In Search of New Dungeon Crawlers

[PKT]

Hey all, was wondering if you could help me with something. I routinely have a strange urge to play dungeon crawlers, but I've played quite a few already and want to play some new titles instead of just playing EO for the 12th time. Figured y'all would have some good recommendations. I've already played (but not necessarily finished):

Etrian Odyssey (All of them)
Wizardry (1-7, Gaiden 1-4, and Empire)
The first few Might and Magic games
Bard's Tale 1-3
Arcana
The Shining DRPGs
MegaTen and SMT
The Dark Spire
Labyrinth of Refrain (I also have Galleria on my to-do list)
New Tokyo Legacy
Dream Maze
Grimrock
ADnD: Eye of the Beholder
Touhou: ADiA

As for personal preferences I prefer grid based and turn based over real-time. No preference on retro or more recent titles. I've gotten by on some untranslated games with guides but I'd prefer if a game has an English translation in some capacity.

If people wanna use this thread to discuss Dungeon Crawlers in general as well that's also good. Thanks in advance!

 

[Yousef]

The closest I can think of Digimon cyber sleuth, but sadly that game is a bit too easy, otherwise it checks all the boxes.

 

[Captain Murphy]

Hey all, was wondering if you could help me with something. I routinely have a strange urge to play dungeon crawlers, but I've played quite a few already and want to play some new titles instead of just playing EO for the 12th time. Figured y'all would have some good recommendations. I've already played (but not necessarily finished):

Etrian Odyssey (All of them)
Wizardry (1-7, Gaiden 1-4, and Empire)
The first few Might and Magic games
Bard's Tale 1-3
Arcana
The Shining DRPGs
MegaTen and SMT
The Dark Spire
Labyrinth of Refrain (I also have Galleria on my to-do list)
New Tokyo Legacy
Dream Maze
Grimrock
ADnD: Eye of the Beholder
Touhou: ADiA

As for personal preferences I prefer grid based and turn based over real-time. No preference on retro or more recent titles. I've gotten by on some untranslated games with guides but I'd prefer if a game has an English translation in some capacity.

If people wanna use this thread to discuss Dungeon Crawlers in general as well that's also good. Thanks in advance!

Ooh Arcana is one of my favorite games of all time. Have you played the arcade game crossed swords? Has a similar vibe and aesthetic. One of the few rpg dungeon crawling arcade games I've seen

 

[Gorse]

The first Phantasy Star should be right up your alley! It’s a great dungeon-crawling RPG with a very engaging, unique setting, excellent music, and loads of interesting, engaging gameplay mechanics. It’s not too difficult or complex, either, so you should be able to get into it easily. Highly recommend!

 

[Aziamuth]

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

It has a pretty good story, I was expecting NIS slop but it turned out to be pretty meaningful. It does touch up on some subjects, so I'd be aware

The problem, however, is the gameplay. Dungeon crawling is fun, but most random battles are pretty mindless. Bosses are fun, however, and let you exploit the games mechanics to the fullest

 

[UnDubious]

The 7th Dragon 2020 trilogy (2020, 2020-II, Code VFD). Created by Etrian Odyssey's creator, however it's in third-person and with a setting that feels more like Shin Megami Tensei with dragons. Combat begins very simple but as you acquire new skill trees things get more strategic. 2020 is a great game, I have to play the others some time.

 

[SashaWulph]

Get into Wizardry Variants Daphne, easily the best dungeon crawler of the last 20 years. It recently was released on Steam.
It exploded on popularity in Japan, were it's main userbase are +50yo japanese gamers. It's everything a Wizardry lover could have ever wanted. No other dungeon crawler ever got this much budget to play with.
Just ignore the Steam Reviews and play it by yourself. Go to any of it's communities and get shocked by how much players love the game, even if it's brutal with them. If you can read JP, it's flooding with content of all kind.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

StarCrawlers.
Vaporum.
Mary Skelter 2.
Ludus Mortis.

 

[RageBurner]

I remembered one: Conglomerate 451.
It has a cool cyberpunk vibe.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Crusader of Centy, Sega Genesis game. Like a top down Zelda game\clone

 

[Captain Murphy]

The 7th Dragon 2020 trilogy (2020, 2020-II, Code VFD). Created by Etrian Odyssey's creator, however it's in third-person and with a setting that feels more like Shin Megami Tensei with dragons. Combat begins very simple but as you acquire new skill trees things get more strategic. 2020 is a great game, I have to play the others some time.

Soundtrack by yuzo koshiro?

 

[Nanashikuhaku0804]

The first Phantasy Star should be right up your alley! It’s a great dungeon-crawling RPG with a very engaging, unique setting, excellent music, and loads of interesting, engaging gameplay mechanics. It’s not too difficult or complex, either, so you should be able to get into it easily. Highly recommend!

I'm always quite intrigued by the Phantasy Star series but gets interrupted by some VNs popping in my backlogs .

 

[wilddogsdivorce]

a mystery dungeon game is a type of dungeon crawler. there are a large number of differences though, so i can't be sure you'll enjoy them. these games end up a lot closer to rogue than more typical dungeon crawlers.

exemplary mystery dungeon games:
Azure Dreams, psx version if possible.
Shiren the Wanderer, i will recommend the snes game or the DS remake as well as mystery dungeon of serpentcoil island, which is available on switch and pc.
Nightmare of Druaga, on the ps2. an awesome game.
Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup is also a favorite of mine.

 

[Skeleben]

In a more generalized definition of Dungeon Crawler, I highly recommend Crypt of the NecroDancer. Rhythm based dungeon crawler, with a killer soundtrack, and imo a really awesome challenging time.

 

[RustySK]

Great picks all around!
The only ones I haven't seen mentioned yet that come to mind right now would be:

Undernauts - as traditional a turn-based dungeon crawler as you're likely to get, with stunning artwork to boot!

And the absolute banger that is Fight Knight, but that might be fudging the definition of a Dungeon Crawler a bit depending on how you look at it. Still, more than worth a look!

Oh and there's also the Ravenloft duology - Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet. Always loved that setting. Really difficult games, but once you get the hang of them, they're great fun. Gorgeous, too!
Do be warned though that Stone Prophet in particular has a couple obnoxious bugs that make some weapons useless.

 

[micheI]

MegaTen and SMT

Which SMT Games have you played? I Assume that only implies Megami Tensei I and Shin Megami Tensei I, so if i make an incorrect judgement, and recommend you something you've already played pray forgive me.

I recommend playing Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the original version, not the Redux, although i do recommend checking it out after the completion of the main game, since Redux has new endings, as opposed to the just 3 original; Chaos, Neutral, Law.

The story and the setting is about

Spoiler

a dimension of demons spreading in Antractica, called Schwarzwelt, comprised of multiple Sections, each representing the abuse humanity has done to the planet, e.g one section is a giant supermarket looking maze, representing consumerism, the other being trash pile themed, representing the waste. You are sent as an UN expeditioner to see what's up with that.

 

[RustySK]

Get into Wizardry Variants Daphne, easily the best dungeon crawler of the last 20 years. It recently was released on Steam.

Looked this one up - I'm actually still holding out hope for an eventual fan translation of Busin 0, so I'd absolutely be interested in some woldschool Wizardry - but man that anti-cheat software sounds ridiculous. Not touching that out of basic principle.
Denuvo is bad enough already, but this sounds even worse - why do companies feel the need to slap invasive nonsense like that onto their releases?

 

[PKT]

Thanks for the recommendations so far! Sorry for the ensuing multi-reply

Ooh Arcana is one of my favorite games of all time. Have you played the arcade game crossed swords? Has a similar vibe and aesthetic. One of the few rpg dungeon crawling arcade games I've seen

An arcade based DC is definitely interesting. Most of my attempts to emulate arcade games haven't panned out but I should try again

The first Phantasy Star should be right up your alley! It’s a great dungeon-crawling RPG with a very engaging, unique setting, excellent music, and loads of interesting, engaging gameplay mechanics. It’s not too difficult or complex, either, so you should be able to get into it easily. Highly recommend!

I actually have played a bit Phantasy Star 1, but it was so long ago and so little that I forgot it had first person dungeons in it. Need to sit down and finish those games

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

It has a pretty good story, I was expecting NIS slop but it turned out to be pretty meaningful. It does touch up on some subjects, so I'd be aware

The problem, however, is the gameplay. Dungeon crawling is fun, but most random battles are pretty mindless. Bosses are fun, however, and let you exploit the games mechanics to the fullest

Yeah I've usually avoided NIS cause of Disgaea, but I decided that I should get over myself and try another of their games. From what I've been playing yeah the combat is mid but I haven't got to the first true boss yet. Presentation wise I have several questions on why they even designed things a certain way but overall not bad so far

The 7th Dragon 2020 trilogy (2020, 2020-II, Code VFD). Created by Etrian Odyssey's creator, however it's in third-person and with a setting that feels more like Shin Megami Tensei with dragons. Combat begins very simple but as you acquire new skill trees things get more strategic. 2020 is a great game, I have to play the others some time.

While I have the roms for those games, I've only ever played the original 7th Dragon on DS. They were on my list but kinda fell by the wayside at some point so thanks for reminding me

Get into Wizardry Variants Daphne, easily the best dungeon crawler of the last 20 years. It recently was released on Steam.
It exploded on popularity in Japan, were it's main userbase are +50yo japanese gamers. It's everything a Wizardry lover could have ever wanted. No other dungeon crawler ever got this much budget to play with.
Just ignore the Steam Reviews and play it by yourself. Go to any of it's communities and get shocked by how much players love the game, even if it's brutal with them. If you can read JP, it's flooding with content of all kind.

Didn't even know this got ported to PC, noted

a mystery dungeon game is a type of dungeon crawler. there are a large number of differences though, so i can't be sure you'll enjoy them. these games end up a lot closer to rogue than more typical dungeon crawlers.

exemplary mystery dungeon games:
Azure Dreams, psx version if possible.
Shiren the Wanderer, i will recommend the snes game or the DS remake as well as mystery dungeon of serpentcoil island, which is available on switch and pc.
Nightmare of Druaga, on the ps2. an awesome game.
Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup is also a favorite of mine.

I debated on including Mystery Dungeons in my list but decided against them last second as they weren't exactly the types I was looking for atm. I've been enjoying the Shiren games off and on for the past year (mainly DS1, DS2, 2, and 4) and grew up with PMD.

This does kill two birds with one stone though cause I probably would have been asking around for Mystery Dungeons at some point, so thank you

Great picks all around!
The only ones I haven't seen mentioned yet that come to mind right now would be:

Undernauts - as traditional a turn-based dungeon crawler as you're likely to get, with stunning artwork to boot!

And the absolute banger that is Fight Knight, but that might be fudging the definition of a Dungeon Crawler a bit depending on how you look at it. Still, more than worth a look!

Oh and there's also the Ravenloft duology - Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet. Always loved that setting. Really difficult games, but once you get the hang of them, they're great fun. Gorgeous, too!
Do be warned though that Stone Prophet in particular has a couple obnoxious bugs that make some weapons useless.

Thanks, Undernauts in particular seems right up my alley

Which SMT Games have you played? I Assume that only implies Megami Tensei I and Shin Megami Tensei I, so if i make an incorrect judgement, and recommend you something you've already played pray forgive me.

I recommend playing Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, the original version, not the Redux, although i do recommend checking it out after the completion of the main game, since Redux has new endings, as opposed to the just 3 original; Chaos, Neutral, Law.

The story and the setting is about

Spoiler

a dimension of demons spreading in Antractica, called Schwarzwelt, comprised of multiple Sections, each representing the abuse humanity has done to the planet, e.g one section is a giant supermarket looking maze, representing consumerism, the other being trash pile themed, representing the waste. You are sent as an UN expeditioner to see what's up with that.

Yeah, when I drafted my list I started with only putting entire series and forgot to mark which MegaTen/SMT games I played after. My bad. To clarify I've played both MegaTen games (by way of Kyuuyaku) and SMT 1, 2 If, and SJ. Strange Journey is fun but I've never actually beat it for some reason

 

[micheI]

Strange Journey is fun but I've never actually beat it for some reason

Which section did you stop at?

 

[PKT]

Which section did you stop at?

I forget the sector name but the garbage dump right after the mall. If I had to guess as to why I stopped there I either binged it and got burned out, or had life stuff come up and just haven't gone back cause I don't remember having issues with anything in the game that would make me stop

 

[micheI]

I forget the sector name but the garbage dump right after the mall. If I had to guess as to why I stopped there I either binged it and got burned out, or had life stuff come up and just haven't gone back cause I don't remember having issues with anything in the game that would make me stop

Ah.. Section Eridanus. If you ever come to play back SJ, be wary of that section's boss, he's kind of BS if you come in unprepared.

 

[AceOfAces]

On the subject of 7th Dragon something to mind about it is that 2020, 2020-II, and VFD are enormous steps forward in pretty much every way, being much more their own thing instead of EO with more dragons. As for Strange Journey, Strange Journey Redux (the 3ds rerelease) runs really well on Nintendo PC now, so I'd recommend playing that version if you wanted to pick it up again, if only for the quality of life improvements.

Have you checked out Jupiter Hell? It's by the DOOM Roguelike guy, you might enjoy it.
Metaphor technically falls under the (S)MT/Persona label but is pretty clearly a full-game tech demo for EO5, using more concepts from EO than from other ATLUS titles and even being set in the same universe as EO.
While it's rather genre-busting, Riviera might be up your alley. It's somewhat more similar to Rogue and roguelikes like Nethack in the sense that it's more about using what you find - your only 'attack' equivalent is an infinite-use emergency weapon which is quite weak, so the game is about experimenting with items as you crawl through the various dungeons. The gameplay is almost more of a point-and-click adventure outside of battles, which are turn-based. (If you like Riviera, you may like Yggdra Union, by the same studio and set in the same world.)
Depending on which part of dungeon-crawling you like the most, Fuga might be for you. This involves you choosing routes through 'dungeons' in each level, but having clock-tick based JRPG battles when you get into fights. The element of risk-reward inherent to dungeon-crawling games is pretty strong here.
Finally, and this is a very outside shot, Honkai Star Rail has a dungeon crawling mode with several variations (Simulated Universe), if you like gacha games at all.

 

[UnDubious]

Yeah, 2020 & on is basically its own series. It was supposed to be a spin-off initially and the fantasy DQ style was going to be the main series, but somehow that was reversed, and the original 7th Dragon series plans were abandoned after 2020 came out. I hear mixed things about the original DS game, but you really don't need to play it first.

 

[AceOfAces]

There's a hack on the repo that makes the encounter rate in the DS game sane, at least.

 

[RageBurner]

There's a hack on the repo that makes the encounter rate in the DS game sane, at least.

Every turn based RPG needs this to be honest. I love the genre, but being interrupted every 4 steps makes me forget where I was going and it gets aggravating fast.