The PlayStation can produce mind-boggling effects.

As much as it is a clunky, unpalatable piece of shit, I fucking love this game. King's Field IV is an old school dungeon crawler where you fight so very many skeletons (there's a lot of skeletons). It also has possibly the best vibes of any game I've played, rivaled only by Dark Souls perhaps.

King's Field is oppressive, its world dying, but you can bet your ass off some banger tune will be going off in the background at all times. Albeit quite slow (your turn speed is literally 5 rpm, unless of course you walk through a spiderweb, halving it), the exploration is also legitimately very satisfying. There are a myriad of fun, optional illusory walls and hidden items, and the levels are surprisingly well realized and interconnected. It's always incredibly relieving to stumble upon a save point after delving through a crypt for 30 minutes, and at -1 mph no less.

I particularly remember when I finally emerged in one of the game's central hubs after hours of tense spelunking. The area is a lush, colorful forest, one of King's Field's few above-ground locales, and completely unlike anywhere else in the game. It too, has fallen from its former glory, yet it is the first real reprieve in what has thus far been quite a grueling experience. It's beautiful— in all its crunchy, early PS2 game grace.

King's Field IV is certainly not for everyone, but it is unique and ethereal, truly a charming little game if you can stomach it.