An immense step-up from King's Field. Whereas that first title was structured as a series of floors with no geographic interconnection, King's Field II feels like Dark Souls' true spiritual predecessor, with a single map that is so joyfully interconnected. Dark Souls' famous ladder and elevator moments, the ones that made everyone including myself fall so deeply in love with that game, are echoes of moments here in King's Field II.

I didn't need an external map for this one, unlike the first with its loosely designed winding hallways. Frankly, I barely used the in-game maps either. Each route is so well-defined and with many points of interest, I had a great idea of the entire game's layout despite the lack of environmental detail and repeated low-resolution textures.

There really is nothing else like it from this era of gaming. For all it's slow clunky combat, poor performance, and ugly visuals, the overall design of the game shows such a knack for creating an environment that is both atmospheric and interesting to explore, it's truly special. The only major thing bringing the game down is its inability to turn the normatively bad combat, which is intended more as a way to engage in exploration than a satisfying combat-system in its own right, into climactic moments. I wasn't a fan of the final level and boss of the first game, and frankly I didn't find this one to be much of an improvement. Still, I cannot recommend this one enough, especially for those familiar with the modern Fromsoft titles.