King's Field IV: The Ancient City
Level 54, 24h55m (IGT 21:33), All Magic but one Dark Crystal collected. Obtained full Sealed Gear set, thorough exploration.
From Malanat to Heladin, oh have I traveled through the furthest depths of despair.
The greatest sin of a King's Field game is that the epic journey has to end at some point. Starting in November 2021 of last year, I finally tackled Shadow Tower Abyss which kicked off my spiral into this mountain of gold classics. Long have I heard and seen that both King's Field and Shadow Tower are very much the fathers of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, but calling these merely the blueprints would be selling them short, as they are each their own epic journeys filled with amazing dungeons and worlds to explore. KF4 is up there with the greats. While the Gamecube had the likes of the atmospheric and dense sci-fi masterpiece Metroid Prime, the PS2 had this obscure relic. And yet so few know that King's Field was doing this nearly a decade prior before Prime.
It was a joy to work myself up to KF4 and the more advanced hardware of the PSX trilogy. KF4 is without a doubt the most atmospheric of them all and really one of the best on the PS2, period. The increased fidelity, detailed models of characters and monsters, the incredible soundtrack complementing every area, and lighting/destructible effects that wouldn't have been possible in the previous entries makes KF4, feels very much like what they always envisioned the early games to be and the concept come to life. It's an impressively crafted game once you grapple the controls. Perhaps one of the main things holding some daring newcomers back from these games is getting accustomed to the archaic first person controls. But once you give them a fair sampling, you don't really second guess it so much after awhile.
Difficulty wise KF4 might be the most balanced of them all. It starts off with some sharp teeth and the usual reversed difficulty curve for games of this type. But even in the end game, some of the later monsters were still hitting me like a truck. Healing was never an issue though with how much gold you have to spare for items, but you couldn't be lazy about the encounters either.
While this one predates Shadow Tower Abyss by two years, it is fascinating that KF4 feels very much like a culmination of all the ideas from both franchises. This one felt very much like a Metroid/Igavania, with the main path usually being pretty obvious, with branching paths along the way. And eventually you reach this entries iconic Central Tower hub world that connects to other dungeons and areas. The domain that connects all of this world together. A concept that was Shadow Tower's main focus. Like all good Metroidvania's, you eventually unlock shortcuts to and from the multitude of areas, get new items like Warp Stones that make backtracking even easier, and so forth. I've now watched a world record speedrun of the game done in a surprising ~2 hours. So like a lot of those games, you can really min/max your way through if you've mastered the game. A first timer would probably sink 20-30 hours at least in this though. But my prior knowledge of all the KF's and ST's helped me adjust to this one immediately. Nothing was super new about KF4 but that's not a knock on it either. This was them perfecting that formula with mesmerizingly excellent level design.
Is it my favorite? Well, I think for now I'll take the cheap way out of such a question and say I love KF2, KF3, and KF4 all about equally for their own strengths.
KF2 = The most surreal and abrasively interlinked/complex level design, while also spoiling you early on with how smooth and fast this one runs compared to the rest. You'd almost think you're playing a PC release with an unlocked framerate.
KF3 = Still probably both the most epic and foreboding journey of them all for me. The scope of KF3 feels massive compared to the rest. The most dungeons, the most NPC's/towns, the most gear, etc, with end game surprises that returning fans will absolutely love. And while I love some of KF2's bizarre OST, KF3 is the first one that nails a cohesive style and is incredible from start to finish.
KF4 = As mentioned above, KF4 is easily the most atmospherically rich installment. And while maybe not feeling quite as big as KF3 in ways, it's more meticulously claustrophobic with supreme interwoven level design. Scarce NPC's, no real towns, one could certainly argue KF4 is the most "horror" of them all and loneliest journey. Its OST is on the same level as KF3's. Amazing.
To put a number on them, they're all borderline 10/10 experiences.
I feel melancholic having completed them all and KF4 now, I think that's an apt way to put it. I'm beyond satisfied to now have experienced such incredibly unique games. But like a lot of franchises born on the PSX with a slew of releases, I'm envious that we only got one main KF on the PS2. The thought of another sequel or two... well, we can always dream.
Story wise and all as a more stand alone entry, this could be a good first KF for new players who prefer nicer graphics, smoother gameplay and all. But whichever one is first will be the hardest in many ways, be prepared. Hardcore fans of modern FromSoftware who still enjoy the glory of retro gaming, Metroidvania's, dungeon crawling, and classic immersive sims in the vein of Ultimate Underworld, System Shock, Thief, etc, owe themselves to give these fine games a chance.
My personal unresolved mysteries of KF4:
- Missing 1 Dark magic
- NPC who needed poison? Widda water cave
- Young girl disappeared? Dog went back home from the prison
I can see myself replaying this and the other KF's throughout the years.