Are From Software’s Old Games Still Worth Playing? | King’s Field, Shadow Tower, Eternal Ring

[@mynameisozymandias7150]

Playing these games after playing Demon's Souls, Dark Souls etc. is like playing Pathways into Darkness & the Marathon trilogy after playing the Halo series: they make you discover the origins of many gameplay mechanics and narrative tropes used in their more famous successors.

[@TheCrawl]

You're so right! It's funny, now that you mention it, I actually did this exact thing with Halo and Marathon/PID several years ago. If I had a youtube channel back then I probably would've made a similar video about those games too haha

[@jashloseher578]

Rare to see anyone even mention those games. I always felt like the one guy who played pid/marathon as a kid, and I wasn't even much of a mac person. Isn't the internet lovely? Had a lot of fun when Aleph One came to be a thing later on, prodding people at it.

[@coltonowens2742]

@@jashloseher578 Marathon has better lore then Bungies Halo Trilogy, and that's saying something because Bungie Halo lore is pretty awesome.

[@TheCrawl]

@@jashloseher578 I have a feeling we'll be telling more people about the glory days of Marathon now that people are hearing about the series from Bungie's new PVP shooter lol...

[@jashloseher578]

@@TheCrawl Absolutely! I heard that the Aleph One website had an overload the other day after the announcement.

[@StiffAftermath]

An Oldschool Fromsoft Collection (physical) would be absolutely sick!!! Other Fromsoft games include Evergrace and Forever Kingdom.

[@_Tzer]

aka evergrace 2(forever kingdom) Because fromsoft localizers sure love messing with sequels.

[@hermes_job_observer144]

I've got the complete collection! I was lucky enough to purchase them before the modern day Fromsoft fans got wind of how good they are, so i managed to get them cheap. Shadow Tower's my favorite and I got it new unopened around 2013 for like $12! I highly recommend their Echonight series as well! (Echonight 1/2 (PS1) and Echnight: Beyond (PS2). They're some of my favorite horror/adventure games ever! luckily i was also able to pick up what is probably the holy grail of a U.S. PS2 collection which is Kuon. I bought it for $30 CIB at my local used game/movie/cd shop! It now easily goes for $700-1,000!! There's also the less talked about XBOX games: the action games like Otogi 1 & 2 and Metal Wolf Chaos (I only got the remaster on PS4 from a few years ago). The only games from their early catalog i'm missing are some of the Armored Core series, but I was never too into the mech genre (though they are great games). One of the strangest departures in Fromsoft's catalog is a PS2 party game called Cookies& Cream! Anyways, I highly suggest looking into the Echonight series and maybe watching some Kuon vids. Peace.

[@phoebedraper170]

I was playing Shadow Tower and was very surprised to find a "Ring of Dark Souls" from one of the enemies in Death World.

[@1oneguythat]

o.0 ?!!!

[@1oneguythat]

I vote shadow tower 2022

[@1oneguythat]

Demon towers 2022

[@designator7402]

Armored core had a gang called "the dark soul" one year earlier. The name's been in the FromSoft sphere for a long time, surprisingly.

[@FredRischter]

King's Shadow

[@boingboingboingboing]

for anyone looking to play these you can now play nearly every single one of these games with mouse injection via emulation meaning you have full native mouse & keyboard controls like any modern fps pc game would have.

[@TheCrawl]

I saw those mods, I should give ‘em a try

[@rpgfoods1457]

I'll be downloading Kings field 4 tonight, thanks for this video bro great work.

[@SpecShadow]

It started with Ultima Underworld, another (after Wizardry) game made - and forgotten - in the west while loved in the Japan. So much there is barely any indie game inspired by those two.

[@TheCrawl]

I have plans to cover both UU and Wizardry, as well as other under-appreciated dungeon crawlers out there. If you're an underworld fan, definitely check out the Monomyth game I showed towards the end of this video!

[@jashloseher578]

My experience with fromsoft was such an obscure thing. I remember playing king's field 2 (3JP) when it was new, having not even seen the previous release, as well as explored shadow tower, and enjoyed the original armored core. From there, I didn't hear of the company again, until Dark Souls was released, and I picked it up, thinking it looked neat. Not long after, a friend said I should give Demon's Souls a spin. In those PS1 games, I was used to seeing the north american distributors names, leaving the Fromsoft name drop a nothing burger. It snapped into place when I saw the moonlight sword, and had my mind blown. Had plenty of fun exploring everything I missed in between.

[@nickoliekeyov746]

That must’ve been an incredible revelation!

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

I was recommended this by my dude HPRshredder and man I enjoyed it a great deal! I know Kings Field fairly well but I've never really seen much of Shadow Tower or Eternal Ring so thanks for this! It really makes me want to crack out my copy of KF4 again! Will certainly be checking out more of your stuff!

[@TheCrawl]

Hey, thanks! I appreciate the kind words! And I'll have to give HPR my thanks as well--he's actually mentioned your channel to me before as well, and this is a great reminder to repay the favor. I just queued up your Mortal Shell essay, looking forward to digging into your work! Also, I know I say it a lot in the video but: you should absolutely give the Shadow Tower games a shot if you're at all into King's Field. My love for both ST games has only grown since I made this video.

[@IFinishedAVideoGame]

@@TheCrawl I love how making a video about something can bring this whole new element to your relationship with it! They still feel like they have such mystique for me! Interested to hear your thought on Elden Ring too!

[@Wind_Falcon]

I gave the King's Field games the attention they deserved last year and I can't even begin to describe how much I liked this series (and Shadow Tower and even Eternal Ring), even the very first KF that didn't leave Japan is fantastic imo. KFIV got into my top 3 FROM games and as far as I'm concerned is a total masterpiece, and KFIIjp is a phenomenal game as well. I can kinda understand how people might not view them this way, but for someone who evangelizes Looking Glass, FROM really hit it out of the park when they decided to create their own games after being inspired by Ultima Underworld. Echo Night series is also terrific.

[@rocketshipevan]

My favorite way to play Kings Field II and III is on a PS3 without the smoothing on, its gorgeous. II, III, IV and Shadow Tower have all been my favorite at one time or another. They all have thier different strengths and are all unique in their own ways, I play one of them just about every year. Well said about Shadow Tower, it is a different beast than Kings Field, I love it.

[@andreafranco712]

i have an old modded ps2 and recently played king's field 4 as i went on a spree of old fromsoft titles, started with the old armored core games in preparation of ac6, and it's safe to say it's now one of my absolute favorite ps2 games i've ever played, i really enjoyed it a lot

[@cone786]

I came into this video to literally just say yes, you should. Elden ring may be a culmination of all the mechanics and even enemy types at times, but it definitely doesn't overshadow the other games where some of these mechanics were introduced. Good day everyone, and i hope some people will try out their previous titles for the first time if they haven't.

[@ClaytonBrownMusicOfficial]

Thank you very, very much for discussing King’s Field as a series. It’s rarely ever brought up, which is a shame considering how well-put-together the later iterations in particular got to be.

[@YukeWeiss]

I got given King's Field IV for my birthday and found a promo copy of King's Field II (King's Field). KFIV is still one of the scariest games I've ever played as the atmosphere just absolutely grabbed me. I've found myself thinking a lot about this game and feel fortunate to have gotten them while they were affordable. Europe/Australia never got King's Field III nor the Shadow Tower games, so we had less experiences. This was a pretty solid video too.

[@ClaytonBrownMusicOfficial]

King’s Field IV was such a unique experience, and nothing but FromSoft’s games seem to scratch anywhere near that super-specific itch since I beat it.

[@Oedlander]

EverGrace and Eternal Ring are two of my personal hidden gems on the PS2. I know that many people hate these two games, but they certainly clicked with me. Sadly I wasn't able to get into Kings Field (2), but the atmosphere of this game is very strong. Like with many many other obscure retro-games I hope they get put on Steam, GoG and many other systems to keep them alive.

[@vashmatrix5769]

Kings field 2 being the 1st in the US, came out shortly after the system, so we had no idea what was up & just start on the island. I enjoyed playing it first & played again a few years ago.

[@zonadogt]

amazing video! my favs are KF4, STA and.... ETERNAL RING! And the ost are fantastic. kudos for the KF4 intro and "Leaving History" from ER. Tnx for the great content you upload

[@FearsomeWarrior]

I love King’s Field 1US. I got it at the perfect time and it was an amazing experience. It was on the new games shelf at my local game shop and the cover art got me. I had Twisted Metal and maybe something else like Warhog or Jumping Flash but I’m glad I somehow ended up with King’s Field. It absolutely stomped the games at the time on console. At the time I had a Voodoo Banshee and eventually a Voodoo2 and played Quake heavily but somehow King’s Field’s atmosphere had me hooked. It’s a memory I love returning to every few years. Playing through it again at 41 years old is still amazing. It’s crazy to me that it’s been over 25 years. Besides Super Metroid it’s my favorite game even though I can speed run it casually in a couple hours and I wish King’s Field 2JP was just a little longer. One more area or one more challenge. It was insanity and I spent months before beating it the first time and right before Final Fantasy 7 came out.

[@TheCrawl]

That sounds awesome! I agree that its atmosphere is so engrossing. It's the strongest part of all of these games imo. And good call with Super Metroid, I feel like Metroid and King's Field are such perfect compliments to each other. Metroid is my favorite series and I instantly saw how King's Field and Shadow Tower feature lot of the same ideas executed in different ways.

[@maximemarquis8405]

I'm 44 and still own the King's Field 1 (US) PS1 disc. I play the game every couple of years on emulator. I love that game.

[@akun50]

I've always held this: if the game cannot be purchased through official legal means (i.e. a brand new copy from a legitimate store or website) for a minimum of 10 years, it should be fine to emulate.

[@TheCrawl]

Honestly, I’m even more aggressive about it: the moment they’re no longer available for purchase, emulation is justified imo.

[@etinarcadiaego7424]

If I feel like playing, then any means necessary is fine with me.

[@DonnyKirkMusic]

awesome overview on these games! i also had a similar experience where kf4 really appealed to me, and i played it later on the ps2 emulator when it was pretty hard to get ahold of. one of my friends even sent me a copy of the game as a gift!

[@mariopartylover10]

Thank you for the video! It was very enlightening, and it makes me happy to hear your segment on the worth of old Fromsoftware games. They are so worth playing, I haven’t found one I regretted delving into yet.. And it’s been two years of checking them out! A while back, I really enjoyed watching a walkthrough of King’s Field (JPN), so this video was helpful in scoping out how the other games are like. Shadow Tower Abyss in particular sounded absolutely wild with its meshing of worlds... and Gun. I might say the title was a bit misleading, cuz I’m in the Fromsoftware 2000s third person RPG faction and got a little sad. But I’ll make my own videos one day, heh. And I would endorse another video talking about other old Fromsoftware games!

[@TheCrawl]

Thank you for the kind words! Sorry the title was misleading--definitely wasn't my intention! That said, I think I'll give their other third-person games a shot. And probably revisit Armored Core... So you may get more FromSoft videos from me in the future! Oh, and if you ever make your own videos on the topic, let me know!

[@mariopartylover10]

@@TheCrawl You might just be in for a treat, I hope you'll enjoy those games and perhaps make those videos! King's Field's plot is oddly similar to Lost Kingdoms in some ways... But maybe that's just Fromsoftware's methodology for you. Oh, and if I ever get off my lazy butt, haha, I sure will let you know!

[@JackBz]

This video is absolutely fantastic. I googled the exact title of this video and you perfectly answered my question

[@muttiilpomodoro4354]

Great video! I became a really big fan of "before dark souls" from software after playing shadow tower / abyss, and i'd love to see more pepole discover and play games like kings field 2/1 us and shadow tower abyss. Also, every time you mentioned Vagrant Story, i get a dopamine injection from just hearing the name of that game (it looks like a AAA release whit duckstation new graphics settings widescreen and geometry fixes). I will also check out your game too!

[@TheCrawl]

Ah, a fellow Vagrant Story fan! That's for sure on my list of games to cover. One of my all-time favorites. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@muttiilpomodoro4354]

@@TheCrawl that's the answer I was looking for ❤️ In my opinion vagrant story shuld be regaderd as highly as ff7, mgs or even more what it can still offer today, that probably no other game will ever achieve whit such class and quality.

[@Ivanselectsongs]

Great video. Kudos for the writing and the narration. I was never bored nor did I feel the script had any filler. Looking forward to delving into your channel. :)

[@TheCrawl]

Thank you!

[@thombias]

It's so rare to see people talk about these games, but still it makes me very happy every time i stumble upon videos like these. From Software's older games are truly special. So i'll give you my story of how i got here whether you like it or not lmao: My first exposure to From Software was actually Armored Core 2 back in 2008-2009 when i was about 12 years old. The game was only in english but i don't speak english natively, so at that time i barely understood anything. Somehow i was able to get through ~50% of the game until it became too difficult and i lost interest. Then in October 2020 i stumbled upon Iron Pineapples video covering King's Field 2 (or KF1 in US/PAL) and finally became more aware of what these games actually are. I knew about their existence for quite a while but that's about it. I am an absolute sucker for 5th gen early 3D games & their jank and when i realised King's Field is like a first person Metroidvania, i knew i just had to check these games out. (i love the Metroid Prime games) But instead of playing King's Field 2 i actually played King's Field 4 The Ancient City instead, the reason being that i got quite a lot of spoilers from his video. So i figured i might as well just play one of the other ones because i wanted my first experience to these games to be as fresh and blind as possible. And i'm so glad i went with KF4 because it's in my opinion the best game ever made. I'm not even exaggerating. It managed to dethrone Zelda Majoras Mask from the #1 spot on my favourite games of all time list. I have never played a game that nails the act of exploration, isolation and atmosphere so well like KF4 did. Majoras Mask is still really close to it though, which is why it used to be on spot #1 before i played the King's Field games. I don't even care that the combat and movement in these games is slow, i'm actually glad it is. I'm so burned out from all these super fast-paced combat systems in videogames. It's why Bloodborne is at the absolute bottom of my favourite From Software games list. I just can't deal with BB's too fast combat while dealing with its horrendous performance. Hopefully a remaster with stable 60fps will change it, because there are aspects i really like. It's just the insufficient performance that ruins everything for me. :/ After i reached the sacred forest in King's Field 4 i knew this game was special and at that point i absolutely fell in love with it, and when i reached the ending i almost cried during the credits because the intense music combined with the fact i'll never be able to play this fantastic game for the first time again hit me really hard. Then i went on to King's Field 2, then 3 and finally played 1 last. I enjoyed King's Field 2 so much that i ended up speedrunning it. KF1 while primitive compared to its successors was still really good and short (Yes i see short game length as a plus, so many games nowadays are drawn out like there's no tomorrow) but i didn't particularly like KF3. Mostly because i don't like the layout of the world and how there's most of the time just empty fields with not much to see or do. And they've butchered the magic system. In KF2 and KF4 you were encouraged to explore because you can find more magic spells that way. In KF3 you learn new spells for example by spamming fireball to increase your fire stat, after reaching a certain value you get a new fire spell. It's so dumb and completely limits the possibilites and even the quality of the loot itself. Instead of a spell you get a consumable to increase an elemental stat. That's just boring. I tried out Shadow Tower once but i really didn't feel that game. It has no music which just killed the atmosphere for me and i am not a fan of the durability and "economy" of that game. Your health and equipment is basically your money, but both are very limited. I don't like it. Just give me the standard gold from killing enemies instead, then i maybe could have a bit more fun and especially less stress while playing this game when i can just buy stuff if i ever run out of it. Eternal RIng thankfully wasn't like Shadow Tower and instead is just a more linear and story focused King's Field, which i also really liked. Though i won't see myself revisiting this game as often as KF4 and especially KF2 due to its linear nature. The rings were probably the best way these games ever handled magic because you finally were able to equip more than 1 or 2 spells. With the rings you were able to have 5 spells and the ability to quickly cycle through them. King's Field 4 really needed this, sadly they went a bit backwards there. Though the Ring crafting could've been a little more clear on how it works. I still don't quite understand it and i've already beaten this game twice. And that's where i am today. I probably won't be playing the Shadow Tower games for the reasons i've mentioned above, but yeah, the King's Field games and Eternal Ring are absolutely worth checking out if you can deal with the aged graphics, controls and lots of jank. I was able to tolerate and appreciate them for what they are now, and not for what they once were when they first came out. These games still hold so much good design and atmosphere under all that jank that i pity everyone who passes them up simply because they didn't age well.

[@TheCrawl]

Thanks for sharing! Your exposure to the series mirrors mine in a lot of ways. And I definitely agree that KF4 is the best in the series, and one of the best games ever. Even though you didn't enjoy the first Shadow Tower, I really thing you might like Shadow Tower Abyss. It's a close second behind on KF4 for me.

[@BH-oq7hv]

This comment right here hits all the feels. I too played amored core and kings field 2, 1 us. Everything he said is how i feel. I didnt like 3 for some reason. Something about not knowing what items do, kinda like the magic bagel in zelda 1, make games interesting to me. Just washing up on the shore and turning left just to get wrecked by a kraken was so cool. I was able to get past him and grab some goodies. I love where they present a challenge, but respect your intelligence. Also jumping out a window just to find a sweet katana was awesome. Even awesomer was when i found out it had a secret wind move. I love games like these.

[@Jeffmetal42]

I first was introduced to Fromsoft through the first Armored Core game. Have been a fan ever since. Needless to say, I am beyond excited for the recently announced Armored Core 6!!!

[@potato1919-j4e]

You have to make more videos. Great narration. Polite tones and sensible remarks, which are rare qualities for youtubers these days. Informative and descriptive video clips accurately comparing the games's differences. I see great potential.

[@_Tzer]

24:56 Both games share a composer and have the golden seed item. They have at least something to do with eachother. also fun fact: The original japanese version of eternal ring had no voice acting that explains a lot. the story of eternal ring i do find very interesting though i aint gonna spoil you here.

[@TheCrawl]

The story (and the true ending especially) are the best parts of the game, for sure. And good call on the Golden Seed item!

[@rchassereau2]

A really well done video, looking forward to more of yours, and wish you the best of luck with your game.

[@michaelthomsen6810]

A great video. Although I agree that the Soul's like style can be seen in these earlier games. For me it's Evergrace that really shows it though. Probably because it was third person instead of first person.

[@TheCrawl]

Evergrace and Forever Kingdom are definitely on my list of games to check out and potentially cover! And thanks for watching :D

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

@@TheCrawl add Otogi 1-2 to that as well :) and, as bonus, Lost Kingdoms and Enchanted Arms XD

[@egoborder3203]

I didn't realize until watching this video right now that the reason I like Turok is because it reminds me of these old From Soft games. Thanks!

[@RavenFrostwing]

I love the much older games of Fromsoft cause you can see the threads of where it all began. It is ever present that they had worlds in their mind, the closest thing to a King's Field like title to me is Dark Souls 2 and the way it handles itself and certain areas. It felt like King's Field 5 was in the works for that one but it was then turned into a Souls game because of Dark Souls 1's success. This video gives me life, when I look back at the older titles. Thank you.

[@SPVKgameChannel]

Absolutely agree with your opinion about King,s field IV - this game have more atmosphere than ds series

[@Ronsilk-pu5hr]

I remember all the reviews of Kings Field being really bad back then but now people love them. I play through kings field 1 and 2 north American like 4 time kimgs 1 and like 6 times kings 2. Loved them

[@Eichward_SKV]

A Kings Field collection for modern systems would be nice.

[@avgfunkygamer]

Good video, I may look into this and try to emulate kings field !

[@chrismuratore4451]

Kings field 2, 3, and 4 were amazing. Especially the former two. Armored Core games were awesome for couch co-op back in the day and AC: For Answer was a masterpiece

[@mellowyello1478]

Id love ports or remakes of the Echo Night style games

[@nibulsheep8214]

I will probably never get to play the King's field games, but what really got me interested in these games is the soundtrack. It has that old "Zelda game" feeling to it, it's making me weirdly eerily nostalgic. I wonder how people would feel about the game back in the days..

[@chrisdavis8650]

Just played shadow tower, ive never had died so much in my life, arguably the hardest from software games.

[@fatrat92]

With the return of armored core, I'd love a new King's Field game, first person dungeon crawler would be awesome.

[@TheCrawl]

I feel like there’s a chance, but maybe I’m just hoping too hard lol

[@RaymondoPerson]

Dude, holy crap, thank you for making a video that talks positively about the original Shadow Tower. I feel like a crazy person for considering it really good & outright preferring its uniquely unforgiving tone & horror atmosphere over King's Field (which I still like)

[@TheCrawl]

My pleasure! I think Shadow Tower '98 and Abyss are probably the best dungeon crawlers I've ever played in terms of atmosphere. They actually understand how scary it would be to explore a dark, unknown maze filled with traps and grotesque creatures. I'm surprised we haven't seen many other dungeon crawlers try to merge DRPG and survival horror elements (other than many of From's later games, of course). I'm glad there are fellow Shadow Tower die-hards out there :)

[@RaymondoPerson]

@@TheCrawl if you think of it as a dungeon crawler-survival horror mix (which I think was the point) stuff like the lack of music, weapons breaking fast and having to use HP as currency makes perfect sense. you're in a crumbling decrepit world where money doesn't matter, so of course even swords fall apart & you have to sell your own life force. the cover art represents the feeling the game is going for perfectly. that said, once you get used to it and acknowledge "yeah I legit could screw up my entire save & have to start over, I should not waste resources" it gets a lot easier but they still throw surprises at you. "haha I'm an epic gamer who doesn't need maps, suck it!" then bam, an area where just the act of walking around drains your health. it's such an appealingly unpleasant game.

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

@@TheCrawl I love Baroque (both original and remake). Also, even if its "pure survival horror" game, I feel that Hellnight / Dark Messiah has dungeon crawl DNA in it. Just like System Shock 1.

[@heidinolen873]

Thanks man. Ive never felt so old. Im staring at my PS2 and my kingfield games. Dont forget the save card. You will need it.

[@maxbroberg5586]

Great video about some of my favorite games! You have earned a subscriber!

[@mvargasmoran]

Just bought Shadow Tower on PSVita, the game has remaps, and with the vita controllers you can remap to both analogs, and both left and right hand to L1 and R1 for shield (left) and weapon (right) so it feels like an old Souls thingy. I'm just having trouble hitting stuff, I don't understand the reach of the weapon right now. I reached the Shadow Tower, and the game is scary AF, lots of scary sounds coming from just beyond what you can see, or on the other side of the door or wall, so it's actually a really nice game.

[@Oknopuac]

Didn’t watch until now and I’ll answer before finishing a watch, yes, mostly because I started with Armored Core 2 in knowing who FromSoft is and discovered Evergrace which is fun to me :3

[@rashid2898]

DEF some are i remember loving the kingdom games lol

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

The physical editions of these games are such a treat! The booklets are dope and I think one of the game's actually released with a physical copy of a map.

[@peeron6829]

Really great topic, nice script and overall well done video :) You really know how to make interesting videos and im glad i found you by accident, subbed for sure

[@TheCrawl]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@Tetsaga]

Thanks for making the content!

[@keyman245]

It's quite sad How almost no one talks about Evergrace and It's weird and unique soundtrack, I love that soundtrack

[@TheCrawl]

I promise evergrace is one of the games I hope to tackle on this channel in the near future. I tend not to keep a backlog, but Evergrace is one of the few exceptions.

[@joesaiditstrue]

Shadow Tower is such a fun game, very challenging

[@henrryeaeaea]

After going through the 4 King's Field games I can say for sure; perhaps not in terms of presentation, but the sense of adventure does not have anything to envy to "contemporary" games like Ocarina of Time. And despite that I like more the balance that their modern games tend to reach, after the freedom of Elden Ring and the very action focused experience in Armored Core 6, I would love to see a game that brings back that oppression and sense of mistery that the games until DS1 had.

[@TheCrawl]

I agree, I hope one of From's next projects focuses on the grit, mystery, and oppression like you say. There have been moments of it in some of their post-DS1 titles, but it would be great to have another game focus on that as the core of the experience.

[@ExtremeWreck]

As someone who played their Armored Core PS2 games back in my childhood days, I say yes.

[@heidinolen873]

Kingsfield!!! Best soundtrack EVER! Hate the missing atmospheric music from the past. It been hollowed out. Ive had to dub in old tunes on new games.❤

[@AmritZoad]

Thank God! At first I thought that you are a Elden Kid and you made a video if games like Darks Souls 1,3, BB are worth playing lmao.

[@wiredtardis]

I personally would rather have new King's Field games than new SoulsBorne games. I love that series so much because it scratched that itch of exploration and atmosphere that I just don't get anywhere else. I feel that the series is so unique that calling it "MetriodVania" is a misnomer and a disservice to what feels like a true dungeon-crawling experience.

[@AndyBobandy-nc9fd]

I love Eternal Ring. Absolutely LOVE IT and you are right, you are absolutely wrong.

[@TheCrawl]

Lmaooo that’s entirely fair

[@acetrigger1337]

The Nostalgia for the time before Elden Ring launched... that feeling needs a term.

[@TheGreatDanish]

My favorite Fromsoft game is Echo Night. Sure their dungeon crawlers are fun, but honestly, I love the almost dreamlike atmosphere of the old adventure game. It reminds me abit of Myst in that regard. Kind of surreal and extremely fun.

[@TheCrawl]

Echo Night and Kuon are two I really want to check out!

[@HPRshredder]

Super underrated channel

[@Ronsilk-pu5hr]

The screen your character makes when he dies freaked me out the first few times. Oh who am I kidding it still scares the poo out of me. But I love it. NOT POO the game I meant

[@Kindlesmith70]

Emulation. the only way to play games companies have not continued support with, as well as a great way to play current games at better quality settings. Buy where you can if it is in stores in it's original untainted form. Emulate where you can't.

[@115spt2]

Apparently You can now Play kingsfield 1-3 on PSX with mouse and keyboard (Or duckstations and make it widescreen) with a mouse injector.

[@zerosdeath]

I could snort KF IV like a drug. BTW KF 1 US pissed me and my older brother off so much we returned it to the rental store withtin the hour. Still own all my physical US copies.

[@kageakiminato8536]

imo these are the best dungeon crawlers ever and they are way better than souls series

[@TheCrawl]

It's funny, I'm starting to feel that way, too. I think playing all these back-to-back last year ruined Elden Ring for me haha... I still like Elden Ring a lot, but it's just not what I want from a FromSoft game now.

[@kageakiminato8536]

@@TheCrawl based

[@plugshirt1762]

I just finished the first game and tank controls took a bit to get used to but after I did it was a pretty fun experience with some great level design if a bit primitive combat. I still have the other three games to play but overall while a great game it feels as if the souls series just takes the general ideas presented and improves upon them in nearly every way except atmosphere which I would say is about equal. I'm somewhat curious in what ways you find these games to be better than the souls ones?

[@SinclairLore]

Great video! Thanks for the upload!

[@TheCrawl]

Oh wow, thank you! I appreciate you checking it out. Btw, I recently discovered your work through both Aesir Aesthetics and Theomeny's Discord servers. Your lore videos and streams are excellent!

[@SinclairLore]

@@TheCrawl Thanks! Your vids are super good too!

[@hesmycat]

They are sick. But they are even better at like 40-60% speedup. Shadow tower abyss was the first one that I played and it is my favorite alongside kings field 4 the ancient city one

[@kingsfield0]

Clearly from my name I like kingsfield, 4 being the only one worth playing for someone new to the series is totally valid. Someone had to say it as much as I love the other 3

[@TheCrawl]

Tbf I think they’re all absolutely worth playing, I just think 4 and ST:A are the most approachable for folks coming from the Soulsborne games.

[@_Tzer]

there is another king's field game called king's field 3 pilot style it takes place between 3 and 2 apparently.

[@TheCrawl]

Yeah, I found out about it after making this video, sadly. Otherwise I would've tried to track it down and play. I still haven't given it a shot, but I'm in a couple KF discord groups that have thoroughly dissected and translated it.

[@BainesMkII]

I played PS1 Kingsfield (US) when it was new, and it indeed felt clunky and janky even then. But it was an experience that you just wouldn't get elsewhere on console. And while From Software's ambitions pushed beyond what console 3D could deliver, trying to work within those boundaries created a lasting gameplay experience that just might not have existed otherwise.

[@lukkkasz323]

4:18 On a emulator this can be rebound to a freelook on the right stick, and vertical/horizontal movement without tank controls on the left stick.

[@RRC6490]

The Ancient City is the first PS2 game I ever owned. It was a Christmas present in like ‘01 or ‘02 and it sat collecting dust for months because I couldn’t even make it past the first trap lava pit like 3 steps into the beginning of the game. Weirdly, it was the show Beastmaster that made me want to give a real try.

[@Shiningforceking]

Gotta love all of em, but Kingsfield 2 level design, monsters and music was the best in my opinion. it's my favorite one and no I didint started with that one but it's the one I have the most nostalgia for some reason.

[@retrojoe2842]

I still have my copies of all the Kings Field games

[@IsaiahAmos017]

I think they're worth playing kingsfield is beautiful I love skeletons

[@Kindlesmith70]

There's some nice Japanaese games that never got loclaized. Such a shame. I am incredibley thankful for people who take the time to translate these for emulation. I feel they do quite a phenomenal job for not even getting paid for it. It would be nice if these got adequate translations and were ported (without any adjustments / aditions / modifications aside from bug fixes and key remapping) to newer devices at a reasonable price (reasonable being cheap because of how old they are). I bought Monster Hunter Diaries for the 3DS along with the guide book. Not that I can understand anything said as it is all Japanese.

[@Shamsukz]

Lunacid, check it out if you like King's Field games!!

[@TheCrawl]

It's great! I actually wrote an article about it recently, too! www.gamespot.com/articles/move-over-dark-souls-the-from-software-title-inspiring-a-new-wave-of-games-is-kings-field/1100-6507649/

[@plugshirt1762]

I have been holding off playing that one because I want to wait for the full release but everything from Akuma Kira is great so I expect it to be a pretty good time

[@fakade2987]

i still love enchanted arms so much and wish that game got at least some love from the general public it was a great jrpg.

[@TheCrawl]

I want to make another video like this covering other From RPGs like Enchanted Arms and Evergrace. I have a few others in the works before that, but hopefully within the next few months!

[@fakade2987]

@@TheCrawl well if thats the case you got my sub then cant wait to see the vid.

[@Sharkspartan6548]

No lie King's Field and Shadow Tower are top teir PS1 era gaming

[@DemonKingCozar]

I personally prefer the older ps1 look of King's Field. Everyone says it looks rough but I like it more than most modern first party Sony games. Objectively, it's worse but I like it more

[@HPRshredder]

As an avid fan of many of From Software's offerings (Dark Souls 1 & 2 being my favorites with DeS close behind). I've looked into some of these via longplays, but never from the perspective of someone like me who started with Dark Souls. Queueing this up RN to watch at work lol.

[@TheCrawl]

Oh hey, thanks! I'm stoked to hear you're checking out the video. I hope you enjoy it!

[@HPRshredder]

@@TheCrawl Yeah, okay, Shadow Tower Abyss looks really good. I'll probably end up playing all of these, but I'm looking forward to that one probably the most. Been listening and watching when I get the chance. Also, the slow gameplay isn't a turnoff to me. I actually like how Dark Souls is slower and found the speed of III to be a bit of a turnoff.

[@TheCrawl]

Agreed on on all counts. Demon's and Dark Souls are still my favorites in the Souls series for that exact reason.

[@RTryHarder]

Yes, indeed.

[@Malisa1990]

King's Field 4 is probably the PEAK of realtime dungeon crawling. I honestly can't think of a better game of this genre.

[@TheCrawl]

Honestly, I agree.

[@syn4588]

Arx Fatalis is better by far.

[@Malisa1990]

@@syn4588 Ehhhh... I wouldn't really call Arx Fatalis dungeon crawling, even if it's world is literally one huge dungeon. Arx is more of a proper RPG game with compelling and more complex mechanics.

[@Valdyr_Hrafn]

I write this before the video is done with its intro, but I can tell from experience that if ANY game is recommended, Kingsfield 4 is the GO TO. You don't need to play the other games to get it, and its just a marvel.

[@devinspringman1262]

I always find these games to be much more human with their clunky, slow controls. I cant roll around like a maniac or sprint repeatedly for hours, but what i can do is walk. Its so much more relatable!

[@TheCrawl]

Sometimes walking around a looking at weird stuff (while also avoiding deadly traps and monsters) is peak gameplay, y’know?

[@VillainViran]

TLDR: Yes but if you're a souls fan you may not necessarily be a fan of their older games. The patience you have will definitely help, though over the years having improved your skills in each souls entry you may have become a little too speedy and would dislike the slower paced, ultra cryptic games of old.

[@TheCrawl]

Very true. And then there's folks like me who went back, fell in love with the pacing and obtuse design, and now has trouble enjoying Elden Ring to its fullest lol.

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

Personally im just disappointed in "popular majority" of so called soulsborne fanbase. I dont expect them to go and play every pre-dks fromsoft game, but if you consider urself a fan and not just a casual/random player, it is expected to at least research/study/look/point an interest at the history of "favorite developer".

[@WhatWillYouFind]

ALL of Fromsoft games are worth playing. For their Kings Field you have Lunacy. Nothing is like armored core, all of them besides 9breaker are their own compartmentalized experiences with their own nuances. Eternal Ring and Evergrace are both unique in their own rights. If they were released today I think they would have a good following and sell even better due to the pedigree.

[@natecw4164]

As for emulation, when it's essentially Abandonware, there's literally no loss of real or imagined profits. By definition that's not stealing or defrauding.

[@MARK111174]

Moonlight sword is the hub that holds all of these games together

[@MCHH-ml2qq]

Always was an AC fan since AC2 hit the PS2 as a launch title in 2000, to be honest I've never seriously played any of the newer game by fromsoft since ACVD despite sitting on the demons souls and dark souls games for years now have instead gone further back by currently going through the KF series lately. I've just never been interested in their newer stuff, the older games they made were much more experimental they were fresh to the industry then and just trying anything to see what works and sells like so many other developers back then. After going through nearly the entire AC series as well as finally playing the KF games, I've tried their newer soulsborne stuff but its just not the same and quickly became bored feeling its too generic and repetetive compared to their older games while the KF games were some of the first true dungeon crawler crpgs on a console completely different vibe and approach to game design than the newer soulsborne games.

[@chadgugu6535]

Do you sometimes feel discouraged to make videos when the video that you put so much effort in gets little views? Great segmentation with this video btw

[@TheCrawl]

Not necessarily. I enjoy making videos, and while I always hope they do well, it's okay if they don't do numbers since I'm having fun with the process.

[@Jsobone]

I still boot up eternal ring every now and then for a playthrough.

[@_Tzer]

The most horrible sin of this video: You forgot to mention that patches seems to originate from shadow tower abyss if you had the encounters with that character you know what one.

[@TheCrawl]

That is true, haha.

[@kurisuchiinathecrocodile333]

unless we consider that pilot from Master of Arena who has eagle emblem like Patches has on shield ;)

[@cthulhucultist8872]

You can still get shadow tower on ps3 for like 6 bucks , I just got it tonight and I'm diggin it, with the flaws and all

[@AttitudeIndicator]

am i the only one that has no issue with kings field controls whatsoever? or just tank controls in general, the movement is actually pretty satisfying and smooth

[@TheCrawl]

So I actually agree with you, but I wanted to be very clear about how odd they might be for unsuspecting newcomers

[@mourninggirl8825]

Eternal ring was my first from game. I love it. Also armourd core is from. But you must just mean the dark fantasy games

[@TheCrawl]

Yep! And specifically their dark fantasy, first-person dungeon crawlers. I mentioned AC and some of the other non-dungeon crawler in the intro tho :)

[@gordonfenn7373]

This is great!

[@OCTO358]

Yes. Next question.

[@mabs9503]

Now that Elden Ring has been out a while has anyone noticed any connections to Eternal Ring?