although it does come at the cost of somewhat poor performance. the game often hangs around the 15 fps mark despite aiming for a locked 30 fps, and the game logic speed is tired to framerate. this makes things pretty choppy often, but you'll get used to it sooner than you'd think. the game runs too fast to play properly at its intended 30 fps anyways, which is probably somewhat intentional as a lot of backtracking through areas without enemies is sped up significantly thanks to the increased speed. enemies and complex geometric objects or large rooms tend to tank the FPS, which are when you most need to be paying attention regardless.
Beyond the technical issues and rocky beginning, the game proves to be really enjoyable throughout!
you'll probably finish after playing for ~20 hours, so it's a pretty beefy game for its type. if you have a week of afternoons to spend playing this game and don't mind backtracking and using a walkthrough being basically mandatory, i'd say you should play this. Try KF 1 first, though, as it's a good 'taste test' to see if you like this kind of game before jumping fully into the much longer and more convoluted King's Field II.
final note: the story and characters in this game are really interesting, there's some intriguing and well-written character dialogue and stuff throughout, but i'm not sure if the English release's translation is any good, since i played it in Japanese. if at all possible, try playing the game in Japanese, since game translations of this era don't always have the best reputations.
have fun if you decide to play!
this game starts off WAY more rocky than King's Field 1, you will absolutely feel ten times more confused throughout because not only is the world far more expansive and interconnected, there's also a lot more secrets to find, the game is two or three times as long, and the walkthroughs and online maps are way shittier than they are for King's Field 1.
but once you get used to it and push further into the game, you'll learn to love this game for its new features and changed design style compared to King's Field 1. the run button is a GODSEND, Crystal Flasks are way better than one-time-use consumable recovery items and allow for MP recovery, and NPCs are actual characters with individual stories, relationships, and sometimes even small questlines.
the technical aspects of this game are also very intriguing, the (mostly) seamless world with hidden loading zones leads to a very enjoyable and smooth experience without waiting for loading screens, and the graphical presentation is significantly more impressive across the board compared to KF 1, although it does come at the cost of somewhat poor performance. the game often hangs around the 15 fps mark despite aiming for a locked 30 fps, and the game logic speed is tired to framerate. this makes things pretty choppy often, but you'll get used to it sooner than you'd think. the game runs too fast to play properly at its intended 30 fps anyways, which is probably somewhat intentional as a lot of backtracking through areas without enemies is sped up significantly thanks to the increased speed. enemies and complex geometric objects or large rooms tend to tank the FPS, which are when you most need to be paying attention regardless.
Beyond the technical issues and rocky beginning, the game proves to be really enjoyable throughout!
you'll probably finish after playing for ~20 hours, so it's a pretty beefy game for its type. if you have a week of afternoons to spend playing this game and don't mind backtracking and using a walkthrough being basically mandatory, i'd say you should play this. Try KF 1 first, though, as it's a good 'taste test' to see if you like this kind of game before jumping fully into the much longer and more convoluted King's Field II.
final note: the story and characters in this game are really interesting, there's some intriguing and well-written character dialogue and stuff throughout, but i'm not sure if the English release's translation is any good, since i played it in Japanese. if at all possible, try playing the game in Japanese, since game translations of this era don't always have the best reputations.
have fun if you decide to play!
Extremamente a frente de seu tempo e capaz em tudo o que faz, infelizmente sofre com as limitações da época.
King's Field is Dark Souls but on the PlayStation and it's bad.
A very interesting experience for any fan of the recent FromSoft games. A constant stream of discovery of how the game itself, its world and its systems work while you constantly go "So that's where THAT comes from"