King's Field (in Japan, King's Field II) is one of my very favorite PS1 games, and it probably shouldn't be. For one, it's a first-person RPG, and I get motion sick playing in first person views... but this early action RPG does it for me in ways even its own sequels and spinoffs don't. It's credited as the groundwork for the modern "Souls" series from From Software, and spawned many sequels of its own. However, this one game from the series is the one that I to this day think is the best.
If you've not played King's Field, it's a fully 3D first person RPG from the days before analog control and experienced programming on the PS1. It's pretty sluggish, though the game can be effectively played at a high level by taking a few minutes to master its timing. You weild swords and other blades alongside magic and bows and arrows in taking on the denizens of a cursed island. Your task is to scour the island and its caves for its lost treasures and kill the dragon who rules it in order to save the kingdom. It all sounds pretty rudimentary, and in a lot of ways, it is. However, and I'm way too tired to do this description justice, the game utilizes its own shortcomings as a strength in order to achieve one of the most critical aspects of any great action RPG: atmosphere.
So the draw distance is short- they made an overpowering, permeating, almost inky blackness in the dank corridors and caves in the island. The polygon count is low- the enemies are large enough to seem foreboding, while allowing their size to absorb the angles to appear more as curves, and in the case of small enemies, they chose angular designs such as insects that won't shiw it as badly. The texture quality is low-res and almost non-existant- faceless elves, stark, muddled-looking dark dungeon walls, and creepy disfigured complexion on monsters only adds to the mysterious feel. The game feels oppressive. The soundtrack is understated and menacing, and the fact that it's always night when you step outside and look up at the blackness adds to the sense of isolation.
The other thing King's Field gets so right for an action RPG is secrets. The game is littered with chests, barrels, herbs, and all sorts of trick walls that have hidden compartments, secret passages, or traps just waiting all around. The island is cursed and wants you dead, and coaxes you to scour it with the reward of weapons, power, and wealth. Like other games such as Metroid or Castlevanias, the games gives you a reason to really dig into the corners of its world for what you might find, which, in such an oppressive atmosphere, becomes an oddly relaxing horror experience, as that next corner might be an item or a giant monster spitting crude fireballs.
The major criticisms of the game are its sluggish movement and crude graphics, and those are fair. However, if you are the kind of player that prefers the older Resident Evils or D to the likes of more modern horror, there's an island that is begging to be explored, and moreso than its sequels, this one will leave you feeling lost and alone, searching for answers the old-fashioned way. If your tastes don't include a tolerance for slower, older 3D that feels more like a middleground between D&D and Myst, you'll hate it. If you find the plain black backgrounds on NES games to add a sense of unease to games and like it, King's Field might have the atmosphere for you.
There is a standard and long box issue of this one as well. The long box seems more common in my experience, but it's not like it's a collector's item either way.
Played it?