Very Long Dungeons

[The Legendary Zoltan]

Do you like them? I find that I want to feel like I just had an epic adventure after I finish a dungeon but creating such a feeling is pretty hard in games. I recently found myself reflecting on Brave Fencer Musashi. That game is excellent and it has music by the founder of the Black Mages, by the way. There's a dungeon that takes a REALLY long time in that game. If I remember correctly, you actually have to leave the dungeon and go do something else and come back before you can finish it. It feels like the longest part of the game and when I finally beat that thing I was so happy. The boss battle didn't disappoint and I had that feeling of an epic adventure.

I feel the same way in several of the dungeons in Alundra as well. They actually aren't THAT long but you have to solve tons of puzzles throughout. So by the time I've finished I've used my hands AND my mind. That also feels epic.

Do you prefer long or short dungeons? What are some dungeons you particularly like or dislike?

SO FUN THREAD!

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

When it comes to dungeons in games, I usually think of two things that would instantly improve them in my opinion.

1. No backtracking. If a given dungeon is long, there should either be A) no need to go back at all and force me into the teeth-grinding tedium of having to go back and forth between long stretches of corridors(or worse yet, random encounters) or give me ways of easily going back and forth such as teleportation waypoints. Having to backtrack without there being some kind of new thing being introduced on the way back KILLS the mood for me honestly. I remember the "bonus" dungeon in Eternal Sonata(but really so many of them are offenders) that was essentially just a bunch of platforms you had to go back and forth on. That was a long hour I spent there.

2. Once you've explored the limits of a gameplay mechanic or puzzle idea, it's time to let it go and try something new. Whenever a new idea is introduced, it makes a dungeon more compelling, like "figure out this wall puzzle" or "guard this guy going down the hall"or whatever, but when the idea is played to death over and over in the same dungeon, it starts to feel pretty lazy and boring. I can't think of any recent examples off the top of my head(fortunately), but I know I've played games like that and I couldn't stand certain areas because of it.

[Native Jovian]

Which dungeon in Brave Fencer Musashi are you talking about? I love the hell out of that game, but I don't recall anything that fits your description. The single longest dungeon is probably the Restaurant Basement, but it's split into manageable chunks, so it's not that bad.

In any case, long dungeons can be a lot of fun -- as long as they don't pull bullshit that artificially pad out the time required or spike the difficulty, like Malaki mentioned. Stuff like "you have to fight your way down 100 floors of enemies, and if you ever lose you have to start again from the beginning", or puzzles with elements in widely spread out areas that require tons of backtracking.

[Thalzon]

Generally, long dungeons feel pretty tedious. When I think long dungeons, I think Terra Tower from Chrono Cross or anything from Xenosaga. They went on for a long time, and despite the lack of random encounters and not much backtracking, really tried my patience. The worst by far was the Song of Nephilim, which DID have loads and loads of backtracking.

It ultimately depends on the location, though. A lot of the dungeons in Xenosaga had the justification because their locations were enormous. Compare to, say, the sewer in Shadow Hearts 1, which is a single cross-shaped room with one puzzle to solve, but will take a decent 15 minutes to finish because you're running back and forth and have a hundred random encounters. Also, once you're done the game treats it as though you went at least several hundred meters, which makes no sense.

Basically, I think dungeons can be most any length as long as they don't rely on tedious things to make them longer.

[BardicKnowledge]

Depends on how backtracking to town (or non-combat) works. Diablo (I) is one dungeon and it's a fantastic game that still holds up today.

Similarly, I didn't mind the back half of FFIV: The After Years because every couple of floors I could warp back to the ship to restock, heal, and switch out party members.

[The Legendary Zoltan]

Which dungeon in Brave Fencer Musashi are you talking about? I love the hell out of that game, but I don't recall anything that fits your description. The single longest dungeon is probably the Restaurant Basement, but it's split into manageable chunks, so it's not that bad.

That's the dungeon I was referring to. Is it not as long as I remember? I know it's split into chunks but I still count it all as one big dungeon since it really is. Do you actually not have to leave and do something outside of the dungeon at one point? It certainly felt really long since the music in the village won't revert back to normal until you finish that dungeon (I think). I'm playing the game right now, I guess I'll find out eventually. Too bad it's only on the Japan PSN and not the American one. Is it on the European one?