King's Field

is an action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware. Titles have been released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, and various mobile phone platforms.

'' King's Field'' was released as a launch title for the PlayStation in 1994. The game's fully 3D, first person perspective was considered groundbreaking among role-playing video games of the time; it influenced FromSoftware's later work, most notably ''Demon's Souls'' and the ''Dark Souls'' series. The next two ''King's Field'' titles, '' King's Field II'' and '' King's Field III'', were released in 1995 and 1996, respectively. '' King's Field IV'' was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001.

Games

PlayStation

The first game in the series, '' King's Field'', was released only in Japan. While it was never officially localized into English, a fan-made English translation patch was released in 2006.

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 later entries 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 released in North America and Europe, retitled ''King's Field'' without a numeral nor subtitle. In the sequel, the player takes the role of Granitiki prince Aleph (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 North America as ''King's Field II''), the player takes the role of Verdite prince Lyle as he struggles to uncover the reasons behind his father Jean's sudden descent into madness and restore his kingdom. 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 in North America as ''King's Field: The Ancient City'') was the first game from the series released on the PlayStation 2 console. The 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 into English. The "Additional" series uses a step-by-step style of gameplay, rather than free-roaming.

''King's Field: Additional II'', the sequel, was also released only in Japan with no English localization. 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. A fan-made full English translation is available as an unofficial patch.

Mobile phone

''King's Field Mobile'' was released in Japan for mobile phone on January 14, 2004. It was followed by two sequels: ''King's Field Mobile II'' on November 15, 2005, and ''King's Field EX'' on April 4, 2004.

Merchandise and other media

To commemorate their 20th anniversary, FromSoftware 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.

Reception

Critical reception for the series was generally mixed. Common criticisms included the slow-moving player character, low number of game characters (NPCs), difficult gameplay, and muddy colors. The series was lauded for its complex labyrinths, large seamless worlds, a wide variety of items and magic abilities, and narratives that had epic scope in a limited space, which would be echoed by the technical design of the descendent ''Souls'' series.

As opposed to other combat based role-playing video games, ''King's Field'' focuses more on exploration and a dark brooding ambience. The slow character movement facilitates streaming data from the game disc which eliminates loading screens that were common among most PlayStation titles.

A spiritual successor to the series, ''Demon's Souls'', was released in 2009. That game in turn served as a predecessor to the ''Dark Souls'' series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Field (series)

Video game franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 1994
Kadokawa Corporation franchises