I don't know why, but whenever I just let youtube play on its own, I always end up here. RUclips must think I have to learn about the history of kingsfield over and over again
I first discovered this series by randomly finding a copy of King's Field in a Best Buy. Hadn't heard or read anything about it prior, but was intrigued by the screen shots on the back of the longbox, so I took a chance. Loaded it up, took my first few steps from the starting point....fell into the water and died. "So THAT'S how it is"... I found the atmosphere and music to be amazing, and I loved the danger that existed right from the start. As you say in this vid, you learn right quick which ways not to go until you've leveled up some. I put a lot of hours into KF, KF2 and KF:TAC trying to discover every little secret, weapon, magic etc. I know they wouldn't be amazing to anyone new to them now, but at the time, there wasn't anything close to the experience they provided. Shadow Tower is worth a look too -- not part of KF, but a direct descendent for sure.
Your writing is so clear that I can listen to these videos while working, without watching, and follow along the entire time. Tone of voice, speaking speed, the levels of the audio, they’re all so good
As someone who seeks out long-form content for listening at work, this comment alone sells me on this guy. Thank you. I have 176 books on audible and I've heard all of them you've saved me for today lol
Having written and edited quite a few documentaries in my younger year, I have to agree. Well written, spoken, audio balanced and just all around great editing.
I've never seen someone so accurately describe what makes me love King's Field 4. Sometimes I still get chills when I think about my time in the ancient city. It's a perfect example of a game that made me want to rip my hair out while also trapping me with its immersive goodness.
The ancient city is the one I spent the most time with. I never beat it, but it sparked a love for dungeon crawlers I still have to this day. I’ve never been a big first person gamer, I usually prefer to see a character, to get into ‘their’ story. The ancient city is the biggest exception for me, there was nothing else like it at the time:) SMT strange Journey, the etrian games, Undernauts, there have been a few over the years but kingsfield beat them all to the game!
@@chasesmay7237thank you both for putting it all into perspective. I think we all feel the same way here. IV sparked something in me that I can shake to this day and it makes me sing its praises still, and makes me remind people, this was fromsoft. This was their demon souls prototype, that became their dark souls prototype.
Always wondered what was up with that in that particular area! Good to know it was referenced and not just some random weird decision they made to make it more unique.
That area is what ruined souls for me. Every time i-ve replayed the game i have fun until i remember how awful Izalith and the duke archives are and drop it there.
@@j.2512 i still love it cause its funny. all those dudes are just standing it it rules. They should have kept the lava bright as the sun in the remastered version.
In KF2, the reason why there's a daylight skybox in some very specific areas of the game, when there's the night skybox everywhere else, is an actual story point that is explained in game: Necron literally controls who gets to see daylight, and who don't. And only those whom work for him gets daylight. (Plus one exception.) Of course, as with so much else of the story and lore of these games, it's easy to miss.
Well that explains why it's always night for most of the island, but that doesn't really explain why those few particular spots are not subject to Necron's influence.
Goddamn this video is a masterpiece. Took me a little while longer to get back to it but I ended up watching it in two sitting as I captured footage and it was quite literally the perfect accompaniment. It's hard to know what to add as my own experience with the series is pretty limited but it was nice to see more of King's Field IV. That's the only one I've spent any considerable time with but I didn't get that far mainly due to taking it on at the wrong time. I kinda feel like that's the player relationship with Kings Field - you're not always in the mood for it (and that may well never come) but when you are, there isn't really anything else like it. Now I shall begin my pathetic begging for a Majuular Shadow Tower video. It just makes too much sense!
Thank you my man, glad you enjoyed the video 🙏 Your mood assessment is right on the money, not exactly pick-up-and-play games are they? Shadow Tower WILL be coming... after a few videos. But it'll be here!
I always get Kings Field mixed up with Kings Quest - where one is a dark medieval dungeon crawler that's tough as nails, the other has you ride a unicycle
King's Field always makes me think about my brother James. He always loved the first King's Field and after years I introduced him to emulation and he was finally able to play King's Field 2 in english. He loved that tough as nails janky mess.
@@st.haborym An alternate take, once you have the Ichrius Key use it to teleport to the big cemetery area (prayer hill), then you can enter the passage of death from behind and deactivate many of the traps to loot the area easier.
Figured I'd share a couple more pieces of information about KF2 and KF3: Both have one player choice that has a very tiny impact on the story of the former, and a larger impact on the story of the latter! In KF2, Leon forges the Dark Slayer sword for you from the Dark Crystal. It's basically the Moonlight Sword's opposite, blessed by Seath. If you give the Dark Crystal to Leon, then kill Necron, you can return to Leon to get the sword. However, if you level up once, then return to Leon, he'll instead tell you that he finished the sword, but Necron stole it. When you go to fight Necron, it hangs in the air in the middle of the Colosseum, and you'll receive it after the fight. (It's also possible to not get the sword at all by not talking enough with Leon.) In KF3, you can skip the the Royal Cemetary and go straight into the castle for the fight against the king. Without the power of the restored Moonlight Sword however, you don't see the king's spirit free, and subsequently not learn about Seath's puppetmastering. This leads to a different, bad ending in which you just replace the old king as the puppet on the throne. (Also note that in the fight against King Alfred, he's actually wielding the Dark Slayer!)
Honestly I think it would be amazing for From to make a First person rpg game again or even a sequel for kings field with the capabilities we have now and their skills as game developers.
Someone linked me to your Shadow Hearts Covenant retrospective and I instantly subbed. It's one of my favorite all-time JRPG series. Now you're discussing a series that I've been in love with for almost 30 years? Best channel ever. As an ancient FromSoft fan, acknowledgement for this series warms my cold, dead heart. If you did a Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower: Abyss retrospective I think I could die happy. I love Souls and I'm glad that it gets as much attention as it does, but these forgotten games that started it all need some respect put on their names for laying the groundwork for games that everyone enjoys today.
@@Majuular Did you use a PS3 to capture King's Field IV's gameplay? Because the "warping texture" effect looks like shimmering to me, caused by bad scaling. If this is the case, the PS3 is the culprit, since it always forces a minimum horizontal resolution of 720, and since the game runs at 640x448... You see what i mean
As a PC gamer I only learned about King's Field after Dark Souls made From Software popular. As a big fan of Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis, and games of their ilk, I wanted to try KF myself... and found a PC version called Sword of Moonlight which even included a level editor! There are plenty of fan-made King's Field games out there now, a really small but fascinating microcosm of oldschool game design. Diadem of Maunstraut, Return to Melanat, Fall of Verdite...
Arx Fatalis was so ahead of it's time. Like Planescape torment, which is still the best written and most philosophical game. And that's why they failed at release. They only had a niche fan base, but people started to appreciate these games today.
Kings field walked so every fps 3D game now could run....also if you compare it to dark souls the ideas are there from 1994...its just better presented
@DieEineMieze Back when it came out, Arx Fatalis blew my mind. I still play it every few years. As I write this I hear " Aam Yok" in my head. If youre a fan, def check out Arx Libertatis. Its an open source port/overlay of the main game that modernizes it and cleans it up quite a bit. Arkane is a pretty epic dev. Their game Prey from 2017 is probably one of my fav games of all time - its basically system shocks spiritual successor.
Through 1-3, I'd had it in the back of my mind, but 4 absolutely screamed 'Berserk' to me. Something else I suppose is worth mentioning is that I've never actually played a Souls game, and really have no intention of doing so- they simply don't appeal to me- so the fact that you don't rely upon your viewers having experienced them to understand what you're talking about is greatly appreciated. When you do bring it up, it feels more like you're giving viewers a bit of perspective on where the developer has gone, rather than *just* saying "Hey, remember that part? This bit of the game is just like that part!"
MAJUULARRRR! @3:11:00 IT WAS ME. I AM THAT ONE PERSON WHO JUMPED FOR JOY AT THE DQ SWORDS REFERENCE. I mean I wouldn't call it "jumping for joy" but was more so surprised at anyone mentioning that game. Let alone in a giant King's Field video. I LOVED THAT GAME! THANKS FOR CALLING ME OUT BRO!
@@Majuular You absolutely did, I played every one of them, and fondly remember Ancient City trying to find all the pieces to that super Ancient set armor, I don't remember it being that slow, but I just booted it up to check and wow, modern games have spoiled us lol
Shucks, thanks Avalanche. That's an incredibly kind thing to say. I promise I won't be creeped out unless it's in the thousands, in which case you need to take a shower and stop neglecting your significant other.
Kings field was the worst game I ever played on ps1. It looks horrible, but even FF7 looked like crap. I recently tried playing FF7 again and I can't. I don't know how the hell I beat that eyesore of a game. Super Nintendo looks way better, but it couldn't do what the Playstation did.
It's no small feat to get me to sit down and not only watch a 3 and a half hour long video, but also make me think "where did the time go?". Very well done.
@@eldonhill4840 Thanks, i'll propably never get that picture out of my head again. Imagine a mousetrap with (very, very) small feet as lure, and Miyazaki crawling around the corner with a mad smile on his face, just to get caught in it. I even have the picture of how this ends in my head, and it's pretty awful. What have you done to me?
Ive found i enjoy video essay's as they're great to have on while i'm working and glance over to them. They're easy to pick up and put down and its always interesting to listen to things about games i haven't played or wouldn't normally play. That said, Majuular has some good content. Ty for the upload.
I swear, not TWO DAYS ago I was thinking about how nice it would be to get a deep dive into these games since I know next to nothing about them. To not only get it, but from exactly the guy I would want to deliver it, has really made my day. Gonna save this for the morning so I have something to make my work day easy -- it feels weird to actually be looking forward to a Thursday
Teleporter cube mazes are inherently lame but I was relieved by how quickly I was able to get through KF2's. I might be too used to being tortured by SMT dungeons. By the way, since I don't think this esoteric knowledge was mentioned in the video: Although the Moonlight Sword is only obtained in the final cutscene if you fight Guyra normally, if you kind of...jankily rub yourself up against him in the right way, you can clip behind him and pick up the sword as a real, usable weapon. Then you can teleport out and use it for just about nothing because you're at the end of the game.
I dunno about end of the game, because when I beat the game and got to the credits, it shows a montage of a bunch of spells I didn't have from a bunch of places I had never seen. I couldn't believe I got to the end having missed so much.
I’m obsessed with this transition at 7:52 like there were so many ways you could have done it, but you picked physical props entering the frame practically, and then keyed out and transformed in post. Absolutely insane style, completely unappreciated by literally every other human being on the planet except me 10/10 bravo
He tries to acquire physical copies of the games he reflects on so that he can show them in the video. The Ultima games often come with a box and little trinkets/books that he also includes in the videos, but I don't think he has ever done another edit quite like this one. I definitely did not appreciate the effort of it until you pointed it out. Thank you!
I used to play Kings Field 2(Kings Field 3) with my dad growing up. We had the manual and everything. We’d find random hidden places and upgrading the Excellector. When we got to the final boss, I was so excited. Feels nice coming full circle and picking up where he left off with the Souls series, BB, Sekiro, and of course ER. 😄
your videos are so deeply calming, they evoke a similar feeling to your friend just sort of infodumping about a piece of art they are fascinated by, and somehow every single video captures it perfectly. this channel is something special
I have a handful of friends from Regina, Winnipeg/Brandon, Saskatoon, Grande Prairie, Kamloops, Medicine Hat, & other mid-Prairie cities-that-feel-like-small-towns. & there's something about Majuular that reminds me of all those dudes who wore hoodies + a flannel in -30 C, would've drank stubbies if they were still being made (note to boutique breweries: bring back stubbies for nostalgia, please include cider + low/non-alcohol options), & were completely safe to randomly walk up to + mumble that you were having trouble getting home, no matter the time or how messy you were, & they'd meet you at the door of any house party within 10 minutes to accompany you home safely. If you were cold, he'd give you his flannel to wear along the way. My unhealthy parasocial relationship with Macular relies on THAT. My nostalgia for THAT GUY. He reminds me so much of THAT GUY. & those guys got me home safe + warm from so many Canadian winter house parties over the years that getting my retro video game content in a smart, witty, deep way from someone who reminds me so much of them is such an intoxicatingly nostalgic mix I have to remind myself he's a guy on the internet whose videos I love. So I stay logical about it but I can't help the extra glow of ambient good house party memories.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 LOL i try to ward off parasociality as much as i can but it really does kind of evoke that feeling, as someone who comes from small town midwest usa
Oh hell yeah... Majuular talking about the series that introduced me to From Software (and bleak, dark fantasy video game settings and gameplay). I'm here for the whole ride. Thanks in advance!
Damn, thank you so much for the support Akouryo! I just hope your bank doesn't get angry like they did over Patreon 😆 You're still in the Lordly Caliber credits for my upcoming video, just so you know.
I mean Flamberge, Flammard, and Flammenschwert all more or less translate to "Flame Sword" or "Flame Blade", so FromSoft just calling it Flame Sword is actually pretty accurate still lol
I'm currently in bed suffering with a touch of COVID. This couldn't have arrived at a better time. I'll be sure to leave a proper comment when I'm done but please know you're saving my life right now
I know! His content gets me through the work week! Even after watching them after the 400th time. He had me on the Xenogears retrospective…. So good! Feel better! I wish you a fast recovery!
Oh man, sorry to hear that. Hope this video takes your mind off the misery for a little while. 3 hour long RUclips videos about games cure what ails ya.
@@JasonFahringerSame here! I've watched the Xenogears video so many times I eventually noticed the portraits of the characters with eye patches (Bart and Sigurd) on their text boxes correctly place the eye patches depending on their facing. Lawl.
His initial thoughts on the Souls series took a lot of foresight. He really saw something special in those games (and I love to see him creating fantastic worlds of his own nowadays).
@@Majuular i used to listen to him on the old old gamespot podcast "the hotspot", always seemed like a kind and insightful individual. between him and Greg Kasavin, GameSpot alumni doing some amazing work
For about a month before i knew this video existed, i was having flashbacks of a mysterious game that i couldn't place: in particular, a hauntingly large poisonous mushroom against an eerily black sky, backdropped by music that sounded more like a funeral dirge than a video game. It was maddening, as it felt like i was being low-key haunted by a memory of a formative game that i desperstely wanted to remember more of and couldn't. Then, almost like a summons, your video arrived in my feed, and i couldn't be more relieved. Thank you so much for making this. I think i somehow needed to remember this game, as it guided my fascination of all things suspenseful and sorrowful. Your calm voice and exceptional script writing made this a pleasure to go through as well.
Armored Core built that company. Also, Evergrace is a game everyone forgets about in the lineage of the Souls stuff. Which is funny because it's more like a Souls game than any other. You should play it. It's got some of the weirdest music that sticks with you.
I never had a ps2 as a kid and finally bought one in 2013 in a retro store, together with 4 games. Star ocean 3, dmc3, dragon ball bt3 and evergrace. Evergrace became my first ever ps 2 game lol, I'll never forget it, was quite the experience and a bit obscure at times.
I am currently stuck in that game lmao. I stopped playing cause it really did feel like a Souls game and I am terrible at those. I will be finishing it…one day.
Evergrace had a really interesting equipment system too since you never leveled up. All your stats were based on gear you obtained. It sure didn’t hold your hand though and had no problem trapping and killing you with no warning with the last save nearly an hour back.
You are one of my favorite RUclipsrs. I’m always so excited when I see you have a new upload. You have inspired me in the past to go outside of my normal strength content and make some gaming content. Keep up the amazing work my bro
That's awesome to hear Sephist. Thank you so much for the kind words & super thanks, it's really appreciated. May you continue to draw inspiration from unexpected sources!
I cannot wait until you play the shadow tower series. I have played them through multiple times. Had to learn how to play them on my own. The first shadow tower really was a challenge to the point where it was almost saying “come on try and beat me” if I can only give 1 tip is to always increase strength as nothing else matters.
Yeah, I've decided you're my favourite longform-videogame-reviewer on RUclips, no matter which game you're talking... aboote. The medals go to the videos for Legend of Dragoon, Kudelka etc. and 3DO RPGs (which was the first one I came across) but this one even got me playing Kings Field 1. Carry on, mate.
holy shit, watching this unlocked a core memory. I thought I had never played these games but seeing the intro cutscene of King's Field IV made me feel like I'd seen it before, particularly the part with the bloody handprint on the door, and I realized that I actually played it at a friend's house during a sleepover, but we got bored pretty quick because we had no idea what we were doing (we were probably like 10). I guess the game was her older brother's or something. that was so wild, especially since you talk about these games being the kind of game you vaguely remember having played once, wow.
Listen, man. I just want to say that I LIVE on your content. You have THE BEST content, in my opinion, on the whole damn platform. I’m BEYOND excited to watch this tonight.
Just posting on this one since it'll be the one. You've taken me a lot of the way through December, and you're going into the new year with me here. Thanks so much for everything you do, Majuular. Your videos are my favorites, I really love when you *really* get into the descriptions of music.
This was amazing; wow. I forgot why I subscribed to you, but then I realized you also made that Xenogears Retrospective. You have an incredible talent, don't stop making videos. Again, just so densely satisfying -- thank you for creating this.
-several hours from soft video: 🤔 - says 46:20 “greater than the sum of its parts” :🤔🤔 - Joseph Anderson referenced:🤔🤔🤔 Oh yeah, this guy likes mathewmatosis Edit: just got to 1:33:25 I knew it Great video essay, easily earned a sub. I particularly liked the beginning how you contextualized the game in the Japanese economy and the origins of the studio
Bro I seriously love your videos. Out of all the retrospectives that I watch while at work or sleeping, yours are my favorite. Your style and your humor is I’d say is the most appealing part of your content over others. Hope this one anecdotal piece of information helps you in some way.
@@Majuular well here's to hopefully many many bloops to come your way in the future... maybe even some bleeps ((but we won't talk about those). Lol, hope thing's have been good in your corner of the multiverse.
Man, such a well-made and interesting video. It also warms my heart when someone acknowledges faults of Dark Souls 2 without outright hating the game. I had not clue DS2 and KF3 have so many similarities, it's so cool to see.
This video has made it onto my sleepy playlist, but also it's just a damn easy rewatch for me when I'm working or cleaning the house. I'm a big fan of media that builds up atmosphere and just soaks in it, and while I'm not going to play a Soulsborne or King's Field any time soon, they're fascinating to learn about.
aw man - that Tommy Talarico spot is so meta right now lol - GREAT VIDEO - subscriber out of me now. Fantastic quality content and more stuff about my recent Souls addiction? SOLD!
The amount of excitement I get over seeing Majuular post yet another lengthy retrospective is rather calming. This one is over 3 hours? What an absolute treat. Thank you. 🖤
Fantastic video! Your commentary on and just overall way of representing the games faithfully was insightful, comprehensive, and most importantly, loving towards these strange and beautiful games.
It should be the best choice, for obvious reasons. Here, it would be cherries, but it's not the season. Walnuts though, pretty soon🌿 (There's also Pear's trees, but they're still young, the fruit not numerous and still small in size- edible though)
Perfect timing for this because I've been replaying Dark Souls and been wanting to dig more into their backlog of releases. Also, Ultima Underworld's PS1 port got translated which was something I wasn't even aware of because the comparisons to King's Field are more apparent since the PS1 version uses polygons to render the environments and enemies.
I was introduced to the UU PSX port while working on this video. I was totally fascinated by it so that translation couldn't come at a better time. I'm planning on digging into the Ultima games very soon so I'm going to be giving that one a look!
Hey @majuular just want you to know you’re one of very few creators whose videos I watch multiple times. You do fantastic work and your words on the games you cover is very much appreciated by a whelp like me.
Fantastic video! Definitely doing the series justice! :D King's Field 2(the first English speaking release) was pretty much a life defining moment in time for me. My older brother and I got it from a cousin of ours that got nightmares from playing it. We ended up spending many days and nights playing through it, finding all its secrets, etc. And I think it's the game that made me subconsciously search out and appreciate games with great atmosphere above any other element. I used to collect physical video games, but sold everything to afford my driver's license. (It's expensive where I live.) The only thing I kept was my King's Field collection, which is a nearly 100% complete edition and variation collection of every game, plus some various stuff, like guide books. The two game variants I'm missing(in addition to the mobile games, obviously), are a release of both the KF:A PSP games with a different barcode number, which seems impossible to find. Thank you for making this video, it was an absolute pleasure to watch! :D
I wanted to thank you for creating this retrospective. I just played through Kingsfield 1 (Japan) inspired by how well you were able to convey the game, looking forward to going through the others in order as well. I found the game to be much more engrossing than I thought it would be, I found the combat to be pretty good, at first, but then by the time you get healing magic and Triple Fang, it does tend towards being too easy. I did love the exploration, the backtracking, the unique aspects of certain things, it was certainly a great first foray!
Man your videos are always so enjoyable in a way I find hard to describe, so seeing you not only cover a series that's heavily captured my interest over the past couple years, but also realizing that you covered entries I didn't know existed- -this video was hype as fuck for me, _thank you._
When I played it back in the day, I got the impression that the end of King's Field 2 was supposed to be some reveal that it was actually a VR simulation or something along those lines. I always wondered about that. I was really surprised when you didn't comment on that aspect of it at all.
That's an interesting idea! Do you mean in an in-game sense? Or in a meta "The game knows it's all a video game" sort of way? I guess I took it to be the more straightforward "crazy-techno-moonbase" final area that you tend to see in 90s RPGs. But I do like layer of strangeness your theory adds!
@@Majuular I mean in an in-game sense. Despite playing the heck out of it as a kid, I don't think I ever beat King's Field 3. It was just so huge. I also never got to play King's Field 4 which I hope to rectify one day. I always assumed that my questions would have been answered if I ever beat those games, so whenever I see King's Field videos I always expect people to tackle that idea, but I often find nobody saw it the same way I did. Like for instance, why are there termites in there? All the enemies just seem haphazardly placed. Doesn't really make sense from an in-game standpoint. Well, a lot of King's Field doesn't make sense but it at least felt consistent somehow. The final area came completely out of nowhere from my perspective. I knew Elder Scrolls had some kind of futuristic aspect of it, and now that you mention it I think Wizardy might have as well. I wasn't aware of a trend of 90s RPGs doing that.
@@ssj2_snake Very true - the Ultima games were tinged with science fiction, outer space & fourth wall breaking as well. Never really noticed it, but despite the more "generic fantasy" a lot of those 90s RPGs embodied, they were much more off-the-wall about how it was implemented.
King's Field holds a very near and dear place in my heart. I had King's Field 1/JP 2 on the PS1 and just loved the vibe from a young age. When Dark Souls came out I was glad that there was another game that had a similar vibe to the point I did a school project based on my favourite games on King's Field and Dark Souls. I didn't even know they were made by the same company until later. Weird how things work out like that sometimes.
i have replayed this video over 150 times, that is NOT hyperbole that is infact underselling my exact number. best fucking video to fall asleep to man, its like clockwork, conked out in 10 minutes, wake up with about 15 minutes left to take a piss and go right back to sleep letting the last bit run its course.
@@LiroRaeriyobruh I'm back here AGAIN, it just auto plays this video so often for me, how did majuular manage to hit the algorithm with this one so hard?
there's so many things in this video that remind me why you're definitely one of my favorite youtubers, up there with the greats like mandalore and grimbeard and thorhighheels. But just for example, the way you referred to Seath's walk cycle in KF3 as "swiggety-swooting or whatever he's doing here" literally gave me side splits from laughing so hard. thanks bro pls keep making these videos longer and longer, I *live* for this kind of content
2:56:17 "that makes it (Dark Souls 2) feel like a PS2 game marooned in a place and time it doesn't belong" perhaps this is why DS2 is my favorite out of the three. I've always found it hard to explain what about DS2's design appeals so much to me, but this does make sense - I'm 28, I grew up on games from the PS1 and PS2 era and they have definitely instilled a sense of wonder in me. Amazing video as always, can't wait for the next banger
Big thanks to Maj for highlighting a favorite series. Playing through King's Field 1 & 2 (or 2 & 3 if you wanna be a pedant in the middle of my hearwarming memory ya' jagoff) with my Dad made me a FromSoft fan for life. Seeing where they are today is like growing up with someone who went on to be a huge star (I knew him before he was famous I swear)!
Very cool. Cannot believe I didn't know about this. Had to break it into chunks, but worth the 3 hours. Had some audible chuckles. Keep up the great work!
What an achievement of a video. Not a minute wasted, worth watching in its entirety. Thank you for the hard work for maybe the best long form game discussion I've ever seen.
At least Miyazaki is aware of the memes, but I dont doubt that if left unchecked, the mad man will legit make a souls like game that is nothing but poison swamp level. It will be known as your mum.
Kings Field: The Ancient City was my first fromsoft game and probably one of the most incredible experiences I'd ever had up to that point. I remember it even more strongly than I remember the first time I'd played Ocarina of Time. The music alone occupies some integral part of my brain.
I don't know why, but whenever I just let youtube play on its own, I always end up here. RUclips must think I have to learn about the history of kingsfield over and over again
No, it wants you to play King's Field
No, it wants you to fall in love with Majuular.
i have the same thing with a half life iceberg video
@@dabbboiii5314 whats it called? Maybe I can take on your curse
@@Mephil its "The Half-Life Iceberg: Explained" by accessiblefunky
I first discovered this series by randomly finding a copy of King's Field in a Best Buy. Hadn't heard or read anything about it prior, but was intrigued by the screen shots on the back of the longbox, so I took a chance. Loaded it up, took my first few steps from the starting point....fell into the water and died. "So THAT'S how it is"...
I found the atmosphere and music to be amazing, and I loved the danger that existed right from the start. As you say in this vid, you learn right quick which ways not to go until you've leveled up some.
I put a lot of hours into KF, KF2 and KF:TAC trying to discover every little secret, weapon, magic etc. I know they wouldn't be amazing to anyone new to them now, but at the time, there wasn't anything close to the experience they provided.
Shadow Tower is worth a look too -- not part of KF, but a direct descendent for sure.
Your writing is so clear that I can listen to these videos while working, without watching, and follow along the entire time. Tone of voice, speaking speed, the levels of the audio, they’re all so good
Same here. Put it on while doing work but i can still follow.
As someone who seeks out long-form content for listening at work, this comment alone sells me on this guy.
Thank you. I have 176 books on audible and I've heard all of them you've saved me for today lol
Get on disabilitee
Having written and edited quite a few documentaries in my younger year, I have to agree. Well written, spoken, audio balanced and just all around great editing.
I do this too 😂
I've never seen someone so accurately describe what makes me love King's Field 4. Sometimes I still get chills when I think about my time in the ancient city. It's a perfect example of a game that made me want to rip my hair out while also trapping me with its immersive goodness.
The ancient city is the one I spent the most time with. I never beat it, but it sparked a love for dungeon crawlers I still have to this day. I’ve never been a big first person gamer, I usually prefer to see a character, to get into ‘their’ story. The ancient city is the biggest exception for me, there was nothing else like it at the time:) SMT strange Journey, the etrian games, Undernauts, there have been a few over the years but kingsfield beat them all to the game!
@@chasesmay7237thank you both for putting it all into perspective. I think we all feel the same way here. IV sparked something in me that I can shake to this day and it makes me sing its praises still, and makes me remind people, this was fromsoft. This was their demon souls prototype, that became their dark souls prototype.
I really appreciate the narrator in Kingsfield 3 just randomly belting out black metal vocals mid narration.
dude didnt need to go so hard but still just went and delivered it like if he was doing the intro of at war with satan by venom
2:16:27
placing enemies haphazardly at the end in Lost Izalith was actually another reference to Kings Field, masterfully played Fromsoft
Always wondered what was up with that in that particular area! Good to know it was referenced and not just some random weird decision they made to make it more unique.
bravo nolan
That area is what ruined souls for me. Every time i-ve replayed the game i have fun until i remember how awful Izalith and the duke archives are and drop it there.
@@j.2512 i still love it cause its funny. all those dudes are just standing it it rules. They should have kept the lava bright as the sun in the remastered version.
@@scottjones8450:17 0:18 😅
Amazing that Tommy Tallarico made all the sound effects for kings field and became best friends with hidetaka miyazaki
I'm sure his mother is very proud!
@@Majuular This is never going to not be funny for me.
Dude Tommy carried so many games with his sound design
ahh, a fellow hbomb fan?
Well he was the first American to work along with Miyamoto, just ask him. They're probably best friends too.
In KF2, the reason why there's a daylight skybox in some very specific areas of the game, when there's the night skybox everywhere else, is an actual story point that is explained in game: Necron literally controls who gets to see daylight, and who don't. And only those whom work for him gets daylight. (Plus one exception.) Of course, as with so much else of the story and lore of these games, it's easy to miss.
This is very cool, thanks for the information!
Not to mention that Dias Bagill (Necron) is protecting his sister, Nola Bagill...
@@AngraMainiiu Those are some Star Wars-ass names right there.
neeed civvie17's dumb star wars name count. lol@@Shenaldrac
Well that explains why it's always night for most of the island, but that doesn't really explain why those few particular spots are not subject to Necron's influence.
A Majuular bingo sheet but every square says "atmosphere"
Take a shot for each time.
@@latewizard301landed me in the ICU
worth 😎👍
@@AC-hj9tv hell yeah!
Goddamn this video is a masterpiece. Took me a little while longer to get back to it but I ended up watching it in two sitting as I captured footage and it was quite literally the perfect accompaniment.
It's hard to know what to add as my own experience with the series is pretty limited but it was nice to see more of King's Field IV. That's the only one I've spent any considerable time with but I didn't get that far mainly due to taking it on at the wrong time. I kinda feel like that's the player relationship with Kings Field - you're not always in the mood for it (and that may well never come) but when you are, there isn't really anything else like it.
Now I shall begin my pathetic begging for a Majuular Shadow Tower video. It just makes too much sense!
Thank you my man, glad you enjoyed the video 🙏 Your mood assessment is right on the money, not exactly pick-up-and-play games are they?
Shadow Tower WILL be coming... after a few videos. But it'll be here!
Colab incoming
@@sinisterwombat3128 The dream is real.
I legit feel like my dreams are rendered in the kings field 1 engine
Perfect comment.
I accidently wacthed the video while being 90 percent asleep, let just say it was a trip.
@@MacIsWackyll
😮😮
@@MacIsWacky😮😮😮😮😮
I always get Kings Field mixed up with Kings Quest - where one is a dark medieval dungeon crawler that's tough as nails, the other has you ride a unicycle
It's an easy mistake to make. Both series want you brutally killed.
As long as you don't confuse it with Chex Quest your good
@@jerglow Surely, nothing can be confused with that masterpiece.
I mean, sometimes King's Field feels like it's asking you to ride a unicycle while playing it.
And yet both are essentially pioneers of their genre and excellent series.
King's Field always makes me think about my brother James. He always loved the first King's Field and after years I introduced him to emulation and he was finally able to play King's Field 2 in english. He loved that tough as nails janky mess.
Cheers to James.
That Primus joke joke you put in the King's Field 1 section got a subscribe from me. I laughed so hard lmaooo
The pomeus armor in King’s Field 3 makes you immune to physical attacks. It makes exploring the trap laden palace of death a little easier.
Oh, that's interesting! Thanks for information. Would have indeed made the Palace of Death a little less... death-esque.
@@Majuular You have to be wearing the full set though. But if you slap that and two silver rings on, the Passage of Death becomes a complete cakewalk.
@@st.haborym An alternate take, once you have the Ichrius Key use it to teleport to the big cemetery area (prayer hill), then you can enter the passage of death from behind and deactivate many of the traps to loot the area easier.
@@gustavovm491 I feel like an idiot now, because I always take the challenge head on.
@@Majuular ❤ i 😊
Figured I'd share a couple more pieces of information about KF2 and KF3: Both have one player choice that has a very tiny impact on the story of the former, and a larger impact on the story of the latter!
In KF2, Leon forges the Dark Slayer sword for you from the Dark Crystal. It's basically the Moonlight Sword's opposite, blessed by Seath. If you give the Dark Crystal to Leon, then kill Necron, you can return to Leon to get the sword. However, if you level up once, then return to Leon, he'll instead tell you that he finished the sword, but Necron stole it. When you go to fight Necron, it hangs in the air in the middle of the Colosseum, and you'll receive it after the fight. (It's also possible to not get the sword at all by not talking enough with Leon.)
In KF3, you can skip the the Royal Cemetary and go straight into the castle for the fight against the king. Without the power of the restored Moonlight Sword however, you don't see the king's spirit free, and subsequently not learn about Seath's puppetmastering. This leads to a different, bad ending in which you just replace the old king as the puppet on the throne. (Also note that in the fight against King Alfred, he's actually wielding the Dark Slayer!)
That's really interesting, thanks for sharing the info!
Honestly I think it would be amazing for From to make a First person rpg game again or even a sequel for kings field with the capabilities we have now and their skills as game developers.
He's not only wielding the Dark Slayer, he's using exact same sword magic Alexander can use in KF2.
Someone linked me to your Shadow Hearts Covenant retrospective and I instantly subbed. It's one of my favorite all-time JRPG series. Now you're discussing a series that I've been in love with for almost 30 years? Best channel ever.
As an ancient FromSoft fan, acknowledgement for this series warms my cold, dead heart. If you did a Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower: Abyss retrospective I think I could die happy. I love Souls and I'm glad that it gets as much attention as it does, but these forgotten games that started it all need some respect put on their names for laying the groundwork for games that everyone enjoys today.
You're too kind! And yes, you'd best believe I'm getting around to Shadow Tower & Abyss sometime soon...
Abyss was okay but fuck me how much I love the original shadow tower
@@Majuular Did you use a PS3 to capture King's Field IV's gameplay?
Because the "warping texture" effect looks like shimmering to me, caused by bad scaling.
If this is the case, the PS3 is the culprit, since it always forces a minimum horizontal resolution of 720, and since the game runs at 640x448... You see what i mean
ohhhh shadow hearts and its sequel (not 3 :D) were 2 of my most beloved games in my life! As well as team ICO etc.
ooh okay subbed@@Majuular
As a PC gamer I only learned about King's Field after Dark Souls made From Software popular. As a big fan of Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis, and games of their ilk, I wanted to try KF myself... and found a PC version called Sword of Moonlight which even included a level editor! There are plenty of fan-made King's Field games out there now, a really small but fascinating microcosm of oldschool game design. Diadem of Maunstraut, Return to Melanat, Fall of Verdite...
Lunacid, indie dev rather than just a fan made
Arx Fatalis was so ahead of it's time. Like Planescape torment, which is still the best written and most philosophical game. And that's why they failed at release.
They only had a niche fan base, but people started to appreciate these games today.
Arx Fatalis, Soul Reaver and Gothic are like 80% of the DNA of modern character action games.
Kings field walked so every fps 3D game now could run....also if you compare it to dark souls the ideas are there from 1994...its just better presented
@DieEineMieze
Back when it came out, Arx Fatalis blew my mind. I still play it every few years. As I write this I hear " Aam Yok" in my head.
If youre a fan, def check out Arx Libertatis. Its an open source port/overlay of the main game that modernizes it and cleans it up quite a bit.
Arkane is a pretty epic dev. Their game Prey from 2017 is probably one of my fav games of all time - its basically system shocks spiritual successor.
Through 1-3, I'd had it in the back of my mind, but 4 absolutely screamed 'Berserk' to me.
Something else I suppose is worth mentioning is that I've never actually played a Souls game, and really have no intention of doing so- they simply don't appeal to me- so the fact that you don't rely upon your viewers having experienced them to understand what you're talking about is greatly appreciated. When you do bring it up, it feels more like you're giving viewers a bit of perspective on where the developer has gone, rather than *just* saying "Hey, remember that part? This bit of the game is just like that part!"
MAJUULARRRR! @3:11:00 IT WAS ME. I AM THAT ONE PERSON WHO JUMPED FOR JOY AT THE DQ SWORDS REFERENCE. I mean I wouldn't call it "jumping for joy" but was more so surprised at anyone mentioning that game. Let alone in a giant King's Field video. I LOVED THAT GAME! THANKS FOR CALLING ME OUT BRO!
X OG i9 has the😅ko) I guess roR😢
A game series I grew up with as a kid, this video was a gift, thank you Majuular
Thank YOU! I'm glad you enjoyed the video, hope it brought back some nostalgia.
@@Majuular You absolutely did, I played every one of them, and fondly remember Ancient City trying to find all the pieces to that super Ancient set armor, I don't remember it being that slow, but I just booted it up to check and wow, modern games have spoiled us lol
Another Majuular video, life is good.
Cheers
To the 100k subscriber mark with this man!
😢It's a short one.
Careful with that phrase "Life is good" you might give him 3DO PTSD.
I see your profile pic and instantly hear Paladin quotes lol
I hope youtube never offers you tools to find out how many times I've watched this video.
Shucks, thanks Avalanche. That's an incredibly kind thing to say. I promise I won't be creeped out unless it's in the thousands, in which case you need to take a shower and stop neglecting your significant other.
239 times 😎
oh hey dude
King's Field 1 looking like the fake games that people would be playing in movies and TV shows in the 2000s.
Kings field was the worst game I ever played on ps1. It looks horrible, but even FF7 looked like crap. I recently tried playing FF7 again and I can't. I don't know how the hell I beat that eyesore of a game. Super Nintendo looks way better, but it couldn't do what the Playstation did.
@@GTSN38I think early 3D games like that are charming. They look like little origami paper sculptures walking around on a painting
Lol damn son ur right
Shut your dirty mouths you fools! All KF games are great. First one was a little raw but still a lot of fun.
@GTSN38 Gotta realize these games were designed for CRTs not LCDa
It's no small feat to get me to sit down and not only watch a 3 and a half hour long video, but also make me think "where did the time go?". Very well done.
you dont need feet to sit, whether big or small
Don't say "small feet", you'll lure out Miyazaki
@@eldonhill4840
Thanks, i'll propably never get that picture out of my head again.
Imagine a mousetrap with (very, very) small feet as lure, and Miyazaki crawling around the corner with a mad smile on his face, just to get caught in it. I even have the picture of how this ends in my head, and it's pretty awful. What have you done to me?
IT'S "FEAT", GOD DAMNIT!
Ive found i enjoy video essay's as they're great to have on while i'm working and glance over to them. They're easy to pick up and put down and its always interesting to listen to things about games i haven't played or wouldn't normally play. That said, Majuular has some good content. Ty for the upload.
I swear, not TWO DAYS ago I was thinking about how nice it would be to get a deep dive into these games since I know next to nothing about them. To not only get it, but from exactly the guy I would want to deliver it, has really made my day. Gonna save this for the morning so I have something to make my work day easy -- it feels weird to actually be looking forward to a Thursday
Weird to think its all over
If you want to watch another retrospective on these games, AesirAesthetics made a really good series of videos that cover the king's field IP
Teleporter cube mazes are inherently lame but I was relieved by how quickly I was able to get through KF2's. I might be too used to being tortured by SMT dungeons.
By the way, since I don't think this esoteric knowledge was mentioned in the video: Although the Moonlight Sword is only obtained in the final cutscene if you fight Guyra normally, if you kind of...jankily rub yourself up against him in the right way, you can clip behind him and pick up the sword as a real, usable weapon. Then you can teleport out and use it for just about nothing because you're at the end of the game.
I dunno about end of the game, because when I beat the game and got to the credits, it shows a montage of a bunch of spells I didn't have from a bunch of places I had never seen. I couldn't believe I got to the end having missed so much.
Ah, frottage as a mechanic. That tracks with the industry lol.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 can you expand on this?
Thanks, just wanted to chip in for this and all the other videos I've enjoyed these past few months. Merci!
Thank you very much for the Super Thanks, glad you've been enjoying the videos! Hope you enjoy the stuff that's coming out soon as well.
I’m obsessed with this transition at 7:52 like there were so many ways you could have done it, but you picked physical props entering the frame practically, and then keyed out and transformed in post.
Absolutely insane style, completely unappreciated by literally every other human being on the planet except me 10/10 bravo
He tries to acquire physical copies of the games he reflects on so that he can show them in the video. The Ultima games often come with a box and little trinkets/books that he also includes in the videos, but I don't think he has ever done another edit quite like this one. I definitely did not appreciate the effort of it until you pointed it out. Thank you!
I used to play Kings Field 2(Kings Field 3) with my dad growing up. We had the manual and everything. We’d find random hidden places and upgrading the Excellector. When we got to the final boss, I was so excited. Feels nice coming full circle and picking up where he left off with the Souls series, BB, Sekiro, and of course ER. 😄
By god this is a massive amount of maj for me to slowly but surely consume, you love to see it.
your videos are so deeply calming, they evoke a similar feeling to your friend just sort of infodumping about a piece of art they are fascinated by, and somehow every single video captures it perfectly. this channel is something special
I have a handful of friends from Regina, Winnipeg/Brandon, Saskatoon, Grande Prairie, Kamloops, Medicine Hat, & other mid-Prairie cities-that-feel-like-small-towns. & there's something about Majuular that reminds me of all those dudes who wore hoodies + a flannel in -30 C, would've drank stubbies if they were still being made (note to boutique breweries: bring back stubbies for nostalgia, please include cider + low/non-alcohol options), & were completely safe to randomly walk up to + mumble that you were having trouble getting home, no matter the time or how messy you were, & they'd meet you at the door of any house party within 10 minutes to accompany you home safely. If you were cold, he'd give you his flannel to wear along the way.
My unhealthy parasocial relationship with Macular relies on THAT. My nostalgia for THAT GUY. He reminds me so much of THAT GUY. & those guys got me home safe + warm from so many Canadian winter house parties over the years that getting my retro video game content in a smart, witty, deep way from someone who reminds me so much of them is such an intoxicatingly nostalgic mix I have to remind myself he's a guy on the internet whose videos I love. So I stay logical about it but I can't help the extra glow of ambient good house party memories.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 LOL i try to ward off parasociality as much as i can but it really does kind of evoke that feeling, as someone who comes from small town midwest usa
Oh hell yeah... Majuular talking about the series that introduced me to From Software (and bleak, dark fantasy video game settings and gameplay). I'm here for the whole ride. Thanks in advance!
1 million views well bloody earned!
Damn, thank you so much for the support Akouryo! I just hope your bank doesn't get angry like they did over Patreon 😆 You're still in the Lordly Caliber credits for my upcoming video, just so you know.
@@Majuular We can only hope! Aw man you didn't have to do that but I'm honoured to be there all the same
I mean Flamberge, Flammard, and Flammenschwert all more or less translate to "Flame Sword" or "Flame Blade", so FromSoft just calling it Flame Sword is actually pretty accurate still lol
I'm currently in bed suffering with a touch of COVID. This couldn't have arrived at a better time. I'll be sure to leave a proper comment when I'm done but please know you're saving my life right now
I know! His content gets me through the work week! Even after watching them after the 400th time. He had me on the Xenogears retrospective…. So good! Feel better! I wish you a fast recovery!
Oh man, sorry to hear that. Hope this video takes your mind off the misery for a little while. 3 hour long RUclips videos about games cure what ails ya.
Hang in there you beautiful rascal
@@JasonFahringerSame here! I've watched the Xenogears video so many times I eventually noticed the portraits of the characters with eye patches (Bart and Sigurd) on their text boxes correctly place the eye patches depending on their facing. Lawl.
B-Mask and Majuular uploading 2.5 Hour + videos on the same day is a dream.
xmas come early
Who's bmask
@@everythingpony www.youtube.com/@BMask/featured
@@everythingponysame no idea who that is
Grimm beard just dropped a 2 and 1/2 hour video out too. It's a lovely day
shout-out to Kevin VanOrd, who now writes at Larian (THAT Larian). doubt GameSpot would've given Demon's Souls GOTY in '09 without him
His initial thoughts on the Souls series took a lot of foresight. He really saw something special in those games (and I love to see him creating fantastic worlds of his own nowadays).
@@Majuular i used to listen to him on the old old gamespot podcast "the hotspot", always seemed like a kind and insightful individual. between him and Greg Kasavin, GameSpot alumni doing some amazing work
Him being so positive on Demon's Souls made me give Demon's Souls a shot, and it changed my taste in gaming forever. What a cool dude
@@ogto, are there several Larian in the gaming industry? I don't think so. And they've been around just as long as FromSoft
What is the point here?@@ChristmasLore
For about a month before i knew this video existed, i was having flashbacks of a mysterious game that i couldn't place: in particular, a hauntingly large poisonous mushroom against an eerily black sky, backdropped by music that sounded more like a funeral dirge than a video game. It was maddening, as it felt like i was being low-key haunted by a memory of a formative game that i desperstely wanted to remember more of and couldn't.
Then, almost like a summons, your video arrived in my feed, and i couldn't be more relieved. Thank you so much for making this. I think i somehow needed to remember this game, as it guided my fascination of all things suspenseful and sorrowful.
Your calm voice and exceptional script writing made this a pleasure to go through as well.
That was a great watch! Played all the -souls Games but never touched the King's Field Series. Your retrospective made me wanna dive into it soon!
Thanks so much! Go in with some patience front-loaded and I think you'll be surprised by how much fun you have.
I played through King's Field II (III technically) on the ps1 when I was a young teenager, it stuck with me all these years and I still adore it.
Taking it back to those moonlit roots. Thanks Maj. You're the man!
Armored Core built that company. Also, Evergrace is a game everyone forgets about in the lineage of the Souls stuff. Which is funny because it's more like a Souls game than any other. You should play it. It's got some of the weirdest music that sticks with you.
I never had a ps2 as a kid and finally bought one in 2013 in a retro store, together with 4 games. Star ocean 3, dmc3, dragon ball bt3 and evergrace.
Evergrace became my first ever ps 2 game lol, I'll never forget it, was quite the experience and a bit obscure at times.
it was also a launch title for the PS2, surprised it wasn't brought up with Eternal Ring and Armored Core 2
I am currently stuck in that game lmao. I stopped playing cause it really did feel like a Souls game and I am terrible at those. I will be finishing it…one day.
Evergrace had a really interesting equipment system too since you never leveled up. All your stats were based on gear you obtained.
It sure didn’t hold your hand though and had no problem trapping and killing you with no warning with the last save nearly an hour back.
Love this retrospective, watched it a third time now, and sent it around to people who might enjoy it, great job!
You are one of my favorite RUclipsrs. I’m always so excited when I see you have a new upload. You have inspired me in the past to go outside of my normal strength content and make some gaming content. Keep up the amazing work my bro
That's awesome to hear Sephist. Thank you so much for the kind words & super thanks, it's really appreciated. May you continue to draw inspiration from unexpected sources!
Majuular coming in hot to murder my free time, and I'm here for it.
I cannot wait until you play the shadow tower series. I have played them through multiple times. Had to learn how to play them on my own. The first shadow tower really was a challenge to the point where it was almost saying “come on try and beat me” if I can only give 1 tip is to always increase strength as nothing else matters.
I dig your chill style and relaxing voice. You definitely hold your own in the video game essay genre.
Klingon is a invite and you look tired like people in 😊like lol lol lol you have been trying pretty good for
Yeah, I've decided you're my favourite longform-videogame-reviewer on RUclips, no matter which game you're talking... aboote.
The medals go to the videos for Legend of Dragoon, Kudelka etc. and 3DO RPGs (which was the first one I came across) but this one even got me playing Kings Field 1. Carry on, mate.
SO CLOSE TO A MILLION VIEWS!! That's absolutely incredible and 100% deserves it 🎉 it's insane how much your channel has grown ❤
holy shit, watching this unlocked a core memory. I thought I had never played these games but seeing the intro cutscene of King's Field IV made me feel like I'd seen it before, particularly the part with the bloody handprint on the door, and I realized that I actually played it at a friend's house during a sleepover, but we got bored pretty quick because we had no idea what we were doing (we were probably like 10). I guess the game was her older brother's or something. that was so wild, especially since you talk about these games being the kind of game you vaguely remember having played once, wow.
Listen, man. I just want to say that I LIVE on your content. You have THE BEST content, in my opinion, on the whole damn platform. I’m BEYOND excited to watch this tonight.
Damn, that's some high praise. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it!
Yeah I’m serious. I’m about to hit you hard with the patreon when I get paid next week. Thank you for what you do.
Agreed ❤
Nice, I just eat up everything related to the Kingsfield series, it is so good to fall asleep to in the best way possible.
Just posting on this one since it'll be the one. You've taken me a lot of the way through December, and you're going into the new year with me here. Thanks so much for everything you do, Majuular. Your videos are my favorites, I really love when you *really* get into the descriptions of music.
I hope you are proud of yourself. I got through parts 1-3 within a week and am just now getting down to part 4.... This series is amazing
This was amazing; wow. I forgot why I subscribed to you, but then I realized you also made that Xenogears Retrospective. You have an incredible talent, don't stop making videos. Again, just so densely satisfying -- thank you for creating this.
Dude this video is consistently interesting and funny for it's entire runtime, you should be proud
Hearing the maj jingle after clicking the notification by accident was such a treat.
-several hours from soft video: 🤔
- says 46:20 “greater than the sum of its parts” :🤔🤔
- Joseph Anderson referenced:🤔🤔🤔
Oh yeah, this guy likes mathewmatosis
Edit: just got to 1:33:25 I knew it
Great video essay, easily earned a sub. I particularly liked the beginning how you contextualized the game in the Japanese economy and the origins of the studio
Eternal Ring is honestly worth doing a video for. I could provide some footage if you want. I love that game so much.
Bro I seriously love your videos. Out of all the retrospectives that I watch while at work or sleeping, yours are my favorite. Your style and your humor is I’d say is the most appealing part of your content over others. Hope this one anecdotal piece of information helps you in some way.
Every bit of feedback is a little sonar bloop that helps influence me. Really appreciate the feedback!
@@Majuular well here's to hopefully many many bloops to come your way in the future... maybe even some bleeps ((but we won't talk about those). Lol, hope thing's have been good in your corner of the multiverse.
Man, such a well-made and interesting video. It also warms my heart when someone acknowledges faults of Dark Souls 2 without outright hating the game. I had not clue DS2 and KF3 have so many similarities, it's so cool to see.
thank you for taking the time to make this video, was a great watch
This video has made it onto my sleepy playlist, but also it's just a damn easy rewatch for me when I'm working or cleaning the house. I'm a big fan of media that builds up atmosphere and just soaks in it, and while I'm not going to play a Soulsborne or King's Field any time soon, they're fascinating to learn about.
aw man - that Tommy Talarico spot is so meta right now lol - GREAT VIDEO - subscriber out of me now. Fantastic quality content and more stuff about my recent Souls addiction? SOLD!
Hello, I am the one guy who jumped for joy at the mention of DQ: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors.
The amount of excitement I get over seeing Majuular post yet another lengthy retrospective is rather calming.
This one is over 3 hours? What an absolute treat.
Thank you. 🖤
Amazing job as always Majuular, still amazed at how fast you pump these out.
Thank you! I'm working on some aspect of these videos pretty much every day, so I've built up some solid momentum :)
Fantastic video! Your commentary on and just overall way of representing the games faithfully was insightful, comprehensive, and most importantly, loving towards these strange and beautiful games.
I have seriously listened to this video like 8 times in the past 3 months. such a good voice. i love the long videos.
This will be perfect for picking pears and canning! 🤩
If anyone asks how best to consume my content, whilst picking & canning pears will now be my default answer.
It should be the best choice, for obvious reasons.
Here, it would be cherries, but it's not the season.
Walnuts though, pretty soon🌿
(There's also Pear's trees, but they're still young, the fruit not numerous and still small in size- edible though)
A perfect pairing
Perfect timing for this because I've been replaying Dark Souls and been wanting to dig more into their backlog of releases.
Also, Ultima Underworld's PS1 port got translated which was something I wasn't even aware of because the comparisons to King's Field are more apparent since the PS1 version uses polygons to render the environments and enemies.
I didn't even know Ultima Underworld had a PS1 port.
I was introduced to the UU PSX port while working on this video. I was totally fascinated by it so that translation couldn't come at a better time. I'm planning on digging into the Ultima games very soon so I'm going to be giving that one a look!
Cool, just don't fall into the spoony pit @@Majuular
This was absolutely amazing,thanks so much for making it!
Hey @majuular just want you to know you’re one of very few creators whose videos I watch multiple times. You do fantastic work and your words on the games you cover is very much appreciated by a whelp like me.
I know I’ve been seeing a lot of creators publicly weighing the cost vs effort situation. Whatever you decide to do, I enjoy your videos.
Fantastic video! Definitely doing the series justice! :D
King's Field 2(the first English speaking release) was pretty much a life defining moment in time for me. My older brother and I got it from a cousin of ours that got nightmares from playing it. We ended up spending many days and nights playing through it, finding all its secrets, etc. And I think it's the game that made me subconsciously search out and appreciate games with great atmosphere above any other element.
I used to collect physical video games, but sold everything to afford my driver's license. (It's expensive where I live.) The only thing I kept was my King's Field collection, which is a nearly 100% complete edition and variation collection of every game, plus some various stuff, like guide books. The two game variants I'm missing(in addition to the mobile games, obviously), are a release of both the KF:A PSP games with a different barcode number, which seems impossible to find.
Thank you for making this video, it was an absolute pleasure to watch! :D
the absolute girth of this video.
im ready for absolute kino as usual
Now this is content love the kings field games and shadow tower
Every mention of the Teleporter Cube Maze gives me a good giggle.
Spend 3++ hours watching a retrospective on a game series I had no idea about. Excellent quality!!!
I wanted to thank you for creating this retrospective. I just played through Kingsfield 1 (Japan) inspired by how well you were able to convey the game, looking forward to going through the others in order as well. I found the game to be much more engrossing than I thought it would be, I found the combat to be pretty good, at first, but then by the time you get healing magic and Triple Fang, it does tend towards being too easy. I did love the exploration, the backtracking, the unique aspects of certain things, it was certainly a great first foray!
Man your videos are always so enjoyable in a way I find hard to describe, so seeing you not only cover a series that's heavily captured my interest over the past couple years,
but also realizing that you covered entries I didn't know existed-
-this video was hype as fuck for me, _thank you._
Another masterpiece as always, my man!! :)
You're videos make me have better sleep. Because of that I have seen them multiple times. They are also very well done.
Idk why but this is like the third time I’ve watched this video. It’s so well done.
So thank you, thank you so much for making this Retrospective. Having this and Aesir Aesthetics' videos to re-watch over and over again is a real joy.
When I played it back in the day, I got the impression that the end of King's Field 2 was supposed to be some reveal that it was actually a VR simulation or something along those lines. I always wondered about that. I was really surprised when you didn't comment on that aspect of it at all.
That's an interesting idea! Do you mean in an in-game sense? Or in a meta "The game knows it's all a video game" sort of way? I guess I took it to be the more straightforward "crazy-techno-moonbase" final area that you tend to see in 90s RPGs. But I do like layer of strangeness your theory adds!
@@Majuular I mean in an in-game sense. Despite playing the heck out of it as a kid, I don't think I ever beat King's Field 3. It was just so huge. I also never got to play King's Field 4 which I hope to rectify one day. I always assumed that my questions would have been answered if I ever beat those games, so whenever I see King's Field videos I always expect people to tackle that idea, but I often find nobody saw it the same way I did. Like for instance, why are there termites in there? All the enemies just seem haphazardly placed. Doesn't really make sense from an in-game standpoint. Well, a lot of King's Field doesn't make sense but it at least felt consistent somehow. The final area came completely out of nowhere from my perspective.
I knew Elder Scrolls had some kind of futuristic aspect of it, and now that you mention it I think Wizardy might have as well. I wasn't aware of a trend of 90s RPGs doing that.
@@ssj2_snake Very true - the Ultima games were tinged with science fiction, outer space & fourth wall breaking as well. Never really noticed it, but despite the more "generic fantasy" a lot of those 90s RPGs embodied, they were much more off-the-wall about how it was implemented.
What?
King's Field holds a very near and dear place in my heart. I had King's Field 1/JP 2 on the PS1 and just loved the vibe from a young age. When Dark Souls came out I was glad that there was another game that had a similar vibe to the point I did a school project based on my favourite games on King's Field and Dark Souls. I didn't even know they were made by the same company until later. Weird how things work out like that sometimes.
RUclips stop recommending this video to me 😭😭😭 majuular has eaten DAYS of my life. DAMN YOU KINGS FIELD
OH MY GOD IT'S NOT JUST ME???
i have replayed this video over 150 times, that is NOT hyperbole that is infact underselling my exact number.
best fucking video to fall asleep to man, its like clockwork, conked out in 10 minutes, wake up with about 15 minutes left to take a piss and go right back to sleep letting the last bit run its course.
@@LiroRaeriyobruh I'm back here AGAIN, it just auto plays this video so often for me, how did majuular manage to hit the algorithm with this one so hard?
This video practically inspired my new let’s play channel, I’ve never been so nostalgic for a game I never played. Amazing video Maj
there's so many things in this video that remind me why you're definitely one of my favorite youtubers, up there with the greats like mandalore and grimbeard and thorhighheels.
But just for example, the way you referred to Seath's walk cycle in KF3 as "swiggety-swooting or whatever he's doing here" literally gave me side splits from laughing so hard. thanks bro pls keep making these videos longer and longer, I *live* for this kind of content
been looking for a deep dive into king's field for a while. this is the one
2:56:17 "that makes it (Dark Souls 2) feel like a PS2 game marooned in a place and time it doesn't belong"
perhaps this is why DS2 is my favorite out of the three. I've always found it hard to explain what about DS2's design appeals so much to me, but this does make sense - I'm 28, I grew up on games from the PS1 and PS2 era and they have definitely instilled a sense of wonder in me. Amazing video as always, can't wait for the next banger
Big thanks to Maj for highlighting a favorite series. Playing through King's Field 1 & 2 (or 2 & 3 if you wanna be a pedant in the middle of my hearwarming memory ya' jagoff) with my Dad made me a FromSoft fan for life. Seeing where they are today is like growing up with someone who went on to be a huge star (I knew him before he was famous I swear)!
Very cool. Cannot believe I didn't know about this. Had to break it into chunks, but worth the 3 hours. Had some audible chuckles. Keep up the great work!
What an achievement of a video. Not a minute wasted, worth watching in its entirety.
Thank you for the hard work for maybe the best long form game discussion I've ever seen.
At least Miyazaki is aware of the memes, but I dont doubt that if left unchecked, the mad man will legit make a souls like game that is nothing but poison swamp level. It will be known as your mum.
that lost odyssey reference earned you a sub
If you like Lost Odyssey, stick around, you might be pleasantly surprised soon ;)
Kings Field: The Ancient City was my first fromsoft game and probably one of the most incredible experiences I'd ever had up to that point. I remember it even more strongly than I remember the first time I'd played Ocarina of Time. The music alone occupies some integral part of my brain.
2:16:29 That dude went hard on those lines like a rock star, i appreciate that lol.