King's Field: Difference between revisions

The three Playstation games form what is sometimes known as the "Verdite Trilogy," as they all involve events in or that involve the Kingdom of Verdite, the dragons Seath and Guyra (who are basically gods), and usually require the hero to attain the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Moonlight Sword]]. The games are ultimately plot-lite, but actually have a bit of mythology behind them if you talk to a lot of people and read the manuals.

In ''King's Field'' you play as Alfred, a prince who ventures into the Royal Cemetary to hunt down the source of an unknown evil and, on his journeys, receives the Moonlight Sword.

''King's Field II'' takes place a number of years later. Alfred is now King of Verdite. The Moonlight Sword has been stolen and evidence indicates the thief is on the island of Melanat, which is supposedly cursed. The King's friend Alexander volunteers to go to Melanat and retrieve the sword, winds up discovering a slave-mining operation and {{spoiler|a plot to revive the black dragon, Guyra.}}

''King's Field III'' takes place twenty years later and stars Alfred's son, Lyle. Sadly, Alfred has been possessed and has become a force of evil, and Alexander died [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sealing Alfred in his castle.]] Lyle finds out the truth of the situation, defeats his father and the being who possessed him.

''King's Field IV'' is an all new story that basically has nothing to do with the Verdite Trilogy. In it, your main character is given the [[Artifact of Death|Idol of Sorrow]] and tasked with returning it to it's pedestal in the Ancient City, which will supposedly break the curse. In the course of your journey you learn that the civilization of the Ancient City had begun worshipping "the darkness" and may have brought about their own destruction. The Moonlight Sword once again appears, but its a completely different sword from the one in the Verdite trilogy.

** The ultimate weapon of most of the games is the Moonlight Sword. This sounds like an [[Averted Trope|aversion]], until ''King's Field II'' reveals that {{spoiler|the Moonlight Sword was created by Guyra, the "evil" god, to facilitate his own resurrection. It ''does,'' however, ultimately end up being a force for good in the games.}}

** The first two games mostly work on the premise "Seath good, Guyra bad." However, in ''King's Field III'' it turns out that {{spoiler|both were ultimately mistakes, created by a higher power who thought introducing religion would give people meaning in their lives. It backfired, horribly, as the two gods took their roles a little too seriously and started actually trying to dominate the world.}} Incidentaly, {{spoiler|the final boss of the game is Seath, who is represented as a shining white figure who uses light-based attacks.}}

** Somewhat in ''King's Field II'' - if you die near the beginning of the game you have to either restart from the beginning or reload your save game. Once you've unlocked {{spoiler|Seath's Fountain}} though, then you'll always come back there with all your gold, experience and inventory intact.

** In ''King's Field III,'' Dragon Stones now double over as extra lives (formerly they were just this game's version of [[Final Fantasy|Elixers]]). As long as you have one, there is no real downside to dying. In fact there's a secret area you ''have to die'' to reach!

*** Actually, all three games use Dragon Stones to fuel resurrection; the third game is just the only one of the trilogy where no additional action (activation of a recovery fountain) is required as a prerequisite. Die without a Dragon Stone in any of the three games? Start from the beginning again (or, more likely, reload a save). Die with a Dragon Stone but without having activated the necessary fountain in I or II? Same.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: By the end of the Verdite trilogy, {{spoiler|you've killed ''both'' the major gods}}

* [[Infinity+1 Sword]]: the Moonlight Sword is the ultimate weapon in most of the games, except in ''King's Field II'' where its the Dark Slayer.

** In ''King's Field IV'' it ''seems'' like its the Moonlight Sword, but there's a secret wall where you can find the Triple Fang, which is slightly better.

** Similarily, while you need the Moonlight Sword to ''get to'' the final boss in ''King's Field III,'' once you're there you can use whatever you please.

*** In addition, the manual and game text of ''King's Field III'' make it sound like you have to have the Excellector equipped to level it. This is not the case--simply ''having'' it is enough.

** In Europe, ''KF: The Ancient City'' is still called ''King's Field IV,'' [[Or So I Heard]].

* [[Motif]]: The Verdite trilogy has a recurring image themed around each game's [[Infinity+1 Sword]]. At the end of ''King's Field II'' we see an image of the Moonlight Sword (from the first game) crossed with the newly-introduced Dark Slayer. In ''King's Field III'' those two swords are joined by the Excellector.

* [[Multiple Endings]]: In ''King's Field III'' its possible to confront King Alfred without reforging the Moonlight Sword. {{spoiler|you get a [[Bad Ending]] implying that Lyle becomes possessed, and you also don't get to face the true final boss.}}

* [[Nostalgia Level]]: The Royal Cemetary in ''King's Field III'' is this for Japanese gamers (it was the setting of the original ''King's Field'')

** ''Shadow Tower'' for Playstation. From Software even incorporated aspects of its equipment system into ''King's Field IV.''

** ''Demon's Souls'' for Playstation 3. The gameplay has changed quite a bit, but it has very similar atmosphere and quite a few [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to King's Field.

*** ''Demon's Souls'' has its own [[Spiritual Successor]] by the name of ''Dark Souls'' - which ''continues'' with the shout-outs, including ''Seath the Scaleless''. Probably not the same entity, but knowing From...