In the game, the player navigates a vast underground labyrinth to discover the source of an invasion of monsters. King's Field is a 1994 action role-playing game developed and published by FromSoftware for the PlayStation.

The Story Behind King's Field

King's Field was the first video game title developed by FromSoftware, which was founded in the 1980s to develop productivity software. An enhanced version, King's Field EX, was released the same year exclusively for the Yahoo! It has enhanced dungeons and new monsters, weapons, and armour.

They decided to make a dungeon crawling game after playing Wizardry. The game was then re-released on the Japanese PlayStation Store on July 26, 2007. Both games were preserved and translated to English in 2025.

How King's Field Plays

Fighting his way through the catacombs, Forester meets the elf Miria, who warns that Verdite's king Reinhardt III has gained a dark power. The game was initially planned as a title for personal computers before shifting to the PlayStation, which they felt had better specs. Descending deeper into the catacombs, Forester learns that Reinhardt II, who is Reinhardt III's father, poisoned his brother, Reandalf VIII, who has been resurrected by the dark power, and that his own father was killed defeating Reinhardt II's black knight guardian.

Both melee and magic attacks drain dedicated stamina meters, with no further action possible until the meter has filled again. During the game's events, the land has fallen prey to evil forces once again, with the locals' only hope being a prophecy that the Dragon will return. The protagonist of King's Field, royal heir Jean Alfred Forester, comes to the infested monastery in search of his father, who led a squad of soldiers into the catacombs beneath the monastery graveyard.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Attacking and using spells are tied to a stamina meter, which is depleted with each action and must refill before the player can act again. The protagonist of King's Field, royal heir Jean Alfred Forester, comes to the infested monastery in search of his father, who led a squad of soldiers into the catacombs beneath the monastery graveyard. Retrieving his father's hereditary Dragon Sword and killing the dark wizard creating the monsters, he again meets Miria and her master the dragon god Guyra, who grants him the power to kill Reinhardt III and seal the "door of darkness", a portal opened by the cursed line of Reinhardt so they could rule the world.

In ancient times the evil was defeated by a hero later dubbed the Dragon. It was developed in around six months by a small internal team. Upon release, the game was a commercial success, though receiving mixed reviews from critics.

King's Field — Frequently Asked Questions