Between the darker tone, collecting magic rings, weapon durability, verticality, unlocking shortcuts, and the motif of flowing water vs stagnation/Kegare, you can _definitely_ see the seeds of the Souls franchise planted here. It's uncanny.
I know you see this type of comment a million times across TH-cam, but I truly do believe this is one of the most under-subbed channels out there. Such quality analysis every time
I absolutely love seeing the King’s Field series finally getting the respect it deserves. Mark Johnson from Agetec “bullied” me into playing KF2 back in the day and I’ve loved the series ever since. One thing that really makes this particular installment important to me is that almost every character is named after someone from the old Agetec forum’s King’s Field board.That place is long dead now, but going back and “seeing everyone” again always makes me happy. Feel free to stab me in the face some time. I’m Paul Hutchison, the long haired guy with the fish problem.
One thing I always noticed was the atmosphere. The “feel” of fromsoft/fromsoftwares games is so well defined and understood within the company, years later I played demons souls. I had no idea they were made by the same company, but immediately I was only reminded of kings field. From the dark and oppressive atmosphere, the distraught and depressed npcs in a world that had all but abandoned them, their games just ooze their creative visions. I really respect that.
Lol the first instant kill trap in this game got me like 5 times in a row. I was already starting to think my PS2 disc was damaged, bugged or something. The game would always result in death after my first steps. When I realized what was going on, I definitely knew what kind of experience this was going to be.
I quit the game when i kept dying to that. They i read somewhere it was a trap and then i really started using my eyes. Then i finally played and beat the game. Tough game. No hand holding. Lot of trial and error and the occasional specific online search to get past certain things. Its a game i loved and a shame i can’t play it again without getting a working PS2.
This is one of those few games that truly made me feel like I was going on an adventure into an all but forgotten land. I felt immersed in the entire experience, and there wasn't really any point where I felt the game was unfair. It's a shame that this is overshadowed by later games made by FromSoft, it's truly a remarkable little game.
I am playing this game now and man... I never thought slow combat could be so exciting. It's almost hypnotic. The exploration and sense of loss is PALPABLE. I love it. Thanks for introducing it to me, Aesir!
I was looking through your King's Field videos just a few days back wondering when you might upload King's Field 4. Looking forward to watching this. You made me start playing these games for the first time. I never owned the original PlayStation growing up and I completely missed out on these games when I had my PS2.
Ever since King's Field 1, I've been waiting for the KF4 analysis and did it not disappoint. Never noticed the concept of "flow" before but I definitely recognize it now in a lot of FS games. Such a fascinating concept
Dude your videos have shown me that FromSoftware has always been FromSoftware. I thought Miyazaki changed the game (and he certainly has), but yeah he didn’t start from scratch at all. He just took it to the next level. Best developer of all IMO.
Man, I played this game last year on original hardware, whilst being ill. The atmosphere is handled really, really well in this game, and it has truly stolen my heart.
I beat this game after streaming it every day for a week. I'm amazed at how much I was able to do and complete without a walkthrough. I found every wand, stone, and key, a full cursed armor set, and all but one magic crystal. That one in the 3 giant spiders room eluded me, still mad at that one
I'd argue the upgrade system is worthwhile because it allows you to keep using favorite weapons even after they're outclassed by what you find later. Keep using your faves and they'll get stronger, sometimes quite a bit stronger (even your fists level up).
I'm upset that, while everyone, back then in 2000 to 2006, were busy with cinematics, graphics, story telling and Final Fantasy... From Softwares RPG line-up - Eternal Ring, King's Field and Shadow Tower Abyss - flew by everyone's radar. I'm suprised that, to this day, that those PS2 games never cought on here in the west.
Yes, this is one of my all time favorites, has more atmosphere than most of the horror games ever, felt really lost at times. And the music is awesome...
I played King's Field on PS1 as a kid. Of course I never finished it, but it was one of my favorite games. I later played Dark Souls and kept getting this feeling that it was a lot like that Kings Field game I used to play. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were from the same developer. I think more Dark Souls fans, especially those interested in the lore, will benefit from knowing about the King's Field games. So thanks for making these videos!
Just beat this yesterday (my first King's Field game) and immediately went to watch this essay. Didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as I did, one of the best gaming experiences of my life.
I really enjoy your reviews on this series, since it feels like the world has forgotten about King's Field. I played through KF 3 in my childhood and recently played the rest of the games in the series, starting with 4 and finishing with 1 and 2. Surprisingly, I disliked 4 the most and although I was burnt out at the end, I thought 2 was the best. To me, 2's world/level design was the best in the series and I had the most fun exploring each section. On the flip side, the main story in 4 was super spooky and interesting, but it just fell flat because my actual goal wasn't clear. This is probably spurred on due to the early gameplay before heading underground. I wasn't "lost", but I felt like I had no idea where I was going or what the point was to anything I was doing, and this persisted until I unlocked the shortcut between the first two floors of the tower. The world was pretty cool and I really enjoyed talking to the soldier NPCs, consequently I found that learning about what happened to the expedition was much more interesting than my own quest. I also never understood why the other icons all needed to be returned. I was wondering who removed them and why, and if they didn't block game progression would it have still been a requirement to push back the darkness? It felt to me as just a way for the developers to create arbitrary self-contained levels. Then, funnily enough, I got so used to this that when I reached the end of the game I was stuck for a lot longer than I want to admit looking for the Icon of Darkness. Once I finally realized that I had it all along, it really hit home how the overarching story provided me no motivation, it was the king's field-style gameplay and its inherent curiosity that was the only thing keeping me playing the game. The premise of 4 gave it such a good atmosphere, but I just really wish that they expanded a bit on why your character was given the idol and maybe said something like the robed man that gave it to you was the same person that gave it to the king. Something to invest you into the story more, while still keeping it mysterious.
Great video, already expecting the ones about Shadow Tower. I'm actually playing the English patched PS2 game, and gotta say, it's the only one that feels "modern". Actual dual analog first person controls makes a world of difference, and it's faster too. A trap killed me in under 10 seconds after starting the game so it still is a From Software game I guess
I've been looking forward to this all week!! Cant wait for your Shadow Tower videos. Its awesome to see someone shining a positive light on these older From Software titles and doing an in depth analysis on them.
I've been a fan of the King's Field series since the first installment, and I wanna let you know, one year after you uploaded this video, that I gladly come back to your retrospective series from time to time. They're very well structured and researched, thoughtful, and always a blast to watch (as in "they-never-get-old blastfulness"). I'd just like to add that I highly appreciate your charismatic approach and the positive attitude you have in each analysis you make - without ever letting go of the professionalism when discussing the flaws of the games; in other words, you're constructively objective in your critiques, never playing the disrespectful, "angry gamer" part - a plagued plague which plagues a good portion of the youtubean videoramic platform's most famous void-ranting regurgitators. Thanks, Count Aesirula of Aestheticovania, for delivering us such high quality content, and please, never change - only for the better.
Great video. New to the channel but it seems legit. I love long form discussion/analysis videos and I’m a big FromSoftware fan. I hope these style of first person adventure/dungeon crawler games get a revival of sorts, as the souls-borne formula has been worn a bit thin. Cheers, pumped to go through the rest of your videos.
I'd never learned anything about Kings Field until your videos, and I was strangely excited for this given how little a stake I have in anything about them.
I subbed just cause u've covered these KF series. I just want to let you know that, if you ever read this. I'm obessed with KF, although I'm looking forward to shadow tower and the future of this channel
During these dark times there is nothing more relaxing than sitting down and watching a video of a world in a perpetually dark time. Thank you for covering this series in such a clear and thorough way!
Just finished binge watching all four of your King's Field videos and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis. Very well made. Great high quality video editing and insight to all the lore. Love your passion for this series!
I watched the videos you produced on the first two games, and was moved to want to experience King's Field for myself. and chose this game to play. I have since completed it, and pushed back the darkness, and truly enjoyed it, in spite of the control scheme and movement speed. Thanks for looking at the whole series, it's been entertaining and informative... and that's totally a Paranoid Android inspired piece of music in there.
This series has been my main push to play darksouls remastered. It’s one of those games that’s been around forever and I know that but even still I feel like I’m having a unique and personal experience even though I’m no where near the first to the party.
This is definitely the best King's Field, but I hope you get to Shadow Tower Abyss or Spriggan Lunar Verse for other FromSoftware games! Those two seriously blew me away.
you should keep an eye on a game called "monomyth", currently being developped by one guy. By the way, have you played Arx Fatalis ? A video about this one would be great too :)
i had always been curious about this game and what it was actually all about since i'd first learned it was actually going to be localized way back in the day, but i never got around to actually playing it. today, many years later, my curiosity has finally been sated, thank you so much
Stumbled across your channel recently and finally have made it to the end of the King’s Field series on your channel! I never got the chance to play KF 3 or 4 (only KF1 US) but I’ve admired the others through videos like these. Honestly with all this time passed, I’d love if one day FromSoft made a return to these games in a more direct form rather than the spiritual succession that Soulsborne offered. There was just something so enchanting and grim about these games despite its age. Just imagining the potential for a modern King’s Field that faithfully captures the atmosphere and gameplay of its predecessors, while still feeling intuitive and smooth would be incredible
Are you planning on covering Devil Spire and Lunacid, the two Kings Fields inspired indie games on steam? I would say you're the go to authority on KF series and I'd love to hear your thoughts
This comment is dedicated to the GameFAQs topic mentioning this video. I always play these games (At least 2,3,4) every few years...and recently decided to watch a Let's Play of those games as well, and man these games will always be so good. 3 will always be my favorite, but this is a VERY close second.
I just ran through Shadow Tower, Eternal Ring, and this game last year. I beat ST and ET and was so close to finishing this one but stopped playing for a month and came back to my save file and was so lost. I still have those files but I decided the game is so good and I have the original strategy guide so I don’t mind going through all the quests again.
Thanks for looking over this game. It's one of my favorite PS2 games and I replayed through the game. Definitely the best of all 4 games by far. Wish they'd make a new King's Field game, but hey, we got Dark Soul's.
Hey Aesir, I've noticed you talk about kids in Fromsoft games and how usually Fromsoft avoids putting them in games even though they get pretty far into the process of including them before they change their minds. I bring this up because I noticed the little girl at the shack near the mines can be attacked and killed! How they got away with that when Fallout had to be censored (and the Steam release is still censored to this day) to remove it, I will never know. I guess too many eyes were on them to let another like that slip after Demon's Souls
Thanks for the video, i live in japan now i moved from the USA last year SDiego Ca, to be exact, i have been here for one year now its such a wonderful society and environment, I am 10 minutes from Akihabara from our place in Shinjuku Wakaba . I had an urge to play KF - IV again found a copy at Bookoff Bazaar in Akiba for 900 jpy lol about $8.50 usa dollars its in perfect condition for my collection, im playing right now its such a magnificent flashback From my favorite game Dev "From Software" i really appreciate your Analysis here.. cheers watching now. peace ✌🏻
Man, you are absolutely killing it. Love how much effort you put into your videos. I just wish your sub count reflected that. Although, I don't think you getting several million subscribers is likely. But honestly, you deserve it. I recommend your channel to friends who like fromsoft, and I think a few subbed. Usually after going "wait, what's King's Field?"
Oh yeah. Nice. Curious to see how your video goes whenever you get to Lost Kingdoms--way underrated From game that really does bridge between King's Field and Demon Souls in some ways imo (especially in imagery and whatnot)
My experience with King's field 2, 3, and Shadow Tower is that the difficulty curve is more of a slope downward, not a half pipe. The beginning of the game is always the hardest. Everything is lethal, you have few tools, and no idea of where you're going or what to do. By about the halfway point, the game starts getting easier, with death no longer being a huge issue, and by the end of the game you're strutting through the dungeon throwing spells and magic sword slashes like crazy while chugging nigh-infinite potions or just regenerating HP/MP like a living demi-god. The concept of descending a tower as the main dungeon of the game is also ripped right from the first Shadow Tower game as well, and was revisited in Shadow Tower Abyss, which came out a couple of years after KF4. In Shadow Tower, you explore levels designed around a tall underground tower to eventually reach the bottom, being able to often go as far as to fall from higher levels in the main tower to lower ones to skip areas temporarily.
Your commentary on this game enhanced the lore in ways I never considered. I played KF3 and beat it probably 5 times as a kid. I never considered all the things you said, and the story surely has Biblical undertones in retrospect!
This is great. I want to make that clear from the outset. I really enjoy what you’ve done with the kings field series. You have more than earned my sub and I look forward to seeing more of your content. That being said, I feel like some of the commentary would be easier to digest in essay form. I’ve been reading B. Russell’s history of philosophy and I bought an audio book of it for a road trip. I was surprised to find that I couldn’t keep the pace. I would have to continually pause to collect my thoughts before it moved to the next sentence. A book I was enjoying in text form was clunky in audio format. This video reminds me a bit of that at times. I’m trying to write for a living myself so I have a lot of respect for the written word. If I was given a sci-if radio program in the 50’s, I probably would have just read my favorite stories on the air. If I did that, I would be failing to use the medium on its own terms and the program would suffer for it. I’m not saying you should dumb things down. You can say the same things in less obtuse language. I also want to make it clear that only certain portions of your videos feel this way. I’m sorry to be critical. In all honesty, I *never* leave criticisms. I only felt compelled to leave this for you because I really like the content and I want it to be better. I didn’t single you out for criticism because I found your content particularly bad. It was quite the opposite in fact. In truth though, I can only say what I think would be better for me. If this is exactly how you want to do it, then I offer my sincerest apologies. I’ll still tune in either way. I just may have to pause and collect my thoughts from time to time.
Awesome series man. I've been developing a 2D KF-Inspired game using GMS2 in my free time and have found this series to be very helpful. It also might be worth checking out the Sword of Moonlight Editor & the fan-made games made with it, janky as that engine is.
I've really enjoyed your series of King's Field videos. Looking forward to when you tackle the Shadow Tower games, as they don't get nearly enough love and I think they do some really interesting things that I wish would make their way into modern From Software games.
Been waiting on this video! I stand in saying The Ancient City is one of the most under rated PS2 games of all time and the Composer deserves so much more praise than he ever got. I did a did some googling on him and found out he also worked on Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3. But in the Ancient City, his tracks were both calming and engaging. Any time I hear the title theme, or my personal favorite Mansion of the Howling Winds I'm taken back to my first playthrough. So far I've only played KF3, KF4, and Shadow Tower. KF4 was my favorite undoubtedly, but Shadow Tower being very different had a challenge and difficulty that kept me coming back to finish the game. Idk what it was about KF3, but the game was too easy and bored me when compared to 4. I plan on going back to KF3 sometime to give it a better analysis and playthrough. Congrats on finishing the series, can't wait to hear your thoughts on Shadow Tower! Hopefully you can get your hands on the 2nd entry on PS2!
As a long time lover of King's Field, especially 2 and 4/Ancient City, I disagree with some of what you say in this video. However you put together a great video with real insights and thoughts on this series, and I think you are mostly on the money. There is an interview I read with the creators that they basically said they saw this game as a reimaginning of the series and a fresh take not meant to be treated as a sequel or even be connected to the originals. On one hand this is why a lot of King's Field fans disregard it because it isn't tied to the story of the two dragons/the Foresters. At the same time this is why it also is more free and able to become something new and more improved. You are also straight up right, this is the best game of the series.
Lol! Im currently playing the game, I found your Channel recently and decided to give the game a try, since i own an original copy for PS2 I never played. I just defeted the demon boss with instant transmission on the lava/ice cave. Im progressing fairly quick but I think the vídeo Will need to wait! Leavin a like non the less.
I might not catch every video you release but I just want to say keep up the great work. I always thought that the only way to make it with these analysis videos is to either have a British accent so you sound smart, or have a lot insight and unique things to offer and thankfully you have the latter in abundance.
Still shocks me to see such a small amount of subscribers. I assume it's only a matter of time until this channel becomes insanely flooded with millions. Until then, great job and let's keep pushing for this excellent job to be shared.
I just started playing this. I'm in the area with the mp fountain. I tried to play this multiple times because I didn't like the controls. The controls are fine. Don't try to move around like your walking. Think car. You're literally driving. I'm all in and I think this might be my favorite From Soft game. I'm having such a good time with it right now I'm sad to think this is the last one they made. This might be my favorite game of all time. Definitely my favorite RPG.
After watching your videos I realised that From Software has been doing the same dark fantasy game since they started making games, over and over again hahaha A lot of themes that you can find in the King's Field Saga are present in Soulsborne games, specially the ones defined in KF4, from the graphics, to the atmospheric environments and the storytelling. Great Videos! :)
It's been a while since i've played this. I let my brother borrow it and he lost it. Now it's quite expensive... I would agree with just about everything. This game starts out somewhat unassuming, but those who get past the beginning will find out that this game only gets better the further you go. While I agree that that durability and weapons degradation were relatively minor, I wouldn't want it any other way. I find that some games that have weapons degrade too quickly become more or a chore to play and in my opinion, it takes away from the exploration and story. I also believe that the weapons that you find it one of the things that makes King's Field so great. It really rewards the players for their exploration and makes it worth exploring every nook and cranny for secrets. On games where the weapons degrade too quickly, it makes them feel cheap and disposable. But on Kings Field, it really feels good to find new ones and you don't have to reset the game frequently because they accidentally break.
This was a great series as someone who's been in love with From since the hay days. Do you plan on covering other games from them, like Kuon and Evergrace ? Thanks again for the love and care you put into these videos.
Those games played all those years ago still stick with me. I can still recall the feeling of lonliness and dread. Even with the enemies in the dungeons it still felt like the worst type of solitude.
I love these videos and the Bloodborne commentary can't come out soon enough. I'll certaintly play King's Field 4. Years ago I wanted to play the first one (and the first Armored Core), but I couldn't stand the controls, especially since to my knowledge you can't use the right analog to look up and down since on ePSXe for some reason you can only map the X and Y axes, but not the positive and negative attributes of the axes, unless I'm missing something.
I don't mind the high durability of the equipment in this game (and in Demon's Souls & successors). I *hated* the low equipment durability in Shadow Tower, honestly. It was very off-putting for me.
I played KF4 on PS2 2005 but didnt get hooked. However after that something kept calling me to play it again and finish it. I managed to play and finish the game on an emulator 2 yrs back. And i still love it. I miss the atmosphere and background music from time to time and I wish to see a remake on PS5 from *From software".
I've really enjoyed watching this Kingsfield retrospective, but this game is the first one where I thought "Man, I wish they would remake this, this looks and sounds really interesting"
Ngl, I was hoping you addressed the music. To me, there's no FromSoft OST better than KFIV's. The tracks are just... Perfect overall. I find they nicely complement the exploration experience whilst adding to the dread and dreary feeling of the world. That said, I wanna congratulate you on this video. The game is truly amazing but your incredible writting and insight just took it to a whole new level. Thank you for this, after a shit week all I needed was a glass of whisky and a good video on one of my all-time favourite games. Also, would you consider covering Vagrant Story? I love that game and I think it would be a good fit to your channel. Cheers from Portugal, man. You got yerself a new sub. Also also, thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
This comment is dedicated to the TH-cam algorithm
Lol
Algorithm you are awful but this video was good
Algorithms
A horror movie
Nice
Fool I chose this
Between the darker tone, collecting magic rings, weapon durability, verticality, unlocking shortcuts, and the motif of flowing water vs stagnation/Kegare, you can _definitely_ see the seeds of the Souls franchise planted here. It's uncanny.
Souls Fans:
🤳🧠🤳
Souls fans that know about Kegare:💪🧠💪
Thanks for going on the King's Field journey.
Thanks for being the guide.
And thank you for covering this series.
@@TheAdarkerglow aw
It'd be nice to see a Kingsfield remake or for Elden Ring to be a sorta spiritual successor to it or something
I really enjoyed and appreciate your work!
Wow, all 4 King's Field games completed, what a madman. Best source of early Fromsoft games on youtube.
And getting better as we continue (Shadow Towers, Echo Nights, Eternal Ring, etc).
@@AesirAesthetics Evergrace too?
@@jollytom09 potentially, I haven't really looked into it but every FromSoft game is very much on the menu.
Yeah, I enjoyed Evergrace too. There's just something about those From Software games...
I know you see this type of comment a million times across TH-cam, but I truly do believe this is one of the most under-subbed channels out there. Such quality analysis every time
I absolutely love seeing the King’s Field series finally getting the respect it deserves. Mark Johnson from Agetec “bullied” me into playing KF2 back in the day and I’ve loved the series ever since.
One thing that really makes this particular installment important to me is that almost every character is named after someone from the old Agetec forum’s King’s Field board.That place is long dead now, but going back and “seeing everyone” again always makes me happy.
Feel free to stab me in the face some time. I’m Paul Hutchison, the long haired guy with the fish problem.
Genuinely wholesome comment
Glad to know people at AgeTec enjoyed localising the games
All hail the algorithm and it’s infinite wisdom.
Hail!
Hail!
Love this series man. you're like the only person looking at these games and actually talking about them and thank you for that.
th-cam.com/channels/qTGanCJnEXdBsSG-UT3QgQ.html might i suggest this channel for further kings field commentary?
One thing I always noticed was the atmosphere.
The “feel” of fromsoft/fromsoftwares games is so well defined and understood within the company, years later I played demons souls.
I had no idea they were made by the same company, but immediately I was only reminded of kings field.
From the dark and oppressive atmosphere, the distraught and depressed npcs in a world that had all but abandoned them, their games just ooze their creative visions.
I really respect that.
Lol the first instant kill trap in this game got me like 5 times in a row. I was already starting to think my PS2 disc was damaged, bugged or something. The game would always result in death after my first steps. When I realized what was going on, I definitely knew what kind of experience this was going to be.
I quit the game when i kept dying to that. They i read somewhere it was a trap and then i really started using my eyes. Then i finally played and beat the game. Tough game. No hand holding. Lot of trial and error and the occasional specific online search to get past certain things. Its a game i loved and a shame i can’t play it again without getting a working PS2.
Aztec0523 use an emulator
@@multidimensionalphysicist We don't do that around here.
@@13Gangland Why not?
@@deepspacedive3345
Cause they're idiots lol
This is one of those few games that truly made me feel like I was going on an adventure into an all but forgotten land. I felt immersed in the entire experience, and there wasn't really any point where I felt the game was unfair.
It's a shame that this is overshadowed by later games made by FromSoft, it's truly a remarkable little game.
Aren't you the Hooper fan i sometimes see on his streams?
@@enriquesanchez9016 I have no idea who Hooper is.
@@Charles-e4x Ok, i made a mistake then. Sorry.
@@enriquesanchez9016 No problem.
I would like some remaster/remake of those games to let new people experience them
"grab yourself a cup of coffee and strap in" gives me a cozy feeling 😊
I fucking loved this game. The OST was legendary and it was nice to witness how Fromsoftware were known for their interconnected world building.
Both my ringtone and notification sound on my phone are from this OST. Soooo good
I am playing this game now and man... I never thought slow combat could be so exciting. It's almost hypnotic. The exploration and sense of loss is PALPABLE. I love it. Thanks for introducing it to me, Aesir!
Glad you enjoy it!
I was looking through your King's Field videos just a few days back wondering when you might upload King's Field 4. Looking forward to watching this. You made me start playing these games for the first time. I never owned the original PlayStation growing up and I completely missed out on these games when I had my PS2.
would really love to see an eternal ring review, I had a copy as a kid that didn't work after the first village lol
Thank you for making us kings field fans feel less lonely. My friends poke fun at me for enjoying this series so much.
Ever since King's Field 1, I've been waiting for the KF4 analysis and did it not disappoint. Never noticed the concept of "flow" before but I definitely recognize it now in a lot of FS games. Such a fascinating concept
Lokey and Richard Pilbeam pointed it out to me, check out their stuff if you wanna read up on it some more.
play Hotline Miami, it's totally made to get into this flow state
Dude your videos have shown me that FromSoftware has always been FromSoftware. I thought Miyazaki changed the game (and he certainly has), but yeah he didn’t start from scratch at all. He just took it to the next level. Best developer of all IMO.
Man, I played this game last year on original hardware, whilst being ill. The atmosphere is handled really, really well in this game, and it has truly stolen my heart.
I beat this game after streaming it every day for a week. I'm amazed at how much I was able to do and complete without a walkthrough. I found every wand, stone, and key, a full cursed armor set, and all but one magic crystal. That one in the 3 giant spiders room eluded me, still mad at that one
I'd argue the upgrade system is worthwhile because it allows you to keep using favorite weapons even after they're outclassed by what you find later. Keep using your faves and they'll get stronger, sometimes quite a bit stronger (even your fists level up).
I'm upset that, while everyone, back then in 2000 to 2006, were busy with cinematics, graphics, story telling and Final Fantasy... From Softwares RPG line-up - Eternal Ring, King's Field and Shadow Tower Abyss - flew by everyone's radar.
I'm suprised that, to this day, that those PS2 games never cought on here in the west.
Making them ps2 exclusives was a mistake.
i had eternal ring but never beat it
@Django Fett: i like those games too but different people have different tastes
@Django Fett Get a load of this weeb. (I know this is probably just a joke)
Yes, this is one of my all time favorites, has more atmosphere than most of the horror games ever, felt really lost at times. And the music is awesome...
This channel and the essays and espresso podcast provide the most refreshing and thoughtful content on this platform. Thank you.
I come back to your old videos so often, i love these
I played King's Field on PS1 as a kid. Of course I never finished it, but it was one of my favorite games. I later played Dark Souls and kept getting this feeling that it was a lot like that Kings Field game I used to play. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were from the same developer.
I think more Dark Souls fans, especially those interested in the lore, will benefit from knowing about the King's Field games.
So thanks for making these videos!
More quality content 👍
Let likes be granted so the platform might be mended.
I love this so much no one talks about kings field. Im gonna play this game this weekend!
Giving a comment for this long awaited vid, as well as to make the channel's e-sex appeal grow
I’ve been wanting to play this one specifically, I dig these kind of dungeon crawlers they’re usually atmospheric
Just beat this yesterday (my first King's Field game) and immediately went to watch this essay. Didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as I did, one of the best gaming experiences of my life.
I love this game's OST so much. It's in my top ten and I listen to it least once or bimonthly.
I really enjoy your reviews on this series, since it feels like the world has forgotten about King's Field. I played through KF 3 in my childhood and recently played the rest of the games in the series, starting with 4 and finishing with 1 and 2. Surprisingly, I disliked 4 the most and although I was burnt out at the end, I thought 2 was the best. To me, 2's world/level design was the best in the series and I had the most fun exploring each section. On the flip side, the main story in 4 was super spooky and interesting, but it just fell flat because my actual goal wasn't clear. This is probably spurred on due to the early gameplay before heading underground. I wasn't "lost", but I felt like I had no idea where I was going or what the point was to anything I was doing, and this persisted until I unlocked the shortcut between the first two floors of the tower. The world was pretty cool and I really enjoyed talking to the soldier NPCs, consequently I found that learning about what happened to the expedition was much more interesting than my own quest. I also never understood why the other icons all needed to be returned. I was wondering who removed them and why, and if they didn't block game progression would it have still been a requirement to push back the darkness? It felt to me as just a way for the developers to create arbitrary self-contained levels. Then, funnily enough, I got so used to this that when I reached the end of the game I was stuck for a lot longer than I want to admit looking for the Icon of Darkness. Once I finally realized that I had it all along, it really hit home how the overarching story provided me no motivation, it was the king's field-style gameplay and its inherent curiosity that was the only thing keeping me playing the game. The premise of 4 gave it such a good atmosphere, but I just really wish that they expanded a bit on why your character was given the idol and maybe said something like the robed man that gave it to you was the same person that gave it to the king. Something to invest you into the story more, while still keeping it mysterious.
Great video, already expecting the ones about Shadow Tower. I'm actually playing the English patched PS2 game, and gotta say, it's the only one that feels "modern". Actual dual analog first person controls makes a world of difference, and it's faster too. A trap killed me in under 10 seconds after starting the game so it still is a From Software game I guess
I've been looking forward to this all week!! Cant wait for your Shadow Tower videos. Its awesome to see someone shining a positive light on these older From Software titles and doing an in depth analysis on them.
I've been a fan of the King's Field series since the first installment, and I wanna let you know, one year after you uploaded this video, that I gladly come back to your retrospective series from time to time. They're very well structured and researched, thoughtful, and always a blast to watch (as in "they-never-get-old blastfulness"). I'd just like to add that I highly appreciate your charismatic approach and the positive attitude you have in each analysis you make - without ever letting go of the professionalism when discussing the flaws of the games; in other words, you're constructively objective in your critiques, never playing the disrespectful, "angry gamer" part - a plagued plague which plagues a good portion of the youtubean videoramic platform's most famous void-ranting regurgitators. Thanks, Count Aesirula of Aestheticovania, for delivering us such high quality content, and please, never change - only for the better.
Great video. New to the channel but it seems legit. I love long form discussion/analysis videos and I’m a big FromSoftware fan. I hope these style of first person adventure/dungeon crawler games get a revival of sorts, as the souls-borne formula has been worn a bit thin. Cheers, pumped to go through the rest of your videos.
Welcome aboard!
I'd never learned anything about Kings Field until your videos, and I was strangely excited for this given how little a stake I have in anything about them.
Kings Filed IV is one of my favorite games of all time.
A fantastic play-through.
I subbed just cause u've covered these KF series. I just want to let you know that, if you ever read this. I'm obessed with KF, although I'm looking forward to shadow tower and the future of this channel
During these dark times there is nothing more relaxing than sitting down and watching a video of a world in a perpetually dark time. Thank you for covering this series in such a clear and thorough way!
glad to hear you liked it!
Just finished binge watching all four of your King's Field videos and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis. Very well made. Great high quality video editing and insight to all the lore. Love your passion for this series!
I watched the videos you produced on the first two games, and was moved to want to experience King's Field for myself. and chose this game to play. I have since completed it, and pushed back the darkness, and truly enjoyed it, in spite of the control scheme and movement speed. Thanks for looking at the whole series, it's been entertaining and informative... and that's totally a Paranoid Android inspired piece of music in there.
This franchise needs to return. The Ancient City is in my top 5 of all time for sure
This series has been my main push to play darksouls remastered. It’s one of those games that’s been around forever and I know that but even still I feel like I’m having a unique and personal experience even though I’m no where near the first to the party.
This is definitely the best King's Field, but I hope you get to Shadow Tower Abyss or Spriggan Lunar Verse for other FromSoftware games! Those two seriously blew me away.
you should keep an eye on a game called "monomyth", currently being developped by one guy. By the way, have you played Arx Fatalis ? A video about this one would be great too :)
Just checked it out and WOW! Monomyth is like a modern King's Field!
i had always been curious about this game and what it was actually all about since i'd first learned it was actually going to be localized way back in the day, but i never got around to actually playing it. today, many years later, my curiosity has finally been sated, thank you so much
This has been my go-to game when I wanna chill and relax, something I miss fondly about the older souls games.
You actually conviced me to play this series and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Great video!
Stumbled across your channel recently and finally have made it to the end of the King’s Field series on your channel! I never got the chance to play KF 3 or 4 (only KF1 US) but I’ve admired the others through videos like these.
Honestly with all this time passed, I’d love if one day FromSoft made a return to these games in a more direct form rather than the spiritual succession that Soulsborne offered. There was just something so enchanting and grim about these games despite its age. Just imagining the potential for a modern King’s Field that faithfully captures the atmosphere and gameplay of its predecessors, while still feeling intuitive and smooth would be incredible
Are you planning on covering Devil Spire and Lunacid, the two Kings Fields inspired indie games on steam? I would say you're the go to authority on KF series and I'd love to hear your thoughts
I bought a patreon subscription to see this early. Now I have to try the TH-cam experience.
Excellent documentary with fantastically-written and wonderfully-presented narration.
Really hope you get to the Shadow Tower games soon! Such a cool way to level up that series has, I've never seen it in any other RPG.
That's the plan!
This comment is dedicated to the GameFAQs topic mentioning this video. I always play these games (At least 2,3,4) every few years...and recently decided to watch a Let's Play of those games as well, and man these games will always be so good. 3 will always be my favorite, but this is a VERY close second.
I just ran through Shadow Tower, Eternal Ring, and this game last year. I beat ST and ET and was so close to finishing this one but stopped playing for a month and came back to my save file and was so lost. I still have those files but I decided the game is so good and I have the original strategy guide so I don’t mind going through all the quests again.
Variable_Why is the true mvp. I read his comments and they were insightful
Thanks for looking over this game. It's one of my favorite PS2 games and I replayed through the game. Definitely the best of all 4 games by far. Wish they'd make a new King's Field game, but hey, we got Dark Soul's.
Hey Aesir, I've noticed you talk about kids in Fromsoft games and how usually Fromsoft avoids putting them in games even though they get pretty far into the process of including them before they change their minds. I bring this up because I noticed the little girl at the shack near the mines can be attacked and killed! How they got away with that when Fallout had to be censored (and the Steam release is still censored to this day) to remove it, I will never know. I guess too many eyes were on them to let another like that slip after Demon's Souls
Glad to see you go through this whole series, grew up with it and was sad to see it go away. Great job! 🤘🤘
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the video, i live in japan now i moved from the USA last year SDiego Ca, to be exact, i have been here for one year now its such a wonderful society and environment, I am 10 minutes from Akihabara from our place in Shinjuku Wakaba . I had an urge to play KF - IV again found a copy at Bookoff Bazaar in Akiba for 900 jpy lol about $8.50 usa dollars its in perfect condition for my collection, im playing right now its such a magnificent flashback From my favorite game Dev
"From Software" i really appreciate your Analysis here.. cheers watching now. peace ✌🏻
Outstanding analysis of a series i unfortunately did not know about. Keep up the great work 👍
Excellent coverage of this fantastic series. Really enjoyed all of your videos on it
Glad to hear it!
If you're interested, we'll be going through the Shadow Towers soon.
Great video as always! I love your content, keep it up!
Salute from the TH-cam Algorithm, you finally did your job right!
Man, you are absolutely killing it. Love how much effort you put into your videos. I just wish your sub count reflected that.
Although, I don't think you getting several million subscribers is likely. But honestly, you deserve it. I recommend your channel to friends who like fromsoft, and I think a few subbed. Usually after going "wait, what's King's Field?"
Oh yeah. Nice. Curious to see how your video goes whenever you get to Lost Kingdoms--way underrated From game that really does bridge between King's Field and Demon Souls in some ways imo (especially in imagery and whatnot)
My experience with King's field 2, 3, and Shadow Tower is that the difficulty curve is more of a slope downward, not a half pipe. The beginning of the game is always the hardest. Everything is lethal, you have few tools, and no idea of where you're going or what to do.
By about the halfway point, the game starts getting easier, with death no longer being a huge issue, and by the end of the game you're strutting through the dungeon throwing spells and magic sword slashes like crazy while chugging nigh-infinite potions or just regenerating HP/MP like a living demi-god.
The concept of descending a tower as the main dungeon of the game is also ripped right from the first Shadow Tower game as well, and was revisited in Shadow Tower Abyss, which came out a couple of years after KF4. In Shadow Tower, you explore levels designed around a tall underground tower to eventually reach the bottom, being able to often go as far as to fall from higher levels in the main tower to lower ones to skip areas temporarily.
Your commentary on this game enhanced the lore in ways I never considered. I played KF3 and beat it probably 5 times as a kid. I never considered all the things you said, and the story surely has Biblical undertones in retrospect!
This is great. I want to make that clear from the outset. I really enjoy what you’ve done with the kings field series. You have more than earned my sub and I look forward to seeing more of your content.
That being said, I feel like some of the commentary would be easier to digest in essay form. I’ve been reading B. Russell’s history of philosophy and I bought an audio book of it for a road trip. I was surprised to find that I couldn’t keep the pace. I would have to continually pause to collect my thoughts before it moved to the next sentence. A book I was enjoying in text form was clunky in audio format.
This video reminds me a bit of that at times. I’m trying to write for a living myself so I have a lot of respect for the written word. If I was given a sci-if radio program in the 50’s, I probably would have just read my favorite stories on the air. If I did that, I would be failing to use the medium on its own terms and the program would suffer for it.
I’m not saying you should dumb things down. You can say the same things in less obtuse language. I also want to make it clear that only certain portions of your videos feel this way.
I’m sorry to be critical. In all honesty, I *never* leave criticisms. I only felt compelled to leave this for you because I really like the content and I want it to be better. I didn’t single you out for criticism because I found your content particularly bad. It was quite the opposite in fact.
In truth though, I can only say what I think would be better for me. If this is exactly how you want to do it, then I offer my sincerest apologies. I’ll still tune in either way. I just may have to pause and collect my thoughts from time to time.
Hell yes ! This video was really good. King's Field IV is amazing . It's very easy to dl with an emulator, it's free, everyone should play the game.
Looking forward to Evergrace and Eternal Ring thoughts after Shadow Tower!
Awesome series man. I've been developing a 2D KF-Inspired game using GMS2 in my free time and have found this series to be very helpful. It also might be worth checking out the Sword of Moonlight Editor & the fan-made games made with it, janky as that engine is.
Very few times has one TH-cam video alone sold me on a game, but I think this is one of those times
I've really enjoyed your series of King's Field videos. Looking forward to when you tackle the Shadow Tower games, as they don't get nearly enough love and I think they do some really interesting things that I wish would make their way into modern From Software games.
Thanks for the series. I will play shadow tower next and check out the videos after
Been waiting on this video! I stand in saying The Ancient City is one of the most under rated PS2 games of all time and the Composer deserves so much more praise than he ever got. I did a did some googling on him and found out he also worked on Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3. But in the Ancient City, his tracks were both calming and engaging. Any time I hear the title theme, or my personal favorite Mansion of the Howling Winds I'm taken back to my first playthrough.
So far I've only played KF3, KF4, and Shadow Tower. KF4 was my favorite undoubtedly, but Shadow Tower being very different had a challenge and difficulty that kept me coming back to finish the game. Idk what it was about KF3, but the game was too easy and bored me when compared to 4. I plan on going back to KF3 sometime to give it a better analysis and playthrough.
Congrats on finishing the series, can't wait to hear your thoughts on Shadow Tower! Hopefully you can get your hands on the 2nd entry on PS2!
When I picked up Playstation as a kid, King's Field was one of the first games I played. I absolutely loved it.
It's very magical!
As a long time lover of King's Field, especially 2 and 4/Ancient City, I disagree with some of what you say in this video. However you put together a great video with real insights and thoughts on this series, and I think you are mostly on the money. There is an interview I read with the creators that they basically said they saw this game as a reimaginning of the series and a fresh take not meant to be treated as a sequel or even be connected to the originals. On one hand this is why a lot of King's Field fans disregard it because it isn't tied to the story of the two dragons/the Foresters. At the same time this is why it also is more free and able to become something new and more improved. You are also straight up right, this is the best game of the series.
Lol! Im currently playing the game, I found your Channel recently and decided to give the game a try, since i own an original copy for PS2 I never played. I just defeted the demon boss with instant transmission on the lava/ice cave. Im progressing fairly quick but I think the vídeo Will need to wait! Leavin a like non the less.
I'm also a fan of not spoiling games for yourself.
Hope to see you when you've finished the game!
@@AesirAesthetics for sure man!
I might not catch every video you release but I just want to say keep up the great work. I always thought that the only way to make it with these analysis videos is to either have a British accent so you sound smart, or have a lot insight and unique things to offer and thankfully you have the latter in abundance.
I appreciate that governor, god save the queen.💂♂️⚽💷
AesirAesthetics haha! Well turns out, that seemingly you can clearly have both insight and a British accent..
finally! this is the one I've been waiting for
Still shocks me to see such a small amount of subscribers. I assume it's only a matter of time until this channel becomes insanely flooded with millions.
Until then, great job and let's keep pushing for this excellent job to be shared.
This video ended up convincing me to find this game and try it. Thanks for that.
Enjoy!
Whooa I'm so glad this popped up in my reccomended. This is one of my a favorite games of all time.
I don't like living in a world where you only have 22k and ppl like shane dawson and h3h3 have millions😭great work on the channel man
I just started playing this. I'm in the area with the mp fountain. I tried to play this multiple times because I didn't like the controls. The controls are fine. Don't try to move around like your walking. Think car. You're literally driving. I'm all in and I think this might be my favorite From Soft game. I'm having such a good time with it right now I'm sad to think this is the last one they made.
This might be my favorite game of all time. Definitely my favorite RPG.
After watching your videos I realised that From Software has been doing the same dark fantasy game since they started making games, over and over again hahaha A lot of themes that you can find in the King's Field Saga are present in Soulsborne games, specially the ones defined in KF4, from the graphics, to the atmospheric environments and the storytelling. Great Videos! :)
It's been a while since i've played this. I let my brother borrow it and he lost it. Now it's quite expensive... I would agree with just about everything. This game starts out somewhat unassuming, but those who get past the beginning will find out that this game only gets better the further you go. While I agree that that durability and weapons degradation were relatively minor, I wouldn't want it any other way. I find that some games that have weapons degrade too quickly become more or a chore to play and in my opinion, it takes away from the exploration and story. I also believe that the weapons that you find it one of the things that makes King's Field so great. It really rewards the players for their exploration and makes it worth exploring every nook and cranny for secrets. On games where the weapons degrade too quickly, it makes them feel cheap and disposable. But on Kings Field, it really feels good to find new ones and you don't have to reset the game frequently because they accidentally break.
This was a great series as someone who's been in love with From since the hay days. Do you plan on covering other games from them, like Kuon and Evergrace ? Thanks again for the love and care you put into these videos.
That's the plan!
@@AesirAesthetics Fuck yes. Evergrace.
Those games played all those years ago still stick with me. I can still recall the feeling of lonliness and dread. Even with the enemies in the dungeons it still felt like the worst type of solitude.
I love these videos and the Bloodborne commentary can't come out soon enough. I'll certaintly play King's Field 4.
Years ago I wanted to play the first one (and the first Armored Core), but I couldn't stand the controls, especially since to my knowledge you can't use the right analog to look up and down since on ePSXe for some reason you can only map the X and Y axes, but not the positive and negative attributes of the axes, unless I'm missing something.
I don't mind the high durability of the equipment in this game (and in Demon's Souls & successors). I *hated* the low equipment durability in Shadow Tower, honestly. It was very off-putting for me.
I like your channel. I didn't even know who fromsoft was til I played elden ring now I'm obsessed with their games.
I played KF4 on PS2 2005 but didnt get hooked. However after that something kept calling me to play it again and finish it. I managed to play and finish the game on an emulator 2 yrs back. And i still love it. I miss the atmosphere and background music from time to time and I wish to see a remake on PS5 from *From software".
I'm late to watching all these but I just watched all 4 of these kings field videos in a row lol
This is a great way to start the weekend, thanks Aesir!
Enjoy!
I've really enjoyed watching this Kingsfield retrospective, but this game is the first one where I thought "Man, I wish they would remake this, this looks and sounds really interesting"
Ngl, I was hoping you addressed the music. To me, there's no FromSoft OST better than KFIV's. The tracks are just... Perfect overall. I find they nicely complement the exploration experience whilst adding to the dread and dreary feeling of the world.
That said, I wanna congratulate you on this video. The game is truly amazing but your incredible writting and insight just took it to a whole new level. Thank you for this, after a shit week all I needed was a glass of whisky and a good video on one of my all-time favourite games.
Also, would you consider covering Vagrant Story? I love that game and I think it would be a good fit to your channel.
Cheers from Portugal, man. You got yerself a new sub.
Also also, thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.