First Person Dungeon Crawlers

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

So, during my playthrough of the original Phantasy Star, the first person dungeons were a highlight for me! It made me realize how much I’d love to play another game that heavily features them. While I could look it up (and get some robot’s list of what the internet deems are important games in the genre), I’d prefer to ask the forums and see what you all think! I’m open minded, so show me cool games please!

 

[moonbits]

Shining the Holy Ark (USA) Saturn ISO – RGT Repository

Shining the Holy Ark (USA) Saturn ISO for SEGA Saturn. Genre: RPG. Published and developed by SEGA

retrogametalk.com

 

[RustySK]

Shining in the Darkness (Brazil, Europe, USA, Japan) SEGA Genesis ROM – RGT Repository

Shining in the Darkness (Brazil, Europe, USA, Japan) SEGA Genesis ROM. A RPG game released on 1991 by Climax Entertainment

retrogametalk.com

Off the top of my head I'd also recommend the Etrian Odyssey series on DS/3DS, the Elminage games for PSP, the original SMT games for SNES or the venerable Wizardry series if you want to play something foundational to the genre - be aware that the Wizardry games are crazy obtuse and punishing though.

If you're in the mood for something more modern, there's also Undernauts (great art), Artificial Dream in Arcadia (very authentic SMT throwback) or Labyrinth of Galleria and Labyrinth of Refrain (absurd, Disgaea-style levels of - mostly optional - complexity).

Oh and if you don't mind real-time combat, I can also recommend the Grimrock duology and the Ravenloft DnD games - Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet.

 

[bjork]

Shining in the Darkness on Genesis
Bard's Tale, the old ones are on computers but there's a more recent remaster that's nice too
Double Dungeons on Turbo Grafx

 

[PSVitaForever]

Ray Gigant (USA) VITA – RGT Repository

Vita3k Compatibility: Playable Once again since v0.2.0-3776. Thanks Zangetsu38 Go to discussion...

retrogametalk.com

I'm going with Vita games.
I was also going to recommend "Stranger of Sword City", but it isn't here in the repo (or I can't find it??).

Tagging @Spike if interested in uploading it: I owned it physical, the original version has alt anime graphics for the characters portraits, the "Revisited" has no choice anymore about graphics but it must have QoL improvements and I think a new class

 

[Crosser19]

Highly recommend the Wizardry games, especially the console ports and the Game Boy spin-offs that remove some of the obtuseness and streamlines a lot while keeping what makes the series appealing. Brutal games but are absolutely foundational if you love dungeon crawlers. Also if you don't mind something older on PC, the first 5 Ultima games on PC are readily available on GOG and while dungeon crawling isn't the main appeal, it is a major aspect of those first 5 games that isn't talked about as much.

The original PC-88 version of Black Onyx also has an English fan translation, even if its a little hard to track down and play. I recommend hunting down a pre-patched disk image of it instead of trying to find which version works with the patch. There is also the SG-1000 version made by the team that would go on to work on Phantasy Star I believe, too, which also has an English patch.

Wizardry, Ultima, and The Black Onyx are essentially the Rosetta Stones of dungeon crawlers and JRPGs as a whole if you're looking for a good starting point.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

Baroque (English Patched) Saturn ISO – RGT Repository

Baroque (English Patched) Saturn ISO for SEGA Saturn. Genre: RPG. Published and developed by Sting

retrogametalk.com

Baroque (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

Baroque (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPM-86328, SLPM-86341. Languages: English Patched, Japanese. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com

While it has more rogue-like elements in terms of combat and gameplay, I'd say it still fits the dungeon crawler niche.

King's Field (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

King's Field (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-00017. Languages: English Patched, Japanese. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com

I'd also recommend the King's Field games as well for this kind of thing.

 

[DanCalibur]

Eye of the Beholder Trilogy (PC), Shin Megami Tensei 1-2 (SNES-PSX), Persona 1-2(PSX-PSP), Dragon Knight 1-2(PC-98) and the already cited Grimmrock and Shining in the Darkness and The Holy Ark are favorites of mine. We even played Shining in the Darkness a few weeks ago.
https://retrogametalk.com/threads/rgt-nostalgia-society-4-shining-in-the-darkness.14376/

 

[Tonberry]

This one is insanely cool:

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (USA) PS2 ISO – RGT Repository

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (USA) PS2 ISO Game ID: SLUS-20259. Languages: English. For Sony PlayStation 2.

retrogametalk.com

 

[PhaseJump]

Shining the Holy Ark is still the best one for a JRPG. Etrian Odyssey games are pretty good.

The Bard's Tale IV is more modern. It flies under everybody's radar and is actually extremely well done, especially the audio work.

 

[Bakuma1997]

I can't suggest enught The Etrian Odyssey series, an update of the Wizardry formula that removes the BS and makes the game fair for modern standars... while still being Atlus Hard

If you haven't played them, i reccomend III as starting point since is the one that i feel fairer, but if you really want to play them in order research about the "Cookie Cutter" parties, since they bring the game from "Sanity breaking" to "Hard"

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Not a full game, but there's a whole mode of them in The Misadventures Of Tron Bonne.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Shining in the Darkness on Genesis
Bard's Tale, the old ones are on computers but there's a more recent remaster that's nice too
Double Dungeons on Turbo Grafx

Seriously thank you for recommending Double Dungeons on the PCE/TG16. I’ve been playing it for the last half an hour and it’s been a FANTASTIC Dungeon Crawler to just jump in and play. Absolutely what I wanted when I made this thread. This’ll probably be the very first PCE game I put major time into!


Playing it on a Vita, btw. Perfect for playing on the bus to college!

 

[ladyerrant]

It doesn't get much love but I like Orcs and Elves for the DS: https://www.dungeoncrawlers.org/game/orcs-elves/

 

[breremarer]

I started getting into FP dungeon crawlers about a year ago, and there's a lot of great suggestions in this thread, but I'll second the suggestion for "Undernauts". Its battle system is simple, for a DRPG, but something about its world and vibe just really clicked with me. The art is gorgeous, too!

If you're willing to break out grid paper, there's also the honestly pretty fantastic remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord that came out a year or two ago. It's got some nice QoL boosts without sacrificing the brutal Wizardry Crawl.

 

[aycarakuyo]

You can try pretty much everything Atlus has put out before 2010. I consider SMT: Strange Journey, SMT2 and Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers to be the best ones. SMT3 also has a first-person mode that unlocks in new game+!

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Just beat Dungeon 1 in Double Dungeons on the PC Engine!

My character is named Dennis because of this video:

 

[SeventhSon]

NES - Swords and Serpents

 

[Mr. SyS]

Wolfenstein 3D sure feels like one.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Classic SMT games for starters.

Wolfenstein 3D sure feels like one.

You should try Catacombs 3-D.

 

[Herald of darkness]

Just get used to the dungeons, They are brutal. from the second sector (Boots) the game becomes very difficult.

 

[Sunnyside]

Etrian Odyssey series all the way. The DS entries if you're more old school and don't mind janky balance. The 3DS ones if you want more intuitive class design. I prefer the latter. For that reason I'm not a huge fan of the remastered collection. Bought it, appreciate it for existing, still sticking to my 3DS.

 

[gwardojones]

Can't recommend the Etrian Odyssey games enough--especially Etrian Odyssey 4. It's probably the most accessible of the bunch and it has a much wider variety of places to visit compared to the other games. These games are challenging, but it feels so good to figure out how to overcome the boss fights in the game, and experimenting with party compositions is always exciting.

 

[hazys]

The Etrian Odyssey series is really friendly as everyone says. It's not easy, but it's pretty smooth (as long as you're smart about team-building). My favorite is III, but they're all good. If you like those and want more, check out the Persona Q and Labyrinth of Touhou games.

People also like the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games, though only some are dungeon crawlers, and they have more of a JRPG structure. The first has a great PS1 port, the second is on the SNES, Strange Journey is on DS, and IV, Soul Hackers, and Apocalypse are on 3DS. Artificial Dream in Arcadia is an SMT-inspired indie.

I've heard that Labyrinth of Refrain and Labyrinth of Galleria are pretty accessible. Zanki Zero has a unique setting and concept for the genre. Experience (the studio) has made a bunch of dungeon crawlers, like Undernauts and Labyrinth of Zangetsu, but they are more punishing/demanding. Same with the Elminage series, which has only rarely been localized.

There are also a bunch of dungeon crawlers that got their start on the PSP/Vita, like Class of Heroes, 7th Dragon, Demon Gaze, Mary Skelter, Dungeon Travellers. Most of these are very anime, some are pretty horny as well. Many have been ported elsewhere.

Then if you want to get more intense, there's Wizardry, the grandaddy of dungeon crawlers, of which you could try Wizardry 8 or Tale of the Forsaken Land on PS2. There are other old series like Eye of the Beholder and Might & Magic which I don't have experience with. The more recent Grimoire is considered a "boomer dungeon crawler," sort of like a "boomer shooter" I guess.

Some outliers: Wizardry Variants: Daphne is a pretty decent gacha phone game. And Wizardry Online is a defunct online game that some fans are trying to bring back.

Finally, there's also the world of real-time dungeon crawlers, which are a whole other beast. Those include Ultima Underworld, Legend of Grimrock, Fromsoft's pre-Souls games, and some indies like Lunacid.