King's Field Collecting - The story so far ...
Got some new pictures of my collection:
I was originally not going to write this much, but once I had started, it was kind of impossible to stop. So, here we go...
I grew up with the PS1 as my main gaming console. Sure, there had been a SMS2 in the household prior to that, and we had borrowed NES and N64 over extended periods of time. However, PS1 was the console we had for the longest period of time, and the one I played the most during my upbringing. Tekken, Command & Conquer, D, Lomax, Resident Evil, and a lot of other games helped shape me into the gamer - and collector - that I am today. However, there was one game that had more influence on my than any other game since.
One day my mum came home with two new games. They were from a cousin of ours, and he didn't want them anymore. One was The Incredible Hulk, which I don't remember why we got - he was probably just bored with it. The other game was King's Field - our cousin didn't want the game, because it gave him nightmares. (Kudos to mum for giving it to us despite knowing our cousin of equal age had problems playing it.)
My brother and me went straight down to the basement to try the new games. We started up King's Field, saw the bone chilling and mysterious introduction scene, and were put right into the role of Prince Alexander, washed ashore on the island of Melanat. It's dark and mysterious, and the soundtrack playing only added to the atmosphere. Trying out the controls for the first time, my brother took two steps backwards, plunged into the sea, and drowned with a loud scream - sure, screams from drowning doesn't make much sense, but it scared us out of our wits the first dousin times we died and heard that scream.
These days I don't come across many games that can give me the same feeling as King's Field did. I'm sure many of you have similar experiences with other games. I remember the game ended up with a lot of scratches, and became unplayable, so I bought a new one. Then that one disappeared, so I bought yet another one. And this was long, long before I started collecting games - I just wanted to play King's Field.
King's Field was one of the first games I got(third time bought, fourth time owned) when i started collecting a few years back. Now, I live in Europe, and only one game in the series had been released here. At some point I found out that there was a sequel for the PS1 released in North America. Then King's Field IV was released in Europe, too. Bought it, played it - but what of the other two games? After some Google Fu, I found out that the King's Field I had played was actually KFII, and KFII which had been released in NA was actually KFIII. The very first King's Field game, on the other hand, was only released in Japan, and it was the very first RPG for the PS1.
(Note: I'll be naming the games by their original, Japanese titles and numbering from this point on.)
Enter eBay - one copy of KFIII(NTSC-U), one copy of the very first King's Field(NTSC-J). After receiving the games, I found a fan translation patch for the first game. Made a copy with the English translation patch added, borrowed a modded PS2, and started playing through all four games, one by one.
I guess it was at this point that I was too far gone to be saved. I was now a King's Field maniac.
One copy of each of the games was no longer enough for me. I just had to have the NTSC-U version of the second game. And then I had to have the longbox variant of the same game, then the Japanese collector's box containing all four games, etc. My King's Field collection had started.
Now, the thing about King's Field is that it was a huge hit in Japan, but not outside of it. That means there's very little information around regarding them, especially now that they're getting a bit old. So when I decided to make a complete releases and variants collection of the King's Field games, I knew it would be hard finding all the information I needed. And even harder getting a hold of all the different variants of each game.
I spent about two or three weeks searching all day, every day, for information on variants and releases I didn't know about. This included looking at really bad pics on eBay sites and other online auction sites and shops, and comparing them to other pics or games already in my collection, sending e-mails to the publishers and developers(which has been a dead end), and Google Fu-ing Japanese sites. Now, I don't know Japanese, and if you use Google Translate(or anything similar), you'll still not understand half of what is written. But after a lot of clicking on links that I had no idea where'd take me, copypasting relevant Japanese text I found, and searching through Japanese online shops, I finally found enough information to say that I believe I now know of every variant of each of the King's Field games. And it all comes down to exactly 30.
Doesn't sound like much, right? But trust me, a lot of that information was near impossible to find, and some information was even harder to validate.
I am currently over halfway in my King's Field collection, with 17 of the 30 items in my collection. Most of the items shouldn't be too hard to find on eBay or Yahoo Japan, but there are a couple I'm missing that are very rare: King's Field III - Pilot Style and King's Field III - Power Completist. The first is a sort of demo version of the game, the second is the full game in a cardboard slipcase with a small guide included. Both these releases are Japanese.
See list of releases and variants below. If you know of any that I haven't added to the list, please let me know!
Update 11.06.2012: As of today I have got a complete collection of all known King's Field 2 releases and variants, which amounts to a total of 11, including three North American variants, four Japanese variants, and four European variants.
I was originally not going to write this much, but once I had started, it was kind of impossible to stop. So, here we go...
I grew up with the PS1 as my main gaming console. Sure, there had been a SMS2 in the household prior to that, and we had borrowed NES and N64 over extended periods of time. However, PS1 was the console we had for the longest period of time, and the one I played the most during my upbringing. Tekken, Command & Conquer, D, Lomax, Resident Evil, and a lot of other games helped shape me into the gamer - and collector - that I am today. However, there was one game that had more influence on my than any other game since.
One day my mum came home with two new games. They were from a cousin of ours, and he didn't want them anymore. One was The Incredible Hulk, which I don't remember why we got - he was probably just bored with it. The other game was King's Field - our cousin didn't want the game, because it gave him nightmares. (Kudos to mum for giving it to us despite knowing our cousin of equal age had problems playing it.)
My brother and me went straight down to the basement to try the new games. We started up King's Field, saw the bone chilling and mysterious introduction scene, and were put right into the role of Prince Alexander, washed ashore on the island of Melanat. It's dark and mysterious, and the soundtrack playing only added to the atmosphere. Trying out the controls for the first time, my brother took two steps backwards, plunged into the sea, and drowned with a loud scream - sure, screams from drowning doesn't make much sense, but it scared us out of our wits the first dousin times we died and heard that scream.
These days I don't come across many games that can give me the same feeling as King's Field did. I'm sure many of you have similar experiences with other games. I remember the game ended up with a lot of scratches, and became unplayable, so I bought a new one. Then that one disappeared, so I bought yet another one. And this was long, long before I started collecting games - I just wanted to play King's Field.
King's Field was one of the first games I got(third time bought, fourth time owned) when i started collecting a few years back. Now, I live in Europe, and only one game in the series had been released here. At some point I found out that there was a sequel for the PS1 released in North America. Then King's Field IV was released in Europe, too. Bought it, played it - but what of the other two games? After some Google Fu, I found out that the King's Field I had played was actually KFII, and KFII which had been released in NA was actually KFIII. The very first King's Field game, on the other hand, was only released in Japan, and it was the very first RPG for the PS1.
(Note: I'll be naming the games by their original, Japanese titles and numbering from this point on.)
Enter eBay - one copy of KFIII(NTSC-U), one copy of the very first King's Field(NTSC-J). After receiving the games, I found a fan translation patch for the first game. Made a copy with the English translation patch added, borrowed a modded PS2, and started playing through all four games, one by one.
I guess it was at this point that I was too far gone to be saved. I was now a King's Field maniac.
One copy of each of the games was no longer enough for me. I just had to have the NTSC-U version of the second game. And then I had to have the longbox variant of the same game, then the Japanese collector's box containing all four games, etc. My King's Field collection had started.
Now, the thing about King's Field is that it was a huge hit in Japan, but not outside of it. That means there's very little information around regarding them, especially now that they're getting a bit old. So when I decided to make a complete releases and variants collection of the King's Field games, I knew it would be hard finding all the information I needed. And even harder getting a hold of all the different variants of each game.
I spent about two or three weeks searching all day, every day, for information on variants and releases I didn't know about. This included looking at really bad pics on eBay sites and other online auction sites and shops, and comparing them to other pics or games already in my collection, sending e-mails to the publishers and developers(which has been a dead end), and Google Fu-ing Japanese sites. Now, I don't know Japanese, and if you use Google Translate(or anything similar), you'll still not understand half of what is written. But after a lot of clicking on links that I had no idea where'd take me, copypasting relevant Japanese text I found, and searching through Japanese online shops, I finally found enough information to say that I believe I now know of every variant of each of the King's Field games. And it all comes down to exactly 30.
Doesn't sound like much, right? But trust me, a lot of that information was near impossible to find, and some information was even harder to validate.
I am currently over halfway in my King's Field collection, with 17 of the 30 items in my collection. Most of the items shouldn't be too hard to find on eBay or Yahoo Japan, but there are a couple I'm missing that are very rare: King's Field III - Pilot Style and King's Field III - Power Completist. The first is a sort of demo version of the game, the second is the full game in a cardboard slipcase with a small guide included. Both these releases are Japanese.
See list of releases and variants below. If you know of any that I haven't added to the list, please let me know!
Update 11.06.2012: As of today I have got a complete collection of all known King's Field 2 releases and variants, which amounts to a total of 11, including three North American variants, four Japanese variants, and four European variants.
Comments
King's Field:
- NTSC-J
- - Original, SLPS-00017 [x]
- - PSone Books, SLPS-91401 [x]
King's Field II:
- NTSC-J
- - Original, SLPS-00069 [x]
- - The Best, SLPS-91003 v1.8A [x]
- - The Best, SLPS-91003 v1.8B [x]
- - PSone Books, SLPS-91423 [x]
- NTSC-U
- - Original, SLUS-00158 [x]
- - Original, long sleeve #1, SLUS-00158 [x]
- - Original, long sleeve #2, SLUS-00158 [x]
- PAL
- - Original, English/French/German, SCES-00510 [x]
- - Original, Dutch/German/Italian/French, SCES-00510 [x]
- - Original, Spanish/Portuguese/Greek, SCES-00510 [x]
- - Promo disc [x]
King's Field III:
- NTSC-J
- - Original, SLPS-00377 [x]
- - The Best, SLPS-91089 [x]
- - PSone Books, SLPS-91426 [x]
- - Power Completist [x]
- NTSC-U
- - Original, SLUS-00255 [x]
King's Field IV:
- NTSC-J
- - Original, SLPS-25057 [x]
- NTSC-U
- - Original, SLUS-20318 [x]
- PAL
- - Original, English & Italian, SLES-50920 [x]
- - Original, French, SLES-50920 [x]
- - Original, German, SLES-50920 [x]
- - Original, Spanish, SLES-50920 [x]
- - Promo disc [x]
King's Field Additional:
- Japan
- - Original, UCAS-40100
- - Original, ULJS-00070 [x]
King's Field Additional II:
- Japan
- - Original, UCAS-40105
- - Original, ULJS-00076 [x]
Other King's Field Releases:
- NTSC-J
- - King's Field I-IV Dark Side Box, SLPS-25725 [x]
- - King's Field III: Pilot Style, SLPM-80029
[x] = In collection
wow that was a great read Guyra
I'd love to feature your piece on the weblog, let me know if you're oke with that!
i do have the game, but I've never tried it.. maybe because i'm more of a static rpg player and not so much action rpg
how do you feel it withstood the test of time?
Thanks. Sure, feel free. ^^
I would advise trying the game out. While it's definitely not for everyone, it's quite a bit different from a lot of other action RPGs, and is considered an immersive sim. So try it out; Once you're used to the controls and gameplay, you'll quickly find out whether or not it's for you.
Regarding aging, I really don't know. The graphics sure hasn't aged that well, in my opinion, and the gameplay was always a bit out of the ordinary. It's really hard to say when there's not many other games to compare it to.
The series had quite the success in its homeland, which you can see from KFII and KFIII both having two "Greatest Hits" type of releases, and the first game having one such release. It never got the same following outside of Japan, though.
Okay, I've removed one of the King's Field: The Ancient City variants. Reason for this is that I've not been able to confirm and validate its existence, despite it showing up in text a few places. I believe this simply has to do with a simple mistake that has spread throughout the internet.
In other news, I've got a couple more variants on their way, plus I've started on the merchandise and related items part of this collection. I've ordered a handful of guides, plus some other items.
if it was so popular in Japan, I fear the amount of merchandise is huge?
I love these games. I've got:
Kings Field JAP-NTSC
Kings Field PAL (Kings Field 2)
Kings Field II USA-NTSC (Kings Field 3)
Highly addictive games, but extremely frustating sometimes. Im very excited for From Softwares new game 'Dark Souls'. Looks Kings Fieldesque to me.
Okay, I've got a whole bunch of stuff on its way. I found another PAL KFIV release. And I've ordered the last KFII variant I don't have. (Gave more for it than it's actually worth, but it's all good.)
@Xed: Well, I've seen pics of a lot of stuff. Memory card stickers, letter opener formed as the Moonlight Sword, really ugly jackets... Yeah, there's some merchandise out there. But not as much as you'd expect - though that might be because the games are so old. Even the stuff I've seen in pics are extremely hard to get.
@Nintendawg: Yeah, they can be frustrating. I'm also hoping to play Dark Souls, but I don't own a PS3 at the moment. Maybe I'll be able to get one before it comes out. I've got the game preordered. Seems it's might be more similar to KF than Demons' Souls, due to it being an open world, and not a hub system.
ah thats not too bad then, are you gonna collect that too?
Well, I'd love to have *everything* KF, so yes.
I've gotten every KFII variant now, and both KF variants. Now I just need to get all KFIII and KFIV variants. I'll probably finish KFIV first, of those two. The PSP games should be rather easy, too. I'll grab them directly from Yahoo Auctions Japan when they pop up at some point.
KFIII will be the hardest to complete, due to the two hard to find releases of it: Pilot Style and Power Completist. The latter one is up for auction, but it's missing its cardboard slipcase, so I'm waiting for another one to show up.
I've got two fanbooks on the way, a copy of Sword of Moonlight: King's Field Game Making Tool, and at least one fan game made with Sword of Moonlight. In addition to several guides.
so there is KF fan fiction, thats cool!
I now have all KF, KFII, and KFIV variants that, to my knowledge, exist. I'm missing three variants of KFIII, and one variant of each of the two KFA games.
*Image removed*
(Not my entire collection as of this moment.)
looks great Guyra! Send me one of those KF4's!
Awesome collection, I only own 2 copies of Kings Field (and one of them is in japanese!!!). On the subject was you never tempted to own Shadow Tower? from the same developers and from what I read is very similar to Kings Field, or is it just the name thing your after?
@Xed: Hahaha! And there are even two more copies I own that aren't in that pic. If you're going to play it, though, play the NA release. It supposedly has a much better translation. The English translation by Metro3D(who released the PAL versions) is really, really bad.
I've only played through the PAL version, but that'll change soon.
@Kipwar: Personally, I'm mostly into the King's Field series, but I actually do own the Japanese release of Shadow Tower. I'll be getting the NA release too, and play through it at some point. It's pretty much a "sister series" to King's Field, so both ST games are going into my collection.
There's also Eternal Ring(which wasn't that good, in my opinion), the Echo Night series(which looks to be built upon the same engine as KF, but is more of an adventure game series), and Demon's Souls - the spiritual Successor to KF. And now Dark Souls is coming out, which supposedly isn't a sequel to DS, but perhaps more of a "sister game".
wow, im a huge king's field collector too. i have abunch of stuff. where do you get that sword of moonlight letter opener. that's gotta be an awesome piece! what about strategy guides?
Oh, a fellow KF collector, I'm surprised! Please, feel free to share what you've got. ^^
The letter opener(which I want to add to my collection oh so badly) would probably be easiest to find on the Japanese Yahoo Auctions - where you can also find a lot of other fun stuff. I've yet to see it there, though. Strategy guides can often be found on eBay and Amazon, in addition to Japanese ones on the aforementioned Yahoo Auctions.
The Sword of Moonlight community, has got a wiki where we've added two articles that might interest you:
http://swordofmoonlight.com/somwiki/ind ... d_variants
http://swordofmoonlight.com/somwiki/ind ... emorabilia
Great work Guyra. I did not know the PAL and NTSC versions of KF4 got different translations. I've now got a PS3 console and Dark Souls Limited Edition (my only PS3 game) and I think it is fantastic. Have you got it yet?
One copy of each of the games was no longer enough for me.
I dont understand why you guys collect multiple copies of the same game, it's a waste of money.
Excuse me while I go back to playing the GBA version of Link to the Past while installing Dead Rising 2: Off the Record.
I dont understand why you guys collect multiple copies of the same game, it's a waste of money.
That's because it's more about collecting(and OCD
Great work Guyra. I did not know the PAL and NTSC versions of KF4 got different translations. I've now got a Playstation 3 console and Dark Souls Limited Edition (my only Playstation 3 game) and I think it is fantastic. Have you got it yet?
Sweet! I'm actually still waiting for my copy, but it'll probably be in my hands sometime next week. I preordered from Amazon.co.uk, but went through a proxy so I didn't have to pay the British taxes, and I could pay customs at the same time instead of waiting until it arrived. However, they seem to be really slow with preorders, so I'm still waiting.
Doesn't matter that much, though. I'm getting it, but I won't be able to play it for a while, anyway. (Don't own a PS3 atm.) Also, I need to play through Demon's Souls first, which I've got lying around. ^^
I dont understand why you guys collect multiple copies of the same game, it's a waste of money.
That's because it's more about collecting(and OCD
The part of my comment below what you quoted cites 2 examples of me buying the same for ironic purposes
The part of my comment below what you quoted cites 2 examples of me buying the same for ironic purposes
It wasn't that obvious, though. I wouldn't know if you had another version of either game, and DR2: Off the Record is far from the exact same game as the normal DR2, as there's a lot of different content. Hence my reply.
and DR2: Off the Record is far from the exact same game as the normal DR2, as there's a lot of different content.
I wouldn't say that
No, I guess new cinematics, story content, playable areas, gameplay features, enemies, weapons, missions, and sandbox mode, in addition to a different main character, doesn't count as different content... :roll:
We're way off topic now, though.
hmm, well, i'm in the process of moving right now. so my stuff is in seperate boxes. i buy stuff from all of them, king's field, shadow tower, eternal ring, otogi, basically if it's From Software i'm like "get on it!". I don't kknow why i like king's field, shadow tower, eternal ring so much. something just attracts me to it. I did just buy the dark side box, that'll be awesome.
I really wish I could get like a From Software logo piece. Like you see on the front of a corporate building. even squaresoft, koonami, atlus, etc. Those company logo pieces would be awesome! just a thought of mine. stuff is real art to me for some reason. those japanese know what's good.
can't believe i forgot to put Capcom in there... Resident Evil!!
different =/= a lot
When a game has a 100+ weapons already, adding 5 more isn't a lot
1 new area isn't a lot
story is mostly the same
cinematics dont count since they aren't playable
I'm a huge fan of Dead Rising (Check my achievements, XBOX Live ID: NeoRaijin) but it's mostly the same game.
have you seen the shadow tower abyss preview disc? i bought it on ebay only time I seen it since. guy wanted 28 bucks for it, so it's prolly rare. got a sealed copy of eternal ring japanese too, i like that.
have those psone books too king's field and 2
i have afew more things. i wish they would make more stuff. i think the japanese are hiding it. lol. i think a t shirt of the original cover of king's field would be one to have. i should vistaprint it.
@NeoTechni: Well, we're all entitled to our own opinions.
And yes, the Japanese are hiding all the cool stuff from us, lol! xD
@ghidrah: Ah, yes, the RE series has a lot of cool games. The Darkside Box is awesome. You won't regret buying it, I promise you! I've got a Japanese copy of Shadow Tower and a PAL Eternal Ring. I'll be getting variants for those games as well, when I'm able.
Hmm, a From Software logo piece, eh? That'd be cool. There's someone on eBay making signs, he did the Nintendo logo for a friend of mine. About 50cm wide, I think. It was pretty nice, too. Not just printed, but cut, with a half cm thick red layer on top of an equally thick white layer. Looked very professional. ^^ A From Software version done in a similar way would've been cool.
Ooh, that preview disc sounds like a nice collection piece! I'll definitely have to look it up when I start checking around for Shadow Tower stuff! Got those PSone Books myself, but the KFIII PSone Books is hard to find - still searching for it.