Is the King's Field series worth a play?

>>3745047
Some may say "yeah" but personally I think they're unplayable now.

I don't mind cryptic shit in my games, I like to think a little here and then, but KF is waaay too cryptic for it's own good, and when you have clunky slow (understandably) controls, it just makes things more tedious.

I'm sure it was fine for its time because there wasn't a lot to compare it to but now I just can't play it, and I tried a lot.

>>3745047
>>3745126
I'm often a purist other than for convenience but I maintain that the Playstation Kings Field games are better through emulation because you can do custom bindings to get dual analog controls and you can overclock it. Shadow Tower isn't quite as slow but it still benefits from the control binding.

I thought the ones I played on ps1 were great back in the day. I was really excited when I heard kings field the ancient city was coming out on ps2, but when I got it there was something weird about the camera and movement that gives me a massive headache after only playing for a few minutes. I tried to play it many times but it always happened and it was too much to just deal with and keep playing. Still haven't heard about anyone else with similar issues, and it's the only first person game I've ever had a problem with playing.

Moonlight Sword? Isn't that from Dark Souls?

>>3745539
Not sure if you're "just pretending to be retarded" or not

>>3745539
Yeah man they totally ripped of Dork Soles. From should sue.

>>3745126
>now

>I'm sure it was fine for its time because there wasn't a lot to compare it to

I've never played a KF game but judging by these comments it -must- be good.

>>3745539
Twat.

>>3745635
Plonker

>>3745243
King's Field and Shadow Tower games have a particularly narrow field of view, probably to try to create a sense of immediacy. Monsters that are close to you are right up in your face, peripheral vision is nonexistent. This narrow FOV combined with full-screen action (opposed to Ultima Underworld for example) can be very disorienting if you play on a monitor that fills all or most of your actual sight. Sit further back from your screen or play in a window and it should be fine.

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@3745539

Not even worth a (You)

>>3745539
It's made by the same company. It's funny nobody cared about these King's Field games until Dark Souls became popular.

>>3745651
>nobody cared
Nips fucking loved KF and it's always had a breddy decent cult following. DaS just gave normies/ledditors exposure to it.

>>3745656
They were always relatively obscure prior to Dark Souls though. There's a reason why they stopped making them after IV.

>>3745669
>>>/r9k/

>>3745683
>it's so unpopular they only made 4 of them
...because they moved on to Shadow Tower: Abyss, Echo Night: Beyond and then got to work on next-genifying the engine and turning it into Demon's Souls?

I don't know why people insist on calling games "obscure" just because they weren't aware of them when they were kidsuals.

>>3745694
>I don't know why people insist on calling games "obscure" just because they weren't aware of them when they were kidsuals.
I read about the first King's Field (the one that never got released in the west) when I was a kid, niggah. Your franchise has always been C-tier obscurity at best, only barely above Crime Crackers.

>>3745047
Yeah, they're worth playing. It's hard to find better exploration-focused games.

>>3745126
I can understand having some issues adjusting to the controls, and the series is definitely slow-paced. I'm not sure what you mean by them being "cryptic," though. Everything you actually need to know is pretty easy to figure out; I don't recall there being any obtuse puzzles or anything.

started with kf1(j) a few days ago and it's decent. seconding >>3745134 except kf3 at least has a setting so all movement is with the dpad, so from then on in from's games you at least don't need to remap your brain to goldeneye-like settings.

>>3745651
i thought it was neat that some of the sound effects were later used in diablo. seems like a nod to kf.

then again, those sounds might have just been from some sound cd/package, not created by from.

>>3745698
There's only 2 Crime Crackers and neither saw Western Release. I'm not saying KF wasn't C-list but ARPG people played it for sure, there just weren't that many back then.

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great exploration, i like it alot

>>3745715
The point is that it's funny that some people get their panties twisted here because some anon recognized an in-game item that later appeared in Dark Souls.

>>3745742
Well yeah I can agree with that. I actually think it's cute for somebody to out his newfaggotry by not knowing KF is the precursor to DS but there are plenty of "retro enthusiasts" who haven't just been into it all along and really are anxious to demonstrate they HAVE been into it somewhat longer than at least THAT guy. Then of course you get true trolls who notice that and then "pretend to be retarded". We could try to just be cool but then white knights always take it too far and embarrass themselves the other way. At least white knights demand a bit more work from the trolls. Life on 4chan.

the games are a genuine chore to play, but if you somehow stick with it, there is some enjoyment to be had.
it also has some insanely good atmosphere.

>>3745764
Considering they are two different IPs made a decade apart, I just don't get why Fromfags get offended when a newfag recognize elements from Dark Souls in a King's Field game. It's not like King's Field was some big mainstream franchise that everyone and their sibling played back in the day like Final Fantasy. It's almost as bad as Elder Scroll fans that get offended over newfags wanting a "Skyrim 2"

>>3745782
Well, they do it because it makes them feel like better retro gamers when a more honest and less baitable reaction might be "Jeez at least do your homework (like I did)". I personally have probably become more on the other end and might be inclined to waste my time talking about the whole From Software adventure line with little encouragement.

>>3745047

Shadow Tower the Abyss is the one who aged better, its a great dungeon crawl.

>>3745898
Too bad it's JP only. I really wanted to play it when I first saw it a couple months ago

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>>3747142

There is a translation anon.

I once streamed the game, its pretty big and comfy dungeon crawl, and like all From Soft games you can tell de love.

Its clearly from people who play a lot of D&D and Sci FI fantasy.

I actually like the original Shadow Tower the most

it's a real fucking spooky and hard game

Dark Souls reinvented action RPGs

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>>3747413


It just picked the old tried and true formulas of the 90s and improved the grafix.

You have metroidvania, zelda, 90s platformers, and 3d person action games all mixed together. It had to be the Japs to do something so simple yet effective, the West is always trying new shit.

Ofcourse the amazing art direction and ambiguous storytelling helped as well.

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>>3747414
dark souls really reminds me of severance, at least the combat

http://www.swordofmoonlight.com/
In case anyone is aware, there was a King's Field game maker released some time ago for PCs and theres a small community for translating and making new KF games with it

>>3747434
I should play it again I love it.

Nobody does fantasy like this anymore, more close to tolkien and gothic.

The only one I've finished is the first US release and it's great. Definitely worth a shot if you're into classic crpg's. I'm pretty sure Japan's love for games like Wizardry had to do with the difficulty.

>>3747512


This is interesting.

The engine seems a bit meh however.

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>>3748923
>Nobody does Tolkien fantasy ARPGs anymore

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>>3749012

In terms of aesthetic.

There was a certain aesthetic during the 70s 80s and 90s fantasy pre digital age, that was more raw, unlike the game you posted which is completely 21th century.

Pic related to what I mean.

>>3749023
There aren't many great-elite tier artists anymore.

>>3745764
>I actually think it's cute for somebody to out his newfaggotry by not knowing KF is the precursor to DS
It fucking isn't, they're completely different games that just have some shared items

>>3749113

Of course there are.

Most of them are making porn on commissions nowadays.

>>3745683

They stopped making them because the publisher wanted something different.

Demon's Souls exists because Sony wanted an original IP. Not because they wanted something different from KF, but because they wanted something similar that didn't have to please KF fans specifically.

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>>3749141
I agree there are good artists, but good one are rarer, and the overall aesthetics just changed since videogames become mainstream.

The only fantasy that looks decent today is souls series, maybe Witcher as well although I dislike it personally.

DragonAge series shall go in History as the most puke inducing fantasy art I have ever seen.

>>3749146
Demon's Souls came out like nine years after the last King's Field game on PS2 (although, I think there were a few more games on PSP too). I doubt the King's Field fanbase was a factor in the making of Demon's Souls.

>>3749149

>According to director Hidetaka Miyazaki, before the start of the two-year development period,[26] the studio had previously ruled out the following game to be a new installment in the King's Field series.[26] Instead SCEJ producer Takeshi Kajii described the game as a "spiritual successor" to King's Field,[27] where he stated "I am a fan of From Software, but naturally that also means there are parts of their games I'm not satisfied with, too," explaining the development choice as an opportunity to be more creative and potentially innovative, stating "If this was a new King's Field game, there would be areas we wouldn't be able to touch since they're part of the series

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I'm going into Shadow Tower new, having only played the first Dark Souls and US release of King's Field. What should I know?

>>3747414
>>3747434
That's a really shitty game and it plays nothing like Dark Souls. Wonder Boy in Monster Land has more similarities with Dark Souls than this europoor turd.

>>3749191
Explain yourself

>>3749201
He cant, he is a homosexual.

>>3749203
I'm not >>3749168

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>>3749168
Welp, a pair of skeletons did me in. I guess that'll teach me to open treasure chests! How/where can you save in this game?

>>3749210
Stars on the map. Find one ASAP

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>>3749023
It's worth noting that many of the great artists from that era (not Parkinson, sadly) are still alive and working. The real problem is that the aren't hired for that kind of work these days. Wizards of the Cost stopped using the likes of Elmoore and Eastley for D&D in the 3rd edition in favour of a more comic-book like style to appeal to a wider audience. See, tragic as it is, the kind of art that you and I love was, at the time, regarded as a prime signifier of fantasy trash. So, to court more popularity they went with what the youth crowd liked and respected more: a new set of artists with a different, more modern style that had less regard for technical skills and an ever-increasing love for extremes.
To the publishers (and, in fact, their readers) of that particular period the image you linked would have been seen as catastrophically unexciting. The old guard loved that style of course, but they were outnumbered within a year of the shift and the new guard would only declare it 'not epic' and write it off as granddad's fantasy. This is a trend that reached it's zenith in the era of 4th edition when the art was at its worst and most desperately 'epic'. The orcs in your image would have to be pictured in battle or else posing against a backdrop of spectacular magic or destruction and, of course, with faces going 'AAAAAA'. No heed would be paid to the landscape (a particular strength of both Elmore and Parkinson) and instead all focus would be invested in what was then read as the figures 'heroic' qualities (glowing eyes, 'AAAA' face, etc) which would dominate the entirety of the image.
Things have taken a step back toward the art you and I favor in the most recent editions, but the skill and talent remains lacking. The old artists are still un-hired in favor of those who can turn out a commission quickly with photoshop and a tablet. Still, the art -is- better, and our time will come again.
Hold fast.

>>3749259
I haven't found a map yet. Did find a save point. I feel like I haven't quite got a handle on combat still yet. Like it seems harder to run up to enemies to hit them at the peak of your swing like in Kings Field.

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>>3749312
I think you may actually be more pissed off about the new fantasy art direction than I am and I'm pretty pissed off about it too.

>>3749319
Quarters are closer is the main problem you're going to run into but that's Shadow Tower.

>>3749325
So far the game is a little too dungeon-y for my liking. Kings Field being on an island gave me a better feeling of where I was and gave me a better sense of direction of where I wanted/needed to go, rather than just picking between similar looking hallways I'm seeing in Shadow Tower so far.

>>3749337
Well Shadow Tower is a dungeon. Also the Japanese exclusive KF1 is mostly in a dungeon but not quite as claustrophobic a one.

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>start up King's Field
>pic related happens within 15 seconds

Fucking kek.

>>3749351
Maybe I'll try the other KF games instead. I like a good dungeon environment, but I'm the kind of gamer who needs that sense of exploration from seeing different locales.

>>3749363
The beginning of King's Field is so great. You're surrounded by stuff that just kills you all over. Including just falling off into the water.

>>3747414
severance has nothing to do with dark souls and plays completely differently (and also notably worse.) Why do you PC fags keep trying to push such a mediocre game?

>>3749379

Yes you are right, at least Severance Tomb Raider like platforming, and combos, its better than Souls games.

>>3749390
It doesn't have tomb raider like platforming, tomb raider platforming worked. It's mistakenly described as clunky, but it's more just an intimate way to recreate human behavior of navigation in primitive 3D space. It works very well in tomb raider.

Severance has tank controls by definition, and it works very poorly. Having a poorly implemented combo system isn't a point in its favor. It is notably worse than pretty much every souls game. Don't be a pcondiment.

>>3749397

We had Severance, Rune and many others peasant.

Know your place.

>>3749363
Yeah, they don't pull any punches in the beginning.(that guy isn't really meant to be beat until a lot later) Grab the fire stone from the lighthouse, then use it to learn the first spell. There's also armor and an actual sword if you run around the outside a bit. Then go in behind the fisherman to really get going. Also don't forget to exhaust all dialogue, people complaining how cryptic it is probably didn't do that. I don't know how many times I started over after death until I finally got the hang of things.

>>3749470
Of all the games, I would love an HD remake of Kings Field. If only for the ability to use the dual sticks to control movement and camera. That game is so amazing in a way that I don't feel about the others.

>>3749191
that's some amazingly bad taste you have
I usually have to go to /v/ to see taste as bad as yours, I'm impressed

>>3749367
Some of the different dungeon areas in Shadow Tower are pretty distinct; the game consists of more than just stone hallways.

That said, King's Field does generally have better environments and better exploration. Shadow Tower: Abyss has great environments as well.

>>3749397
>poorly implemented combo system

: ^)

Eternal Ring was the best

>>3749470
>exhaust all dialogue
glad they made that easier in the second game

while amusing as a concept, doing 360s to get new lines of speech got old quickly

>>3749156
I stand corrected then.

>>3749917
It's groundbreaking in the sense that it's actually not THAT hard

>>3749928
>>3749928
>doing 360s to get new lines of speech got old quickly
??
Not sure what you mean there it just takes a second between pop ups.(unless by second you meant the first US release)

>>3749997
i did.

you have to dance for your dialogue in 1(j).

>>3749917
I just started Eternal Ring, it's not bad, the opening area seems a little linear, all up through to the first boss at least. The intro cinematic for the boss reminds me of Bloodborn. It feels like a more modern Kings Field more than the Shadow Tower games.

>>3745782
>Elder Scroll fans that get offended over newfags wanting a "Skyrim 2"

What's funny is the every entry in the series has had this exact same problem. Most people don't think of TES as a series, so much as they see them as individual games, since "The Elder Scrolls" is such a generic sounding title.

>>3747414
What game is this? It looks fun.

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>>3745047
Got it at a swap meet along with a black magic m-66 vhs back b4 all this souls shit. was decent, spooky as fuck going around corners super slow, its worth it to emulate and up the emulation speed a little, 130% or more for strafing slimes. if your just playing for souls nostalgia try shadow tower abyss, there’s an english patch. i hope there remaking it soon.

>>3751897
I feel like the original shadow tower is more spoopy and hostile

it's also more of a lonely game

it also has
>PLEASE, STOP THE ROCK
and other great lines in it

>>3751860


www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BqFMu054IE

>>3751945
hmm might give it another try, i just remember jumping off the stairs and going through the rooms full of poison and laser plants, hostility max.

>>3751897
I have to try it again.

I lost a save and never picked it up again. I love the lonely lovecraftian vibe.

From really has the touch to make no bullshit fun games.

>>3745047
sweet

>>3751897
Man i really didn't like Abyss

But Eternal Ring was fucking awesome, the game was a bit too short but man, that game could use an extended remake or even a sequel

Story is kinda dumb and out of nowhere, but i enjoyed the shit out of the magic system.