FromSoftware's final King's Field game is a culmination of all of the strengths of the original trilogy and Shadow Tower — a gorgeously-atmospheric early PS2 title that feels like the missing link between the unrefined PS1 trilogy and the Soulsborne games that would later take the world by storm. The exploration is some of the best that FromSoftware has ever put out; The Ancient City is a bit more linear than King's Field II, but the myriad secrets and shortcuts back to previous areas give each of the map's areas a satisfying density and reason to revisit. This is also the first (and only) King's Field game to run with acceptable performance out-of-the-box, a feat no doubt aided by the stronger PS2 hardware, but all the more impressive given how well the art design and textures have held up. Furthermore, this game would be incomplete without its beautifully melancholic soundtrack full of inorganic wails, strings, harpsichords, and more.

There are a few issues that hold The Ancient City back, mainly stemming from the combat and movement. The player character is slow in this game, not just in their walk speed, but also in their pathetic turn rate. The slower pace of the game fits with the atmosphere, but I found myself wishing that, at the very least, it did not take me several seconds to completely turn around and leave a room when I was done looting it. The combat is also the same simple attack-backstep-repeat dance that the series has had 1994, but strangely, it's lost some of the additional mechanics of Shadow Tower, namely the manual blocking with shields. The combat is never actively detrimental to the experience, but its rote simplicity is out of place when compared with the absolutely excellent atmosphere and exploration.

The Ancient City is certainly the most well-rounded of FromSoftware's first-person dungeon crawlers (though I have not yet played Shadow Tower: Abyss); any fan of the Soulsborne series who doesn't mind a bit of jank should check it out. Quibbles about the combat and movement aside, it's an engrossing RPG that is a worthy conclusion to an oft-overlooked franchise.

Played this the first time a few years ago and after a tough opening it became one of my favorite games ever made. The progression of player speed makes combat is sorta fun, and no other dungeon focused game does exploration anywehre near as well as kings field. Finding locations, enemies, items, and weapons with meaningful differences tucked into 3d environemnts is a seemingly obvious hook for a fantasy game that I've never seen effectively repeated. Great music too. I haven't successfully been able to get into the ps1 kings fields but this is a must play.

This game is so difficult to get into. The controls are clunky - you move and turn with the analogue sticks, you strafe with the bumpers, and you look up and down with the triggers. It takes a full 10 seconds to rotate 360 degrees, and the game has quite a learning curve.

If you can get through that though, you'll find an absolute masterpiece. A lot of what made From Software's later titles like Dark Souls so compelling are already here - the atmosphere, the interconnected level design, the seriously depressing quests. It's a slow and deliberate game and that works perfectly for it.

Honestly, this game is going in my all time favourites. Playing it inspired me to learn Godot and finally start making games of my own.

The bridge between a budding studio and the powerhouse they've become. What is so inspiring about King's Field IV, and those that came before it, is that From's approach to design is not new. Their fascination with exploration, dying worlds, challenge, and hands-off approach have been cultivated for decades now. These games seem vastly under-appreciated now when compared to this same approach years later finally being embraced.

I think the biggest hurdle with these games now is accessibility combined with a straight-up intolerance to failure. I'm not sure how long it would've taken for me to get through without save states, it surely would've added at least a couple hours. But these are also pretty much unattainable on original hardware. This one alone goes for $170 at the very least, for a US copy, jumping up hundreds of dollars more for sealed/graded copies, but I digress.

I tried playing this years ago and was immediately stumped by controls. Despite moving to the PS2, this title does not use both analog sticks and keeps the same layout set by even the first Japanese title. Forward and looking side to side with the left stick, R2 and L2 to look up and down, and R1 and L1 to strafe. I managed to at least remap to where i could look up and down with the right stick, but still had to strafe with the bumpers. So, if you can get past these insane controls, and it really only takes a little bit to get used to, you are in for a real treat. Also for some reason this title is like, super interlaced and visually breaks if you try to do any higher res rendering. I am now BEGGING for some sort of modern ports, I think these could look and play wonderfully if given the treatment. I'm sure that is not some moneymaker, but maybe From/Bamco/whoever (no clue who owns the rights to these) could package it now as "From the creators of Elden Ring" and it would fly off shelves (probably not but I badly want this.)

This is my favorite of the series, and would make a great starting off point if someone is at all interested in these games. It fits nicely between the smaller scope of the first two titles and the more epic scope of 3 to create a more linear, dense, atmospheric experience. Tsukasa Saitoh's score is incredible, especially the Holy Forest track. It manages to convey the sorrow of a world long gone with the hope that it may be renewed in one track, and really hammers home the tone and themes of the entire game. A one of a kind experience.

I initially wasn't very impressed by this entry compared to the first three and Shadow Tower, but after about a third into the game it REALLY ramps up. this is now quite possibly my favorite game in the entire extended King's Field series. the atmosphere is thick, the setting is labyrinthine and intertwined in a web of passages, rooms, caves, towers, and varying elevations, all filled with all manner of traps, secrets, and foul creatures! it's all you need from a King's Field and more!
This game also introduces many concepts that will go on to influence later Fromsoft titles. It's really interesting to see just how much they've pulled from this one game that elaborates upon a prior series.