King's Field III

Is kind of poetic how the King's Field PS1 trilogy emulates the first three parts of the best selling Souls franchise. King's Field 1 (JP) mirrors Demon's Souls in principles: it's a humble, yet ambitious little game with a lot of jankiness for its time but still stablished the basic norms of their game feel. King's Field 2 resembles Dark Souls, as it reimagines the simple beginnings to a more interconnected, breathtaking game world.

King's Field 3 acts as the Dark Souls 2 counterpart. It wants to be even greater, without leaving the giant steps of King's Field 2, creating a richer gameworld. The problem is, it tried to grab more than it could reached, and that didn't sit well with a lot of King's Field fans. Forgetting the downgrade part, offcourse (and to and extent, not really - sometimes KF3 looks better than KF2; sometimes, it looks like a vomit pile of dogshit. Just like Dark Souls 2!). Some people just really don't like KF3, some even loathe it; it's been dismissed in a lot of discussions as that one game in the series with worse production values. And I fucking love almost every second of it. Hey, just like Dark Souls 2. Ok, I'll stop now.

So, what are the duds of King's Field 3. For instance, the game world IS grandiose and expansive, where we don't travel different sections of the same castle livings - no, this time our journey gets us crossing between towns and complete landscapes. But half the time there is not a lot to seek for; the maze-like corridors and creepy enclosed graveyards are gone for a Zelda/Elder Scrolls type of level design: big chunks of terrain with absolutely nothing but grass and trees on them. Not that there is no places between Verdite, but the breathing times are just too damn long - houses you visit seem to take longer to get to than they should.

For that same reason the aesthetics of the game have gotten a massive uppercut. Yes' there is lots of 2D trees, skeletons and bodies over the world but sometimes doesn't converge in a realistic place, like it did happen on KF2. For example, the Forest is basically a green-puke maze with warping tree obstacles. It doesn't scream elven forest. At all. Half the Frozen Plains just look ugly; weirdly nostalgic and absolutely vaporwave, but ugly nonetheless. The fog does not help either: while in KF1 and KF2 worked as both a workaround and an atmospheric element, as KF3 wants to be a lot in the open fields it doesn't work the same way and becomes a detriment while in the outside, but maintains the same tense environment inside the dungeons and temples.

There is also some really unnecesarily obtuse secrets (like how in the flying monkeys toss would I know I have to use the goddamn fairy fossil in that specific edge WITHOUT having played the first game?) but that's kind of King's Field' approach to the great weapons so I don't give it that much hate. Some of the hit detection is laughably bad too, and the magic system, while interesting, does not help the game as it did with KF2; finding the spells felt more rewarding than just chasing level-up consumables that worked like Verdite but innecesarily more specific. It still works as a lootable goodie, though.

And I also don't really find any of the endings reasonably satisfying. The bad ending just kind of sores you with a sense of guilt for doing something something wrong, and that's it. Makes sense to give sorrow. But the true ending just feels tacky. Lyn's death was not handled in an emotional way, as you literally talked to her two times and no more. Hence, resurrrecting her so she could be your queen felt really damn forced and too "and they lived happily ever after". Bleh. This is King's Field goddamnit. It gives melancholy through fantastic atmosphere and soundtrack - not fancy pantsy romance.

And come on - the Seath fountains just being a 4x4 brick block? That's lazy. At least make it a statue or something.

And... that's it for me! Everything else it's great, as great as the second game and it mostly hits some accomplishments. Enemy variety is on point, travelling through the various environments really makes you feel like you are traversing a vast country. The combat is mostly as responsive. The teleportation system received an interesting spin, so it works more like a reward for your advancement. The secrets hidden can sometimes give you some surprises too! The final callback to the first King's Field was an unexpected prize - I fucking loved it. The final quarters of the game felt much more focused and streamlined than KF2 and aimed for a great combat finale which can be quite a challenge if you are not prepared. Also, some QoL changes are really welcome - menus remembering your last used spell or item, for example. And, even with its story shortcomings, it expands the lore greatly for the good, revealing us more about the mythos and how things came to be. Remember, this is a 1996 RPG semi-open world game. It's the PSX's response to the bulky RPG's of PC gaming. Not even the PSP could have an Oblivion release. That's remarkable, with such simple concepts.

KF3 is just as good as KF2, with different objectives and different problems. It closes the trilogy decently while trying to create a world as big as the limited memory could handle - with framerate issues and all. And yes, even if that one house is really far away from you - you can still get killed by a skeleton. Home Sweet Home.