dungeon crawlers ?

Hawx

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Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on several games over the past 7 months, and one of the reasons I wanted to be more active here is to share my work and connect with people who have similar interests.


I’ve hit a few bumps in my game dev journey — partly because I’m still getting used to the coding language I’m working with, and also because I’ve been experimenting with multiple ones, which slowed down my progress a bit.


Right now, I’m working on 4 games but focusing mainly on 2 of them. I really want to start discussing my ideas, but I haven’t finished enough of any project yet to have something worth showing… for now at least! I’ll definitely share more soon.


That said, I did want to talk about one of the games to get people’s reactions and thoughts on what makes a game fun, so I can focus more on that. It’s an action RPG dungeon crawler — and while the genre’s had some interesting takes lately, I’m going for something a bit different. Most dungeon crawlers these days are either ARPGs or turn-based, but I’m aiming for a real-time action approach with deeper combat, meaningful loot, and a big variety of monsters to battle on the climb to the top.


So I’m curious — what’s your experience with dungeon crawlers? What do you want to see in a new one?
And what kind of mechanics or features do you think would make my game stand out? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts and maybe get inspired by some ideas I haven’t thought of yet :)
 
From what I've seen/heard, Labyrinth of the Demon King is a great example of 'modern enough' dungeon crawler. It has a parry mechanic and some souls-like elements, which makes it a fresh take on the genre while still being clunky and old looking. Even though I hate that every game these days has some sort of souls-like elements (and people tend to use this term for literally everything), I think it works really well with a game like this. Other good example would be Lunacid, which in my opinion is a masterclass in invironmental storytelling and exploration (though sometimes it can be too vague). So I guess if you combine best elements of both games and give it your own twist, that might work pretty well. But I'm no expert by any means and you probably already looked into those games anyway ::cirnoshrug
 
This one is a remake of a SNES game of the same title
44C45C08-5179-4BCA-91C2-112392CE6FD8.png
 
If you do it with lots of loot but only one hero, maybe different classes for the hero (warrior, black mage, white mage with light magic that do damage and being able to wield maybe knife so he can also do melee...). So you don't get stuck with a class in the beginning.
Just an idea, but the only dungeon crawler I played has been "Stranger of Sword City" (with a guide, or else I fail). I have the "Curry" title for Vita and also "Ray Gigant" in my backlog, though.
Best of luck for your games!!!
 
I don't like this genre because killing to kill, looting to loot and upgrade to upgrade is not interesting me (it was ok when it was fresh but not anymore). For me to be interested in such a game absolutely no isometric camera + character creation and customization must be deep so I can find and wear cool armors that reflects on my player character + the gameplay gotta be fun (and it gotta be real time combat) so fun as in every enemy having particular weakness and therefore gotta change your playstyle to defeat them and the combat must be stylish, it gotta have cool places to explore, finding cool fun weapons beyond just swinging to attack or some shit. After so many games released you gotta up the game and introduce something that really offers a new good difference to industry so I would play a new game at this point but all the industry does is time waster generic shit.

So it kinda calls for heavy customization as in weapon and armor creation in deep down with tons of stats and shit and even visual creation that can have impact on gameplay. Imagine creating 10 meters sword and thus you can bash every enemy in a narrow corridor and make an armor that is so wide enemy cannot really get close to you but layer by layer they can destroy the armor. If difference cannot be brought to video game industry then game developers and companies can suck my dick and should work at McDonald's instead of expecting me to play games that pretty much has the same gameplay as some NES game but has better graphics and these twats sells their shit for $100 for expecting their 2 days long cutscenes with OnlyFans characters can make a sell for me!!! I shit on their had fucking waste of evolution rubbish of existence!!!! lol
 
Dungeon crawlers are fun when not difficult. You can create a challenging game but make it accessible for people who do not want to have a learning curve. Reward the player for the invested time grinding, that's also very important. Games that are still difficult even when you spend a big amount of time leveling up are just a no-no.
 
I have experience only with old games, and didn't followed newer games... so my taste might be outdated...

First of all, my main advice is this:
You are always the first audience of your creations... no matter what it is... make sure that YOU enjoy it! 🌟

Here's the list of dungeon crawler games that i enjoyed the most and the reasons for it.. hopefully, you might find some inspirations in them:

Double Dungeons II (PCEngine)
482695-double-dungeons-turbografx-16-screenshot-this-is-a-good-opportunity.png
482700-double-dungeons-turbografx-16-screenshot-apparently-he-hasn.png
482698-double-dungeons-turbografx-16-screenshot-oh-no-how-could-you.png

What i like about this game:
  • The well-placed enemies...
  • All enemies are visible, and there's no random battles.
    Certain enemies act as an guardian to prevent entering some areas early...
  • The entire game is like a puzzle... while brute force might give you a pass, but you might miss some useful things.
  • There are some funny lines during battles.
  • Battles won't bind you... you can leave a battle at any time.
  • I like the music... despite all levels have the same music, but it's a nice one!

What i don't like about it:
  • It's too grindy...
And here's some points that are by design, but i can't say if they are good or bad:
  • All enemies are fixed in their location... this simplifies things, and i think it worked well for the game... but i wonder what would happen if there was more varieties?

  • Some levels are HUGE and very confusing... to the point that i wasn't able to pass them even with the aid of cheats and save states...
    It's good in a way, as it still have something to offer even after so many years...

  • The battle mechanics are pretty simplistic, which again isn't necessarily a bad thing.


Fatal Labyrinth (MegaDrive)
Fatal Labyrinth-241214-135734.png

You might know the other similar titles better... such as Shiren the Wanderer, Torneko related games, Dungeon of Windaria, etc...
They have more elements comparing to this game, such as story, more variety in mechanics, etc... and i love them all too!
But somehow, i still prefer the simplicity of this one... and hey i'm there too!? ::floating-eye

What i like about this game:
  • Randomness: we can't carry our info from previous gameplays to newer ones... every time, we should explore it again.
    All items are unknown until we use them once... and then, they would become known only in that gameplay.

  • Battle mechanics: it's turn based, but not similar to most RPGs... everything is real time, but the time advances only when we make a move.

  • Simplicity: yep! even simplicity can sometimes help! Adding too much complexity can sometimes result in distraction or confusion for players... it depends on what you aim for.
What i don't like about this game:
  • Actually there's nothing that i don't like about this game!
    It's strangely good and well-baked in its own kind... (at least in my opinion)
  • Well, the ending could have been a bit more satisfying... but this game is more about gameplay rather than story.
  • The game is designed to be beatable in one sitting, but it's a bit too long for doing so... and there's no password or save feature.

Well, since it's already created, re-creating something exactly similar might not be the best idea... but i think this is a good example where simplicity wins. (again, in my opinion)
And of course, some elements can provide good inspirations.

Unchained Blades (PSP)
Unchained-Blades-Game-Sample-PSP-35-1-screenshot.jpg

Probably the most modern dungeon crawler game that i have played! 😅

This game is a good example of "mixing it up!" and is one of my favorite dungeon crawler games.

What i like about this game:
  • Strong story: The story of the game is one of most strong parts of it... and it's tied well with the gameplay.

  • Variety of gameplay: There's a lot of variety in mechanics of the game, and each level has its own quirks... and the story has an active role in the gameplay too.

  • Revisitable levels, which have some more content to offer later.

  • Good battle system: It's mostly similar to traditional RPG turn-based battles... a rather good example of them though... including:
    Recruit system, an advanced skill system, unique abilities for each character, etc...
What i don't like about this game:
  • Skill system is quite interesting in concept, but many skills are disappointing, while reaching them needs a LOT of work... usually we get access to them when they are not that useful anymore.

  • There are some bottleneck battles where we can't progress in story if don't have strong enough recruits... and finding them requires a lot of backtracking.
    While having a variety of gameplays is great, but creating such locks in the main story can be frustrating for players.

  • The game uses random battles, but i would prefer if enemies actually were there, instead of appearing out of thin air, and for infinite times.

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story (GBA)
This is a great game, i don't know if it counts as a dungeon crawler game, but the dual presentation system is worth mentioning:
Dungeon​
Battle​
Summon Night - Swordcraft Story - Dungeon.png
Summon Night - Swordcraft Story - Battle.png
Normally, the game is a top-down RPG... but as soon as we encounter an enemy, the presentation changes to real-time action battle.

Having two or more modes might be helpful when designing a dungeon crawler game... depending on what you aim for.

What i like about this game:
  • Strong story
  • Weapon crafting system
  • Fluent action battle system and responsive controls
  • My most favorite weapon of all times! Laddle! 🌟
    SummonNight Swordcraft Story - Ladle.png

Well, sorry for the long post! 😅
Regardless of whether you are going for 3D, 2D, Top-down, 2.5D, or any mix or different format for your game, you can find some inspirations in a lot of games! even unrelated genres!

Just don’t overwhelm yourself... the best work is the one you can finish! 😉
Wishing you the best! 🌟
 

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