King's Field
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is an
action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...
series developed by
FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Founded by Naotoshi Zin on November 1, 1986 as a business software developer, the company released their first video game, '' King's Field'', for the PlayStation in 1994. Its s ...
. Titles have been released for the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
,
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
,
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
,
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, and various
mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
platforms. '' King's Field'' was released as a
launch title Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...
for the PlayStation in 1994. The game's fully 3D, first person perspective was considered groundbreaking among
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
s of the time; it influenced FromSoftware's later work, most notably ''
Demon's Souls is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It was released in Japan in February 2009, in North America by Atlus in October 2009, and in PAL territories by Na ...
'' and the ''
Dark Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the series began with the release of ''Dark Souls (video game), Dark Souls'' (2011) and has ...
'' 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 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
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 Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
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 Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
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 Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and review literature) ...
full English translation is available as an
unofficial patch An unofficial patch, sometimes alternatively called a community patch, is a patch for a piece of software, created by a third party such as a user community without the involvement of the original developer. Similar to an ordinary patch, it alle ...
.


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 is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It was released in Japan in February 2009, in North America by Atlus in October 2009, and in PAL territories by Na ...
'', was released in 2009. That game in turn served as a predecessor to the ''
Dark Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the series began with the release of ''Dark Souls (video game), Dark Souls'' (2011) and has ...
'' series.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Field (series) Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1994 Kadokawa Corporation franchises