I’m really big into the lore of this game and I think this was a better present for today than anything else I got. I love the accuracy and finally hearing someone else see that Devian was Forest folk descended!! Thank you
King's Field IV is a tale of parallels. It tells the story of Lord Myu becoming a monster in his battle against the dark ones, his lust for battle rivaling that of the Dark Knight. It tells the story of Prince Devian setting out into the Cursed Land, just as the doomed prince set out to the sealed seat of darkness, and became the fated Dark One. It tells the story of the Expedition seeking to quell the darkness, and the Widda seeking to reawaken that same darkness. Some would consider King's Field IV to be some sort of prototype of the storytelling we see in Dark Souls, but it is quite the opposite. IV is the capstone, the "ledger" of the King's Field series, the culmination of all From Software has learned up unto that point. Each corpse tells a carefully hidden story or is deliberately placed to inform the player of traps or other gameplay elements to come. While it may not be too cryptic to discover that a corpse is the fabled Myu, you've done a masterful job in decrypting his last moments, his heroic sacrifice despite the growing poison within his blade, his body, and his mind. The themes, and even the events in the background of KFIV are labyrinthine in nature and you've done a wonderful job untangling them and bringing them to light. It's been my pleasure playing a small role in helping you craft this. Thank you for giving this game the love it deserves! 😺
@@azforu29 One hopes for a *faithful* remake to happen, or PS1 Shadow Tower; I'd be happy to see either of them in a modern format without too many changes taking place (a good example I could think of is RE 1's), like with many of the modern remakes.
This game deserves more recognition, i played it for the first time a couple of months ago after plying the old armored core games and it immediatly became my favorite ps2 hidden gem, i hope fromsoft will bring this series back someday
I wanna say a new game in the Shadow Tower series would be a good pick mainly because Abyss combines so many artstyles and ideas. You have recent firearms mixed with medieval weapons and armor, and they could go even further with that idea for sure.
@@DonnyKirkMusic sure, I said King's Field mostly because kf4 is the only one I play, planning to play shadow tower abyss but I haven't gotten around to it yet
Thank you for this video, it made my week. I really love KFIV, especially the OST. It fills me with nostalgia and a sense of loss I only got from wandering endlessly about in the Forbidden Lands of the OG Shadow of the Colossus. Thank you for your work, Casitive. This is wonderful. On a side note, From should really consider a re-release or a remaster of all KF games to date, since it is likely the series will never have a new entry.
I'm so happy and glad! Thank *you* for the time you spent watching and listening to me ramble about one of my favorite games in the catalogue, it really was a bit of a labor but it also warms the heart that King's Field is still in the hearts of fans to give this video the time of day. Also, agreed on the remaster or re-re-release (there was a re-release but Japan only and lol the Dark Side Box is expensive now). But you nailed it on the head. That's the problem that faces a lot of AA studios and their past work versus today - a lot of fingers in copyright pie, and some of those fingers are dead. It's what made what XBOX did with its legion of lawyers, such an achievement with BWC.
@@casitive yes, I've seen the Dark Side Box floating around on online marketplaces and would love to own it. But most of the time it costs like a quarter of what I make in a month... Anyway, I would love a new King's Field in the future. I would also like it to be a 'KF experience' and not a Soulslike take on the King's Field formula. Either that or a new Sekiro/a game with the same combat mechanics. Yeah, From did really sell themselves into a corner. I really hope they consider carefully these issues when handling new IPs in the future. Also, they should really consider reviving the Tenchu franchise, with a proper entry. Tenchu has so much potential, it is a shame that they seem to be sitting on that IP indefinitely. Thank you for the passion and the hours of hard work you've put on not only on this but in every essay you write. I look forward to your next video!
This video is amazing. Subscribed! I actually remember you from a video regarding KF1/2? But couldn't find your channel. Thank you for your hard work! This game is very special to me.
I am so glad I found this channel. Finally getting around to playing all the early fromsoft games. I’ll look forward to catching up with all the content you made for these games.
I am glad I found this channel, it made me understand and love Fromsoft's games even more. Thank you for this video, you gave me an even deeper insight on the lore of this game.
Omg i did not expect that the UA-cam algorytm led me to this Video. Wow... just wow and thank you so much for this huge effort to make this Lorevideo. I played Kings Field 4 in my Young aged at around 15? But it was too hard. Later at the Age of 17 i gived it a second chanche.....and wow it was a Blast of a Game. In the School the others was so hyped about the storys and we played after School together home at my place. and then i beated it with the Moonlight sword and a Hilarious high level. I grinded the Howling winds Troll route. Killed the 2 trolls at the Field Drop down to the Side where the 2 other enemy are... then dropped down where the Save Statue is.... Saving.... reload.... and again.... and... again.... and... again xD after some weeks? (i don,t know why i even done that xD) my level was so high that i killed all the Monsters in the Endlevel with 1 hit and even that Prince of Dark died with just one hit.... But the Game bugged and he don't turned into stone because my damage output was tooo much. And then the bad ending was coming, even if i had moonlight sword in my Hand. Maybe it was not a Bug, maybee ot was a very very clever Cheat Protection xD. Then i reloaded a Save Way some weeks earlier and then i fought the though fight xD barely survieved with 1 around LP but the Demon crumbled in stone and finally fulfilled Devians Quest.
During my playthrough, Lyle happened to be the one NPC I killed because... I simply didn't like him and his gluttonous whining. The spoiler-free guide I would use at the end of each area later informed me of the crystal vial I had missed out on. I didn't know until now that he was widdafying and going to eat his company.
Yeah, I totally had the same reaction when I went through the game in the LP! He feels like he's written as a rebuke of the gluttonous guy that was in KFII (soup) and III (bread) - which are kind of jokes. This one turns out to be one of the most horrifying moments in the game.
I finish this game a couple months ago and was really feeling that need to check out some lore found one of your videos and it seems a lot of my assumptions were quite right based on your reading of the lore and this game is in my opinion a masterpiece thank you so much for covering it you did a fantastic job
I theorize that the robed figure who hands you the Idol of Sorrow in the opening cutscene is the knight who leaves a bloody hand mark and falls at the beginning. The hand that gives you the idol is gauntleted, the same gauntlet in the closeup of the bloody handprint. He's one of Septiego's knights (or at least one of Helladin), but why would one of those be there before the kingdom began to fall to ruin? I think the rest of the cutscene up until the end is a flash-back, to what led to that moment. Then he somehow got back up, and marched to Devion's front door, either because he got better, or maybe from the Idol's influence. At any rate, good video, cleared up a few bits of confusion I had about the setting. I didn't know the Snake-men were called Widda, I assumed that the Widda were another people who'd died out and you were picking through their ruins.
I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's also great to experience Fromsoft's work before Miyazaki put his prints all over the games. Seath and Guyra really do come across as being detached from the lore that I wounder why they were even in there to begin with. KF4 could have easily been its own IP, but I suspect Fromsoft might have wanted to do some vague epilogue story for King's Field fans as a send off for the series. Would love to see this treatment done to the previous King's Field games.
What'll be interesting is what you think when I get through both of the Additional Games for the channel. Both of those PSP games are actually - if vaguely - linked to the Verdite Trilogy and give us that epilogue of Seath/Guyra at the end of Additional II! This game seems interesting because they were super protective of the KF IP -- making sure the PS2 was ready for something in it. And then made this game a new field - a game of balance - in which is kind of the point of the Verdite Trilogy too but in a different sort of story. Without those thematic links it def could have been its own IP.
The version of Dark Reality is the clean version that's pretty standard on YT. I edited it, to elongate that last note so that it fades out cleanly since the original is meant to keep looping. 😁
@@casitive It's beautiful like a drop of water pooling from the tip of a stalactite before gravity's ever present force pulls it downwards before plummeting into a still pool of water below.
❤❤❤ I will forever hold all the Kings Fields in my heart in mind as long as I live. So many memories thank to my mother who bought a new King Filed 1 for ps2 back in 1999/2000❤
I have completed King's field 4 and now im trying the Japanese version to see if there are some differences. This game is a masterpiece and it is in my top 3 games along with dark souls 3 and elden ring 0:55 this is the intro music which is the altered version of the tower ost but i can't find it.
Is there any? I remember the Japanese version of Eternal Ring having the dash ring 😂 made the game too short! We ended up with the XP ring for the Western release.
@@DooDoo-f4v just some differences like button swaps in controls. Otherwise it's the same, but feels more 'authentic' to play the Japanese version for me.
What was the real story behind Vallad and the Dragon Demi gods Seath and Guyra? Even in Elden Ring, I feel echoes, I dont think its just rehashed lore and I wouldnt be surprised if we see even more KF references. The prince of Death and the Dark entity of Kingsfield almost seem like they are the same...
I'll tackle this backwards. The Prince of Death and the Dark Entity of King's Field IV - in particular - do bare a bunch of similarities. I didn't grab the footage from the encounter but it's just so striking. Very much akin to Fortissax's sky-box, a more mature version of what's swirling in the Dark. It's also used again in the Madness endings of Eternal Ring - so perhaps there's something to say about all that too. Vallad / Seath / Guyra - definitely is going to be a separate video. I go into some of this ontology with my King's Field III-J LP but the lore for the Verdite Trilogy + Additional Duology need a bunch more parsing out before I make that video as well as doing the Additional LPs. In essence though - considering the Dark Side Box Updates and what's actually in the game, Vallad was the Creator God - but wanted to 'pass on' to God-Afterlife (Sylval) and created Seath and Guyra. However, the Seed of Evil corrupted Vallad's vacation plans, his guilt leads him to choose Lyle and all of Lyle's visions (should you rest in the inn) are from Vallad himself to lead you to end things. What's deeply editorialized in the Agetec releases is really the openings and the endings in particular, which you can just completely ignore if you want the real story as they are totally re-written from the Japanese script.
Thanks so much, I feel like if their was any one person to talk about From soft parallels in Elden Ring and how it could go back to Kf it would definitely be you. Great content as always.
20:40 I'm not sure if Agetec created a new King since 16:25 mentioned a king being assassinated and you don't point to that as a mistranslation, my understanding is that there was the Ancient King who was sealed away and the final/Elven King whose son was the exiled prince, the Dark Folk ruins weren't discovered until that time, Serrak was part of that final generation. 27:00 Wait Myu won? Don't the Journal entries claim the Dark Knight killed him, the Dark Knight is still alive in the jail when you go there, 28:30 I notice the "it is said" is more rumor-y and less definitive than the "Black Knight killed him" version. 52:15 I don't know where it says this but it's not an actual gameplay mechanic, if you for example sell it, it will be with whoever you sold it with, and god help you if you killed them to test it out, because the game just becomes unbeatable. Final question what is the japanese name of Akryal? I ask because the name is reused from Shadow Tower and I assume it's a Agetec forum name. Can't wait for the Shadow Tower lore vid!
Because I'm a weirdo and do things backwards lemme start with the name. Akryal, line 00022184 (Excel Line 1014), is named: Elijah. Anti-climatic, I know. Yeah, Myu won a pyrrhic victory and destroyed the bridge out of the Ancient Battlefield. However, and this is a common fromsoft trope for later, the taint of battle/killing/violence overcame him and killed him pretty much right after. Essentially, in modern parlance, he was becoming Shura. This is why his sword curses. The different king thing was a long chat in discord for a while. Cus the JA script isn't quite clear or explicit about things either. That said, given what Agetec did in Shadow Tower with the intention of clearing things up (but making things more confusing in the process) it seems like they tried to keep 'Good Guys', "Good." Rather than introduce shades of gray. Agetec Editorialization, however is inconsistent (see KFII and III-J) and they'll cherry pick things to edit and forget about the rest.
@@casitive Yeah the Shadow Tower localization was a mess, there are still multiple references to King Kells left In funnily enough. It's good to know that the Snake Priests real name is Elijah it's not anti-climactic, for me anti-climactic would've been a title as name like "Slave". I wonder what Shadow Tower Akryal's japanese name is, since she's a woman (and possibly the only living/uncorrupted human other Ruus in the Tower). Agetec didn't seem to really editorialize in this one, to counter the idea that they tried to clean up/keep the good guys good. The establish/maintain that the same King that founded the Holy Forest and gathered light/started their society was the one who became a tyrant. They could've easily explained away the Lich boss as a corrupt high priest if they wanted to. I'm maintaining that there are two separate Kings over time because 1) the assassination is described as happening in a time of upheaval/chaos. The Ancient King was very clearly sealed away by his society as evidenced by the epitaph on his door so it could not have happened without anyone knowing and his Lich state makes me think he was alive as he was trapped there. 2) there is an entire structure/puzzle built to keep the releasing ring to his room, locked away, that can't have all been built during or after an upheaval. Therefore if it was not the intent, it is a reasonable misunderstanding on Agetec part (again as I understand it from this exchange the assassination part was in the original script)
@@cyberninjazero5659 On the King's Field reddit, someone a few days ago uploaded a scan of the Shadow Tower guidebook! I haven't gone through it yet, myself, but should be good! Chatting with another friend of mine who is playing the JA version, they've confirmed that all the names of the Demons are changed which leads me to believe Durin is a LOTR reference, haha. And that Rurufon has always been Rurufon. And def., fair. I think with the theme of trying to strike balance, and that our Princeling finally *does* that the idea that too much Dark or too much Light both lead to calamities or sorts of corruption. Lich King being obsessed and the Path of Light being as it is complete with Golems using fake MLSes. But for sure, the Agetec localization is... strange. Cus there's a correct script out there that they just cherry pick changes into. Like KFII-J which gets them in trouble with III-J lol.
@@casitive I used to think During was a LOTR reference but the name shows up again in this game (and not for the dwarf, but the man who buys a map and dies in a BS way in the church/temple) so probably another Forum name. Speaking of, are the dwarf/dwarfling enemies actually called that in the Japanese? I ask because as we saw in the King's Field games, Fromsoft used actual/standard Dwarves before. "Rurufon" well Agetec renamed her Auriel but I guess you mean that she had the same Japanese name in Abyss. Also I just found this out but Agetec proper wasn't in charge of Fromsoft games until Shadow Tower, ASCII Entertainment handled the PS1 KF games. Obviously this is all ASCII but how much the staff remained vs changed and how they changed operations as their own splinter division is something to consider. That and since KF had to be translated in the middle of it's trilogy some changes for the sake of the unaware audience had to be made
On mobile so short: I have to check the book on the dwarf question. Rurufon is Rurufon in both games, correct. On this note, I should look up Dybbuk’s real name; he was renamed to a Jewish malicious spirit. Ascii entertainment is Agetec. Agetec is actually an acronym meaning Ascii Game Entertainment Technology. They took that name when ascii spun them off to an independent unit. Business tomfoolery basically. They attempted that once before with the name Asciiware but for some reason didn’t stick and thus this is why there are like two prints of the KF US long box in a year because the og longboxes only were around for a year.
If there is, I've never found it. It's not uncommon for there to *be* art for characters you've never seen. To be sure John Alfred and Alex do get official in game portraits. And some of the Armored Core 1 Pilots get drawings too -- even though 9Ball is an AI and isn't actually human, even. But I've never seen Devian get an official portrait.
@@deathdragonz9762 It's been asked of Miyazaki before, and he quietly deflected the question. It's safe to say that Miyazaki respects Zin's work on this series too much to bring it back without Zin's input. So, I don't think this is returning.
Great video. It's nice to be able to compare the Japanese and English side-by-side. It's too bad you started fading between them later on, though. Please excuse my pedantic commentary below. 10:20 You mean "Wiktionary", not "Wikitionary". Rhymes with dictionary. Same number of syllables. 35:55 That's not the father. The father is the one under the caved-in rubble. You get one of the stones of life from his corpse. The irony is that he found the stone but was unable to escape the mine. 44:30 Ophidians aren't just named for a type of snake; "ophidian" literally means snake in Ancient Greek. 54:47 There are actually three reapers in the game. In fact two of them are right next to each other outside the church. In the description, you mean "whose influence", not "who's influence".
I want to add that the PAL version was developed by Metro 3D. Besides having slower movements, it contains its own adaptation in English of the game, and also adaptations in Spanish, French, German and Italian. All the adaptations of the PAL version are... absolute nonsense and wrong in everything (translation, grammar, voice acting, etc.). The intro in Italian, for example, is so bad that it has become a meme in the Italian fandom of From Software's games.
My mind just got blown. Just how the frenzied flame ending starts dark souls, the dark lord ending in dark souls starts kingsfield - then the darkness consumes everything, then gets locked away going to chaos, cycle of agony walking through poison swamps.
I’m really big into the lore of this game and I think this was a better present for today than anything else I got. I love the accuracy and finally hearing someone else see that Devian was Forest folk descended!! Thank you
King's Field IV is a tale of parallels. It tells the story of Lord Myu becoming a monster in his battle against the dark ones, his lust for battle rivaling that of the Dark Knight. It tells the story of Prince Devian setting out into the Cursed Land, just as the doomed prince set out to the sealed seat of darkness, and became the fated Dark One. It tells the story of the Expedition seeking to quell the darkness, and the Widda seeking to reawaken that same darkness.
Some would consider King's Field IV to be some sort of prototype of the storytelling we see in Dark Souls, but it is quite the opposite. IV is the capstone, the "ledger" of the King's Field series, the culmination of all From Software has learned up unto that point. Each corpse tells a carefully hidden story or is deliberately placed to inform the player of traps or other gameplay elements to come. While it may not be too cryptic to discover that a corpse is the fabled Myu, you've done a masterful job in decrypting his last moments, his heroic sacrifice despite the growing poison within his blade, his body, and his mind. The themes, and even the events in the background of KFIV are labyrinthine in nature and you've done a wonderful job untangling them and bringing them to light.
It's been my pleasure playing a small role in helping you craft this. Thank you for giving this game the love it deserves!
😺
It really is my pleasure, and I'm so happy that you were about to help!
What a sick description. Game is no joke. Kings Field is legend, just wish people saw it then instead of just giving scores of 3.0 or 2.5.
@@azforu29 One hopes for a *faithful* remake to happen, or PS1 Shadow Tower; I'd be happy to see either of them in a modern format without too many changes taking place (a good example I could think of is RE 1's), like with many of the modern remakes.
OH MY GOD. BRUH. You made an ENTIRE video of lore, I love you so much ! Thank you ! This is my childhood game !
This game deserves more recognition, i played it for the first time a couple of months ago after plying the old armored core games and it immediatly became my favorite ps2 hidden gem, i hope fromsoft will bring this series back someday
King s Field 5?
yeah i know it's not happening , but still, a man can wish
I wanna say a new game in the Shadow Tower series would be a good pick
mainly because Abyss combines so many artstyles and ideas. You have recent firearms mixed with medieval weapons and armor, and they could go even further with that idea for sure.
@@DonnyKirkMusic sure, I said King's Field mostly because kf4 is the only one I play, planning to play shadow tower abyss but I haven't gotten around to it yet
Awesome, I'd been hoping you'd make more lore content ever since you co-made that video with Aesir
Great choice of opening line. That shook me when I first read it
Merry merry christmas! Great Video Present!
Warm regards! Hope you've enjoyed!
Excellent Christmas Present :)!
Hope you've enjoyed it and had a most excellent Holiday!
@@casitive Thank you! I enjoyed it a lot! Had a wonderful Christmas with friends :).
Nice Christmas present.
Thank you for this video, it made my week. I really love KFIV, especially the OST. It fills me with nostalgia and a sense of loss I only got from wandering endlessly about in the Forbidden Lands of the OG Shadow of the Colossus.
Thank you for your work, Casitive. This is wonderful.
On a side note, From should really consider a re-release or a remaster of all KF games to date, since it is likely the series will never have a new entry.
I'm so happy and glad! Thank *you* for the time you spent watching and listening to me ramble about one of my favorite games in the catalogue, it really was a bit of a labor but it also warms the heart that King's Field is still in the hearts of fans to give this video the time of day.
Also, agreed on the remaster or re-re-release (there was a re-release but Japan only and lol the Dark Side Box is expensive now). But you nailed it on the head. That's the problem that faces a lot of AA studios and their past work versus today - a lot of fingers in copyright pie, and some of those fingers are dead. It's what made what XBOX did with its legion of lawyers, such an achievement with BWC.
@@casitive yes, I've seen the Dark Side Box floating around on online marketplaces and would love to own it. But most of the time it costs like a quarter of what I make in a month... Anyway, I would love a new King's Field in the future. I would also like it to be a 'KF experience' and not a Soulslike take on the King's Field formula. Either that or a new Sekiro/a game with the same combat mechanics.
Yeah, From did really sell themselves into a corner. I really hope they consider carefully these issues when handling new IPs in the future. Also, they should really consider reviving the Tenchu franchise, with a proper entry. Tenchu has so much potential, it is a shame that they seem to be sitting on that IP indefinitely.
Thank you for the passion and the hours of hard work you've put on not only on this but in every essay you write. I look forward to your next video!
This video is amazing. Subscribed! I actually remember you from a video regarding KF1/2? But couldn't find your channel. Thank you for your hard work! This game is very special to me.
I'm so glad for the time you spent watching! I hope I did it justice!
I am so glad I found this channel. Finally getting around to playing all the early fromsoft games. I’ll look forward to catching up with all the content you made for these games.
Enjoy! I'm glad you are here!
I am glad I found this channel, it made me understand and love Fromsoft's games even more. Thank you for this video, you gave me an even deeper insight on the lore of this game.
Oh heck yessss - gonna like and save this in my watch later when I have a chance to sit down with this
Can't wait to hear what you think!
Omg i did not expect that the UA-cam algorytm led me to this Video. Wow... just wow and thank you so much for this huge effort to make this Lorevideo.
I played Kings Field 4 in my Young aged at around 15? But it was too hard. Later at the Age of 17 i gived it a second chanche.....and wow it was a Blast of a Game. In the School the others was so hyped about the storys and we played after School together home at my place. and then i beated it with the Moonlight sword and a Hilarious high level. I grinded the Howling winds Troll route. Killed the 2 trolls at the Field Drop down to the Side where the 2 other enemy are... then dropped down where the Save Statue is.... Saving.... reload.... and again.... and... again.... and... again xD after some weeks? (i don,t know why i even done that xD) my level was so high that i killed all the Monsters in the Endlevel with 1 hit and even that Prince of Dark died with just one hit.... But the Game bugged and he don't turned into stone because my damage output was tooo much. And then the bad ending was coming, even if i had moonlight sword in my Hand. Maybe it was not a Bug, maybee ot was a very very clever Cheat Protection xD. Then i reloaded a Save Way some weeks earlier and then i fought the though fight xD barely survieved with 1 around LP but the Demon crumbled in stone and finally fulfilled Devians Quest.
Thank you kindly
Thank *you!* so much!
During my playthrough, Lyle happened to be the one NPC I killed because... I simply didn't like him and his gluttonous whining. The spoiler-free guide I would use at the end of each area later informed me of the crystal vial I had missed out on. I didn't know until now that he was widdafying and going to eat his company.
Yeah, I totally had the same reaction when I went through the game in the LP! He feels like he's written as a rebuke of the gluttonous guy that was in KFII (soup) and III (bread) - which are kind of jokes. This one turns out to be one of the most horrifying moments in the game.
I finish this game a couple months ago and was really feeling that need to check out some lore found one of your videos and it seems a lot of my assumptions were quite right based on your reading of the lore and this game is in my opinion a masterpiece thank you so much for covering it you did a fantastic job
Thanks for such in-depth explanations of more obscure From games. Can’t imagine all the work put into this.
AMAZING!
I theorize that the robed figure who hands you the Idol of Sorrow in the opening cutscene is the knight who leaves a bloody hand mark and falls at the beginning. The hand that gives you the idol is gauntleted, the same gauntlet in the closeup of the bloody handprint.
He's one of Septiego's knights (or at least one of Helladin), but why would one of those be there before the kingdom began to fall to ruin? I think the rest of the cutscene up until the end is a flash-back, to what led to that moment. Then he somehow got back up, and marched to Devion's front door, either because he got better, or maybe from the Idol's influence.
At any rate, good video, cleared up a few bits of confusion I had about the setting. I didn't know the Snake-men were called Widda, I assumed that the Widda were another people who'd died out and you were picking through their ruins.
Merry christmas, a wonderful gift for King's Field fans.
Warm regards on this Christmas as well! Thank you!
This Accursed heap of dung. .
What a sweet xmas present.
this is one of the greatest videogames ever and this is the best video about its lore, thank you
I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's also great to experience Fromsoft's work before Miyazaki put his prints all over the games. Seath and Guyra really do come across as being detached from the lore that I wounder why they were even in there to begin with. KF4 could have easily been its own IP, but I suspect Fromsoft might have wanted to do some vague epilogue story for King's Field fans as a send off for the series. Would love to see this treatment done to the previous King's Field games.
What'll be interesting is what you think when I get through both of the Additional Games for the channel. Both of those PSP games are actually - if vaguely - linked to the Verdite Trilogy and give us that epilogue of Seath/Guyra at the end of Additional II!
This game seems interesting because they were super protective of the KF IP -- making sure the PS2 was ready for something in it. And then made this game a new field - a game of balance - in which is kind of the point of the Verdite Trilogy too but in a different sort of story. Without those thematic links it def could have been its own IP.
Anyone know which version of Dark Reality plays in the intro? Something about the editing at the last note has remained engraved into my mind.
The version of Dark Reality is the clean version that's pretty standard on YT. I edited it, to elongate that last note so that it fades out cleanly since the original is meant to keep looping. 😁
@@casitive It's beautiful like a drop of water pooling from the tip of a stalactite before gravity's ever present force pulls it downwards before plummeting into a still pool of water below.
❤❤❤ I will forever hold all the Kings Fields in my heart in mind as long as I live. So many memories thank to my mother who bought a new King Filed 1 for ps2 back in 1999/2000❤
Excellent lore video, I imagine it was ton of work! Bravo!
its always a delight to find more women covering fromsoft content, especially the more underrated gems.
I have completed King's field 4 and now im trying the Japanese version to see if there are some differences.
This game is a masterpiece and it is in my top 3 games along with dark souls 3 and elden ring
0:55 this is the intro music which is the altered version of the tower ost but i can't find it.
Is there any? I remember the Japanese version of Eternal Ring having the dash ring 😂 made the game too short! We ended up with the XP ring for the Western release.
@@DooDoo-f4v just some differences like button swaps in controls.
Otherwise it's the same, but feels more 'authentic' to play the Japanese version for me.
Saw Aesir's analysis on KF, that's how I found you. Wonderful video, and you have a gracious voice! 😍
I played this game when I was in high school. The music still haunts me.
Fantastic video.
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Have a warm and merry holiday!
Great video thank you.
Really great video, hope you do more lore.
"Fear not, the dark, my friend.
And let the feast begin."
I need to replay this gem
This game is really are the roots for Dark Souls in the future, about light and dark.
what a wonderful job!! Kf4 is a truly dark and sad game, i love the atmosphere... I NEED a new KF or KF4 Rremake
What was the real story behind Vallad and the Dragon Demi gods Seath and Guyra?
Even in Elden Ring, I feel echoes, I dont think its just rehashed lore and I wouldnt be surprised if we see even more KF references.
The prince of Death and the Dark entity of Kingsfield almost seem like they are the same...
I'll tackle this backwards.
The Prince of Death and the Dark Entity of King's Field IV - in particular - do bare a bunch of similarities. I didn't grab the footage from the encounter but it's just so striking. Very much akin to Fortissax's sky-box, a more mature version of what's swirling in the Dark. It's also used again in the Madness endings of Eternal Ring - so perhaps there's something to say about all that too.
Vallad / Seath / Guyra - definitely is going to be a separate video. I go into some of this ontology with my King's Field III-J LP but the lore for the Verdite Trilogy + Additional Duology need a bunch more parsing out before I make that video as well as doing the Additional LPs. In essence though - considering the Dark Side Box Updates and what's actually in the game, Vallad was the Creator God - but wanted to 'pass on' to God-Afterlife (Sylval) and created Seath and Guyra. However, the Seed of Evil corrupted Vallad's vacation plans, his guilt leads him to choose Lyle and all of Lyle's visions (should you rest in the inn) are from Vallad himself to lead you to end things.
What's deeply editorialized in the Agetec releases is really the openings and the endings in particular, which you can just completely ignore if you want the real story as they are totally re-written from the Japanese script.
Thanks so much, I feel like if their was any one person to talk about From soft parallels in Elden Ring and how it could go back to Kf it would definitely be you. Great content as always.
20:40 I'm not sure if Agetec created a new King since 16:25 mentioned a king being assassinated and you don't point to that as a mistranslation, my understanding is that there was the Ancient King who was sealed away and the final/Elven King whose son was the exiled prince, the Dark Folk ruins weren't discovered until that time, Serrak was part of that final generation.
27:00 Wait Myu won? Don't the Journal entries claim the Dark Knight killed him, the Dark Knight is still alive in the jail when you go there, 28:30 I notice the "it is said" is more rumor-y and less definitive than the "Black Knight killed him" version.
52:15 I don't know where it says this but it's not an actual gameplay mechanic, if you for example sell it, it will be with whoever you sold it with, and god help you if you killed them to test it out, because the game just becomes unbeatable.
Final question what is the japanese name of Akryal? I ask because the name is reused from Shadow Tower and I assume it's a Agetec forum name. Can't wait for the Shadow Tower lore vid!
Because I'm a weirdo and do things backwards lemme start with the name. Akryal, line 00022184 (Excel Line 1014), is named: Elijah. Anti-climatic, I know.
Yeah, Myu won a pyrrhic victory and destroyed the bridge out of the Ancient Battlefield. However, and this is a common fromsoft trope for later, the taint of battle/killing/violence overcame him and killed him pretty much right after. Essentially, in modern parlance, he was becoming Shura. This is why his sword curses.
The different king thing was a long chat in discord for a while. Cus the JA script isn't quite clear or explicit about things either. That said, given what Agetec did in Shadow Tower with the intention of clearing things up (but making things more confusing in the process) it seems like they tried to keep 'Good Guys', "Good." Rather than introduce shades of gray. Agetec Editorialization, however is inconsistent (see KFII and III-J) and they'll cherry pick things to edit and forget about the rest.
@@casitive Yeah the Shadow Tower localization was a mess, there are still multiple references to King Kells left In funnily enough. It's good to know that the Snake Priests real name is Elijah it's not anti-climactic, for me anti-climactic would've been a title as name like "Slave". I wonder what Shadow Tower Akryal's japanese name is, since she's a woman (and possibly the only living/uncorrupted human other Ruus in the Tower).
Agetec didn't seem to really editorialize in this one, to counter the idea that they tried to clean up/keep the good guys good. The establish/maintain that the same King that founded the Holy Forest and gathered light/started their society was the one who became a tyrant. They could've easily explained away the Lich boss as a corrupt high priest if they wanted to.
I'm maintaining that there are two separate Kings over time because 1) the assassination is described as happening in a time of upheaval/chaos. The Ancient King was very clearly sealed away by his society as evidenced by the epitaph on his door so it could not have happened without anyone knowing and his Lich state makes me think he was alive as he was trapped there. 2) there is an entire structure/puzzle built to keep the releasing ring to his room, locked away, that can't have all been built during or after an upheaval.
Therefore if it was not the intent, it is a reasonable misunderstanding on Agetec part (again as I understand it from this exchange the assassination part was in the original script)
@@cyberninjazero5659 On the King's Field reddit, someone a few days ago uploaded a scan of the Shadow Tower guidebook! I haven't gone through it yet, myself, but should be good! Chatting with another friend of mine who is playing the JA version, they've confirmed that all the names of the Demons are changed which leads me to believe Durin is a LOTR reference, haha. And that Rurufon has always been Rurufon.
And def., fair. I think with the theme of trying to strike balance, and that our Princeling finally *does* that the idea that too much Dark or too much Light both lead to calamities or sorts of corruption. Lich King being obsessed and the Path of Light being as it is complete with Golems using fake MLSes.
But for sure, the Agetec localization is... strange. Cus there's a correct script out there that they just cherry pick changes into. Like KFII-J which gets them in trouble with III-J lol.
@@casitive I used to think During was a LOTR reference but the name shows up again in this game (and not for the dwarf, but the man who buys a map and dies in a BS way in the church/temple) so probably another Forum name. Speaking of, are the dwarf/dwarfling enemies actually called that in the Japanese? I ask because as we saw in the King's Field games, Fromsoft used actual/standard Dwarves before. "Rurufon" well Agetec renamed her Auriel but I guess you mean that she had the same Japanese name in Abyss.
Also I just found this out but Agetec proper wasn't in charge of Fromsoft games until Shadow Tower, ASCII Entertainment handled the PS1 KF games. Obviously this is all ASCII but how much the staff remained vs changed and how they changed operations as their own splinter division is something to consider. That and since KF had to be translated in the middle of it's trilogy some changes for the sake of the unaware audience had to be made
On mobile so short: I have to check the book on the dwarf question. Rurufon is Rurufon in both games, correct. On this note, I should look up Dybbuk’s real name; he was renamed to a Jewish malicious spirit. Ascii entertainment is Agetec. Agetec is actually an acronym meaning Ascii Game Entertainment Technology. They took that name when ascii spun them off to an independent unit. Business tomfoolery basically. They attempted that once before with the name Asciiware but for some reason didn’t stick and thus this is why there are like two prints of the KF US long box in a year because the og longboxes only were around for a year.
Is there any art on how prince Devian looks like?
If there is, I've never found it. It's not uncommon for there to *be* art for characters you've never seen. To be sure John Alfred and Alex do get official in game portraits. And some of the Armored Core 1 Pilots get drawings too -- even though 9Ball is an AI and isn't actually human, even. But I've never seen Devian get an official portrait.
@@casitivedo You think a King s Field 5 is considered?I mean, in 2025 it will have 20 Years of franchise
@@deathdragonz9762 It's been asked of Miyazaki before, and he quietly deflected the question. It's safe to say that Miyazaki respects Zin's work on this series too much to bring it back without Zin's input. So, I don't think this is returning.
@@casitive mhhh, i get It
Anyway, what are additional 1 and 2?
Good video
Thank you!
Great video. It's nice to be able to compare the Japanese and English side-by-side. It's too bad you started fading between them later on, though.
Please excuse my pedantic commentary below.
10:20 You mean "Wiktionary", not "Wikitionary". Rhymes with dictionary. Same number of syllables.
35:55 That's not the father. The father is the one under the caved-in rubble. You get one of the stones of life from his corpse. The irony is that he found the stone but was unable to escape the mine.
44:30 Ophidians aren't just named for a type of snake; "ophidian" literally means snake in Ancient Greek.
54:47 There are actually three reapers in the game. In fact two of them are right next to each other outside the church.
In the description, you mean "whose influence", not "who's influence".
NTSC is a video standard, not a region. By "NTSC script" you mean North America. Japan also used NTSC.
I want to add that the PAL version was developed by Metro 3D. Besides having slower movements, it contains its own adaptation in English of the game, and also adaptations in Spanish, French, German and Italian. All the adaptations of the PAL version are... absolute nonsense and wrong in everything (translation, grammar, voice acting, etc.). The intro in Italian, for example, is so bad that it has become a meme in the Italian fandom of From Software's games.
My mind just got blown. Just how the frenzied flame ending starts dark souls, the dark lord ending in dark souls starts kingsfield - then the darkness consumes everything, then gets locked away going to chaos, cycle of agony walking through poison swamps.
Miyazaki said on multiple ocassions that none of From's games share a universe unless they come from the same franchise.
Hey.. um... quick question. Will you marry me? 😂 I love this game so much. so many memories. was the first game i got for ps2
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Fromsoft needs to bring this series back for one last hurrah. They can do it.