Before Miyazaki’s Inevitable Retirement, FromSoftware Should Revisit King’s Field

Video Games have undergone radical development. When I look back at some of the games I enjoyed back in the day, I realize just how far they’ve come today. In terms of visuals and mechanics fluidity, present games and hardware are miles ahead. However, this doesn’t mean we give up on those classic adventures as they’re now “obsolete” and let them be forgotten.

Modern games are great, sure, but they wouldn’t even exist right now if not for those “old games.” Many of the IPs you enjoy today were influenced in part by some of these classics, we owe it to them to preserve their legacy. And since we’re talking about not forsaking your origins, I believe it’s time FromSoftware returns to its humble beginnings and revives the classic King’s Field.

The Miyazaki-Less Dark Souls Era Might Be Approaching

Ah, the Souls series. I don’t think there’s any other game series I treasure and have spent insane amounts of hours in more than this beautifully merciless gem. Many have tried to replicate it, and Lies of P even came pretty close, but still, no one has managed to beat FromSoftware.

We owe it all to Hidetaka Miyazaki and a team of highly creative individuals that this series continues to reign supreme and torture us. And it has no plans of stopping, it seems. The latest project is the much-awaited Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, and I must say the little details in the trailer had me insanely hyped.

However, this brilliant reveal also came with rather unfortunate news, which was only a matter of time. Miyazaki has expressed his intent to leave the director role of the Dark Souls series. He’ll be taking a supervisory role. This means a radical change for the series is coming, whether for the best or the worst.

The last game without Miyazaki as a director was Dark Souls 2. While not a bad game at all and highly important for the series’ future direction, the fact remains it was sort of a weaker entry. Still, I love Darks Souls 2 and don’t believe FromSoftware will mess up a game. And since Miyazaki mentioned leaving the “Dark Souls” series only, how about a new King’s Field game for a change of pace?

Miyazaki’s retrospective take on the significance on Dark Souls 2 and giving Yui Tanimura respect.
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King’s Field — FromSoftware’s Debut; The Great Ancestor

So, what exactly is King’s Field you ask? I don’t blame you if you’re not aware of it, since this was the very first game FromSoftware developed back in 1994. However, know this. You would never have got to enjoy the Souls series if not for King’s Field. This is the series that influenced stuff like Shadow Tower, Demon Souls, and later Dark Souls.

King’s Field was a first-person action RPG dungeon crawler (kinda long, right?). It was a launch title for the first PlayStation, but even more, it was one of the first games to feature full 3D environments with real-time 3D animations. It involved exploring a creepy dungeon in search of the source of the “monster overflow.”

Parallels between King’s Field and Dark Souls 2
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The gameplay mechanics involved melee and magic abilities, each consuming stamina. Sounds familiar, right? This is where it started, FromSoftware’s obsession with stamina, creepy environments, and brutal difficulty, and we love it all.

It spawned four entries before being replaced by Demon’s Souls, a spiritual successor, and the rest is history. Let me tell you an interesting story. King’s Field was so brutally challenging and “mechanically bizarre” that it received poor reviews first. Then, by people spreading the word, it soon became a major success and a cult classic.

It was the Dark Souls of the late 90s, one that couldn’t reach the heights the present Dark Souls has.

Demon’s Souls and Armored Core Got Their Turn, When Will King’s Field?

My demand for a new King’s Field makes a lot of sense considering FromSoftware has a good track record of caring for its IPs. First, it was Demon’s Souls. Although it continued as Dark Souls, the original was still a must-play adventure for every FromSoftware fan. It painted a brilliant picture of how far the series has come since its origins.

While it was not brought to modern platforms as it is to preserve this feeling, which should’ve been done instead of a remake if you ask me, it was a brilliant project nonetheless. A launch title for the PS5, it served as a superb showcase of the new console’s prowess.

Demon’s Souls is still the best looking game on the PS5 in my opinion.
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Next up was the Armored Core series. Contrary to what a lot of new people thought upon seeing the FromSoftware logo, Armored Core is not Souls-like. It’s a third-person mecha shooter and an action-focused series, whose last entry appeared back in 2012.

As a revival, it received a proper sequel, Armored Core 6, which was a pretty brilliant game. Goes to show that FromSoftware never misses with its games; it won’t with King’s Field either.

Modern FromSoftware Can Do Great With King’s Field

If we take a look at the old King’s Field games, they suffered from some mechanical hiccups and dated visuals. However, none of those things are limiting the current FromSoftware games. Thus, it can be a great addition to FromSoftware’s library, as well as revive a long-dead IP.

I’ll be fine with either a remake or a sequel, but I believe a sequel like Armored Core 6 is a much better option in the context of the series. The original can retain its legendary status unchanged, while we get a sequel to commemorate the “new era” as well as a reminder of the IP’s greatness.

Who knows, maybe it’s on the way.
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Above all, it can serve as a fresh project for Miyazaki before he completely leaves the director role. For now, it’s for Dark Souls only, but let’s be honest, he can’t keep working on games forever. So a new King’s Field by Miyazaki will both serve to spice things up and can be a nice change of pace for us gamers after Shadow of the Erdtree.