Evergrace the real prelude to the Souls series?

[Jimbos]

I know alot of people point towards the Kings Field series as the main inspiration for the souls series, but I don't really feel it as much for Dark Souls. I can see Kings Field as kinda the original concept to Demon's Souls maybe, but not really Dark Souls. That and I hated the whole first person view in Kings Field, and wearing helmets making everything impossible to freakin' see.

Evergrace had the whole cursed mark thing (Dark sign anyone???), plus the whole no direction/world is interconnected in a Dark Souls type way. The power meter representing stamina, and of course a focus on upgrading your equipment and making what you have work, over just finding gear that outright replaces it as in standard RPGs.

The game had very few NPCs, similar to the souls series, and they didn't do much along the lines of giving you much direction. They even have an NPC very similar to the crestfallen warrior, he tells you to go hide somewhere safe, because of the little time you have left (cursemark/dark sign). Also NPCs that see the sign instantly condemn you or are outright afraid of you, like they'll contract the curse.

Also forgot to mention the traps, booby trapped chests, and opening the various shortcuts throughout the world is also a very souls like affair.

Curious if anyone else has played through it and feels the same way, or if you've even heard of it?

BTW, the official wiki for Dark Souls about the murakumo is only partially correct. The name of the sword is actually a reference to one of the two original corporations in the first Armored Core game, named Murakumo. Just thought i'd share that.

[Jesaiya]

Evergrace was so terrible though

[Jimbos]

Originally posted by Jesaiya:

Evergrace was so terrible though

So was Kings Field. Yet people go gaga over it.

[BlazeRomulus]

Originally posted by Jimbos:

Originally posted by Jesaiya:

Evergrace was so terrible though

So was Kings Field. Yet people go gaga over it.

Nostalgia is like cocaine for some people.

[Jimbos]

Originally posted by Blaze:

Originally posted by Jimbos:

So was Kings Field. Yet people go gaga over it.

Nostalgia is like cocaine for some people.

-Gets his mini mirror out and razorblade- Time to cut it into a fine grain and sniff it then.

Seriously though, both those games were pretty awful.

The follow up to Evergrace wasn't bad, as far as I heard. I mean I never got a chance to play it. But, heard it was much better, but it was a different game revolving around party combat or some such.

One of my fav old titles besides the AC series was that weird card game they made. Think it was called Lost Kingdom? Played it on the gamecube like a million years ago.

[quezlar]

i had evergrace back in the day for ps2, i never beat it then

i looked it up recently and was shocked to find out its a from software game

so i played it again, i actually just finished it sunday, its no dark souls but i actually think its pretty good (in a basic sort of way)

[Apollonian]

Agreed with quezlar here. And OP, thematically the games are indeed similar.

Let's not forget Eternal Ring, either. Both release titles for PS2, and the insignias look great side by side.

Some of my favorite OSTs are in those games.

[Idiotekque]

Gravedig a bit, but I've always seen the connection between Dark Souls and Evergrace. It's easy to see that it was sort of a spiritual ancestor of Dark Souls in so many ways.

It's an older game back when From Software wasn't really all that big (besides Armored Core, maybe), but if you can look past the somewhat wonky combat system and laughable voice acting at most times, it's a really unique and enjoyable game.

I played, beat, and loved Evergrace back when it came out. It's one of the biggest reasons I love Dark Souls.

[MrObscura]

kings field was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ excellent and it has nothing to do with nostalgia. i didnt even play them back when they were released, but rather much more recently. and i dont get how you can say KF inluenced demons souls but not dark souls when they are essentially the same damn thing. anyway, some other of froms games might have some connections to DS, being from the same dev, but even then its a result of those games being influenced by KF. the souls series clearly owes everything to KS. they are a modern rehash presented in the third person.

KF4 is a masterpiece and the souls games come off like KS lite in comparison. theyre good, but the mood/atmosphere, and set peices dont even come close to matching any of the KF games let alone the forth.

now, from has made some crap games, but the KFs arent them.