King’s Field II (1995): the island of Melanat

King’s Field II was released in Japan on 21 July 1995, barely seven months after the original. Granitiki prince Aleph, Alexander in the English text, sails to retrieve the stolen Moonlight Sword for King Alfred of Verdite, and washes up on the cursed island of Melanat as the only survivor of his ship. Where the first game was one building, the sequel is a small country: villages, mines, shrines, a colosseum, and dozens of named inhabitants whose lives the game’s Truth Mirror item will recite to you.

It was also the series’ critical peak in its own time. Famitsu scored it 35 out of 40, the highest mark any King’s Field received in Japan. In America, where it arrived on 14 February 1996 as plain King’s Field, Electronic Gaming Monthly averaged 8.375 out of 10 and GameRankings settled at 82 percent. Next Generation praised the freedom to explore every corner of a massive 3D world with no load times; GamePro complained that the hero chased monsters in slow motion. Both were describing the same deliberate pace, which the design page in this archive takes apart.