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I CAN DELVE FOR MILES: WHAT DRAWS YOU TO DUNGEON CRAWLS?
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doomed2die
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doomed2die
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CloseI like bosses. I like combat. I like depth.
Dungeon Crawlers give me the opportunity to take in all of that without being focused on the external events to "flow" a game. It allows my characters to be nonsensical and pointless all to the goal of combat.
It's simple, I just play it cause it's simple and there's combat.
As to what constitutes a good dungeon crawler... That's a whole 'nother story. A good one requires in depth boss fights (I mean I better THINK), semi-in-depth random encounters, or better yet no random encounters with touch encounters or something, (if I'm playing purely for combat, that combat better be damn good). And those enemies better be unique unto themselves so as not to be repetitive. It also requires good unique systems (I'm a sucker for systems :P) so be it class or equipment or skill learning or whatever... There better be something combat related that separates it from the rest.
Oh and I am, too, a sucker for character development. God, Final Fantasy V was the end of me... It's all about evolving my characters and making this perfect little equipment and class set. And I love just progressing through classes and experimenting with like black mage/knight just cause I can. It's why Class Systems especially draw me in and Dungeon Crawlers tend to put the most thought into this sort of thing because the developer's attentions aren't elsewhere. They have nowhere else to go!
Dungeon Crawlers give me the opportunity to take in all of that without being focused on the external events to "flow" a game. It allows my characters to be nonsensical and pointless all to the goal of combat.
It's simple, I just play it cause it's simple and there's combat.
As to what constitutes a good dungeon crawler... That's a whole 'nother story. A good one requires in depth boss fights (I mean I better THINK), semi-in-depth random encounters, or better yet no random encounters with touch encounters or something, (if I'm playing purely for combat, that combat better be damn good). And those enemies better be unique unto themselves so as not to be repetitive. It also requires good unique systems (I'm a sucker for systems :P) so be it class or equipment or skill learning or whatever... There better be something combat related that separates it from the rest.
Oh and I am, too, a sucker for character development. God, Final Fantasy V was the end of me... It's all about evolving my characters and making this perfect little equipment and class set. And I love just progressing through classes and experimenting with like black mage/knight just cause I can. It's why Class Systems especially draw me in and Dungeon Crawlers tend to put the most thought into this sort of thing because the developer's attentions aren't elsewhere. They have nowhere else to go!
I love dungeon crawlers because the dungeon crawler rpgs I've played were some of the best world building games I've enjoyed.
Someone already mentioned Summon Night Swordcraft Story. If you don't know that game, you are missing one of the best basic JRPG crafting systems in the entire world. They had drills, they had skills and they had loli characters that send chills down your kills.
Let's not forget Lufia 2. Can anyone say one of the best puzzle-set based JRPGs ever?
And...oh...oh...OH! In Unlosing Ranger and Azure Dreams, you get to feel like you own your town/base. (Spore was innovative? Pft!!!) How many games can have someone laughing at you and then after you get to a certain level the npcs are in awe of you? How many games require you to waddle through a level that's full of water as a human? (I don't mean underwater, above ocean type of levels)
It's also one of those rare breed of JRPGs where you get as much fun in god mode as well as in non-god mode for different reasons. Plus many of them often have monster catching addiction similarities. You get to set traps, you get to make crafts, you get a plethora of different spells all linked to your weapon - you even sometimes get extra story scenes. Unlosing Ranger gave you a fricking gatling gun in an rpg after beating down a female pig. How many rpgs have guns where guns are not just bows? Azure dreams made fusion possible in a game where you were just expecting one monster.
Don't even get me started on the design often leading to less backtracking. Yes, you have to get to the top or the bottom of some tower BUT no more long unnecessary walking over open plains that do nothing. Towns are just there? WHOOPEE!!! That's where I need to go to find all the awesome stuff? OH YESsssss...
It's not like I love all dungeon crawlers. It's that some of the most innovative and unique games have come from that type of rpg. It's the same with SRPGs. I love rpgs more but I get excited for any SRPG that sounds like it's based on Super Robot Wars because that's where I met some of the best medieval themed stories with things like every fight having a conversation speech rather than just a boss w/ mid-battle dialogue (with voice overs even).
If a genre constantly gives you something special to look forward to, it just draws you in. It's the opposite of red flag games. You just have to look first before you reject. Once that's in your DNA, every type of game that's of the same genre gets you to look.
Other notable games:
-Before the whole rah rah about PSX games being more lifelike in FFVIII, Granstream Saga and Jade Cocoon both pre-empted tall 3d models.
-Before the whole online mmorpg craze, Diablo was delivering some nice piece of storytelling both on single player which then opened up the doorways for Diablo 2 and later World of Warcraft of course.
-Don't get me started about Monster's Den. One of the most balanced and well developed pick up and play rpgs that involved tanks, mages, healers and bowmen.
Dungeon crawlers literally have many things you look for in a game:
-That sense of arcade type excitement that is on par with Pac-man
-That innovative streak of pre-empting features of advanced games before they become popular (much like porn is often credited for many of the innovations of the world)
-That euphoria that often only comes from lvl 99 in a normal rpg transposed into lower levels
-That set of loot that makes you feel like a poacher (you rarely have to hide the fact that you're killing mooks just to grind)
-That grandfather aspect that has given value to many commonly accepted game features like lockpicks, traps, puzzles and grinding.
-It even injects life to other genres. Princess Maker (life sim) games wouldn't be the same without dungeons. Hardcore mode CRPGs wouldn't be the same without dungeons (see the expansions for Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate where dungeons give the excuse to play wild with all the special properties of the game) Fighting games wouldn't be the same without dungeons (It enabled both Tobal and Ergheiz to have an rpg mode IN A FIGHTING GAME) Shooters wouldn't be possible without dungeon crawling (Doom/Wolfenstein) Stealth games would have been less varied (Come on we all know the first stealth game was trying to get past enemies because you were low on health).
It's just something that on paper "if you don't like it, you think you won't like it" but then again and again and again...the developers just keeps releasing the awesomeness and the innovations that you...just...have...to...give...in.
Someone already mentioned Summon Night Swordcraft Story. If you don't know that game, you are missing one of the best basic JRPG crafting systems in the entire world. They had drills, they had skills and they had loli characters that send chills down your kills.
Let's not forget Lufia 2. Can anyone say one of the best puzzle-set based JRPGs ever?
And...oh...oh...OH! In Unlosing Ranger and Azure Dreams, you get to feel like you own your town/base. (Spore was innovative? Pft!!!) How many games can have someone laughing at you and then after you get to a certain level the npcs are in awe of you? How many games require you to waddle through a level that's full of water as a human? (I don't mean underwater, above ocean type of levels)
It's also one of those rare breed of JRPGs where you get as much fun in god mode as well as in non-god mode for different reasons. Plus many of them often have monster catching addiction similarities. You get to set traps, you get to make crafts, you get a plethora of different spells all linked to your weapon - you even sometimes get extra story scenes. Unlosing Ranger gave you a fricking gatling gun in an rpg after beating down a female pig. How many rpgs have guns where guns are not just bows? Azure dreams made fusion possible in a game where you were just expecting one monster.
Don't even get me started on the design often leading to less backtracking. Yes, you have to get to the top or the bottom of some tower BUT no more long unnecessary walking over open plains that do nothing. Towns are just there? WHOOPEE!!! That's where I need to go to find all the awesome stuff? OH YESsssss...
It's not like I love all dungeon crawlers. It's that some of the most innovative and unique games have come from that type of rpg. It's the same with SRPGs. I love rpgs more but I get excited for any SRPG that sounds like it's based on Super Robot Wars because that's where I met some of the best medieval themed stories with things like every fight having a conversation speech rather than just a boss w/ mid-battle dialogue (with voice overs even).
If a genre constantly gives you something special to look forward to, it just draws you in. It's the opposite of red flag games. You just have to look first before you reject. Once that's in your DNA, every type of game that's of the same genre gets you to look.
Other notable games:
-Before the whole rah rah about PSX games being more lifelike in FFVIII, Granstream Saga and Jade Cocoon both pre-empted tall 3d models.
-Before the whole online mmorpg craze, Diablo was delivering some nice piece of storytelling both on single player which then opened up the doorways for Diablo 2 and later World of Warcraft of course.
-Don't get me started about Monster's Den. One of the most balanced and well developed pick up and play rpgs that involved tanks, mages, healers and bowmen.
Dungeon crawlers literally have many things you look for in a game:
-That sense of arcade type excitement that is on par with Pac-man
-That innovative streak of pre-empting features of advanced games before they become popular (much like porn is often credited for many of the innovations of the world)
-That euphoria that often only comes from lvl 99 in a normal rpg transposed into lower levels
-That set of loot that makes you feel like a poacher (you rarely have to hide the fact that you're killing mooks just to grind)
-That grandfather aspect that has given value to many commonly accepted game features like lockpicks, traps, puzzles and grinding.
-It even injects life to other genres. Princess Maker (life sim) games wouldn't be the same without dungeons. Hardcore mode CRPGs wouldn't be the same without dungeons (see the expansions for Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate where dungeons give the excuse to play wild with all the special properties of the game) Fighting games wouldn't be the same without dungeons (It enabled both Tobal and Ergheiz to have an rpg mode IN A FIGHTING GAME) Shooters wouldn't be possible without dungeon crawling (Doom/Wolfenstein) Stealth games would have been less varied (Come on we all know the first stealth game was trying to get past enemies because you were low on health).
It's just something that on paper "if you don't like it, you think you won't like it" but then again and again and again...the developers just keeps releasing the awesomeness and the innovations that you...just...have...to...give...in.
