| King's Field IV | |
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PAL box art |
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| Developer(s) | From Software |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Series | King's Field |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | First person role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T |
King's Field IV (released as King's Field: The Ancient City in North America) is the fourth game in the King's Field role-playing video game series. Like its predecessors, the game is played through first person view in a dark and mysterious, medieval fantasy setting.
The game was developed by the Japanese game development company From Software, and released October 4, 2001 in Japan, and March 25, 2002 in the U.S.[1][2] On March 28, 2003, almost exactly a year after Agetec's release, UK based publisher Metro 3D released the PAL version, with some translation changes compared to the NTSC release. The game has only been released for the PlayStation 2 console.
Contents |
An accursed idol responsible for the destruction of an ancient race has resurfaced to wreak havoc once again among the kingdoms of man. You must return the idol to the Ancient City to break its curse, but monsters of unspeakable horror haunt the ruins. There is a palpable fear in the air of the Ancient City—even the monsters themselves fear the evil that has returned.
Treasures beyond imagination await the warrior bold enough to attempt the journey, strong enough to face the minions of death, and wise enough to follow the path that leads to the essence of light. Use your sword arm well to rid the land of a potent curse. Be aware that should the sword fail, you have the magical arts to serve you in your quest. Learn the proper time and place for each or you too shall be counted amongst those lost forever.
Before the release of the game as King's Field: The Ancient City in North America, there were a number of fans of the series using what is now called a Yahoo.com "Group". Discussing possible plotlines, characterizations, and aspects of gameplay in the upcoming release, they caught the attention of an ASCII Entertainment employee (left unnamed for reasons of privacy). The group, known on the site as The Verdite Inn, collaborated on a community driven storyline based in the world of the first two North American releases. Out of respect for the group's opinions, imaginations, and support for the games, the names or usernames of the contributing members were used as the names of certain NPCs.
These were sometimes associated with a role they had explored in The Verdite Inn site, such as the NPC "Lee Maynor". In the game, he is either found wounded near a giant spider, wishing to die, or already dead and possessed, and is, in fact, the only NPC in the game that can be killed with no negative effect. At The Verdite Inn, Lee Maynor (who allegedly suffered from arachnophobia) portrayed himself as the undead "Lord Darkman the Vampire". One of the first shopkeeper NPCs in the game, "David Bunch" is named after the only one of the Yahoo group admins to be made aware of the naming before the game's release. He kept the plans to honor the club secret until the day of the release, when a member found his character in-game and asked about it on the forum. His dialogue reflects some of his quotes from the website.
Many others, including Jamarc Neely, Duhrin Pathwarden, and Arx Angelos, are known to be derived from names of the users of the site. Ramirez Martin, also an NPC, is the webmaster of http://www.kings-field.com/.
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