This is a great King’s Field game in terms of accessibility, but King’s Field 2 and 3 (JP) are where the real DNA is at. KF3 Pilot Style is kinda cool but ultimately just feels like a romhack of the 3rd game. Which I guess it kinda is, it is a demo that a really small number of fans got, and it has differences from King’s Field 3.
King’s Field is a slow game. It is designed to be played slow and to progress slow, not so dissimilar to the best games in the Survival Horror genre like Resident Evil 1, Silent Hill 1-4, Kuon, Haunting Ground, etc. Making any part of it faster detracts from the overall experience. My biggest recommendation for people playing King’s Field is to play it the way it was designed. Use the original controls, don’t use speed hacks to make the game faster or run with a higher framerate (doing this easily makes the game uncontrollable), and get out a trusty pen and notepad. The reward from completing the game in this way is not even remotely comparable to looking everything up online or using cheats to make it easier, plus you get a fun souvenir for your time with the game at the end. If you aren’t going to enjoy the game like this, then King’s Field just isn’t for you, as it will have other inconveniences you will absolutely find annoying enough to drop the game for. And that’s okay, not every game is designed for every person on the planet to enjoy.
As far as games similar to King’s Field, many claim to be similar but are actually not. The only game that looks truly similar is Monomyth, but that has some significant deviances from the KF formula as well.
Lunacid is not realy much like King’s Field IMO, it is Shadow Tower, but not Shadow Tower Abyss (which was way better IMO than the original in basically every way). Personally, I did not really like Lunacid that much. I was sold on the game by the idea that it was a faithful successor to King’s Field, but it just isn’t. Too much of the game is different, to the point that I would say the only similarity is that the game is a first person RPG and that it features a bubble compass. The theme, setting, gameplay pacing, and characters are more fittingly Shadow Tower. Also, the anime style characters stick out compared to the rest of the game’s art style. I love anime, but felt that the game should have featured more realistic/stylized-realistic characters like in King’s Field. The music was also very much Shadow Tower and did not sound like King’s Field.
Also, I am fairly sure Sword of Moonlight has received fan updates in order to keep it running on modern operating systems.
*** I am doing the same! Again, thank you for your comments! :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
I haven’t gotten to the first or second game just yet, as I will be backtracking from the more refined, and as you said, more accessible games to the older titles as those will play more similar to the games I’ve found that used the toolkit for their creation! As you said, the website I linked to for the toolkit is the website hosted by the gracious person who took their time and love of the King’s Field series and used it to improve the engine!
I understand what you mean by the game being purposefully built for the slow gameplay, but that just isn’t how I want to spend my time as someone who doesn’t have a lot of free time. That means that if I can, I will increase the walking speed, the combat speed, or whatever else I need to do to make the game more enjoyable for me, such as being able to use the right analog stick to move the camera. I’m not in it for the slow pacedness of it, I am in it for the exploration, level design, and over feel the games provide. I think it is awesome that people choose to play these games as there were meant to be played, and as you said, would even recommend it for those that want that challenge! I know there are others like me though, and that means that if it can help them enjoy the game for themselves, why try to invalidate their enjoyment? We can both play the same game, and talk about the level design, the secrets, and the atmosphere, while still being able to enjoy the game in our own preferred way. That’s part of the fun of gaming after all! Some play on easy, others play on the hardest difficulty, and that’s just fine!
I am sorry to hear you didn’t like Lunacid that much, and while I agree the anime characters are pretty out there (and definitely not something I enjoyed seeing for the first time), you don’t see them often enough, or at least I didn’t through my entire 30 hour playthrough, where it became such an issue as to quit playing. Lunacid’s developer only mentioned it being inspired by King’s Field, and I think it took that inspiration very well. Maybe they changed the wording by the time it was fully released, but I never saw anything that said it was supposed to be a successor, only that it was heavily inspired. With that said, I understand what you were wanting, and I am sorry you did not get it. For a casual like myself, however, it was an absolute blast that made me go on to start playing King’s Field and Shadow Tower, mainly because there aren’t enough games like them!
As for the music, I am enjoying the music on King’s Field IV, I enjoyed the music on Lunacid, and I hope that when I get done with King’s Field IV, I’ll enjoy the music in Shadow Tower!
All in all, the limitations of the past are gone. I understand they were working with the technology of the time, and I love what they were able to accomplish. No loading screens on a PS2 game, let alone PS1, was such an amazing feat that I don’t think they get enough credit for! But, these limitations do not have to exist any longer, and I think people should be able to play any game, no matter if the developers are targeting a hardcore market or not, because I think limiting people from playing games is kind of sad. Video games are supposed to be an outlet, a hobby, something you can do to take your mind off of things or have a little escapism. If that means allowing them to play a game with more modern controls, as I have done for King’s Field IV, why should that bother anyone else? You can still play the game the way it was intended to, while I play it in a way that is more satisfying for me.
Again, thank you for the time and effort you put into your comment. I just want others to try these gems out too. :)
I definitely think ones wanting to get into King’s Field should work backwards from the 4th game. The storylines are not really that connected, and the farther back you go the more annoying certain users can find the lack of various features. 4 is a good start to see if someone will like the overall feeling of the game, and the farther back you go the more hardcore of a fan you are to like the games.
I wasn’t invalidating your way of playing, only mentioning my opinion that the reward is better if you play it the original way. Also, some may think that the modified experience is the way the game is supposed to be played when that isn’t the case.
Yeah, Lunacid wasn’t bad it just wasn’t what I was expecting. That and Kira and I just don’t get along, he tried to argue with me on Discord and I just didn’t care enough to argue back. As I said, it definitely felt far more like Shadow Tower, which isn’t a bad thing but it is disappointing to me to taste an orange when I bite into an apple.
The limitations may be gone, but for some games like King’s Field, the limitations are part of the games identity, IMO. And perhaps this is because I played the games in release order rather than reverse. For example, a big part of Resident Evil’s identity to me will always be fixed cameras and tank controls. To me, playing an RE game without them doesn’t give me the same experience as the ones that do. Games like RE4 and newer Resident Evil games just feel like action shooters, not survival horror. Which is fine, just different. They’re not made for me and that’s fine. I can have Crow County and Hollow Body instead.
I love King’s Field, and have enjoyed it even before YouTubers like Iron Pineapple, Josh Strife Hayes, and Majuular “popularized” them. It is exciting that more people are starting to play them, but it is also worrying in the same way that anything starting to go mainstream is worrying. The fear of the experience being watered down to the point that two players have vastly different experiences and cannot even communicate about the same game anymore.
I hope that my previous comment did not come of any way negative! I’d say that I’m rather bad about getting my thoughts across the web, unfortunately. I took no offense to your comment at all, and I apologize if I did come of that way.
See, I’m not even really into it for the story either! I know there is one, and I do digest the hints they’ve given along the way, interact with every character until they start repeating the same lines, and I always try to make sure to check every nook and cranny I can to not miss anything. I’ve just gotten past the Forest Golem, and all I know now is that the Wand is in the King’s Tomb, and that’s what I need to find next. I’m actually about to boot it up right after this comment!
Your opinion on beating it legitimately isn’t wrong, by any means, I think you’re right. The reason I included the controls snippet is to mention there is still a way to play for the people like me, or to someone with less patience for such a game. I did mention it wasn’t the correct way to play, and would put the enemies at a disadvantage. My main goal was to provide a means of entry for those that hear it’s so sluggish and has horrible camera controls (for someone in 2024, anyway).
I’m sorry to hear about you and Kira. I have never interacted with a game developer before, so I can’t really comment on that too much, unfortunately.
I think they can provide limitations while still making it accessible enough for someone who has never played a King’s Field game before, or even someone who can’t move their hands/fingers like another person can. I played the original Resident Evil games, and the new remakes even though they are not really my types of games. I thought they were both very good in their own rights. Sometimes the camera angles had more intense moments, and sometimes the over the shoulder view had more intense. While I see your point about changing the core of the game, and what games like Crow County are trying to recreate (on my Steam wishlist already!), it isn’t always a bad thing to change the games up. Seeing what they were able to accomplish on the PS1 is impressive, and seeing the same game (albeit refreshed in some ways) through a new lens is also interesting. I guess I just look at them as they are and what they are. They’re each their own entity, and I just go off of that. I’ve never heard of Hollow Body before, so I’ll look that up while I boot King’s Field up!
I can see that you do, and as a newcomer to the series, I can see why! I have always found that having more people to talk about a game with is more fun than it disappearing into obscurity and only lauded by a few who gave it a chance, even with what most would call some issues! Try to look at it this way, there will always be people like you who want it to be the purest version of a game they love, and that’s perfectly good! Allowing others to join in on that fun, and letting the love for the games/series grow is also a good thing. Look at Elden Ring. It is the purest form of Dark Souls mechanics, while also introducing loads of new and exciting things. More people played Elden Ring, thanks to previous games achievements, and the fervent fan base it has garnered. That is awesome! While the combat may not be as hard as Demon’s Souls was (it can be, but I feel like the older games were a bit harder, but maybe I just got better?), more people are able to play it thanks to the refinement and additions!
If FromSoftware were to revisit the King’s Field games, I know they would only improve upon, not tarnish, the series and allow new comers to play and enjoy it like they did with Elden Ring. :)
In the mean time, there are a few games I have wishlisted that will hopefully scratch that itch when I finish these games. Dead Wells, Mohrta, Verho, and Fiend’s Isle were the ones that seemed to get the closest! It’s such a niche genre, I hate that it’s not more popular!
It looks like I will be nearly the only dissenter here. I didn’t care for the game.
PROS:
The music and sound design were completely appropriate and fit the world.
An initially interesting story setup.
Some of the planets have a SUPER cool premise and are a joy to explore.
The DLC adds some much-needed (albeit mild) horror elements.
NEUTRALS:
Achievements are implemented, but are mostly for irrelevant side activities. Do you like using a guide to figure out how to get all the achievements? Well, you will have to.
CONS:
This is not an adventure game, this is a puzzle game first and foremost. If you are not down with figuring out hundreds of vague Dark Souls-style lore blurbs scattered all over in order to work out how to solve environmental puzzles to progress, do not get this game.
In the same vein, if you are not down with having a loop end before you’re done exploring an area only to have to trek all the way back there and go through everything all over again in case you missed something, do not get this game. This could be partially solved by having the logs you find on a planet permanently NOT GLOW any more after you had read their chain, or maybe a ship notice letting you know there were undecyphered texts on a planet still. I had to re-tread an astounding amount of ground just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
When your ship directs you to a planet that you need something from, the navigation on some of them is so obtuse that I found several places I could not find again even after dozens of visits to their planets. A map or better signposting would alleviate this.
The characters were deeply forgettable, and you are constantly inundated with dozens of gibberish alien names so unless you follow a lore guide or take notes, you’re not going to figure out who did what. And speaking of…
The story has a veneer of “pretty good sci-fi” but is told quite poorly. You will beat the game, get the incredibly lacklustre ending that doesn’t close out the story in any way, and watch one of many lore explanation videos that will make things click into place. The fact that the lore videos have SO MANY HITS is endemic of the fact that this is a narrative poorly delivered. You will find the lore in random order. If spread over multiple sessions like I played, this will mean you will not make some absolutely needed connections.
Many things do not make sense within the context of the world and there is no reason for them to be happening at the time except for the hand-waving “It’s a video game” excuse, which breaks immersion. Why only now is sand being moved from one planet to another at the beginning of a cycle? Why only now is one planet being broken by lava? These (and other that I can not speak about due to spoilers) are not explained - the systems have existed for ages and would have (and should have given the environments they set up) occurred before this, but because it makes for a more interesting setup, it all happens now.
The controls are… an acquired taste at best. Look at many of the negative reviews; many state the controls as an issue. There is a reason for this, even though I did become accustomed to them over time. I swapped to a controller and it was less bad. The keyboard and mouse controls are abysmal.
I played the final build after the DLC came out, and even this far in development, I had some severe bugs. Controls would get “stuck” and force a game restart, achievements didn’t unlock correctly, etc.
I wound up quitting because I didn’t know what to do next and didn’t care to watch yet another video to figure it out. There were hundreds of text logs that may or may not have been useful, and no idea how to find what was missing to help me progress without consulting guides, and it became too much. I eventually realized that I was just throwing time into a hole with nothing to show for it. It genuinely felt like it wanted me to give up and I couldn’t help but oblige. I just… stopped. I hated it. I kept doing the same thing over and over and eventually felt that I wasn’t enjoying anything. I hate the very concept of repetition as a game mechanic unless executed well; this wasn’t executed well.
Despite quitting, I have seen all the endings. The real ending is legitimately nonsense and is basically an appeal to emotion while leaving the reality of the universe behind. It abandons the premise with what can only be described as a narrative hug that does essentially nothing, but presents the veneer of “feel good.” It is nothing. It is empty. Everyone but me loves it for this, and I can’t figure out why.
CONCLUSION: Meh? I really don’t understand the adoration people have for this game. It’s a mediocre non-combat roguelike with about 3 hour of content they’ve spread over 20 hours. It feels very much like a case of style over substance. This game genuinely makes me sad. I really wanted to like it, but… ugh. It feels like work.
The alien names aren’t gibberish - they’re all mineral and plant names. Made it really easy for me to keep track of lore, actually, having something to tie the characters to conceptually. Absolutely true that it’s a puzzle game first and foremost.
Lenovo Explorer. I don’t play VR games really, but it’s fun when my little nephews visit (the A770 handles simple games like Beat Saber well). Outer Wilds in VR seemed like a good time to dust of the headset but it’s a bit too stuttery. I didn’t look for any type of fix or optimization though.
But if you’re serious about VR gaming Intel Arc is not a good idea for now. However on /r/intelarc some report good results, saying it varies from game to game.
I’m really struggling with this game. I got it on sale and played for 3+ hours, but somehow it didn’t grip me. It was really annoying having to constantly start over. Not trying to detract from other people’s experience of it.
On the one hand, if you don’t enjoy the game that’s fine. It’s a masterpiece, but that doesn’t magically mean that everyone will enjoy it.
That said, if you want to enjoy it more, focus on one thing per loop, everything is designed to be completable in a single loop, (or maybe a few for the more complicated puzzles if you get stuck). And if something is frustrating, do something else.
Things really go wrong if you keep smashing your head against a brick wall or if you keep jumping around and never manage to finish anything.
We’re trained to think of death as a major failure by other games, it’s not in this one, it’s just jumping back home, repairing the ship, and starting from a central location and a known state.
It’s a hard game to get into. Played for 2 hours on my first run and didn’t know where to go.
After 2 weeks or so I tried again because everyone was recommending it to me. Now it’s one of my favorites, even though it took another 2 hours before I had any idea what I was doing.
So one thing I didn’t realize right away is that in the ship there is a board where the game auto stores your discoveries detective-style. It really helps provide guidance when you feel like you’re out of leads or don’t know what to do.
The most common gripe I hear is the ship controls. It’s really designed for controller, and manual space flight is kind of pointless when the autopilot can do it so much better (as long as there’s nothing in the way).
It’s really a game about pulling threads until you find interesting things. The ship’s computer is useful for keeping track of the thread ends. Most places can be reached in a minute or so right from the main planet, although depending on where you’re going you might have to wait longer to get access to what you want. There isn’t really any “starting over” because what you’re gathering is knowledge in your own head.
I think the hardest part initially is finding an interesting thread to pull on. I think Giant’s Deep was where it started to click for me, but there’s undoubtedly more.
Once you finish it, it’s actually really fun watching other people’s playthroughs as well - getting to relive some of the moments vicariously through other people’s eyes is almost as much fun as experiencing them yourself the first time.
It’s also quite amazing just how different each playthrough can be, since the game is so non-linear, people take some crazy paths to get to the end ! It can be frustrating as well when someone just can’t see what is in front of their face though :)
There are also so many subtle elements scattered around that most people miss on their first playthrough, and watching someone else play it really made me appreciate many of the details I missed on my own playthrough and even make connections I didn’t before, and understand aspects of the story that I didn’t fully get the first time.
I have beat the game. I remember the gist of the solution, but I have no idea how to pull it off any more. I can’t wait to play it again, possibly with the VR mod.
When I got echoes of the eye, I was confused as to how to play it. Once I figured it out, my mind was blown for a second time. I wish, as others have said, I could re-experience this game.
I played this game and loved it but never finished it. I feel like I was either too dumb to figure out what to do next, or I could tell what I needed to do but couldn’t maneuver my ship/character well enough. Total skill issue on my part, though I intend to dive back in at some point.
Definitely this. It’s pretty easy to lookup exactly where you are and find mostly spoiler free walkthroughs or sometimes even hints. IIRC there are a few spots that a lot of people got hung up on.
Your ship computer shows hints and places you haven’t fully explored. Alternatively you could say where you are and helpful internet people can give you a nudge.
A friend begged me to play this and I just didn’t for a couple years despite owning it. Once I finally did it quickly became an all-time favorite. You should fix this yourself.
At first, the game will not make sense. But somewhere around the 20 minute mark (it varies depending on what you do) you will encounter The Event. It will happen. You will know it has happened. It will be, unmistakably, The Event. Nothing else could be The Event. Nothing else could possibly be as momentous as The Event. And then you will have your first real understanding of what the game is about, and it will be very, very exciting.
After that happens, look at the computer in the back of your ship (to the right as you enter). For the rest of the game this will be your most important tool. You’ll understand why. Once it happens.
But somewhere around the 20 minute mark (it varies depending on what you do) you will encounter The Event. It will happen. You will know it has happened. It will be, unmistakably, The Event. Nothing else could be The Event.
I love explanations like this, at first you don’t know what it might be, so anything could be the event, is this the event? No, is that the event? Also no. And then you come across the event and you just know, yes, that’s the event
If you’re particularly clever, you might see something before the event that makes you go, huh, that seems weird, I wonder why that is. And then the event happens and you’re like, ohh, it was the event! It was telling me the whole time!
if you haven’t played please don’t spoil yourself as The Outer Wilds is an incredible and enjoyable journey that many and I wish to experience for the first time again
this is a game classified in the legendary status
fellow mods; if possible I’d like to personally request a pin for silverchase’s post
one of my top favourite games of all time! And one of the two narrative experiences on that list that I can’t talk about with the “uninitiated” (other is Inscryption)
if you like space, and you like thinking - don’t look up anything about this game. Watch maybe 5 minutes of some gameplay if you’re hesitant.
Though a word of warning, this is a game that’ll take all of your focus, it’s very hard to play it with a YouTube video or a movie in playing the background. And yes the ship movement can feel clunky at first, you’ll get used to it don’t worry - the story is worth it
in my experience as a impatient person you simply need to make peace with the timer, it stings at first but then- i think thanks to Outer Wilds i can play souls likes now ::: spoiler because it shows clearly how death is simply a part of the learning experience, it’s not a failure :::
Whether or not it’s a failure, it’s a waste of time. Imagine if a relaxed open world game constantly interrupted you with cutscenes of your character falling over, slowly waking up, and trudging back to where they fell.
it’s not supposed to be a relaxing open world game though?
it’s the mystery of the entire game, why is this happening? how do i stop it? It’s also the basis of all main mechanics in the game, the entire world is on the clock, some things aren’t available at the start or become unavailable as the clock ticks. It’s not a pointless gimmick, it serves both a narrative and a mechanical purpose
But there HAVE been other games based around time loops that manage to avoid that frustration, for instance by letting you manually restart the loop yourself in a quick way, or giving other starting points.
Famous examples include Majora’s Mask, The Sexy Brutale, and others. I understand Outer Wilds tries to hold the trappings of its story around the loop being more sci-fi than magic/fantasy in nature, but that’s still a goal of the writers to wrap the rules of the world around mechanics that are fun to play.
I can even think of many games that gave themselves minor plotholes and odd exceptions to the “world rules” just so that the player could get through it more conveniently.
I have a friend who stopped for a whole other reason. But I can’t talk about it without revealing too much. But basically had to do with bramble and deep, things that don’t bother most people much, triggering some actual phobias.
en.wikipedia.org
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