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[Inanimate]

For reference, nostalgia, etc.:

Can you name the games in the top row of pictures?

[s0]

The first 2 are both Shining In The Darkness.

[st33d]

Bloodwych - I think I spent more time raiding the characters you could pick of gold and items than playing the game itself

Captive - If ever there was a game that was as awesome as Dungeon Master and then some, it was Captive. After the ten difficult levels where you eventually upgraded your robots with ultra hard parts and massive guns you then got free roam over randomly generated levels. We must have played this forever when I was a kid.

I dunno, you kids and you're talk of Etrian Odyssey. You don't know the amazing games you missed.

[baconman]

Like RTS... this is a genre of gaming I really, really wish I could get more into. Especially for the exploration aspects of the games. But it's often so heavily troped with simple repetitiveness, commonsparse RPG elements, and simple repetitiveness that I've yet to play a really good, stand-out title in. I see this, and the closest thing I can identify with it that was any fun is Hexen; and that's arguably far more FPS/FPRPG than FPDC.

Another wonderful, undertapped resource of great fun, especially given how fun and flexible most PGC dungeon-creators are nowadays, and the capabilities of most FPS engines.

[XRA]

Like RTS... this is a genre of gaming I really, really wish I could get more into. Especially for the exploration aspects of the games. But it's often so heavily troped with simple repetitiveness, commonsparse RPG elements, and simple repetitiveness that I've yet to play a really good, stand-out title in. I see this, and the closest thing I can identify with it that was any fun is Hexen; and that's arguably far more FPS/FPRPG than FPDC.

Another wonderful, undertapped resource of great fun, especially given how fun and flexible most PGC dungeon-creators are nowadays, and the capabilities of most FPS engines.

 

[PowRTocH]

Bloodwych - I think I spent more time raiding the characters you could pick of gold and items than playing the game itself

Ahhhhhh, that's the one I was looking for earlier in the thread! Thanks so much.

edit: Apparently this is by the same company that made Cadaver, I wonder if it's the same guys.

Captive - If ever there was a game that was as awesome as Dungeon Master and then some, it was Captive. After the ten difficult levels where you eventually upgraded your robots with ultra hard parts and massive guns you then got free roam over randomly generated levels. We must have played this forever when I was a kid.

Captive is wonderful, though I never got very far into it. The Captain Blood-esque space exploration coupled with the mostly traditional dungeon crawling was just perfect. Loved the sci fi setting too.

[paste]

I really enjoyed the first Etrian Odyssey game; I don't know what's taking me so long to try the next two in the series.  I also tried Dark Spire but I guess it didn't really suck me in, or else I got discouraged by dying so early.  Also, the way the menu system is set up was bothering me.

I actually played Phantasy Star for the first time a couple of years ago and it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.  I didn't expect it to hold up to age.

[PowRTocH]

Bloodwych - I think I spent more time raiding the characters you could pick of gold and items than playing the game itself

Hmm, I don't suppose anyone here wants to do a playthrough of this using UAE-Kaillera (with me, online, if that isn't obvious)? I feel like that could be a lot of fun.

[PowRTocH]

we're making this happen

[SundownKid]

I really loved Etrian Odyssey, but I can't bring myself to play another one despite the awesome music. It was just too much of an "experience" to have to go through again.   Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey is another one that I'm currently playing and it's also quite difficult. The amount of demons they stuck in this version is really quite astounding, though. I also love the sci-fi nature of the plot.

I can't say I'd like to make one myself, the gameplay is just too limited for me to be interested. It's fun to play once and a while, but I wouldn't play a lot of them.

[PowRTocH]

Well just the term "1st person dungeon crawler" doesn't really say much about the gameplay. You have Etrian Odyssey/SMT/The Dark Spire and their ilk which are descendents of Wizardry, you have roguelikes like Dungeon Hack or IVAN3D, there's also real time "action RPGs" like Dungeon Master or Bloodwych, and other traditional RPG types like Bard's Tale, Dungeons of Daggorath, Phantasy Star, etc. Even shit like 3d Monster Maze. So this topic sort of confuses me because it's talking about a ton of things, but it seems to be focused on games more like Etrian Odyssey.

[st33d]

Elves and Orcs on the DS was fucking awesome:

It was turn based, so it felt like a proper rogue-like.

It was made by ID, so it felt like Doom as well.

It forced your character to get drunk as part of the gameplay (including using the Medusa-Scroll when drunk, which you accidentally use on yourself when you're pissed).

[s0]

You can get Doom II RPG and Wolfenstein RPG, with very similar gameplay to Orcs & Elves, on the iPhone for cheap.

[st33d]

Bah, I don't have an iPhone.

 

[JMickle]

you can get it on java as well, that's all I did during college, its a freaking amazing RPG.

[superflat]

Can't believe I've missed this thread.  I've been a massive fan of the real-time variant of these since the 16 bit era - principally Dungeon Master & Chaos Strikes Back, Captive (criminally underrated), Black Crypt (also awesome) and the first two Eye of the Beholder games to an extent (although they lacked something the others had in atmosphere.)  Hired guns and Liberation (Captive's quite different sequel) we're also very interesting.  If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably still be DM though.

I made one back on the Amiga, and I've always wanted to do another since.  I love having a party whose eyes you see through, the sounds off in the distance, the way you could click on anything and get an interesting response, the cool context-sensitive use of the mouse.

This thread is awesome!

[s0]

Wizardy: Labyrinth of lost souls is out on PSN in the US I believe (Europe still has to wait a bit). Reviews so far are pretty good, so check it out if you can I guess.

[Paul Jeffries]

Lands Of Lore was a pretty awesome one I remember playing as a kid:

http://www.abandonia.com/games/466/download/LandsofLore.htm

Seem to remember it being pretty hard at times, though...

[rivon]

Yeah, Dungeon Master was the game of my childhood :D. It's so great

[sublinimal]

Dungeon Master

Chaos Strikes Back rings a bell. It was definitely a hard game, I was never able to finish it.

I've noticed people in this thread complaining about things like grinding and generic dungeons. In CSB there were no random encounters, and every enemy had a realistic chance of killing you, so there was a real sense of danger. Exploration was also very rewarding with tons of traps, puzzles, secrets, Metroidvania-style backtracking, and unscripted close calls.