King's Field

THE GOOD:
Good graphics, 10+ hrs game play, secrets to find

THE BAD:
Frame rate is variable, not a huge amount of equipment, replay value decreases once the secrets are found, steep learning curve

SUMMARY:
King's Field is a first person "shooter" in the fantasy genre. The game revolves around a shipwrecked soldier (you) in search of the King's holy sword. Thus you begin your quest to explore the island with nothing more than a dagger.

The player will first notice how difficult it is to get situated. Many creatures and traps within the first two minutes of the game can kill the player outright. Once the player learns from these deaths, the character can be built strong enough to survive future traps and enemies quite easily. Fortunately, game balance is on target after the first 15 minutes of play. King's Field's difficulty lies usually in figuring out what to do next or how to use certain items and not...

Wow, I can't believe I still remember when I first got this game. The memory of waiting for its release while it was delayed is stilled etched into my mind. It was my first year of college and I had owned the Playstation since its first day of release. Desperate and hungry for new games, I read every single game magazine that I could get my hands on, all in search of something new. It was then that I came across an article about a game called King's Field (which is actually King's Field II in Japan). The more I read about this game, the more I knew I had to have it. Imagine an RPG that plays like Doom. The concept was mind-boggling! So when I finally came out, I skipped class, bought it, and went straight to my apartment to play my first taste of something new...

Though the story is much more complex then I am about to describe it to you, it revolves around a man called Alexander. Alexander is the friend of a King who is a great hero. The king has lost a legendary sword that...

First I never heard of this game or series beforehand so I didn't know what to expect. It sort of surprized me a bit.

Graphics: 6/10
The graphics weren't too shabby for their time, of course if you compare them to say, your latest high powered Dreamcast, PS2 or PC games they look sad but this game was first gen on PS so you gotta cut it some slack. In game its all done in first person, and everything is 3D (enemies, NPCs, and items) the textures and 3D models are a little bland and the colour scheme is boring (wow 50 shades of grey and brown..) well at least you can tell what stuff is supposed to be at least. The frame rate is okay, but it does tend to chunk down in certain areas, truly the graphics arent the best thing about this game but the one this that is good about this game visually is the size. Wow this is one huge world! lots of different places to go and different stuff to see, you can easily get lost in this place and you can see quite far into the...

THE GOOD:
complex non-linear world, chalenging puzzles to solve and plenty of monsters/traps to keep you on the edge of your seat (best played in the dark)

THE BAD:
The instructional booklet does'nt give enough info and once in the game finding out what items do is often impossible.

SUMMARY:
Well rouded game with enough mystery to keep you coming back for more and difficult to make you want to bang your head once in a while.
(now if I could just finish the darned thing I could finaly get back to work, My boss must be wondering if I'm still alive).