Okay so I was looking for reviews for King's Field III, and I came across a really great article on Destructiod about the series. (Although the article is mostly about King's Field IV.) What I love about this particular article and its comments, is that there's so much quotable material from various people exhalting the games. I thought it would be good for me to bring those quotes here for you folks. So that you can see that indeed, I am not the only gamer on the internet who loves King's Field.
Here's the article itself: http://www.destructoid.com/the-forgotte ... 0217.phtml
Quotes from the main article:
The first thing I did was step on an unstable patch of ground and drown in lava. But I didn't let the game's somewhat unfair design stand in my way. I slowly but surely made my way into the titular ancient city and had one of the best, most personal experiences I've ever had with a videogame.
They're really tough, lengthy dungeon crawlers that require a lot of wandering and maneuvering around enemies as you chop, chop, chop, chop, chop away at them.
I loved the haunting melodies, the sound of armored feet patting the ground, the disgusting squelching of slime monsters in the distance and the shattering of skeletons beneath a spiked mace.
The one thing that the King's Field series really has going for it is its atmosphere. It's got atmosphere coming out the wazoo. King's Field provides just the right kind of horror for me. Not the kind that makes your heart stop around every bend, but the kind that makes you progressively feel less and less at ease.
You're just a guy in a bad place who might have a chance of making it out alive, but only because of the stuff he finds along the way.
In the case of King's Field, the moody atmosphere and unintentional scares had a hand in making me believe that I was a part of what was going on.
Chances are that if you've never played these games before, you will read this, try one of them, and come back here cursing my name for ever letting me talk you into it. King's Field games are not for everyone. They're hardly even for the people who like this sort of thing. But if you do happen to feel the same things that I feel about any one of these games, you can join me in thanking them for the time spent with them.
Thank them for their somewhat bland settings, because they made you feel trapped in a dark, unwelcoming place with no way out in sight. Thank them for their bizarre monsters, even if many were uninspired, because they gave you something to do so that you could keep going through the labyrinths. Thank them for their difficulty, because they kept you on your toes the entire way through. Most of all, thank them for the easy gateway they create between the game and the player.
They're really tough, lengthy dungeon crawlers that require a lot of wandering and maneuvering around enemies as you chop, chop, chop, chop, chop away at them.
I loved the haunting melodies, the sound of armored feet patting the ground, the disgusting squelching of slime monsters in the distance and the shattering of skeletons beneath a spiked mace.
The one thing that the King's Field series really has going for it is its atmosphere. It's got atmosphere coming out the wazoo. King's Field provides just the right kind of horror for me. Not the kind that makes your heart stop around every bend, but the kind that makes you progressively feel less and less at ease.
You're just a guy in a bad place who might have a chance of making it out alive, but only because of the stuff he finds along the way.
In the case of King's Field, the moody atmosphere and unintentional scares had a hand in making me believe that I was a part of what was going on.
Chances are that if you've never played these games before, you will read this, try one of them, and come back here cursing my name for ever letting me talk you into it. King's Field games are not for everyone. They're hardly even for the people who like this sort of thing. But if you do happen to feel the same things that I feel about any one of these games, you can join me in thanking them for the time spent with them.
Thank them for their somewhat bland settings, because they made you feel trapped in a dark, unwelcoming place with no way out in sight. Thank them for their bizarre monsters, even if many were uninspired, because they gave you something to do so that you could keep going through the labyrinths. Thank them for their difficulty, because they kept you on your toes the entire way through. Most of all, thank them for the easy gateway they create between the game and the player.
"You're totally right about these games dark, almost disturbing style and atmosphere. It's one of the few games that's really been able to convey "dankness" in a dungeon setting." -Deathofthehead
"KF as a series is sadly overlooked too often and in my opinion was light years ahead of it's time. The atmosphere the raw feeling of oppression, loneliness, desperation, and even fear on a base level evoked by KF makes Bioshock's immersion pale by comparison. Very very pale. KF is a series that can not be forgotten by those that played and loved it. For those that really give themselves over to it's experience it leaves them with just a little taste of what it might have actually been like to be alone in a dark frightening place with nothing but your wits and pure luck to keep you alive." -Karkarov
"I just picked up KFIV about a week ago off of ebay for 5 bucks and i'm about 12 hours into it. I love it to death. I'm both surprised and happy to see other people have done the same. It's a game that most either hate with a passion, or love with a passion. It's slow, dark, lonely, and the control scheme is totally weird for the first several hours. But stick with it and you may have a new obsession." -worm jerky
"ps2 king's field was bad. i remember dying like 20 times right at the beginning in the lava because i couldn't tell what was going on." -moominsean
"I still own a copy of this game to this day and go back to it every once in a while. A true classic." -Raymond Keck
"I think if the developer made the beginnings of the game a tiny bit less scary (you are given so little instruction as to what you are supposed to do it is always a bit bewildering) then more people would be able to get into them. Then again, that confusion up front really gives you a sense of mastery when things start making sense." -Patrick Mullen
"I fell inlove with them because of the feeling they gave, even though they are extremely hard. Sadly now days game creators make there games with out very much soul due to the fact they want a wider audience." -Matt Myers
"King's Field is a wonderful series with a very strong atmosphere that's a little too niche for its own sake. Not everyone can take the constant sense of dread." -Springsteen
"I remember dying so much to the first enemy encountered, a ghost that would totally anal-rape me every time. Finally after a few days or so I realized I shouldn't go in that cave and made it a point to entirely avoid it. I found the whole game to be like that in a way. You always had to explore every path and there was always one that you could actually survive through. I was so happy when I finally was able to go back and kick that ghost's ass." -dwolfwood
"Personally I've always hated King's Field. Something about the first person perspective and the relative vagueness of what I'm suppose to do at any given point." -Volomon
"The part in the tomb where that skeleton hits the bell and all the skeletons rise from the graves is creepy. And hard." -Jayson Napolitano
"I loved the King's field games. You earned any advancement with blood, sweat and time. And the unfairness just made it more like real life. But when you made it through you really felt like you achieved something." -goththom
"I had a love/hate thing with this game. I loved the idea and hated how bad I was at it." -Dhaos
"The game series was awesome. SO full of wonder. You had to level for a few hours to get to far away from where you started." -Hendersonman
"The King's Field series is probably one of the most underrated series of all time. Something about KF really makes the first person view very powerful... I'm not sure why or how; every little nuance from falling into a pit and turning around to see a slew of monsters, to bending over to pick up an herb really makes you feel like you're there in the caverns. Another "bad" aspect that really worked was the fact that you were just so alone. Towns were few and far between and barely had more than a shopkeeper. The enemies in the game were either alien in nature or hauntingly inhuman and provided no comfort whereas in other games sometimes even the enemies prevent you from feeling alone. Not the case in KF." -wolffenblitz
"Kingsfield (all of them) are by far the best games I have ever played. I continually check blogs and lists to find any game remotely like them. As one blogger put it, 'I'd kill a man to play Kingsfield'." -demonsword007
"KF as a series is sadly overlooked too often and in my opinion was light years ahead of it's time. The atmosphere the raw feeling of oppression, loneliness, desperation, and even fear on a base level evoked by KF makes Bioshock's immersion pale by comparison. Very very pale. KF is a series that can not be forgotten by those that played and loved it. For those that really give themselves over to it's experience it leaves them with just a little taste of what it might have actually been like to be alone in a dark frightening place with nothing but your wits and pure luck to keep you alive." -Karkarov
"I just picked up KFIV about a week ago off of ebay for 5 bucks and i'm about 12 hours into it. I love it to death. I'm both surprised and happy to see other people have done the same. It's a game that most either hate with a passion, or love with a passion. It's slow, dark, lonely, and the control scheme is totally weird for the first several hours. But stick with it and you may have a new obsession." -worm jerky
"ps2 king's field was bad. i remember dying like 20 times right at the beginning in the lava because i couldn't tell what was going on." -moominsean
"I still own a copy of this game to this day and go back to it every once in a while. A true classic." -Raymond Keck
"I think if the developer made the beginnings of the game a tiny bit less scary (you are given so little instruction as to what you are supposed to do it is always a bit bewildering) then more people would be able to get into them. Then again, that confusion up front really gives you a sense of mastery when things start making sense." -Patrick Mullen
"I fell inlove with them because of the feeling they gave, even though they are extremely hard. Sadly now days game creators make there games with out very much soul due to the fact they want a wider audience." -Matt Myers
"King's Field is a wonderful series with a very strong atmosphere that's a little too niche for its own sake. Not everyone can take the constant sense of dread." -Springsteen
"I remember dying so much to the first enemy encountered, a ghost that would totally anal-rape me every time. Finally after a few days or so I realized I shouldn't go in that cave and made it a point to entirely avoid it. I found the whole game to be like that in a way. You always had to explore every path and there was always one that you could actually survive through. I was so happy when I finally was able to go back and kick that ghost's ass." -dwolfwood
"Personally I've always hated King's Field. Something about the first person perspective and the relative vagueness of what I'm suppose to do at any given point." -Volomon
"The part in the tomb where that skeleton hits the bell and all the skeletons rise from the graves is creepy. And hard." -Jayson Napolitano
"I loved the King's field games. You earned any advancement with blood, sweat and time. And the unfairness just made it more like real life. But when you made it through you really felt like you achieved something." -goththom
"I had a love/hate thing with this game. I loved the idea and hated how bad I was at it." -Dhaos
"The game series was awesome. SO full of wonder. You had to level for a few hours to get to far away from where you started." -Hendersonman
"The King's Field series is probably one of the most underrated series of all time. Something about KF really makes the first person view very powerful... I'm not sure why or how; every little nuance from falling into a pit and turning around to see a slew of monsters, to bending over to pick up an herb really makes you feel like you're there in the caverns. Another "bad" aspect that really worked was the fact that you were just so alone. Towns were few and far between and barely had more than a shopkeeper. The enemies in the game were either alien in nature or hauntingly inhuman and provided no comfort whereas in other games sometimes even the enemies prevent you from feeling alone. Not the case in KF." -wolffenblitz
"Kingsfield (all of them) are by far the best games I have ever played. I continually check blogs and lists to find any game remotely like them. As one blogger put it, 'I'd kill a man to play Kingsfield'." -demonsword007
