Xeogred wrote:Well, not every JRPG can start off as awesome as Secret of Mana.
One day I'll have to tell you guys about my idea for the best way ever to start a JRPG. Today's not that day though.
---
Two interesting things from playing King's Field III last night:
Turns out towards the end of King's Field III, you get the chance to revisit an area from the original King's Field (JPN). Except when you revisit it, it's many years later and things have changed there for the worse. It's cursed now and everybody is dead, but with a twist I won't spoil. Here's the thing though; in 1996 USA gamers playing "King's Field II" would have no frame of reference for this. Nor would they know that they are visiting an area from the first King's Field (JPN). So it's kind of sad that so many (okay maybe eight) US gamers were robbed of this nostalgic moment. I myself only realized this was the case, because I played the original King's Field (JPN) before playing King's Field III. Now there's a solid argument for Bone's "always play game series in order" methodology.
King's Field III is the only King's Field where sometimes puzzle advancement makes zero sense and damn near requires a guide. I would give this game a 10/10 if that wasn't the case. Here's an example. At one point in King's Field III you reach a graveyard on the Hill of Prayer. When you get there, there are two paths to take. If you take one path it leads to a dead end. If you take the other path it leads to a huge graveyard. In the graveyard you find a woman who says she hid a key in the graveyard. This is a huge graveyard and trying to search every grave is a daunting task.
Here's the thing though. Remember that dead end I mentioned? If you go back there after you talk to her, suddenly a grave appears there. If you search that grave, you find her key. This is horribly unintuitive if you have previously visited the dead end
before speaking to the woman. How in the world would you suddenly have an epiphany, that merely speaking to her spawns a grave somewhere that previously did not have one? It's just bad puzzle design, I mean that's some Castlevania 2 level shit. There are a few instances of bad puzzle design like that in King's Field III that convince me From Software might have been trying to sell a guide with this game.
All the same, King's Field III is still freaking awesome. I'm at the very end of the game now, and there's a real possibility I could beat it tonight.
