Anniversary: 30 Years Ago, Elden Ring And Dark Souls Dev FromSoftware Released Its "Mind-Boggling" Debut 1
Image: Reddit /

Today marks the 30th birthday of King's Field, a PlayStation title with an incredible legacy – and one which some Western players might be unaware of.

In fact, most non-Japanese players might be more familiar with a single screenshot from the game which has, in recent years, become something of a meme. Printed in EGM back in 1994, it shows a group of crudely-rendered skeletons from King's Field, along with the caption, "The PlayStation can produce mind-boggling effects."

FromSoftware was founded in 1986, but would stick to producing business software until 1994, when King's Field launched close to PlayStation's release in Japan. One of the first examples of a true 3D RPG, the game was a commercial success in its homeland but didn't get an English-language release.

Thankfully, its sequel, King's Field II, launched the following year and did get a Western release – but without the numeral at the end of the title, a nod to the fact that the original game was a Japanese exclusive. This has, as you might imagine, created some degree of confusion over the years.

A third game would follow in 1996 (named King's Field II in the West, naturally), and the series would later come to PS2 in the form of King's Field IV / King's Field: The Ancient City. These games would lay the foundation for FromSoftware's later 3D RPG adventures, including Shadow Tower, Eternal Ring, Evergrace, and eventually, 2009's seminal PS3 title Demon's Souls.

Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who joined the company in 2004 and was directly influenced by the King's Field franchise, Demon's Souls would mark the beginning of FromSoftware's transformation into one of the world's most acclaimed and respected video game studios. It has subsequently produced three entries in the best-selling Dark Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro and, most recently, Elden Ring, as well as continuing its mech-based Armored Core series.

It's not an exaggeration to say that without King's Field – a game which didn't even get released outside of Japan – none of this would have happened. If you fancy trying out this dated but significant piece of history, then a fan translation exists.

[source bsky.app]