One of the reasons why producer Yui Tanimura joined the company
While it’s no surprise that the King’s Field franchise has heavily influenced Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, as these are considered the spiritual successors to the King’s Field, it turns out that the former was one of director Yui Tanimura’s inspirations for joining the team at From Software.
“King’s Field is definitely one of the starting points of our company, it’s a very iconic game. It’s also one of the reasons I joined the company! I think it has lent a lot to the development of Dark Souls. When you play King’s Field, the graphics aren’t the greatest, the polygons are rough, but the way its created helps immerse the player in the role of the character. That’s a big part of Dark Souls’ DNA, especially Dark Souls II. We really wanted the player to feel as though they are the actual character, dive deep into the role itself and role-play throughout the game. In that way, King’s Field has a very big influence on Dark Souls.”
I may be alone in this, but King’s Field is one of my favorite game franchises of all time to this day. It warms my heart to hear that the series influence is still on the mind of at least one of the producers of Dark Souls II.
Any King’s Field fans out there who would like to share their thoughts on how Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls compare? Perhaps there are those out there who skipped King’s Field who might go back and try them based on their experience with Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls?