This was my first ever experience of a dungeon crawler and I was completely hooked and somehow managed to finish it.
I’ve always wondered what the closest modern successor to it might be. I just loved the first person feeling of solitude down there and the layers of dungeon getting more and more dangerous as you explored them. I also loved that there were factions that could be friendly in there and that you could trade with. Does anyone know what the nearest equivalent to this masterpiece might be?
Thanks for the suggestions! :) While I was looking I also stumbled across Monomyth. That seems like it could scratch my Stygian Abyss itch as well.
IDK how “modern” you’re looking… Arx Fatalis was meant to be Ultima Underworld III but couldn’t due to the IP being owned by EA. The people at Arkane were in contact with the devs of Ultima Underworld though, as I understand it.
I’ve somehow heard about this game before but failed to realize what this actually was. Oh no … I can feel a new obsession coming on …
I’ve watched a couple of reviews for this recently because a couple people I know just got it on recent sales. What I’ve seen is that it really does try to lean into the feeling of UU games… ie it’s not just a dungeon crawler, but has a fleshed out story and dynamic interactions.
Looks like the recent price discount just ended with the end of the Steam summer sale… but it also looks like it drops that low fairly frequently. Though it’s not like it’s super expensive to begin with heh.
@Durandal @audaxdreik don’t forget it has a modern reimplementation of the engine -> https://arx-libertatis.org/
Legend of Grimrock seems pretty close, i haven’t played it in years though so I might be misremembering.
It’s got a top-down CRPG view (similar to the Fallout 1/2), but Avernum: Escape from the Pit might fit thematically.
You end up in an underground fantasy world where “undesirables” are sent to by a corrupt empire.
Another option would be Underrail. Another top down CRPG, this time based in a post-apocalytic world where everyone lives underground. The world building is top notch and the combat is very well developed with lots of choices (it’s a also IMO a hard game). While the world building is strong, the writing (characters and their motivations) is rather weak.
Have you played might and magic dark Messiah?