I like the subtle touches in The Quest. Since inns are too expensive, and resting outside has a risk of overnight, heal-reducing rain, hole up in a cave or dungeon as a cheap and dry alternative. Another notable thing: As a criminal, you run the risk of being identified when passing through the guard checkpoints, placed at major thoroughfares. Or, you can be sneaky. The first town, mostly surrounded by a moat of water, has a couple of places where the deep water thins into small enough streams you can simply walk over to get into town, instead of having to cross the guarded moat bridges. Another town has an innkeeper you can bribe to use his back door, bypassing one particular checkpoint for a bit of gold. If you do get thrown in jail, you can try to break out, or literally walk back-and-forth in your jail cell until released. There's some thought put into this.
Yeah, I absolutely loved The Quest. Got completely absorbed in that world for a good while. I definitely want to make a full video about it someday, when I have the time to do a thorough job of it.
A few other grid-based dungeon crawlers that I think are worth mentioning: Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Sword & Sorcery: Underworld, the Geister-series (The Ghost Ship, The Ghost Tower, The Ghost Hunter), Aeon of Sands: The Trail, and the remastered Bard's Tale Trilogy.
A lot of the modern grid based real time dungoen crawlers are based on the Grimrock Engine. And although I am a fan of the genre I don't like games based on that. Vaporum is also one of them. I loved the quest and am in love with Operencia. Gave me some Anvil of Dawn vibes. (: It is really difficult to imitate the exploration and feelings of wonder in those games. I wish there was another game like Wizardry 7 oder 8 that is not Grimoire. ^^
@@dungeonchillI also want to point out that The Quest has tons of expansions. You mentioned Islands of Fire and Ice, but there are about 17 more. Literally. It’s probably one of the largest games if not the largest game ever released on mobile content wise and I recommend it to anyone interested in the genre.
still the biggest issue with the quest is that the name makes it almost impossible to find unless you know to specifically search for "redshift's the quest"
Not a indie game but for everyone who loves the genre, get a ps1 emulator and get the Fan translation of baroque. It's very freaky and creepy, discovered it at the start of the year and it became one of my favorites, the atmosphere is just insane.
The name seemed familiar so I went to check and apparently I own it on ps2. From what I can see going from ps1 to ps2 is that they changed the entire game formula from grid based 1st person crawler to 3rd person free control. Same story though with slight differences in story pathing.
@@XionSteel Im interested to try the ps2 Version out someday but what i saw From Videos the atmosphare was changed completley, battles look pretty clunky as well and iirc the music was also changed.
I always like a first person grid based dungeon crawler game... maybe because I grew up playing classic SMT games and Etrian Oddyssey, and only recently (like few years back) I got into Wizardry and other western crpg like Might and Magic and such.. Good thing I found this video and get to know a few more recommendation to scratch those Dungeon Crawling itch.
@@dungeonchill gonna get there later. Yes!! EO3 has the best and my favorite setting in the series. Still waiting for Atlus to hopefully do Untold 3 since the series has been rerelease on modern console now.
SMT did have Strange Journey (and the 3DS redux) as a come back to the first person root. Most recently, Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia is a game that mixes SMT and Touhou.
@@dungeonchill Wizardry 7 and the Might & Magic Xeen games are probably overall the best in the genre, in my opinion. Wizardry 7 in particular is the very peak, just an astonishing game in so many ways and utterly massive. There are so many truly awesome games in this genre back from the days of the Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns, etc like the Ultima Underworld games, Fate: Gates of Dawn, Might & Magic Mandate of Heaven (though I love the first three as well) and so many others. Among my favorites would be Dungeon Master, Anvil of Dawn, The Dark Heart of Uukrul, Eye of the Beholder series, Lands of Lore, Hired Guns, Mado Monogatari, Amberstar, Black Crypt, Last Armageddon, Dragon Wars, the Elvira games, Realms of Arkania, Ishar, Stonekeep... well, I could keep going but I'm sure you know them all already! I still return to these games fairly regularly, most recently now on a Steam Deck. Cleve's masterpiece Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar is the nearest approximation to the mastery achieved with Wizardry 7 available, and probably the most genuine fun I've had with a dungeon crawler game since that past era.
Worth checking out Legend of grimrock too and it's sequel too, it's frankly astonishing what the tiny team acomplished, reinvigorated the genre for me.
I'm surprised it wasn't on here. It made quite a splash when it came out about 10 years ago. It reintroduced me to the 1st person dungeon crawlers and I've been a fan of the genre ever since.
@@thevoidknownaskirby3382 Legend of Grimrock was mentioned (2:03), but tbh Grimrock is already pretty well known. I think this video is more supposed to be an insider tip for dungoen crawler players, so it makes sense to put other titles on that list.
Lunacid is one of the best modern indie experiences I've played. And I love the channel. Definitely scratches that Grim Beard itch while being its own unique thing. Great stuff!
As someone who quite enjoys turn based rpgs, the first person dungeon crawlers very quickly became a favorite genre of mine. They may seem restrictive at first but the exploration is just a part of the fun and unlike open world games where you could be doing long treks to nothing, dungeon crawlers always seems to have a purpose in the directions to go in if for nothing else then to complete maps. Some of these seem interesting to me, though I'm more into anime style games like Etrian Odyssey, Mary Skelter, Demon Gaze and Labyrinth of Refrain/Galleria, but the only real differences between these and games that are in the video are their formula and art style. As such, since these are not that expensive to pick up its definitely worth a try. The comments are also giving me suggestions to look at so this is fantastic overall. 😌👌
I can recommend a game called Potato Flowers in Full Bloom, it has somewhat simple graphics but they're very charming, as well as classes to choose from to make your party 😊
I like "The Quest" the most. At first, I thought it was a game based on the awesome Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, but I wasn't disappointed. And the last one, "Disillusion," also looks interesting. First Person games tend to give me a headache, so I usually avoid them, but I can still learn about them through your channel. It's nice.
I'm kinda sad nobody remembers Delver anymore - a roguelite pixel art procesurally generated dungeon crawler with really fun gameplay. I used to love it ever since early alphas.
Thank you very much! I'm a confirmed dungeon crawler fan from the past. Thirty-plus years ago, I hardly missed a single game of the genre. For the last twenty years I've developed a disease called gaming impotence. I played less and less. The last game I played was Wasteland 3. Still, I occasionally watch RPG videos, but a lot of it passes me by. By chance ( kudos to the TH-cam's algorithm), I came across this video. Man, I just loved it, it made me want to play again, which is extremely rare. You've shown some really interesting titles and now I know which way to look. THANK YOU!
If you have a Switch, "Haunted Dungeons: Hyakki Castle" is an almost totally unknown rough gem. It's a blobber with realtime combat - but the real draw is that it's set in Japan's Edo (samurai) period, with a bestiary of Oni and Yokai and other traditional Japanese monsters. Which is a cool change from the usual western fantasy setting. It's not totally polished, but still quite fun.
Lunacid literally went 1.0 like the day after I posted a "where the fuck's the dev" review. Was still a positive review and I was more defending them than criticizing them but the timing was still impeccable.
Great video! One I didn't hear you mention is Infinite Adventures. It's a first-person dungeon crawler where the labyrinth is procedurally generated; it's pretty cool, IMO. Another fascinating one with proc gen dungeons is Heroes of a Broken Land. I'd recommend checking out both of those!
I found it! This was the video that introduced me to Lunacid! I have been loving the game and keep giving it the occasional playthough! Thank you for making this video and helping me find a game that I would have absolutely missed if I didn't see this.
wow, all these look pretty good to me. I have been hankering for this sort of game, but I had never heard of any of these, except Lunacid which was already on my wishlist.
I've been interested in Amberland for so long now but having been in management in the past, I definitely don't want to manage all those party members! Thanks for the video. Vaporum is awesome.
Remakes of Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back are available for free. Very old Dungeon crawlers that came out in the 80s for the Atari ST and Amiga.
The Quest seems interesting and it was on my List for long ! I have to admit I love this genre, and games like Legend of grimrock seemed to do justice to the genre. I always tend to search for the next successor of my old favorites in the genre, such as eye of the beholder games, lands of lore, Anvil of Dawn (masterpiece) and the super memorable Stonekeep. Its tough to find games as good as those oldies !
I've played a fair bit of Star Crawlers, but I do have two big critiques; 1) You really don't have enough available slots for what skills you can use in combat. Even two more equipable slots per character would open up a lot of interesting options and synergies. 2) The reputation system is a nice idea and is overall implemented well, but you gain points so slowly it can get incredibly grindy to actually get anything out of it, and almost none of the things you can purchase with it are anywhere close to good enough to justify your time investment.
Dunno, if it is already on your radar, but what jumpstarted my search for more dungeon crawler games was "Slasher's Keep", reminded me a lot of Dark Messiah and Lunacid. Love your videos and channel-theme! I am all here for more. Cheers!
I don’t think of myself as a dungeon crawler fan, but since I absolutely loved 2 games on this list (The Quest and Hand of Doom) maybe I need to check out the rest!
As a fan of older style rpgs including dungeon crawlers I would highly recommend investing in the DS, 3ds, PSP, PSvita and Switch lines. A TON of old style rpgs and games have come out for those systems but are generally overlooked. Notable games for examples: Dark Spire on the DS and Etrian Odyssey series that majorly remind me of the old Wizardry styles. Labyrinth of Refrain, Labyrinth of Galleria, Undernaughts, Demon Gaze 1 & 2, and then you can go outside of dungeon crawlers with things like the Link to the Past like Blossom Tales games, Aggelos which is a love letter to the Wonderboy in Monsterland style games. Astalon Tears of the Earth, Timespinners to name a few Metroidvanias. Then tack on all the re-releases, compliations and such coming out for the Switch and you'll not be lacking in games.
Seconding the Quest for anyone watching-- it's a masterpiece. If you end up finishing the main story and official expac still want more, there are also several dozen semi-official expansions by Catacomber with more still under development. These ones get wonderfully weird and will take you across the world, into real-world history and myth and even into outer space. Entirely different tone compared to the base game, but they're such a unique experience and I love them too in their own way.
Fight Knight is a great first person, almost RPG-esque, dungeon crawler with a really good fighting system. Came out November of 2021 and I see practically zero talk about it ever but it was a really fun experience. The final boss is also absurd and had me on the edge of my seat with how unexpected it was.
I have Vaporum on Xbox, it does look pretty cool, but its achievement list looks pretty daunting at the same time. The completionist in me sometimes makes it harder to start some games. Something I've been trying to grow out of.
Very Helpful! I recently went to Steam and searching for 1st person, rpg brought the usual suspects like Skyrim, but not ONE of these games. So, thank you! (I think Steam just wants to show games that cost more frankly).
mr. dungeon chill i cannot thank you more than this comment ❤ but you make me super happy making me purchasing several games of this list.. the quest is AMAZING
Lunacid is amazing. Great exploration feel, and it's possible to play with different builds that feel pretty diverse, giving it a lot of replay value. I had a lot of fun making a super fast and high jumping character, it's like playing medieval Doom. Despite being in early access it is very polished and has a ton of content.
I'd like to try some of these. I already got Vaporum but I only played a little of it. Most of these I never even heard of and I was specifically looking for some different ones to try. Ones I like that aren't on this list are Undernauts:Labyrinth of Yomi, Operencia:The Stolen Sun and heck the Lost Child was pretty cool too.
That would be awesome. I’d be happy to help play test. I was actually planning to do a standalone video on Disillusion also, to spread the word about it more.
So glad I found this video! It's been kind of tough for me to look up new entries to this genre, since the term "dungeon crawler" is used pretty liberally.
Dang great video brother! Def gonna check a few of these out. I bought lunacid awhile ago after seeing someone play it. Havent gotten around to playing it yet though. Subbed and thanks again. I definitely have a soft spot for retro or retro inspired games, growing up in the 90s
But seriously, man - love your videos. Keep it up, you're awesome. Thank you for your work. If I manage to scrounge up enough cash this month, I'd love to Patreon the crap out of u.
Can I just say I love this video? I don't really have much experience with First person dungeon crawlers except for a little bit of legend of grimrock so it's cool to see the sheer amount of variety that's in the genre. Got The Quest and Lunacid on wishlist and bought Devil's Spire thanks to you!
Interestingly, a game called Ludus Mortis, from the same developer behind Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle, was released recently this month of October 2023.
I have always wanted a great first person dungeon crawler but I've always struggled to find the right one. Thanks for this upload. Despite playing games since the 80s I never had a pc back in the day (well I had an amstrad that could play frogger)
Do you know that the Wizardry 1 Proving Grounds Remake is now available? Wizardry made 1st person games well known as early as 1980 and the remake is fantastic.
Could you make a video focusing on more of the DRPGs similar to The Quest, it seems difficult to find explorable DRPGs with an above world like The Quest or Daggerfall where the entirety of the game isnt solely in a dungeon or cave. Love when the old retro look and feel of grid based open worlds like Wizardry 8 , isle of caliph , etc
Try “Orcs & Elves’ on Nintendo DS. It’s my favorite of this genre. Also try the old Wolfenstein RPG and Doom RPG games if you can figure out where to find the files and how to play them. I think they were on phones before iPhones came out. Wolfenstein RPG may have been on DS. Might be worth making a video on those. They were fun oddities that nobody talks about.
@@GarrettFromThief Dread Delusion is very obviously inspired by Kingsfield, if you cant see that you must be blind- yes it is more open world like morrowind, but the graphics and gameplay are far more like kings field than morrowind, also the devs plan on adding more dungeon--crawling like areas into the game in future patches. As for why people say kingsfield-like, its probably just due to it being one of if not the most popular game in the genre, and thus it gets used as a marker for games similar to it.
@@WelcomeToDERPLAND Idk why my comment was deleted but I will repeat: Not only does Dread Delusion have nothing to do with Kingsfield and more closely resembles Morrowind/Oblivion game design, but the term "Kingsfield-like" is just a hipster term for "dungeon crawler". >"People say Kingsfield-Like due to it being one of if not the most popular game in the genre" If thats the case then why do 99% of modern indie dungeon crawlers take inspiration from the Western grid-based dungeon crawler classics? Only 2 out of the 10 games in this video take inspiration from Kingsfield, and only Lunacid is a proper homage to the game while Devil Spire is really just a dungeon-crawler rogue-like with FPS gameplay. On top of that, the first two Kingsfields weren't even released in the US and were Japanese exclusives! The series is still extremely obscure, especially the first game which I'm apparently supposed to believe is the most popular game in all of dungeon crawlers despite literally two modern indie crawlers taking inspiration from it. Meanwhile any fan of dungeon crawlers would cite Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Arx Fatalis, Grim Rock, Lands of Lore, Might & Magic 3, or any Ultima, Wizardry, Bards Tale, Might & Magic and Eye of the Beholder game as the "most popular game in the genre" before they would ever cite the first Kingsfield game. >"the graphics and gameplay are far more like Kingsfield" So because the combat is in real-time with a basic swing and charge attack, that makes it a Kingsfield-like? By that logic, Kingsfield is an Ultima Underworld-Like as theres nothing Kingsfield did Underworld didn't already do, and it also did FAR more than Kingsfield. Dread Delusion having Kingsfield gameplay is a total stretch, not to mention the graphics comparison. Dread Delusion looks and feels far more like Morrowind with the character designs, the world design and the open-world nature of it, while Kingsfield's graphics and aesthetics were far rougher and simpler looking and basically only consisted of one single dungeon. "Oh but the devs are adding dungeons!" Great, but that doesnt make it a Kingsfield-Like, aka a "dungeon crawler." Dungeons have always been a staple of open-world fantasy RPGs, but for it to be a dungeon crawler most of the exploration and gameplay must be exclusively inside dungeons fighting monsters. Thats not the case with Dread Delusion because its a Scrolls-Like. Again you're literally just a hipster fresh off a Kingsfield video essay pretending Kingsfield was and is this massively popular game just because a single game Lunacid payed homage to it. None of your arguments as to how Dread Delusion is like Kingsfield are even remotely convincing, as Dread Delusion is clearly inspired by the early Elder Scrolls games in Morrowind and Oblivion.
Great video, I bought Lunacid recently and been looking for more Dungeon Crawlers to fall in love with. I want to buy Disillution but Steam doesn't seem to let me buy it for some reason
I'm still waiting for someone to do a game in the same spirit as Might and Magic 6, 7, and 8 (not Heroes of). Those 3 games had such a unique blend of turn-based and real-time action (you could, at any time, enter turn-based mode where time was calculated through stats, or you could turn it off and real time would pass and delay stats would be used to determine when you could perform actions again) but yet it was also not a solo character game, you had 4 people in a group. It was a truly unique series and it was really awesome and it boggles the mind that nobody tried to make a similar game. I see lots of other dungeon crawlers, but they are either all full turn and grid based, or real-time.
Haven't played any of dungeon crawlers in so long, thanks for the recommendations. Plenty of these were unknown to me and wishlisted after I watched this. One I do know of that maybe you haven't seen (mentioning just in case) is Touhou:Artificial Dream in Arcadia.
Thanks for the video. Some of these games slipped past me. That being said, I tried a few modern indie RPGs that are aiming to emulate Might and Magic and so on and found them often quite basic and graphics don't have the flair to the classics. Legends of Amberland for example. But it reminds me that I should continue my newest run of Might and Magic: World of Xeen on my DOS retro PC. Well, the Dark Savant also deserves another beating but for this I want to finish my Bane of the Comic Forge run first to take over the clear data. Btw, I really like Vaporum as it was finally a game that wasn't too long, overstaying its welcome, but also not too short, making me feel sad when it was over. Even got the Switch Collectors Edition for my collection even though I played and finished it on PC. Still need to play Lockdown though and sadly it didn't get a Collectors Edition. Also, if you like icy settings, you should try Aleshar: World of Ice from 1997 for MS-DOS (not a Dungeon Crawler). It seems to be officially declared freeware by the authors too and available on the Internet Archive for example.
I've had my eye on Lunacid for what feels like years now. Or are there two indie games that have been in early access for years that are inspired by Shadow Tower and King's Field? Can't quite remember.
Pretty obscure dungeon crawler that I like is Paper Sorcerer. It's pretty rough around the edges and has some weird choices but it's a really stylistic and fun little game.
I like the subtle touches in The Quest. Since inns are too expensive, and resting outside has a risk of overnight, heal-reducing rain, hole up in a cave or dungeon as a cheap and dry alternative. Another notable thing: As a criminal, you run the risk of being identified when passing through the guard checkpoints, placed at major thoroughfares. Or, you can be sneaky.
The first town, mostly surrounded by a moat of water, has a couple of places where the deep water thins into small enough streams you can simply walk over to get into town, instead of having to cross the guarded moat bridges.
Another town has an innkeeper you can bribe to use his back door, bypassing one particular checkpoint for a bit of gold.
If you do get thrown in jail, you can try to break out, or literally walk back-and-forth in your jail cell until released. There's some thought put into this.
Yeah, I absolutely loved The Quest. Got completely absorbed in that world for a good while.
I definitely want to make a full video about it someday, when I have the time to do a thorough job of it.
how is the story? @@dungeonchill
It's quite fun, reminds me of Daggerfall
@@fargothur7409 My favorite Elder Scrolls game? Say no more, I'm in.
@@dungeonchill Yes
A few other grid-based dungeon crawlers that I think are worth mentioning: Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Sword & Sorcery: Underworld, the Geister-series (The Ghost Ship, The Ghost Tower, The Ghost Hunter), Aeon of Sands: The Trail, and the remastered Bard's Tale Trilogy.
and i would add gates of skeldal and legend of grimrock 🙂
A lot of the modern grid based real time dungoen crawlers are based on the Grimrock Engine. And although I am a fan of the genre I don't like games based on that. Vaporum is also one of them. I loved the quest and am in love with Operencia. Gave me some Anvil of Dawn vibes. (:
It is really difficult to imitate the exploration and feelings of wonder in those games. I wish there was another game like Wizardry 7 oder 8 that is not Grimoire. ^^
As someone just getting into this genre, thank you very much.
The Quest was made in 2006 for PDAs. Still fantastic.
Oh wow. I knew it was out on mobile before PC, but I didn’t know it was that far back.
I'm still shocked that The Quest was never put on Switch. It seems like a no-brainer.
100% would play again!
@@dungeonchillI also want to point out that The Quest has tons of expansions. You mentioned Islands of Fire and Ice, but there are about 17 more. Literally. It’s probably one of the largest games if not the largest game ever released on mobile content wise and I recommend it to anyone interested in the genre.
still the biggest issue with the quest is that the name makes it almost impossible to find unless you know to specifically search for "redshift's the quest"
Not a indie game but for everyone who loves the genre, get a ps1 emulator and get the Fan translation of baroque. It's very freaky and creepy, discovered it at the start of the year and it became one of my favorites, the atmosphere is just insane.
The name seemed familiar so I went to check and apparently I own it on ps2. From what I can see going from ps1 to ps2 is that they changed the entire game formula from grid based 1st person crawler to 3rd person free control. Same story though with slight differences in story pathing.
@@XionSteel Im interested to try the ps2 Version out someday but what i saw From Videos the atmosphare was changed completley, battles look pretty clunky as well and iirc the music was also changed.
It's also on the Wii
@@XionSteelthey even put the PS2 version on iPhones like 10 years ago
Idk if you just had a lucky guess or if your comment got his attention but we just got that video from him 🤣
I always like a first person grid based dungeon crawler game...
maybe because I grew up playing classic SMT games and Etrian Oddyssey, and only recently (like few years back) I got into Wizardry and other western crpg like Might and Magic and such..
Good thing I found this video and get to know a few more recommendation to scratch those Dungeon Crawling itch.
Wiz 7 and M&M 4/5 are some of the best classics IMO. I love SMT and Etrian Odyssey as well. EO3 is one of my favorite RPGs.
@@dungeonchill gonna get there later.
Yes!! EO3 has the best and my favorite setting in the series.
Still waiting for Atlus to hopefully do Untold 3 since the series has been rerelease on modern console now.
SMT did have Strange Journey (and the 3DS redux) as a come back to the first person root.
Most recently, Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia is a game that mixes SMT and Touhou.
@@dungeonchill Wizardry 7 and the Might & Magic Xeen games are probably overall the best in the genre, in my opinion. Wizardry 7 in particular is the very peak, just an astonishing game in so many ways and utterly massive. There are so many truly awesome games in this genre back from the days of the Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns, etc like the Ultima Underworld games, Fate: Gates of Dawn, Might & Magic Mandate of Heaven (though I love the first three as well) and so many others. Among my favorites would be Dungeon Master, Anvil of Dawn, The Dark Heart of Uukrul, Eye of the Beholder series, Lands of Lore, Hired Guns, Mado Monogatari, Amberstar, Black Crypt, Last Armageddon, Dragon Wars, the Elvira games, Realms of Arkania, Ishar, Stonekeep... well, I could keep going but I'm sure you know them all already! I still return to these games fairly regularly, most recently now on a Steam Deck. Cleve's masterpiece Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar is the nearest approximation to the mastery achieved with Wizardry 7 available, and probably the most genuine fun I've had with a dungeon crawler game since that past era.
Worth checking out Legend of grimrock too and it's sequel too, it's frankly astonishing what the tiny team acomplished, reinvigorated the genre for me.
I'm surprised it wasn't on here. It made quite a splash when it came out about 10 years ago. It reintroduced me to the 1st person dungeon crawlers and I've been a fan of the genre ever since.
@@thevoidknownaskirby3382 Legend of Grimrock was mentioned (2:03), but tbh Grimrock is already pretty well known. I think this video is more supposed to be an insider tip for dungoen crawler players, so it makes sense to put other titles on that list.
@@thevoidknownaskirby3382 He said he was keeping the list to more modern games.
Lunacid is one of the best modern indie experiences I've played. And I love the channel. Definitely scratches that Grim Beard itch while being its own unique thing. Great stuff!
As someone who quite enjoys turn based rpgs, the first person dungeon crawlers very quickly became a favorite genre of mine. They may seem restrictive at first but the exploration is just a part of the fun and unlike open world games where you could be doing long treks to nothing, dungeon crawlers always seems to have a purpose in the directions to go in if for nothing else then to complete maps. Some of these seem interesting to me, though I'm more into anime style games like Etrian Odyssey, Mary Skelter, Demon Gaze and Labyrinth of Refrain/Galleria, but the only real differences between these and games that are in the video are their formula and art style. As such, since these are not that expensive to pick up its definitely worth a try.
The comments are also giving me suggestions to look at so this is fantastic overall. 😌👌
I can recommend a game called Potato Flowers in Full Bloom, it has somewhat simple graphics but they're very charming, as well as classes to choose from to make your party 😊
I like "The Quest" the most. At first, I thought it was a game based on the awesome Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, but I wasn't disappointed. And the last one, "Disillusion," also looks interesting. First Person games tend to give me a headache, so I usually avoid them, but I can still learn about them through your channel. It's nice.
It’s just a generic fantasy name. Their major influence was Black Crypt on Amiga. (I’ve spoken with the developers)
I'm kinda sad nobody remembers Delver anymore - a roguelite pixel art procesurally generated dungeon crawler with really fun gameplay. I used to love it ever since early alphas.
I remember Delver. It’s awesome for quick play sessions. I honestly think it could see a resurgence with a Switch/Mobile release.
Yeah it's under the radar for sure
Thank you very much! I'm a confirmed dungeon crawler fan from the past. Thirty-plus years ago, I hardly missed a single game of the genre. For the last twenty years I've developed a disease called gaming impotence. I played less and less. The last game I played was Wasteland 3. Still, I occasionally watch RPG videos, but a lot of it passes me by. By chance ( kudos to the TH-cam's algorithm), I came across this video. Man, I just loved it, it made me want to play again, which is extremely rare. You've shown some really interesting titles and now I know which way to look. THANK YOU!
Dude, what an incredible list… I’m starting to love this genre, especially with turn based combat systems. Hoping for a part 2 of this sometime 👏
Glad to hear you enjoyed Dissilusion :^D. Idk how big the demo for Dissilusion ST is but there's definitely a lot to chew on
You might literally be the coolest channel I have found in a while. Your recommendations are so good
Ooh yeah baby
Oh hey, a video I can watch while I'm playing an indie first-person dungeon crawler that *isn't* on this list
If you have a Switch, "Haunted Dungeons: Hyakki Castle" is an almost totally unknown rough gem. It's a blobber with realtime combat - but the real draw is that it's set in Japan's Edo (samurai) period, with a bestiary of Oni and Yokai and other traditional Japanese monsters. Which is a cool change from the usual western fantasy setting. It's not totally polished, but still quite fun.
Lunacid literally went 1.0 like the day after I posted a "where the fuck's the dev" review. Was still a positive review and I was more defending them than criticizing them but the timing was still impeccable.
Great video! One I didn't hear you mention is Infinite Adventures. It's a first-person dungeon crawler where the labyrinth is procedurally generated; it's pretty cool, IMO. Another fascinating one with proc gen dungeons is Heroes of a Broken Land. I'd recommend checking out both of those!
I found it! This was the video that introduced me to Lunacid! I have been loving the game and keep giving it the occasional playthough! Thank you for making this video and helping me find a game that I would have absolutely missed if I didn't see this.
I’d love to see you make a video about classic dungeon crawlers since the 80’s, at least the ones you’ve enjoyed the most over the years
The aesthetic and simple presentation of legends of amberland is what attract me to the game lol
Same!
Good suggestions! The Quest is my fav!
wow, all these look pretty good to me. I have been hankering for this sort of game, but I had never heard of any of these, except Lunacid which was already on my wishlist.
Back when i was in highschool i spent all my break time playing The Quest on my phone. Its a classic, and a really fun game.
I am so glad they mentioned Sam Eng and his game Skate Story. That trailer haunts me with how much I want to play the game.
I've been interested in Amberland for so long now but having been in management in the past, I definitely don't want to manage all those party members! Thanks for the video. Vaporum is awesome.
Yeeeeeeeeeees, thank you so soooo much for covering Disillusion!
Oh buddy.. Just give me a couple of weeks. I’ve got something bigger in the works for Disillusion.
@@dungeonchill Thank you so very, very much!
Remakes of Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back are available for free. Very old Dungeon crawlers that came out in the 80s for the Atari ST and Amiga.
The Quest seems interesting and it was on my List for long ! I have to admit I love this genre, and games like Legend of grimrock seemed to do justice to the genre. I always tend to search for the next successor of my old favorites in the genre, such as eye of the beholder games, lands of lore, Anvil of Dawn (masterpiece) and the super memorable Stonekeep. Its tough to find games as good as those oldies !
Dang, I have been looking for new dungeon crawlers. Last good one I played was Wizardry 8. Great video!
I've played a fair bit of Star Crawlers, but I do have two big critiques;
1) You really don't have enough available slots for what skills you can use in combat. Even two more equipable slots per character would open up a lot of interesting options and synergies.
2) The reputation system is a nice idea and is overall implemented well, but you gain points so slowly it can get incredibly grindy to actually get anything out of it, and almost none of the things you can purchase with it are anywhere close to good enough to justify your time investment.
Dunno, if it is already on your radar, but what jumpstarted my search for more dungeon crawler games was "Slasher's Keep", reminded me a lot of Dark Messiah and Lunacid. Love your videos and channel-theme! I am all here for more. Cheers!
I don’t think of myself as a dungeon crawler fan, but since I absolutely loved 2 games on this list (The Quest and Hand of Doom) maybe I need to check out the rest!
Some interesting suggestions on here. Will definitely be keeping an eye on Hand of Doom, The Quest, and Devil's Spire. Thanks!
As a fan of older style rpgs including dungeon crawlers I would highly recommend investing in the DS, 3ds, PSP, PSvita and Switch lines. A TON of old style rpgs and games have come out for those systems but are generally overlooked. Notable games for examples: Dark Spire on the DS and Etrian Odyssey series that majorly remind me of the old Wizardry styles. Labyrinth of Refrain, Labyrinth of Galleria, Undernaughts, Demon Gaze 1 & 2, and then you can go outside of dungeon crawlers with things like the Link to the Past like Blossom Tales games, Aggelos which is a love letter to the Wonderboy in Monsterland style games. Astalon Tears of the Earth, Timespinners to name a few Metroidvanias. Then tack on all the re-releases, compliations and such coming out for the Switch and you'll not be lacking in games.
Thanks for the list of these incredibly varied unknown titles a couple of which made it to my purchase and/or wish list.
Thanks for featuring Devil Spire!
My pleasure! Such a great game. Nice work!
Thanks a lot for recommending rare and cool looking games, I've never even heard about most if them!
Seconding the Quest for anyone watching-- it's a masterpiece. If you end up finishing the main story and official expac still want more, there are also several dozen semi-official expansions by Catacomber with more still under development. These ones get wonderfully weird and will take you across the world, into real-world history and myth and even into outer space. Entirely different tone compared to the base game, but they're such a unique experience and I love them too in their own way.
Once you put in the Quest I knew you were a real one. Thanks for these great recommendations.
Fight Knight is a great first person, almost RPG-esque, dungeon crawler with a really good fighting system. Came out November of 2021 and I see practically zero talk about it ever but it was a really fun experience. The final boss is also absurd and had me on the edge of my seat with how unexpected it was.
Thanks for putting the the links for the games. Saved me some searching time.
👍
I have Vaporum on Xbox, it does look pretty cool, but its achievement list looks pretty daunting at the same time. The completionist in me sometimes makes it harder to start some games. Something I've been trying to grow out of.
Oh yeah. I’ve given up trying to fully complete games. I used to like doing it, but nowadays it’s just too much
Thanks for the list! Looking forward to playing some of the ones I haven't tried.
Very Helpful! I recently went to Steam and searching for 1st person, rpg brought the usual suspects like Skyrim, but not ONE of these games. So, thank you! (I think Steam just wants to show games that cost more frankly).
I don't usually like any of these types of games, but gotta admit that The Quest is something I'm going to check out. That was impressive.
The quest is by far the most in depth of all, might require a bit of money, but the amount of DLC for this game is insane
mr. dungeon chill i cannot thank you more than this comment ❤ but you make me super happy making me purchasing several games of this list..
the quest is AMAZING
Lunacid is amazing. Great exploration feel, and it's possible to play with different builds that feel pretty diverse, giving it a lot of replay value. I had a lot of fun making a super fast and high jumping character, it's like playing medieval Doom. Despite being in early access it is very polished and has a ton of content.
I'd like to try some of these. I already got Vaporum but I only played a little of it. Most of these I never even heard of and I was specifically looking for some different ones to try. Ones I like that aren't on this list are Undernauts:Labyrinth of Yomi, Operencia:The Stolen Sun and heck the Lost Child was pretty cool too.
very nice picks. keep up the great work, loving your style
Thanks! I dig your videos too!
i’ve been looking for people to play test disillusion st. if you want i can send a copy that’s much farther along than the demo is
That would be awesome. I’d be happy to help play test.
I was actually planning to do a standalone video on Disillusion also, to spread the word about it more.
Thanks for reminding me of all the Steam games I've bought and forgot to play. At least I will have something to do over holiday vacations!
So glad I found this video! It's been kind of tough for me to look up new entries to this genre, since the term "dungeon crawler" is used pretty liberally.
Dang great video brother! Def gonna check a few of these out. I bought lunacid awhile ago after seeing someone play it. Havent gotten around to playing it yet though. Subbed and thanks again. I definitely have a soft spot for retro or retro inspired games, growing up in the 90s
But seriously, man - love your videos. Keep it up, you're awesome. Thank you for your work. If I manage to scrounge up enough cash this month, I'd love to Patreon the crap out of u.
Haha, I appreciate that! The view and the kind words are more than enough.
Amazing work ! Lunacid and Dread delusion are definitively on my to-do list ! May I recommand you Exanima, Fight Knight, and Fear and hunger ?
Stumbled on your channel and this was great!
Not many talk about first person dungeon RPGs.
Thank you i didn't kno many of those games you made my day man !
Can I just say I love this video? I don't really have much experience with First person dungeon crawlers except for a little bit of legend of grimrock so it's cool to see the sheer amount of variety that's in the genre. Got The Quest and Lunacid on wishlist and bought Devil's Spire thanks to you!
Can you just say that? You seem pathetically uncertain.
Thanks for the video and curation, I'm definitely trying some of these
I completed The Quest, its really good. Made a "pally" character with sword/shield, heavy armor, and healing
Interestingly, a game called Ludus Mortis, from the same developer behind Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle, was released recently this month of October 2023.
I grew up with FMV style games and I love the aesthetic of them TBH.
I have always wanted a great first person dungeon crawler but I've always struggled to find the right one. Thanks for this upload. Despite playing games since the 80s I never had a pc back in the day (well I had an amstrad that could play frogger)
Wish Barony was also mentioned, its fantastic
Do you know that the Wizardry 1 Proving Grounds Remake is now available? Wizardry made 1st person games well known as early as 1980 and the remake is fantastic.
Great list. Don't forget about the pseudo-official add-ons for the Quest by Zarista games.
Great video. Added a lot of games to the wishlist and library
Could you make a video focusing on more of the DRPGs similar to The Quest, it seems difficult to find explorable DRPGs with an above world like The Quest or Daggerfall where the entirety of the game isnt solely in a dungeon or cave. Love when the old retro look and feel of grid based open worlds like Wizardry 8 , isle of caliph , etc
The Quest is my favourite mobile game ever. And it has a plethora of DLC, 10+ at least if you consider the OG version too.
Try “Orcs & Elves’ on Nintendo DS. It’s my favorite of this genre.
Also try the old Wolfenstein RPG and Doom RPG games if you can figure out where to find the files and how to play them. I think they were on phones before iPhones came out. Wolfenstein RPG may have been on DS. Might be worth making a video on those. They were fun oddities that nobody talks about.
Great video! I'd love to see a sequel.
For sure. There are a lot I didn’t mention. And more coming out all the time.
Dread Delusion is another one I'd throw out there for people into the whole kingsfield-like vibe Lunacid and Devil Spire inspire.
@@GarrettFromThief Dread Delusion is very obviously inspired by Kingsfield, if you cant see that you must be blind- yes it is more open world like morrowind, but the graphics and gameplay are far more like kings field than morrowind, also the devs plan on adding more dungeon--crawling like areas into the game in future patches.
As for why people say kingsfield-like, its probably just due to it being one of if not the most popular game in the genre, and thus it gets used as a marker for games similar to it.
@@WelcomeToDERPLAND
Idk why my comment was deleted but I will repeat: Not only does Dread Delusion have nothing to do with Kingsfield and more closely resembles Morrowind/Oblivion game design, but the term "Kingsfield-like" is just a hipster term for "dungeon crawler".
>"People say Kingsfield-Like due to it being one of if not the most popular game in the genre"
If thats the case then why do 99% of modern indie dungeon crawlers take inspiration from the Western grid-based dungeon crawler classics? Only 2 out of the 10 games in this video take inspiration from Kingsfield, and only Lunacid is a proper homage to the game while Devil Spire is really just a dungeon-crawler rogue-like with FPS gameplay. On top of that, the first two Kingsfields weren't even released in the US and were Japanese exclusives! The series is still extremely obscure, especially the first game which I'm apparently supposed to believe is the most popular game in all of dungeon crawlers despite literally two modern indie crawlers taking inspiration from it. Meanwhile any fan of dungeon crawlers would cite Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Arx Fatalis, Grim Rock, Lands of Lore, Might & Magic 3, or any Ultima, Wizardry, Bards Tale, Might & Magic and Eye of the Beholder game as the "most popular game in the genre" before they would ever cite the first Kingsfield game.
>"the graphics and gameplay are far more like Kingsfield"
So because the combat is in real-time with a basic swing and charge attack, that makes it a Kingsfield-like? By that logic, Kingsfield is an Ultima Underworld-Like as theres nothing Kingsfield did Underworld didn't already do, and it also did FAR more than Kingsfield. Dread Delusion having Kingsfield gameplay is a total stretch, not to mention the graphics comparison.
Dread Delusion looks and feels far more like Morrowind with the character designs, the world design and the open-world nature of it, while Kingsfield's graphics and aesthetics were far rougher and simpler looking and basically only consisted of one single dungeon. "Oh but the devs are adding dungeons!" Great, but that doesnt make it a Kingsfield-Like, aka a "dungeon crawler." Dungeons have always been a staple of open-world fantasy RPGs, but for it to be a dungeon crawler most of the exploration and gameplay must be exclusively inside dungeons fighting monsters. Thats not the case with Dread Delusion because its a Scrolls-Like.
Again you're literally just a hipster fresh off a Kingsfield video essay pretending Kingsfield was and is this massively popular game just because a single game Lunacid payed homage to it. None of your arguments as to how Dread Delusion is like Kingsfield are even remotely convincing, as Dread Delusion is clearly inspired by the early Elder Scrolls games in Morrowind and Oblivion.
Woh! I didn't know about Amberland. I'm am old Xeen player so that one is calling me. Thank you!!!! Amazing video!
I played Ruzar, I really enjoyed it! I also loved the snow :)
Great video, I bought Lunacid recently and been looking for more Dungeon Crawlers to fall in love with. I want to buy Disillution but Steam doesn't seem to let me buy it for some reason
I'm still waiting for someone to do a game in the same spirit as Might and Magic 6, 7, and 8 (not Heroes of). Those 3 games had such a unique blend of turn-based and real-time action (you could, at any time, enter turn-based mode where time was calculated through stats, or you could turn it off and real time would pass and delay stats would be used to determine when you could perform actions again) but yet it was also not a solo character game, you had 4 people in a group. It was a truly unique series and it was really awesome and it boggles the mind that nobody tried to make a similar game. I see lots of other dungeon crawlers, but they are either all full turn and grid based, or real-time.
Legends of Amberland has a sequel now. Need to see if thats as good as the first.
Barony is a good one too. Free movement, real time combat and it has 4 person multiplayer
Lunacid was amazing game that I played earlier this year. 10/10
Haven't played any of dungeon crawlers in so long, thanks for the recommendations. Plenty of these were unknown to me and wishlisted after I watched this. One I do know of that maybe you haven't seen (mentioning just in case) is Touhou:Artificial Dream in Arcadia.
Thanks for the video. Some of these games slipped past me. That being said, I tried a few modern indie RPGs that are aiming to emulate Might and Magic and so on and found them often quite basic and graphics don't have the flair to the classics. Legends of Amberland for example. But it reminds me that I should continue my newest run of Might and Magic: World of Xeen on my DOS retro PC. Well, the Dark Savant also deserves another beating but for this I want to finish my Bane of the Comic Forge run first to take over the clear data.
Btw, I really like Vaporum as it was finally a game that wasn't too long, overstaying its welcome, but also not too short, making me feel sad when it was over. Even got the Switch Collectors Edition for my collection even though I played and finished it on PC. Still need to play Lockdown though and sadly it didn't get a Collectors Edition.
Also, if you like icy settings, you should try Aleshar: World of Ice from 1997 for MS-DOS (not a Dungeon Crawler). It seems to be officially declared freeware by the authors too and available on the Internet Archive for example.
Islands of the caliph dropped the other day and its been an addictive time
Your channel is an oasis for me
very interesting & amazing
(looking) games. Nice video,
great presentation explanation.
I hope ‧ some will work on Linux.
I've had my eye on Lunacid for what feels like years now. Or are there two indie games that have been in early access for years that are inspired by Shadow Tower and King's Field? Can't quite remember.
Really enjoyed Amberland, gave me a great Might and Magic fix.
Good suggestions! Also try Barony, it’s nice af
Some of this look awesome. I bet the best ones are roguelikes too
I had to buy Disillusioned. It was so cheap too. thanks for this channel
Once played a dungeon craw game called "The Keep" ,not sure if it's indie but i liked it
Pretty obscure dungeon crawler that I like is Paper Sorcerer. It's pretty rough around the edges and has some weird choices but it's a really stylistic and fun little game.
still hoping that someday we will get a true spiritual sequel to the ultima underworld games with their immersive design and intense setting
Which we could see more free-movement games, but nice list, thx for sharing!
I wouldn't necessarily call it indi, but Bards Tale 4 directors cut was one of my favorite first person dungeon crawlers of the last decade.
Absolutely loved The Quest. It's a shame that after the first expansion all subsequent ones were a huge drop in quality.
Thnx bro i miss classic FPS dungeon crawler
I know one great dungeon crawler. Its called Brany Skeldalu. Its czech game, great atmosphere and combats system. You will love it, if you can run it.