2 The Proto Soulslike Era

DOI: 10.1201/9781003450078-2

2.1 The King’s Field Series

Fans of the soulslike genre obviously know developer From Software from one of the many hits they released in the 2010s (and what I’ll be going over later in this book). Older fans may know them for the cult classic Armored Core series (first released in 1997), and it has a new entry from the studio in 2023. But From Software’s debut game was only released in Japan in 1994: King’s Field (Figure 2.1).

The box art from King's Field 1 with screenshots from #1 and #4.
Figure 2.1 King’s Field was From Software’s first franchise that hasn’t been seen in a long time, but it’s anyone’s guess what their next project will be.

The ...

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