Today I want to talk about Kingsley's Adventure (1999), a fox-based action adventure game developed by Psygnosis. It's certainly not the most remarkable video game on the Playstation – not even among the best in Psygnosis' vast catalogue – but it's blessed with being interesting nonetheless. In particular I want to talk about this otherwise inconspicuous fountain.
The main character Kingsley is adopted by the royal family of the Fruit Kingdom. He lives a lavish life within the castle walls but yearns to become a galavant knight, a dream that just so happens to come true when evil doers come to the kingdom. Kingsley sets out on an adventure to collect all the weapons and armour a true knight could need in order to bring peace back to the world. But before he can do any of that he'll come across this fountain located in the middle of the throne room.
It's impossible to miss, you have to pass by it to even start your adventure. It's in fact the first thing you see when you enter the grand hall. The room is large and furnished with extravagant carrot themed decorations to fit the king and queen's bunnyness, and yet it seems like this unrelated fountain was what the developers really wanted you to see. Strangely enough it's not related to bunnies at all and instead adorned with octopi carved into the stone. It doesn't quite fit with the throne room's overarching aesthetic.
As you enter the throne room the framerate drops significantly. The lush scenery is so costly on the poor old Playstation hardware that it can't even keep up and the entire room is covered in a deep black fog. As you enter, the wall of darkness obfuscates the carrot ornaments, leaving only the fountain visible right in front of you. Making the room smaller and cutting out the water spewing well would've most likely helped the performance greatly, but Psygnosis didn't relent. They wanted you to see this god damn fountain.
This is not a critique mind you. I can appreciate their tenacity. For whatever reason this was more important to them than performance. Kingsley's Adventure is a gorgeous handiwork from characters to environments and this fountain is no different. I would go so far as to say that it completes the throne room as an eye catching center piece. It's an exorbitant monument to our vanity, shining in the darkness created by its very presence. I like it a lot.
Kingsley's Adventure teaches us that sometimes you just have to make a huge room and fill it with characters and props that make the hardware scream in agony. Put a fountain in the middle of it. Follow your dreams.
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