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[TintoConCasera]

Been playing this on my PS2 and I'd love to have some chat around it. Game's great, it sure has surpassed my expectations even to the point where I'm considering playing the PS1 games.

There are many reviews out there so I'll just share some quick thoughts:

On the positive side, game's world is amazing. Not just from a technical point of view (no load screens on a PS2 game? nice!) but it also reeks of atmosphere left and right, thanks to it's level design and a very good OST. Game's about exploring the underground Ancient City, something you start doing from it's top level and then keep going down as you start opening paths to other areas, having the City as a sort of hub. There's lots of interconnectivity here, and I really recommend this game to fans of the first Dark Souls game as it scratches a similar itch when it comes to that, being much better in that regard than either DS2 or DS3.

The game also has a ton of secrets, hidden paths and optional areas in which acquire better gear and spells, which there are a ton of. The progression is very nice since you are getting new stuff at a very fast pace, which helps in keeping the game interesting and fresh.

On the not so positive side, the game's combat is kinda jank, but also kinda fun. On the fun side, the combat is slow and methodical, one in which you have to position yourself with care and only strike when you should. On the negative, the enemy AI is dumb beyond belief, many times they would ignore me and turn around leaving their backs exposed, or shot their projectiles to god knows where instead of aiming at the player.

All this results on an easy game, which is a surprise considering who developed it. You might get stuck at some point but it'll be more about not knowing how to progress (which isn't that hard as long as you are paying attention while playing) rather than not being able to beat a particular enemy.

What has surprised me when it comes to the combat is the bosses. They are well designed and offered some interesting and even challenging moments.

So yeah, even with it's flaws I could say this is an amazing game. What do you think of it? Have you played any other games in the series or it's sort of spin-off Shadow Tower? What other games could you recommend that are kinda like it?

 

[bender]

Weird timing on this thread. Someone here recently shared this video which I've been watching during my daily GT7 marathon grinds.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Weird timing on this thread. Someone here recently shared this video which I've been watching during my daily GT7 marathon grinds.

Not so weird lol, I saw that same post and that same video is what got me in the mood of trying out the game.

And man has it been worth it.

 

[linko9]

Played this game soon after Dark Souls came out. Really enjoyed it, but it's a huge leap in game design from this to Demon's Souls. My biggest issue was actually the difficulty curve. Started out great, very similar to my first experience with Demon's Souls. You need to be careful, take every combat encounter seriously, but no cheap deaths once you figure out the basics. But as the game goes on, you get overpowered, and the difficulty is completely gone. Glad they were able to address that issue with the souls games.

Main thing it does better than souls: music. Proves that there's no reason to not have an actual soundtrack for this kind of game.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Played this game soon after Dark Souls came out. Really enjoyed it, but it's a huge leap in game design from this to Demon's Souls. My biggest issue was actually the difficulty curve. Started out great, very similar to my first experience with Demon's Souls. You need to be careful, take every combat encounter seriously, but no cheap deaths once you figure out the basics. But as the game goes on, you get overpowered, and the difficulty is completely gone. Glad they were able to address that issue with the souls games.

100% agree. Biggest issue imo is being able to just pause the game and heal at any given moment. This wouldn't be an issue if curatives where scare, but the moment you get the healing spell all that item management goes out the window.

 

[Ceadeus]

Thanks for the impression. I've often think about playing it at last but then only to forget about its existence!

it's a series that should definitely get a fresh coat of paint and release as remasters on the Switch.

For anyone who doesn't know about it, Arx Fatalis is also a really good dungeon crawler RPG.

 

[tommib]

Legendary game. Specially when you take into account it came out in 2001. Massive atmospheric world with no loading screens. Music has that kind of Metroid electronic otherworldly thing going on. Beautiful melodies. Full of secrets and interconnectedness.

Amazing dungeons with no end in sight and some creepy creature designs. Puzzles are everywhere. I wish From would go back to this design instead of the clusterfuck of get gud insufferable and interminable boss fights.

Less is more, From. Tone it down. Bring the slow hypnotic atmosphere back.

 

[Crayon]

I always thought it was weird that I never played this given the slim pickings in ps2's first year.

I got ahold of King's Field (2) within a week of the US psx launch and it fucking blew me away. It was my no-going-back moment. Nothing to that point had made my snes feel so old so fast.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

And I thought I was being hipster playing Mister Mosquito on ps+ recently.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Legendary game. Specially when you take into account it came out in 2001. Massive atmospheric world with no loading screens. Music has that kind of Metroid electronic otherworldly thing going on. Beautiful melodies. Full of secrets and interconnectedness.

Amazing dungeons with no end in sight and some creepy creature designs. Puzzles are everywhere. I wish From would go back to this design instead of the clusterfuck of get gud insufferable and interminable boss fights.

Less is more, From. Tone it down. Bring the slow hypnotic atmosphere back.

Man do I wish they would go back to this kind of slower, more methodical dungeon crawling.

Imo their later games have gone too much into action. Even Dark Souls was a bit slower, and something I loved about that game was that you could feel the weight of the armor both when walking and fighting. DS3 to me felt just like Bloodborne but in full plater armor, which felt weird.

Also yes, puzzles should make a comeback too. Hard bosses are a nice challenge but hard puzzles should be there as well.

 

[Gaiff]

Tried it. Cannot get into it. Way way too janky. It's even more jank than Morrowind. Great atmosphere though.

 

[wipeout364]

I really liked that game when I played it on PS2 at release. I remember it felt super slow when I played it but it’s been a long time. It probably feels pretty terrible now but I would love a remaster with a little faster movement/framerate, faster loading and just clean up the graphics a little bit. .

 

[TintoConCasera]

Tried it. Cannot get into it. Way way too janky. It's even more jank than Morrowind. Great atmosphere though.

I really liked that game when I played it on PS2 at release. I remember it felt super slow when I played it but it’s been a long time. It probably feels pretty terrible now but I would love a remaster with a little faster movement/framerate, faster loading and just clean up the graphics a little bit. .

Yeah I think the worst offender for a new player is how slow the game is. You walk slow and you turn around veeeery slow.

Thing is the combat seems designed around that, so a possible remaster would need to tune up the enemy speed as well.

Anyway, a remaster could be cool but honestly, hope they bring un King's Field V some day. One can hope specially after the release of Armored Core VI.

 

[IAmRei]

I want to love the kings series, but the combat animation are too slow, even for real human, in my logic. I think, someday if I had more time, will try it.

If there is remaster, i wish there will be faster attack animation...