King's Field - Original Japan Release

[Exhuminator]

I've been playing the original 1994 King's Field for PS1. (The very first one that didn't even come to the USA or Europe.) I was wondering if anyone around here has played this game before? And what their thoughts on it were? Has anyone here beat it?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Looks awesome, but I haven't played it. The earliest one I own is the one released in the US as "King's Field" (which is really part II).

I literally have no idea how to play Japanese PSX games. Seems like we got most of the great RPGs released here in the US so I never looked into it.

One of these old From Software games is going to end up on my Summer Gaming Challenge 2015 list. I guarantee it.

[flex wood]

I don't think Bruno is really around anymore but I know he would be the guy to talk to about the KF series and probably most of the From games.

[Exhuminator]

I literally have no idea how to play Japanese PSX games.

Well I'm playing the English fan translation of King's Field (Japan). I'm playing it using ePSXe with an actual PSOne controller via a USB adapter. (I do have a legit modded Playstation I could play it on too, but I was feeling too lazy to dig all that out of the closet and hook it up.)

Relevant links:

http://www.romhacking.net/translations/1067/
http://www.fantasyanime.com/emuhelp/emuhelp_epsxe.htm

Another thing of note, I found out there's actually a PS1 King's Field mini game that came out between II & III. It was called King's Field III - Pilot Style. This is apparently not a widely know fact, hence even HG101's awesome KF write up omits it (I emailed them about it). Links about this:

http://ktn87kingsfield.webs.com/otherki ... dgames.htm
http://www.romhacking.net/translations/1994/

One of these old From Software games is going to end up on my Summer Gaming Challenge 2015 list. I guarantee it.

Can it be Shadow Tower? Well I'm down with Echo Night or one of the Armored Core games too. I'm still playing catch up with From Software's output during the PS1 era. I'm actually glad I'm playing this stuff now as an adult instead of a teenage though, I appreciate it more with maturity's patience.

I don't think Bruno is really around anymore but I know he would be the guy to talk to about the KF series and probably most of the From games.

Yeah I'd be interested in his take on it.

Well I'm planning on writing a review for this game on my blog if I can manage to beat it. Mainly because it's such a rare and unknown game for the West. King's Field (Japan) is actually pretty fun despite being a 20 year old technology showcase.

[flex wood]

I don't think Bruno is really around anymore but I know he would be the guy to talk to about the KF series and probably most of the From games.

Yeah I'd be interested in his take on it.

Well I'm planning on writing a review for this game on my blog if I can manage to beat it. Mainly because it's such a rare and unknown game for the West. King's Field (Japan) is actually pretty fun despite being a 20 year old technology showcase.

He did have a blog where he talked about some psp import titles and the KF games were one of the games he covered. Maybe PM him and see if he would be down to come on and talk about them or just give you a link at least.

[Exhuminator]

Maybe PM him and see if he would be down to come on and talk about them or just give you a link at least.

Not a bad idea.

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Got an update from HG101:

"Thank you for letting me know about Pilot Style, in fact I played
through it a few weeks ago. Of course it needs to go in the article, as
does Shadow Tower Abyss. One day I will get around to it, when time permits."

It'll be interesting to see what the original author says about that one.

[MoNsTeRzKHAOS]

I really need to play the King's Field series being the huge From Software fan I am.

[Exhuminator]

I really need to play the King's Field series being the huge From Software fan I am.

I started with King's Field IV. The first hour I thought the game was terrible. After about three hours I thought it was fun. 30 hours later I was in awe of one of the best gaming experiences I'd ever had. So now I'm going back in time and playing its ancestors... which definitely carry the same DNA.

[Xeogred]

Have you guys played the Shadow Tower series too? Shadow Tower Abyss on the PS2 looks really awesome.

[Exhuminator]

Have you guys played the Shadow Tower series too? Shadow Tower Abyss on the PS2 looks really awesome.

I have not played them, but I have them both in my possession. I've gotten Abyss with the English hack to run ESR patched on my PS2 via FreeMcBoot. What I've played of it looked highly promising.

I literally have no idea how to play Japanese PSX games.

I was thinking some more about this. IIRC you can read Japanese to an extent, and you like to actually import the real deal games. In that case, the easiest way to play Japanese PSX games would be to just pop a legit disc in your computer's disc drive, and play it using pSX. pSX is much simpler to use than ePSXe if you don't mind the lack of artificial visual upgrades. Then you could map a controller like this in the emulator and be all set.

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On topic I played two more hours of King's Field (Japan) last night, and the game just keeps getting better. I'm incredibly impressed with what From Software pulled off with a launch title, and their very first game no less.