First-Person Dungeon Crawlers

[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

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]

Classic SMT games for starters.

Wolfenstein 3D sure feels like one.

You should try Catacombs 3-D.

 

[Xenocloudarius Xenocloudarius]

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.

 

[NaoPb NaoPb]

https://retrogametalk.com/repo/sega_saturn_isos/shining-the-holy-ark-usa/

Wow, that looks so cool. I did not know about this game before. Probably because I didn't have a Saturn, but fortunately there are emulators these days :)

Post automatically merged: Oct 31, 2025

Classic SMT games for starters.


You should try Catacombs 3-D.
View attachment 123355

Catacomb Abyss and it's descendants are a bit more refined to me.

 

[breremarer]

Replying to this thread reminded me of how much I liked the remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds, so I broke out the graph paper and made it to level three before my first party wipe. Had a ton of fun, gearing up to go save that party, and wanted to share it here!

Happy hunting, everyone, in whatever dungeons you choose delve!

Spoiler: Dungeon Maps

 

[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

Replying to this thread reminded me of how much I liked the remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds, so I broke out the graph paper and made it to level three before my first party wipe. Had a ton of fun, gearing up to go save that party, and wanted to share it here!

Happy hunting, everyone, in whatever dungeons you choose delve!

Spoiler: Dungeon Maps

View attachment 124388View attachment 124389View attachment 124390

Genuinely awesome. I want to play Wizardry now, and I feel like you’re some sage that has given me maps of lost lands for me to explore.


Games are funny like that. No matter what, I need to get graph paper for my own home, as I’ve been playing these games from memorizing certain locations on the maps and just kinda winging it lol!

 

[Cu-Neo]

The blood mechanic in this game is pretty unique.

 

[breremarer]

Genuinely awesome. I want to play Wizardry now, and I feel like you’re some sage that has given me maps of lost lands for me to explore.

Honestly I kinda felt that way when I was sketching them out. Haha! It's such a cool interactive thing to have a pencil and paper component in a game. Oddly kind of made it more immersive.

 

[DanCalibur]

Honestly I kinda felt that way when I was sketching them out. Haha! It's such a cool interactive thing to have a pencil and paper component in a game. Oddly kind of made it more immersive.

You are right, I've finished Dragon Knight 2 today and mapping on paper can be quite relaxing and therapeutic

 

[thetwaz]

Also throwing in for the Ultima games - specifically Ultima Underworld.

I'd also recommend some of the earlier Elder Scrolls games, which definitely have some good dungeon crawling in, specifically Daggerfall.

Also - controversially - technically the first System Shock is just a dungeon crawler in space. If you haven't played it, I would massively reccomend it.

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

Not sure if you're looking for PC recommendations, but Might and Magic 3, 4, and 5 are some great first person dungeon crawlers for DOS. There are mac versions that look and sound better but are a bit harder to get running on emulator. I haven't heard anything good about the console ports. For how old they are, they feel really fast and smooth to play. There's built in automapping as well. The mainline Might and Magic series feels overlooked and forgotten these days, but they're really solid experiences. There's nothing else quite like them imo.

 

[Ikagura]

I remember a more modern example of that game genre before indie games started bringing it back

Okay, it's almost 15 years old so not that modern.

 

[Stolas_SMT]

SMT Devil Summoner: Soul hackers is SUCH a guilty pleasure of thee- the setting almost this cyberpunk world mixed with the occult… Truly Wonderous I decree!!! And yes- my beak is not spilling a lie. You CAN allign yourself with the Jersey Devil. Simply demonic- I LOVE IT. The postgame dungeon is super tough but fun.

 

[Ikagura]

SMT Devil Summoner: Soul hackers is SUCH a guilty pleasure of thee- the setting almost this cyberpunk world mixed with the occult… Truly Wonderous I decree!!! And yes- my beak is not spilling a lie. You CAN allign yourself with the Jersey Devil. Simply demonic- I LOVE IT. The postgame dungeon is super tough but fun.

Shame this game is stuck on the Sega Saturn and an ageing 3DS.

The first Devil Summoner is also stuck as a Japanese only Saturn and PSP game...

 

[GardeniaSky's icon GardeniaSky GardeniaSky]

☼Arx Fatalis: This game has some seriously cursed vibes, but I think it's what you're looking for. Definitely patch it up with some community mods for QOL and stability.

☼Daggerfall: The dungeons aren't terribly interesting. The world is MASSIVE. However, the community for the Unity build of the game is always adding new content, patching it up, and making existing content more interesting. The world building and immersion are pretty damn good.

☼Barony: It's neat a cheeky. It's a rogue-lite[rogue-like? idfk] that's a first-person dungeon crawler. You have classes. It's interesting and fun for a bit. Definitely get it on sale. It's more fun with friends.

☼Morrowind: Yes another Elder Scrolls game. Use the OpenMW build and auto-install whichever mod list sounds tasty.

 

[PhaseJump]

Wow, that looks so cool. I did not know about this game before. Probably because I didn't have a Saturn, but fortunately there are emulators these days :)

It can't be overstated enough.
Shining the Holy Ark is the best traditional, lighthearted JRPG you can officially get on Saturn in the west. People who played Playstation and know the ins and outs of the JRPG library there, who also haven't played Saturn can look at that game as something high-quality but overlooked by other hyped up games. That's where it stuck. It's like the biggest sleeper hit that a whole generation of JRPG fans don't know about.

It's a first person game, but a traditional and above average JRPG with awesome music. Like a Wild Arms or a Legend of Dragoon from Sony. Overshadowed by other games like Panzer Dragoon Saga or Final Fantasy 7.

It is absolutely still the best first person dungeon crawling JRPG, despite Etrian Odyssey and it's story-mode remakes trying to take the top spot.

After breaking off from Sega, Shining the Holy Ark's development studio would eventually turn their Shining games into the 3 Golden Sun games on GBA & DS. If you played those games, you know what you're in for in terms of the overall story and vibe.

Post automatically merged: Nov 3, 2025

Shining THA's soundtrack is pretty good.

Different tracks in different dungeons. One dungeon is a throwback to the first game, Shining in the Darkness.

 

[Stolas_SMT]

Shame this game is stuck on the Sega Saturn and an ageing 3DS.

The first Devil Summoner is also stuck as a Japanese only Saturn and PSP game...

Much agreed, tis a shame- seems Altus is TERRFIED of having their games translated OR available on current platforms! Shame I say- SHAME!!!!! Maybe it's because of their expansive game library... I hadn't a clue personally.

 

[Ikagura]

Much agreed, tis a shame- seems Altus is TERRFIED of having their games translated OR available on current platforms! Shame I say- SHAME!!!!! Maybe it's because of their expansive game library... I hadn't a clue personally.

We could digress into a talk about Atlus' lack of faith in the older SMT (while doing yet another port or remaster of Persona 3 and 4 for modern platforms).

They even had an officially English translation for SMT 1 on iOS yet never bothered porting it to PC and other consoles...

 

[Stolas_SMT]

We could digress into a talk about Atlus' lack of faith in the older SMT (while doing yet another port or remaster of Persona 3 and 4 for modern platforms).

They even had an officially English translation for SMT 1 on iOS yet never bothered porting it to PC and other consoles...

RIIGHHTTTT??? DRIVES me just MAD enough to start plucking myself to death! OOohhh what I'd kill to have Bael from SMT1 on my phone whichever I go! Honestly- how much WOULD they lost from just... porting that translation and making it available again back on the app store?

 

[Deleted member 466]

Much agreed, tis a shame- seems Altus is TERRFIED of having their games translated OR available on current platforms! Shame I say- SHAME!!!!! Maybe it's because of their expansive game library... I hadn't a clue personally.

or maybe you are terrified of learning japanese.