King's Field III

Last updated
King's Field III
Kingsfield3 cover.jpg
Japanese box art
Developer(s) FromSoftware
Publisher(s)
Producer(s) Naotoshi Zin
Programmer(s) Eiichi Hasegawa
Writer(s) Toshiya Kimura
Shinichiro Nishida
Series King's Field
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release
  • JP: June 21, 1996
  • NA: November 20, 1996 [1]
Genre(s) Action role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

King's Field III [lower-alpha 1] is a 1996 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. [2] It is the third entry in the King's Field series and the last one for the original PlayStation. [3]

Contents

The game was released on June 21, 1996 in Japan by FromSoftware and November 20, 1996 in North America by ASCII Entertainment. It was not released in PAL territories. The English-language version was renumbered and retitled King's Field II, [4] because the original King's Field was not released outside Japan.

Plot

The player takes the role of Verdite prince Lyle (ライル・ウォリシス・フォレスター) as he struggles to uncover the reasons behind his father Jean's sudden descent into madness and restore his kingdom.

Gameplay

As in previous King's Field series titles, Gameplay mostly involves first-person battles, puzzle solving and exploration. The game takes place mostly in significant stretches of land above the ground, with the exception of some dungeons. [5] Players can teleport between the different cities from the map screen. [6]

Reception

Reviews for King's Field III widely praised the massive size of the game world and the resulting longevity, [8] [9] [10] and criticized the slowness of the character movement and combat. [8] [10] [11] Otherwise, however, critics were divided about the game. Of the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly , Shawn Smith praised several of the game's elements but found its gameplay too tedious, Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer recommended it for its first person approach and various improvements over the previous installment, and Sushi-X criticized that the game is ahead of its time, using a design which would make a good future for RPGs but runs much too slow on contemporary hardware. [8] A GamePro critic noted the improvements over King's Field II but judged that the slow, unbalanced combat remained a crippling flaw, remarking that "everything onscreen looks like it's moving underwater. A melee round against a low-level creature can take up to five minutes to complete." He concluded by expressing hope that there would be no further games in the series. [11] Greg Kasavin of GameSpot also felt the improvements over King's Field II were insufficient, but primarily because they added up to more of a refinement of the original formula than a new direction. He concluded, "The first King's Field was an excellent game, and its like-minded sequel is even better. This is an exciting, non-linear journey filled to the brim with swords, sorcery, and secrets." [9] Next Generation said that the combination of the action and RPG genres results in the game being shallow and dull by the standards of both genres, though they felt it could still be worthwhile for players who don't mind its slow pace. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kingusu Fīrudo Surī (キングスフィールドIII)

Related Research Articles

<i>Soul Edge</i> 1996 video game

Soul Edge is a 1996 fighting game developed and published by Namco, and the first installment in the Soulcalibur series. Introduced at the JAMMA trade show in November 1995, the full arcade game was released in February 1996 on System 11 hardware, the same board used by Tekken and Tekken 2. Later in December an upgraded and expanded version of the game was ported to the PlayStation; this version was renamed to Soul Blade outside Japan and released in 1997.

<i>Einhänder</i> 1997 video game

Einhänder is a scrolling shooter developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It was released in Japan on November 20, 1997 and in North America on May 5, 1998. It was also re-released for the Japanese PlayStation Network on June 25, 2008. The name Einhänder is German and denotes a type of sword that is wielded with one hand, here used to refer to the single manipulator arm possessed by the player's spacecraft.

<i>Dragon Force</i> 1996 video game

Dragon Force is a real-time strategy and role-playing video game from Sega created for the Sega Saturn. It was created in Japan and translated for North American release by Working Designs in 1996, a translation that was also used by Sega in Europe under license from Working Designs. The game's main selling point was that battles involve up to 200 soldiers fighting on screen in real time, causing them to be often likened to the battle scenes in the then-recent film Braveheart.

<i>Magic Knight Rayearth</i> (video game) 1995 video game for the Sega Saturn

Magic Knight Rayearth is a Japanese video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn in 1995. It is an action role-playing video game based on the anime series of the same title. Though one of the first games for the Saturn, it became the last Saturn game released in North America, chiefly due to its prolonged internationalization and localization. The game was released in North America by Working Designs in 1998.

<i>Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean</i> 1996 video game

Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean is a role-playing video game produced by Sunsoft for the Sega Saturn. It was originally made for the Super NES, and ported to the Saturn late in its development. Released in Japan in August 1996, the game was made available in North America in July 1997 by Working Designs.

<i>Puzzle Bobble 3</i> 1996 arcade game

Puzzle Bobble 3 is an action puzzle video game developed by Taito. The second sequel to Puzzle Bobble, it was released for arcades in September 1996 and later ported to the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. Like its predecessors, the player is tasked with shooting balls at groups of balls, creating groups of three or more, which are then removed from play. Further ports for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released in February 2023 by City Connection alongside Puzzle Bobble 2.

<i>Beyond the Beyond</i> 1995 role-playing video game

Beyond the Beyond, known in Japan as Beyond the Beyond: Harukanaru Kanān e, is a 1995 role-playing video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. Though not the first role-playing game released for the PlayStation, Beyond the Beyond was the first RPG available in the west for the console using a traditional Japanese RPG gameplay style like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Phantasy Star. The characters were designed by manga artist Ami Shibata of Papuwa fame.

<i>Dark Savior</i> 1996 video game

Dark Savior is a 3D mixed-genre video game for the Sega Saturn created by Climax Entertainment. It was referred to by GameSpot as a sequel to the developer's game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, even though the games' storylines are unrelated and their gameplay is considerably different.

<i>Time Commando</i> 1996 video game

Time Commando is an action-adventure video game developed by Adeline Software and published by Electronic Arts in Europe, Activision in America, and Virgin Interactive Entertainment and Acclaim Entertainment (Saturn) in Japan.

<i>Test Drive: Off-Road</i> 1997 video game

Test Drive Off-Road is a racing video game developed by Elite Systems and published Accolade for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation.

<i>The Granstream Saga</i> 1997 role-playing video game

The Granstream Saga is an action role-playing game developed by Shade, a development team in Quintet and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is an intended spiritual successor to their previous Super NES titles, Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma. The game was released in Japan in November 1997, North America in June 1998 by THQ and Europe in February 1999.

<i>Kings Field</i> (video game) 1994 action role-playing video game

King's Field is a 1994 action role-playing game developed and published by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. It was FromSoftware's debut video game project after developing business software for eight years, as well as the first game in what would become the King's Field series; this first title was only released in Japan, with the follow-up, King's Field II (1995) releasing globally as simply King's Field. In the game, the player navigates a vast underground labyrinth to discover the source of an invasion of monsters. Attacking and using spells are tied to a stamina meter, which is depleted with each action and must refill before the player can act again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlayStation Mouse</span> Input device for the PlayStation

The PlayStation Mouse is an input device for the PlayStation that allows the player to use a mouse as a method of control in compatible games. The mouse was released in Japan on December 3, 1994, the launch date of the PlayStation.

<i>Reel Fishing</i> 1996 video game

Reel Fishing is a series of fishing video games by Natsume Inc. The first game, Reel Fishing, was released for the PlayStation in 1996. Originally a localization of Victor Interactive Software's Fish Eyes series from Japan, Natsume Inc. has since diverged from that series to create their own games.

<i>Shadow Tower</i> 1998 video game

Shadow Tower is a 1998 action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. The game was originally released in Japan by FromSoftware on June 25, 1998 and in North America by Agetec on November 23, 1999. Shadow Tower shares many similarities with the King's Field series of video games. A sequel, Shadow Tower Abyss, was released for the PlayStation 2 exclusively in Japan.

<i>Kings Field II</i> 1995 video game

King's Field II is a 1995 action role-playing game developed by Japanese company FromSoftware for the PlayStation as the second entry in the King's Field series and the first one to be released internationally. It was originally released in Japan in July 1995, followed by releases in North America and PAL territories by ASCII Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment respectively, retitled to King's Field.

<i>Kings Field IV</i> 2001 video game

King's Field IV, released in North America as King's Field: The Ancient City is a 2001 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth entry in the King's Field series. It was released in North America by Agetec in 2002 and in Europe by Metro3D in 2003.

<i>Kings Field</i> Video game series

King's Field is an action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware. Titles in this series have been released for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, and various mobile phone platforms.

<i>Capcom Fighting Evolution</i> 2004 video game

Capcom Fighting Jam, released in the US as Capcom Fighting Evolution, is a 2004 head-to-head fighting game from Capcom. It was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Namco System 246 hardware and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game features characters from three different incarnations of the Street Fighter series, as well as characters from the Darkstalkers series and the CPS III arcade game Red Earth, with each character employing the fighting system from the game which they represent.

<i>Excalibur 2555 AD</i> 1997 video game

Excalibur 2555 AD is an action-adventure game developed by Fish (UK) and Tempest and published by Sir-Tech for the PlayStation and Windows in 1997.

References

  1. ↑ Jane Cowley (1996-10-31). "The King's Armada Has Arrived! King's Field II Releases November 20". The Free Library. Archived from the original on 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  2. 1 2 "キングスフィールド III [PS] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  3. ↑ "KING'S FIELD III". PlayStation™Store. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  4. ↑ "King's Field 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 87. Ziff Davis. October 1996. p. 98. King's Field 2 (actually, it's King's Field 3 in Japan) ...
  5. ↑ Krishna Lal, Arjun (2021-06-11). "King's Field Retrospective: Exploring the Roots of Elden Ring and Dark Souls". TechSpot. Archived from the original on 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  6. ↑ "King's Field II: The Moonlight Sword Is Missing - Again". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 88. Ziff Davis. November 1996. pp. 236–7.
  7. ↑ "King's Field II for PlayStation". GameRankings . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Review Crew: King's Field 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 90. Ziff Davis. January 1997. p. 68.
  9. 1 2 3 Kasavin, Greg (December 1, 1996). "King's Field II Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "King's Field II". Next Generation . No. 26. Imagine Media. February 1997. p. 122.
  11. 1 2 Art Angel (December 1996). "King's Field II". GamePro . No. 99. IDG. p. 204.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.