King's Field: The Ancient City

"Kings Field IV, A dungeon Crawl with a Difference"

When reading this review of Kings Field IV, please keep in mind that its the Japanese version of the game.

One of the ultimate dungeon crawls has finally made it to Play Station 2.

History: The Kings Field game series started in Japan in the late 1980's with, of course, kings field I. The graphics were very representative of their time but it was a very playable game. The game was followed by KF 2 and 3 after a few years. The second and third games were exported to the U.S. but were labeled KF1 and 2 respectively. In both countries the game developed a small cult following. The company, From Software, tried to indulge the requests for another game in the series with the introduction of Shadow Tower. A game extremely similar, if not almost the same as KF. When PS 2 was launched From Software had one of the first games for the new system, Eternal Ring, which, again, was another variation of Kings Field. Finally, they have gotten the idea what the fans really want! Kings Field IV plays exactly the same as it previous namesakes but with one or two elements from its dungeon crawling cousins.

Game Play: The game is played from a first person perspective. The object is simple, explore dungeons, collect objects, battle monsters, talk to characters and explore, explore, explore.

Story: Due to this reviewers lack of Japanese, there is no translation of the story. However, you can play the game without knowing anything.

Screen : The game on PS 2 is a grade up from the other games in the series. Nice textures, characters finally have visible faces, buildings and other environments really look well done. Not as beautiful as Eternal Ring but the graphics add an element of being in a real dungeon.The start of the game lets you adjust the level of darkness for optimal effect. Whatever brightness you set it to, some objects, as with previous KF games, sadly blend into the ground.
Rating:9/10

Controls: Very simple to use and familiar for players of the game. You can adjust the buttons as you see fit (except the joysticks (?). Despite From Software's improvements in the series a few things have remained the same or gotten slightly worse. To turn 180 degrees takes a slow and methodical touch. The ''event'' button is one of the games annoyances. Previous KF games only required you to be in the proximity of an object to pick it up or to get information. Sadly, in this version you must be right on top of something for the button to work. Sometimes it doesnt and you have to approach something from various angles and repeatedly whack the event button before any sort of display appears.
Rating:6/10

Battle: Battle is also very simple. You can change weapons, check each weapons stats (from Shadow Tower) and enjoy the various ''wind slicing'' noises each one makes. A new item that has been added is that monsters block or have attacks deflected off of them. This makes the game a bit more difficult when battling.
Rating: 8/10

Monsters: Once again, lots from preceding games, some are copies from Shadow Tower and a few from Eternal Ring. Tons of new ones too!

What's good? Cool dungeon feeling graphics, improved menus (especially the ability to buy multiple items all at once), Magic that levels up, a nice balance of just the right amount of weapons, items, and characters, Miles of things to explore, an underwater section (small), load times are fast.

Whats bad? response with the event button, only a few outside environments, some items still blend into the ground.

New to the game? Kings Field is designed for gamers who like the thrill of exploration, trial and error and dungeon battle role play games. It soon becomes highly addictive. Kings field is not a game you can finish in a weekend. Some casual gamers might be turned off by the fact that it is a long game.

Rent or Buy? If you rent it, you may find yourself not finishing it in the time allowed by your local shop. You may not want to take it back until you finish. Rent only if you want to try and see if you like this style of game. If your a fan of dungeon exploration games you may want to consider buying it.

Replay? Once you finish there is always something you find out later you missed or went around. You may find yourself loading up your old memory card to check out things later. Very few people will ever take the time to replay the whole thing. Replay: 2/10

Rating? for fans of the game its a welcome sight, only a few minor technical flaws. It seems as if the creators have finally made a nice balance of everything that fans love about the game plus improvements with menus, magic and miles to explore. 9 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/01, Updated 10/14/01