What's a King's Field video without me correcting something in the comments? The Excellector does not need to be used to gain experience. I wonder what I'll get wrong in the King's Field 4 video? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@AesirAesthetics I jest, but KF4 is one of my favourite games. I've done a lot of research into its mechanics, lore, secrets and a little bit of its programming. I can confidently say I know a lot about it! So I'm hoping you do a good job covering all of the cool stuff in it! I'd be happy to answer questions about it, but I'm a bit of a recluse, so I don't have much to back up what I say, but I'm still happy to answer questions!
@@AesirAesthetics For me it's 1 > 3 > 2. I prefer the open world nature of 2 compared to the linearity of 3 and I also found 2 more difficult (a good thing) but MAN having to juggle three static maps to navigate was one of the worst experiences of my life. I have now started KF4 and sad to see the map is back to static ;(
Hey, I thought your “if you aren’t interested in leaves you might find a bare tree” analogy to be really fantastic. I’d give it an award. Another excellent video though!
The Excellector will always gain in experience and level up, even if never used (at least that is how it works in the US version). It takes around twelve or thirteen thousand experience points to go from level 1 to 2, and another 12 - 13k to go from level 2 to 3. King's Field 2 (that's how KF 3 is just wired into my brain) is one of my all time favorite games. I did a screen shot LP on it ten years ago on a message board. But the big question remains... is there actually a way to combine the Flame Rod and Silence Rod, or was that a mistranslation or otherwise cut content?
Damn son, you're pumping these out. Just found the channel the day before KF2 was posted, glad to be here. You going to cover King's Field 3 Pilot Style?
I think it'd still be a fun, short video since many people don't even know of its existence. Heck, even just a small playthrough video could be fun, since a full 100% playthrough would be barely an hour, but a concentrated "let's just talk to every NPC and beat it" would only be like 30 minutes. Simply beating it can be done in under 2 minutes, which would also be funny to see.
@@HighPriestFuneral It's so obscure they didn't even translate its dialogue, but it gives you two items over a period of time. If you kill it, it drops a bottle.
Thanks, the Verdite trilogy video analysis was awesome. I just finished the third game in 32 hours, good ending and without any guide. For now, I still preferred the simplicity of the first game. Heck, the third is my least favourite : 15 fps is so slow ! I played on emulation at 150% most of the time, but even so, it was painfully slow, because the game is a lot bigger than the previous entries. I liked that the item description is in the menu and also the chat log. I loved the auto-map, a really welcome addition. But I finished the game without finding the silver and the royal key (that I discovered in your video), and I couldn't opened a lot of chests. I could have used a guide, but it would have robbed me the pleasure of exploration and discovery. I won't play King's Field 4 before a couple of month, but I will definitively watch your next video entry after I've done it :) Cheers from France!
I haven't watched this yet, I wanna say that these videos are great. I first picked up King's Field back when demon's souls came out and I couldn't afford a ps3, so i got king's field 1 US for super cheap even though most people said it wasn't worth playing, I wanted to form my own opinions, and it became my obsession. After playing all 4 and just about every other obscure from soft RPG, I gotta say I like KF2 more than 3 so far. KF2 runs faster, the opening scroll has much better voice acting, and I appreciate the setting and progression more. But I could see why people would like KF3 more.
I played the hell out of Kings Field 2 (U.S.) way back when it came out. I loved it then and its still my all time favorite game. I 100%'ed it without internet as well. Of course i didn't know that until i actually got my hands on a guide a number of years later, lmao.
Watched this and the previous 2 videos. Well done. Didn't really delve too deeply into the lore, but that's all right. Just wanted to clear up a few things, though: 6:01 This is the same Leon that forged the Dark Slayer in King's Field II. 8:05 These "fairies", as you call them... They're actually the demons. The same ones near the end of King's Field 2. An in-game description even alludes to this, as well as the area being near the demons' training grounds. 27:35 There was only one fortune-teller. Her name was Meryl and she had a certain chance of appearing in different places.
I managed to get to the final boss (dad) with the Moonlight sword as a level 1 character. I only had to kill one creature, the red mushroom on the path just past Lake Noel, which is worth 45 XP and you need 50 XP (if I remember) to hit level 2. I fought my crazy father for about half an hour before giving up...
I loved these videos and acquired the games. I'm a fan of old first person dungeon crawlers like Shin Megami Tensei and From Software ARPGS so I think I'm going to have a blast. With the popularity of the Souls series, these games are mentioned a lot but actual in-depth information like this was difficult to find. These videos were everything I was looking for in an overview of the series to determine where I should start or what to expect. Thank you very much.
Woah wasn't expecting this one so soon after KF2 video. Great job as always! Looking forward to King's Field 4 video. That's the game I got the most experience of, so it's going to be interesting and nostalgic for sure.
Thanks for the review + analysis, I've tried KF and it's honestly not for me, but the writing and design choices are very interesting food for thought. Keep covering weird niche games like this in detail and your channel will keep growing, keep up the great work!
This is my favorite series on ps1, I'd love to see a digital rerelease of the Kings field series... sure they're antiquated, but damn these games were fun and felt so far ahead of their time
I can't comment on the accuracy of the criticism since I haven't played the games,what I can say though, is that I have enjoyed this series immensely. Great work!
Hey Aesir, just wanted to say I love your content. You really make all these dusty old games look appealing as hell, might have to delve into the King's Field series since I've beaten all the Soulsborne games.
I did not know who you were before I started watching there videos. I feel after watching these I think not only am going play this series in it's entirety, but I'm going to sub to you and see what other games you can sell me on. I loved your presentation, I loved how you laid things out, and I loved the pacing of the videos. Thank you for sharing this passion you have for this series with us.
Thank you so much for taking the time and thoroughly analyzing these early fromsoft games. Your perspective and passion are very much appreciated and I indeed enjoy these videos with a cup of coffee every time. It's so nice to witness the historical progression of from's games and even to see where Seathe and Moonlight greatsword originally came from. The step-by-step cautious game-play development is quite apparent in the latest installments and it's exciting to see this in the early years as well, when the most basic mechanics were still being fleshed out. Given the developmental degradation of items/armor in DS2 I've always wanted to see a sort of "particle disintegration" technology employed. ex. Limb-specific damage like bushido blade, and chips and marks on armor apprx where they were struck. dirt/wear-and-tear and such accumulating as you play on. I'm a fan of fully immersive role-play experiences and I have such high hopes for these thoughts regarding Elden Ring (Oooooh...), I believe they will be at least attempting their first ambitious steps regarding this technology. As far as oldy-but-goodies you may choose to cover, I only have two that come to mind. One is reeeally old but happens to have been the first game I ever played, at 4 years old, Faxanadu. The other, a PS1 classic, Xenogears (as opposed to the later Xenosaga installments). Again, thank you for your time and refreshing analysis! Good luck on your game!
I had a pirate version of this game, and it was in Japanese. Somehow I still managed to complete it, but I haven't understood and thing and got really stuck at the lake part, without understanding the text. Playing Biohazard without a google translate or a japanese dictionary was also an experience. Since it was called KF3, I always wondered where are the first two games.
This game is also my personal favorite King's Field game. It really was the best balance of everything they learned from the first two. The NA versions of King's Field and King's Field II were some of my favorite PS1 games ever. I'm always thrilled to hear that others have found these games and loved them just like I did back in the late 90's.
i was inspired to make videos like Matthewmatosis as i found them very thought provoking, i understand you took some inspiration from him as well. i found your videos and instantly compared you to matthewmatosis as i watched your silent hill videos. at first didn't take you very seriously but as time went on i have come to see your content as equal and sometimes better then matthews. you have also inspired me to make game analysis content, and giving me something to watch inbetween matthews uploads so cheers for that friend.
Matthewmatosis makes badly supported subjective points and passes them off as fact. This quote has never applied to anyone more: " It is easier to criticize than it is to create."
I tried to play KF 1 and 2 (U.S.) in the 90s, when I was growing up and they just didn't click. Fast forward and now I'm a huge fromsoft/soulslike fan (duh) and I'm gonna give the series another go. And no, I'm not expecting first person DS lol. But I think I'll be able to appreciate them more now. And I love that there seems to be, at the very least, light connections to from's modern games. Really appreciate people that do awesome, in depth videos on stuff like this that may not have the biggest following.
Now this is the game I remember as King's Field II on the PS1. Awesome game! Best in the series in my opinion. I like your back story.. never learned all that in the game itself.
This game was like adding all the good parts of KF1 and 2 into one and adding very welcome quality of life features. It also had far less of the flaws of either of the previous games. Never played KF4, I wonder how that one stacks up.
Great videos. I only recently started the series in the last 8 months playing KF2, then KF1, and finally this one. I strongly preferred the level design of KF2. Plus, while I get that Verdite is fallen it feels strange that the kingdom had less 'safe zones' than Melanat Island did. Even with their boxy houses and sky-boxes having 'towns' in the middle of the dungeons they still felt more like towns to me than the spread out Quist and Ralugo sprinkled with enemies.
Funny enough, the passage of death is completely skippable. That key you were talking about? An invisible second one lies right near the entrance of the castle (the area with the Alexander's well)
I found you really have to grind spells. I mean seriously grind them near the mana a restore fountain. But you can grind your light magic up at least to fully near the beginning of the game and any spell that doesn't require a target can be grinded via that mana fountain. It's really the only way to make you get all the good spells.
not even a fan of the souls games, never played a kingsfield or something, but your analysis videos are so well crafted that i am intruiqed about the games, untill i start one and realise again, enviormental storry telling is not for me, beating a hard game does nothing for me and that i dont even have the time to activly sink into a souls games :P so see this as a concratulation
Don't mind me I just watched the "Exploring the King's Field Games" video and am putting the relevant info from that under each video But before I do that 2:06 You skip ahead a bit but as is shown in the footage for this section Valecia was created by Sylval who in charged three gods to look over it, Elwin to rule the Ocean, Elfos to rule the Sky and Vallad to rule the earth, the first two would leave to return to Sylval leaving Vallad in charge of all Valecia he began creating the sapient races and then created Seath and Guyra to act as Gods, Seath to be worshiped and Guyra to be hated then we get to the description as you gave it. Now back to inputting info from the other video 5:05 Alexander didn't find the sword shattered he broke it himself when to give the magical principles to the archmages hr keeps the Light principle to make his seal 5:30 Alexander doesn't just seal the castle but all of Verdite sacrificing the land to monsters 34:27 The X- Excellector is the sword of Humanity while the other two swords are tied to Guyra or Seath 36:45 The battle with Seath happens on the moon
Another excellent video as always! I'll look forward to your upcoming videos on KF4 and hopefully Shadow Tower Abyss as those are the only 2 From Software games of this style that I have played (and I enjoyed them quite a lot). Will you give updates on your game on your UA-cam channel?
That game in my opinion is hands down the best RPG ever. Ive played it 5x and find new secrets about the game everytime from enemy drops items laying on the ground not shown, sword magic level 1&2 its ridiculous how much ASCII and from soft put into this game
I'm shocked that I never played a King's Field game before. I guess my local Blockbuster didn't carry any of them. The graphics at 6:50 is some of the best PSX graphics I've seen yet! It's almost PS2 quality, assuming its not pre-rendered.
You're absolutely correct!! THIS is the kingsfield game that made feel like playing videogames, the one with the weakest illusion.. well this and sekiro i guess. This just feel like too much zelda in its structure. I know the rest have zelda powder here and there in its gameplay, but this one is just wear it proudly, and that makes it very... Well, videogamest kingsfield.
The Promeus Armour can be cheesed just by teleporting between the Cave of the Dwarves and either Quist or Ralugo to sleep at an Inn to pass time with the Ichrius Key. It completely nullifies all Physical Damage dealt by enemies and the traps in the Passage of Death. Promeus isnt that hard to find as only two pieces are on the ground the rest held by Promeus Golems, the hardest to find is in the excavated trench in the Field of Ice.
Maybe me, but I feel that of the two dragon gods, the Forest Dragon is probably a lot more evil than Seath... I mean doesn't mean Forest didn't do bad things at least with his island home, but I don't know... invading his home with his enemy's sword to kill him seems somewhat justified woth his attack of you...?
Amazing video. Playing this after 1 and 2 was utterly amazing. Felt like the conclusion of an epic trilogy. King's Field 2's world is like DS1.. KF3's more open world but with unconnected linear areas? That's DS2. ;] I have read commentary, think it was hardcoregaming101 that mentioned KF3's dungeons were a bit bland compared to 2 - they're often just mirrored, like the devs gave up halfway through.
I like how you bring up a criticism then give reasons for why that might be, or the problems with a different approach. Most commentary vids I see don't have that kind of balance!
The biggest flaw that put me off from the game was how they rewarded you for exploration. So many times you find a secret room just to find a chest that is locked with a key you get way later in the game and then expect you to back travel and remember all the secret doors. This feels like a punishment for finding secrets more then anything.
I don't think there's a lore reason, probably they just liked the look. Maybe they wanted to make the boss mobile or found it was easier to read his animations when it was humanoid?
@@AesirAesthetics Thank you for responding! I've been hooked on your videos recently. I'm slowly working my way through your Bloodborne one, watching bits and pieces here and there.
Great series but it has a serious flaw. You talk a lot about the game lore but you left out a vital fact about it. Most of KF 2/3 lore was entirely invented by the English localization team. The company that did it has a really pompous cowboy attitude about localization, there exist interviews from the time of the games release with the localizers bragging about making up a new story for the game. A lot of the Lore you told us here is simply NOT real King's Field lore. One example in this game is the ending credits telling you that your queen was revived from the dead. Nope, she's dead in the actual game story, localizers added that to make the end more standard happy fantasy hero ending,
Lol you will hate this, but King's Field 4: The Ancient City is better, and I kinda like King's Field 2 more. It is just a more surreal and ... thought provoking (?) experience. Alexander is still my favorite protagonist from these games, I like the "accidental" hero a lot more than the "destined" doo dad.
7:38 "you find where the fairy was manufactured..." Wait wait wait, those are supposed to be the fairies from the original? I've never played the original so I had no way of making that connections, and even though I haven't played King's Field (2) in probably 7 years, I'm fairly certain you find a piece of lore that says they are manufacturing the monsters in that end area of the game. I always assumed those were supposed to represent unfinished models of the demon monster you find in that area. I think you might be reaching for that particular connection, not to mention King's Field takes place after the original so there wouldn't be need to still be making fairies.
You keep mentioning in King's Field (2) you can get locked in an area without having a key or a way to get out so you have to warp, but I'm struggling to remember what exactly you are referring to. You are right that there are two large chasms in a fairly early area that you can extend bridges across fairly easily. The game makes it clear you are supposed to take another path around to unfurl the bridge and if you fall into the pit without being fairly high level you will die from the impact. As far as I remember these are the only two locations you can fall into without any way out except for using the warp, and by the time you can even survive the fall you should have at least one of the warp devices. These are treated as mid to end game secret locations with one having a fire crystal in it as I recall, so it's expected you have progressed enough to understand warping. And while there may not be enough keys to leave one in EVERY lock without making copies (at least until you have explored locations you can't get to yet), there are enough to get through without ever making a copy as long as you remember to take them out of the locks after you're done using the doors. There are also a couple of locations you fall into and have to fight your way through an entire dungeon to find the exit, or have to search for a hidden door to get out, but it doesn't ever actually lock you in place. Although to be fair it does FEEL like you are trapped sometimes. Again it's been a fair number of years so maybe I'm forgetting a location?
I addressed this in the comments to my KF2 video, I angled my guy improperly and thought you couldn't remove the Rhombus keys. So I was just being dumb on that one.
@@AesirAesthetics Easy mistake, it's hard for someone who used to replay these games endlessly as a kid to remember what it's like the first couple of times through. Just finished your King's Field 4 video, watched them all (and liked/commented). I was just about to comment on the 4 video but might as well say it here, I was a bit sad you didn't mention the speeding up mechanic in 4. Even your turn speed increases as you level up, and often the slow walk speed is the largest barrier to new players. Not to mention it makes you feel more powerful as you progress as no game other than Morrowind has, that I know of. One other takeaway I had about your telling of the plot is your lack of focus on the overall theme of balance. The Verdite trillogy does this best by describing a world that goes out of wack when you lean too heavily on any aspect, be it good or evil. It also hints that the neither of the dragons are inheriently "good" or "evil", merely counterbalances to each other. Which is why when Seath had no opposition he became tyrinical. It's less clear but 4 takes this idea and simply applies the theory to all the elements (fire, water, earth air) and relegates holy and dark as just another set of elements. The Forrest folk had different sects that worshiped each of these elements, but eventually the dark became sentient and moved to enact it's nature of destruction and death. The Idol is both the cause and the seal of the Darkness, the Forrest Folk worshiped the darkness through the Idol and it became the manifestation of that evil in the world. When it was moved the evil went with it, so it needed to be returned to gain access to the dark realm and seal it directly.
Ancient comment... but if you use the Truth Glass on the creatures in the tubes it does say they are Myria. Beings created by Guyra in order to lure a chosen hero to wield the Moonlight's Sword. The Myria in King's Field 2 even repeat the same lines they spoke from the end of King's Field 1 solidifying their automaton being. I really love that idea and wish more could have been done with it.
What's a King's Field video without me correcting something in the comments?
The Excellector does not need to be used to gain experience.
I wonder what I'll get wrong in the King's Field 4 video?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes, I was thinking that. Mine grew while using other swords.
I'd be happy to tell you, since I've done a huge amount of independent research on KF4!
@@variablewhy2517 uh oh
@@AesirAesthetics I jest, but KF4 is one of my favourite games. I've done a lot of research into its mechanics, lore, secrets and a little bit of its programming. I can confidently say I know a lot about it! So I'm hoping you do a good job covering all of the cool stuff in it!
I'd be happy to answer questions about it, but I'm a bit of a recluse, so I don't have much to back up what I say, but I'm still happy to answer questions!
@@variablewhy2517 I just might take you up on that.
In a world with a disturbing lack of pre-DS Fromsoft vids you are a saint. Thanks man.
More to come!
The worst game I've ever seen . I'm glad we dont see more videos
Hey there's plenty of pre DS fromsoft videos... they're all about Armored Core but they exist
@@bensmith5288 You're too modern for your own good.
Hey I play, stream and upload kf videos all the time for the past year or so! We are alive and totally exist
Watching this KF series finally inspired me to play the games. It's been a total blast, they really hold up to the test of time.
Awesome to hear!
which is your favourite so far? 🤔
@@AesirAesthetics For me it's 1 > 3 > 2.
I prefer the open world nature of 2 compared to the linearity of 3 and I also found 2 more difficult (a good thing) but MAN having to juggle three static maps to navigate was one of the worst experiences of my life.
I have now started KF4 and sad to see the map is back to static ;(
Could you imagine if from soft made a new kings field? First person and all. I'd be all about it.
Wayward Realms
why do you think they made a game making engine?
have you heard of sword of moonlight?
No I haven't heard of that I'll have to check it out.
@@FardtilUshid that's closer to Daggerfall than King's Field
Im doing it for the "just in case factor" but I assume you tried the indie game *Lunacid*?
I played this game when I was young and all I remember is the skeletons with swords coming towards me and me running off to my dad for comfort
Lol
"it's like a tree, where wood = must do, leaves = can do" is actually a really good metaphor, I'll definitely try to use it somewhere~
DevYal, you just made one of the most enduring showing of respect, commendable 4 sure
Hey, I thought your “if you aren’t interested in leaves you might find a bare tree” analogy to be really fantastic. I’d give it an award. Another excellent video though!
thank you
The Excellector will always gain in experience and level up, even if never used (at least that is how it works in the US version). It takes around twelve or thirteen thousand experience points to go from level 1 to 2, and another 12 - 13k to go from level 2 to 3. King's Field 2 (that's how KF 3 is just wired into my brain) is one of my all time favorite games. I did a screen shot LP on it ten years ago on a message board.
But the big question remains... is there actually a way to combine the Flame Rod and Silence Rod, or was that a mistranslation or otherwise cut content?
I used to love reading screenshot LPs back in the day. Some were incredibly well-written and funny.
Damn son, you're pumping these out. Just found the channel the day before KF2 was posted, glad to be here.
You going to cover King's Field 3 Pilot Style?
No, I had a short script for it but I didn't have anything to say about it which I didn't cover in this video (regarding how it plays).
I think it'd still be a fun, short video since many people don't even know of its existence. Heck, even just a small playthrough video could be fun, since a full 100% playthrough would be barely an hour, but a concentrated "let's just talk to every NPC and beat it" would only be like 30 minutes. Simply beating it can be done in under 2 minutes, which would also be funny to see.
You've earned a sub with these King's Field videos. I appreciate you.
23:49
Remember for next time you play that this particular Log Stalker you're butchering here is actually a friendly NPC you can talk to.
...What? Really? I will remember that next time I play.
@@HighPriestFuneral It's so obscure they didn't even translate its dialogue, but it gives you two items over a period of time. If you kill it, it drops a bottle.
Thanks, the Verdite trilogy video analysis was awesome. I just finished the third game in 32 hours, good ending and without any guide. For now, I still preferred the simplicity of the first game. Heck, the third is my least favourite : 15 fps is so slow ! I played on emulation at 150% most of the time, but even so, it was painfully slow, because the game is a lot bigger than the previous entries.
I liked that the item description is in the menu and also the chat log. I loved the auto-map, a really welcome addition. But I finished the game without finding the silver and the royal key (that I discovered in your video), and I couldn't opened a lot of chests. I could have used a guide, but it would have robbed me the pleasure of exploration and discovery.
I won't play King's Field 4 before a couple of month, but I will definitively watch your next video entry after I've done it :)
Cheers from France!
I havent even gotten a minute into the video and im hitting the like button!
I haven't watched this yet, I wanna say that these videos are great. I first picked up King's Field back when demon's souls came out and I couldn't afford a ps3, so i got king's field 1 US for super cheap even though most people said it wasn't worth playing, I wanted to form my own opinions, and it became my obsession. After playing all 4 and just about every other obscure from soft RPG, I gotta say I like KF2 more than 3 so far. KF2 runs faster, the opening scroll has much better voice acting, and I appreciate the setting and progression more. But I could see why people would like KF3 more.
i just realized that there are elements in the souls series that originated from King's Field aside from Moonlight Sword. Seath.....
yup
I played the hell out of Kings Field 2 (U.S.) way back when it came out. I loved it then and its still my all time favorite game. I 100%'ed it without internet as well. Of course i didn't know that until i actually got my hands on a guide a number of years later, lmao.
I've been binging your stuff lately, I appreciate how good your writing is and you absolutely sold me on the King's Field franchise :D
The Excellector doesnt need to be used to level up!
Praise the Moonlight.
Watched this and the previous 2 videos. Well done. Didn't really delve too deeply into the lore, but that's all right. Just wanted to clear up a few things, though:
6:01 This is the same Leon that forged the Dark Slayer in King's Field II.
8:05 These "fairies", as you call them... They're actually the demons. The same ones near the end of King's Field 2. An in-game description even alludes to this, as well as the area being near the demons' training grounds.
27:35 There was only one fortune-teller. Her name was Meryl and she had a certain chance of appearing in different places.
I keep getting distracted by the compass appearing to say 'SEX' every time you face East.
I managed to get to the final boss (dad) with the Moonlight sword as a level 1 character. I only had to kill one creature, the red mushroom on the path just past Lake Noel, which is worth 45 XP and you need 50 XP (if I remember) to hit level 2. I fought my crazy father for about half an hour before giving up...
I loved these videos and acquired the games. I'm a fan of old first person dungeon crawlers like Shin Megami Tensei and From Software ARPGS so I think I'm going to have a blast. With the popularity of the Souls series, these games are mentioned a lot but actual in-depth information like this was difficult to find. These videos were everything I was looking for in an overview of the series to determine where I should start or what to expect. Thank you very much.
I'm just happy you enjoyed watching them :D
This is hands down one of my top 3 favorite games of all time.
And hey, look at that, a new video to watch just as my shift ends. Much love from america
:)
Woah wasn't expecting this one so soon after KF2 video. Great job as always! Looking forward to King's Field 4 video. That's the game I got the most experience of, so it's going to be interesting and nostalgic for sure.
soon....
@@AesirAesthetics :O ..in the meantime you convinced me to look up King's Field 3 and finally play this thing.
Watching this series backwards. Glad I found this channel.
Thanks for the review + analysis, I've tried KF and it's honestly not for me, but the writing and design choices are very interesting food for thought. Keep covering weird niche games like this in detail and your channel will keep growing, keep up the great work!
This sparkes my interest for this series now on an high level. Thanks aesir for the summary of the KF-ps1-trilogy.
This is my favorite series on ps1, I'd love to see a digital rerelease of the Kings field series... sure they're antiquated, but damn these games were fun and felt so far ahead of their time
I agree
I can't comment on the accuracy of the criticism since I haven't played the games,what I can say though, is that I have enjoyed this series immensely. Great work!
This was the last ARPG series I played. My most loved and the only one to really make me feel alone and the feeling of dread. Thank you.
Hey Aesir, just wanted to say I love your content. You really make all these dusty old games look appealing as hell, might have to delve into the King's Field series since I've beaten all the Soulsborne games.
I did not know who you were before I started watching there videos. I feel after watching these I think not only am going play this series in it's entirety, but I'm going to sub to you and see what other games you can sell me on. I loved your presentation, I loved how you laid things out, and I loved the pacing of the videos. Thank you for sharing this passion you have for this series with us.
Thank you 🥰
Thank you so much for taking the time and thoroughly analyzing these early fromsoft games. Your perspective and passion are very much appreciated and I indeed enjoy these videos with a cup of coffee every time. It's so nice to witness the historical progression of from's games and even to see where Seathe and Moonlight greatsword originally came from. The step-by-step cautious game-play development is quite apparent in the latest installments and it's exciting to see this in the early years as well, when the most basic mechanics were still being fleshed out. Given the developmental degradation of items/armor in DS2 I've always wanted to see a sort of "particle disintegration" technology employed. ex. Limb-specific damage like bushido blade, and chips and marks on armor apprx where they were struck. dirt/wear-and-tear and such accumulating as you play on. I'm a fan of fully immersive role-play experiences and I have such high hopes for these thoughts regarding Elden Ring (Oooooh...), I believe they will be at least attempting their first ambitious steps regarding this technology. As far as oldy-but-goodies you may choose to cover, I only have two that come to mind. One is reeeally old but happens to have been the first game I ever played, at 4 years old, Faxanadu. The other, a PS1 classic, Xenogears (as opposed to the later Xenosaga installments). Again, thank you for your time and refreshing analysis! Good luck on your game!
Thank you
@@AesirAesthetics 😳(senpai noticed me)😓🙏🔥
I had a pirate version of this game, and it was in Japanese. Somehow I still managed to complete it, but I haven't understood and thing and got really stuck at the lake part, without understanding the text. Playing Biohazard without a google translate or a japanese dictionary was also an experience. Since it was called KF3, I always wondered where are the first two games.
This game is also my personal favorite King's Field game. It really was the best balance of everything they learned from the first two. The NA versions of King's Field and King's Field II were some of my favorite PS1 games ever. I'm always thrilled to hear that others have found these games and loved them just like I did back in the late 90's.
That moment I find a new channel on UA-cam thats covering one of my favorite video game series
:)
11:54 yo that is a COOL FRIGGIN SWORD cmon fromsoft bring that back
The Excellector?
It's pretty cool!
@@AesirAesthetics yeah!!
i was inspired to make videos like Matthewmatosis as i found them very thought provoking, i understand you took some inspiration from him as well. i found your videos and instantly compared you to matthewmatosis as i watched your silent hill videos. at first didn't take you very seriously but as time went on i have come to see your content as equal and sometimes better then matthews. you have also inspired me to make game analysis content, and giving me something to watch inbetween matthews uploads so cheers for that friend.
Go for it!
Matthewmatosis makes badly supported subjective points and passes them off as fact.
This quote has never applied to anyone more: " It is easier to criticize than it is to create."
It's always a pleasure to watch one of your videos Aesir. Looking forward to King's Field 4.
You and me both!
This is awesomely assembled and explained. Great job.
I tried to play KF 1 and 2 (U.S.) in the 90s, when I was growing up and they just didn't click. Fast forward and now I'm a huge fromsoft/soulslike fan (duh) and I'm gonna give the series another go. And no, I'm not expecting first person DS lol. But I think I'll be able to appreciate them more now. And I love that there seems to be, at the very least, light connections to from's modern games.
Really appreciate people that do awesome, in depth videos on stuff like this that may not have the biggest following.
5:53 - That cut me deep. I totally feel your pain there.
Now this is the game I remember as King's Field II on the PS1. Awesome game! Best in the series in my opinion. I like your back story.. never learned all that in the game itself.
Seath? Moonlight Sword? Interesting...
I enjoyed your work here nothing better then a well scripted video.
Damn, I really want to play this now. Great video as always! You always analyse things very well.
The KF2 style ghosts do appear in the Passage of Death.
i fucking love you man, now i gotta play all the king's field games
This game was like adding all the good parts of KF1 and 2 into one and adding very welcome quality of life features. It also had far less of the flaws of either of the previous games. Never played KF4, I wonder how that one stacks up.
This is good content. Please continue your hard work!
Great videos. I only recently started the series in the last 8 months playing KF2, then KF1, and finally this one. I strongly preferred the level design of KF2. Plus, while I get that Verdite is fallen it feels strange that the kingdom had less 'safe zones' than Melanat Island did. Even with their boxy houses and sky-boxes having 'towns' in the middle of the dungeons they still felt more like towns to me than the spread out Quist and Ralugo sprinkled with enemies.
Spent so many hours on this masterpiece
Funny enough, the passage of death is completely skippable. That key you were talking about? An invisible second one lies right near the entrance of the castle (the area with the Alexander's well)
best one yet. would love more information about the game you're making!
I'll give more info on it as the release date approaches.
Aye?
Sire, ayeeeee
_Aye!_
Ayyyyeeee!!!
Aye!
Aye aye Captain
Well done on 19 thousand subscribers! 👍
Great video! Looking forward to Kings Feild 4!
Coming soon!
Wonderful Breakdown...much appreciated !
KF4 is soon, I can't wait for you to breakdown that masterpiece of level design.
It'll be up in August.
Keep up the amazing work! Subscribed
I found you really have to grind spells. I mean seriously grind them near the mana a restore fountain. But you can grind your light magic up at least to fully near the beginning of the game and any spell that doesn't require a target can be grinded via that mana fountain. It's really the only way to make you get all the good spells.
not even a fan of the souls games, never played a kingsfield or something, but your analysis videos are so well crafted that i am intruiqed about the games, untill i start one and realise again, enviormental storry telling is not for me, beating a hard game does nothing for me and that i dont even have the time to activly sink into a souls games :P so see this as a concratulation
Hoping for evergrace and lost kingdoms in the future
Don't mind me I just watched the "Exploring the King's Field Games" video and am putting the relevant info from that under each video
But before I do that 2:06 You skip ahead a bit but as is shown in the footage for this section Valecia was created by Sylval who in charged three gods to look over it, Elwin to rule the Ocean, Elfos to rule the Sky and Vallad to rule the earth, the first two would leave to return to Sylval leaving Vallad in charge of all Valecia he began creating the sapient races and then created Seath and Guyra to act as Gods, Seath to be worshiped and Guyra to be hated then we get to the description as you gave it.
Now back to inputting info from the other video
5:05 Alexander didn't find the sword shattered he broke it himself when to give the magical principles to the archmages hr keeps the Light principle to make his seal
5:30 Alexander doesn't just seal the castle but all of Verdite sacrificing the land to monsters
34:27 The X- Excellector is the sword of Humanity while the other two swords are tied to Guyra or Seath
36:45 The battle with Seath happens on the moon
Another excellent video as always! I'll look forward to your upcoming videos on KF4 and hopefully Shadow Tower Abyss as those are the only 2 From Software games of this style that I have played (and I enjoyed them quite a lot).
Will you give updates on your game on your UA-cam channel?
Closer to release I'll start talking about it more.
That game in my opinion is hands down the best RPG ever. Ive played it 5x and find new secrets about the game everytime from enemy drops items laying on the ground not shown, sword magic level 1&2 its ridiculous how much ASCII and from soft put into this game
What a present. Nice video.
The sound of dieing still haunts me to this day
Kings field remake when
When they decide to hire me already! >:O
I'm shocked that I never played a King's Field game before. I guess my local Blockbuster didn't carry any of them. The graphics at 6:50 is some of the best PSX graphics I've seen yet! It's almost PS2 quality, assuming its not pre-rendered.
Great work fella
Always wondered why Alexander was carrying the Capricorn and not the moonlight in the opening scene.
Talk about Evergrace, probably the best game from From I swear
I love these videos !
Glad you like them!
@@AesirAesthetics *love them.
Love you're videos
Ah man thanks for this perfect to make the time pass by at work 😂
No problem 👍
This game had countless hours of my young childhood. But like kf2 i didnt make a lot of actual progress just hours of exploration lol
You're absolutely correct!! THIS is the kingsfield game that made feel like playing videogames, the one with the weakest illusion.. well this and sekiro i guess.
This just feel like too much zelda in its structure. I know the rest have zelda powder here and there in its gameplay, but this one is just wear it proudly, and that makes it very... Well, videogamest kingsfield.
Dont forget about the triple fang sword. Its been in every King field game so far
A Look Back At: King's Field 4.
Coming Soon.
The Promeus Armour can be cheesed just by teleporting between the Cave of the Dwarves and either Quist or Ralugo to sleep at an Inn to pass time with the Ichrius Key. It completely nullifies all Physical Damage dealt by enemies and the traps in the Passage of Death. Promeus isnt that hard to find as only two pieces are on the ground the rest held by Promeus Golems, the hardest to find is in the excavated trench in the Field of Ice.
Maybe me, but I feel that of the two dragon gods, the Forest Dragon is probably a lot more evil than Seath... I mean doesn't mean Forest didn't do bad things at least with his island home, but I don't know... invading his home with his enemy's sword to kill him seems somewhat justified woth his attack of you...?
Amazing video. Playing this after 1 and 2 was utterly amazing. Felt like the conclusion of an epic trilogy.
King's Field 2's world is like DS1..
KF3's more open world but with unconnected linear areas? That's DS2. ;]
I have read commentary, think it was hardcoregaming101 that mentioned KF3's dungeons were a bit bland compared to 2 - they're often just mirrored, like the devs gave up halfway through.
I like how you bring up a criticism then give reasons for why that might be, or the problems with a different approach. Most commentary vids I see don't have that kind of balance!
I thought the original heroes name was John Alfred Forrester, not Gene? Or is this a case of translation fixing?
It varies between translations.
Some have it as John, some Jean.
I went with Jean coz I thought it sounds cooler.
@@AesirAesthetics Ah-ha, thanks for that info!
The 3rd sword looks a lot like the Black Blade of Maliketh
The biggest flaw that put me off from the game was how they rewarded you for exploration. So many times you find a secret room just to find a chest that is locked with a key you get way later in the game and then expect you to back travel and remember all the secret doors. This feels like a punishment for finding secrets more then anything.
Or just a stabby spear
If you have Pixy's Map it will show revealed secret passages.
Aye.
Should have guessed a time-travelling robot would get here first
Your voice/style reminds me of the actor Robert Vaughn.
This was the first game I ever bought for my PS1..
Then the 2nd was MGS1, so needless to say I never really went back
Why is Seath humanoid in King's Field 3?
I don't think there's a lore reason, probably they just liked the look.
Maybe they wanted to make the boss mobile or found it was easier to read his animations when it was humanoid?
@@AesirAesthetics Thank you for responding! I've been hooked on your videos recently. I'm slowly working my way through your Bloodborne one, watching bits and pieces here and there.
Great series but it has a serious flaw. You talk a lot about the game lore but you left out a vital fact about it. Most of KF 2/3 lore was entirely invented by the English localization team. The company that did it has a really pompous cowboy attitude about localization, there exist interviews from the time of the games release with the localizers bragging about making up a new story for the game. A lot of the Lore you told us here is simply NOT real King's Field lore. One example in this game is the ending credits telling you that your queen was revived from the dead. Nope, she's dead in the actual game story, localizers added that to make the end more standard happy fantasy hero ending,
Lol you will hate this, but King's Field 4: The Ancient City is better, and I kinda like King's Field 2 more. It is just a more surreal and ... thought provoking (?) experience. Alexander is still my favorite protagonist from these games, I like the "accidental" hero a lot more than the "destined" doo dad.
Venomous, not poisonous unless you can actually eat the spider enemies.
I'd love to see a kings field remake just dark souls in fp
Any plans for Evergrace, or Armored Core videos
Everything From Soft is on the table.
none taken, i love ancient city but I can see why this one is better.
I thought the whole purpose of venus flytraps was to take the flies or prey to not need so much sunlight (I might be wrong)
As the father before him...gets stuck on wall lol
7:38 "you find where the fairy was manufactured..." Wait wait wait, those are supposed to be the fairies from the original? I've never played the original so I had no way of making that connections, and even though I haven't played King's Field (2) in probably 7 years, I'm fairly certain you find a piece of lore that says they are manufacturing the monsters in that end area of the game. I always assumed those were supposed to represent unfinished models of the demon monster you find in that area. I think you might be reaching for that particular connection, not to mention King's Field takes place after the original so there wouldn't be need to still be making fairies.
You keep mentioning in King's Field (2) you can get locked in an area without having a key or a way to get out so you have to warp, but I'm struggling to remember what exactly you are referring to. You are right that there are two large chasms in a fairly early area that you can extend bridges across fairly easily. The game makes it clear you are supposed to take another path around to unfurl the bridge and if you fall into the pit without being fairly high level you will die from the impact. As far as I remember these are the only two locations you can fall into without any way out except for using the warp, and by the time you can even survive the fall you should have at least one of the warp devices. These are treated as mid to end game secret locations with one having a fire crystal in it as I recall, so it's expected you have progressed enough to understand warping. And while there may not be enough keys to leave one in EVERY lock without making copies (at least until you have explored locations you can't get to yet), there are enough to get through without ever making a copy as long as you remember to take them out of the locks after you're done using the doors. There are also a couple of locations you fall into and have to fight your way through an entire dungeon to find the exit, or have to search for a hidden door to get out, but it doesn't ever actually lock you in place. Although to be fair it does FEEL like you are trapped sometimes. Again it's been a fair number of years so maybe I'm forgetting a location?
I addressed this in the comments to my KF2 video, I angled my guy improperly and thought you couldn't remove the Rhombus keys.
So I was just being dumb on that one.
@@AesirAesthetics Easy mistake, it's hard for someone who used to replay these games endlessly as a kid to remember what it's like the first couple of times through. Just finished your King's Field 4 video, watched them all (and liked/commented). I was just about to comment on the 4 video but might as well say it here, I was a bit sad you didn't mention the speeding up mechanic in 4. Even your turn speed increases as you level up, and often the slow walk speed is the largest barrier to new players. Not to mention it makes you feel more powerful as you progress as no game other than Morrowind has, that I know of. One other takeaway I had about your telling of the plot is your lack of focus on the overall theme of balance. The Verdite trillogy does this best by describing a world that goes out of wack when you lean too heavily on any aspect, be it good or evil. It also hints that the neither of the dragons are inheriently "good" or "evil", merely counterbalances to each other. Which is why when Seath had no opposition he became tyrinical. It's less clear but 4 takes this idea and simply applies the theory to all the elements (fire, water, earth air) and relegates holy and dark as just another set of elements. The Forrest folk had different sects that worshiped each of these elements, but eventually the dark became sentient and moved to enact it's nature of destruction and death. The Idol is both the cause and the seal of the Darkness, the Forrest Folk worshiped the darkness through the Idol and it became the manifestation of that evil in the world. When it was moved the evil went with it, so it needed to be returned to gain access to the dark realm and seal it directly.
Ancient comment... but if you use the Truth Glass on the creatures in the tubes it does say they are Myria. Beings created by Guyra in order to lure a chosen hero to wield the Moonlight's Sword. The Myria in King's Field 2 even repeat the same lines they spoke from the end of King's Field 1 solidifying their automaton being.
I really love that idea and wish more could have been done with it.