Locked doors requiring the usual round of keys – not all are reusable – and they become a focus for exploration. Levels comprise mostly of corridors, rooms, and corridors (with some occasional and major exceptions). Visuals are spartan, oppressive, not helped by the PlayStation’s rather limited 3D capabilities. Expect regular one or two-shot kills from even the first enemy encounters. You begin each game with weak attacks, little or no magic, healing items or much of note.
Playing the game, little concession is made to the player. It is played in the first person, with full 3D movement, although it does not at all resemble a first person shooter, particularly in how slowly your character moves. King’s Field was produced by the Japanese software developer From Software, otherwise known for the Armored Core series, the cult classic PlayStation 3 release Demon’s Souls, and its Xbox 360/PS3 spiritual successor series Dark Souls.
On the other hand, perhaps you prefer a more old-school approach? If the idea of being lost in mazes with only your weapons, magic and armor to defend you seems appealing, then King’s Field will be of great interest. It embodies many of these “retro”, hardcore gaming traits, and a lot of people are likely to try it and run for miles in the total opposite direction. This is likely why King’s Field is not only a lesser-known series in the west, but has even been completely forgotten by its developers. Convoluted maze-like level design is rarely seen, and more linear, easily-digestible levels are the norm. Character generation is (mostly) out, hack-and-slash is in. Returning to the present day, the first-person dungeon-crawling RPG is currently limited to the Elder Scrolls series and a scant few Nintendo DS games. Character creation, leveling, statistics were all crucial to progress, otherwise an inattentive player may reach later game levels severely underpowered, and often sheer grind wasn’t enough. All of these games emphasised first-person viewpoints, controlling a single character or a party of characters. Console gamers were also treated to many episodes of Wizardry, Shin Megami Tensei, and the likes of Shining In The Darkness / Holy Ark. One of these “casualties” is the first person variety of dungeon crawler.īack in the ’90s, PC owners were lucky to see many of them, including the likes of Ultima Underworld, Lands Of Lore, Might & Magic, Wizardry and The Bard’s Tale.
Mainstream gaming has homogenized, newer more social and “casual” genres have emerged, other more hardcore ones have disappeared or transformed into something more acceptable. Simplifying gameplay while diversifying its audience.
Over the last decade, gaming in general has undergone a transformation.
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