Dungeon Trawler

  Cirnozardry - Review Cirnozardry  is a freeware DRPG made by doujin developer Morisoba. Released in 2014 and translated by an anonymous 4chan poster in 2022 (really!), it seems to be all but completely unknown in the West. I think that’s a real shame: it’s a solid game with some of the best and most consistent dungeon design I’ve ever seen, easily beating out the vast majority of commercial DRPGs. I always find it hard to put dungeon design into words, but if you’re familiar with the genre, you’ll have experienced games that get it and games that don’t.  Cirnozardry  gets it. Each floor is cohesive yet internally varied, never giving way to cacophony or formula; each floor is big enough to explore and get lost in, but not so large that it becomes a slog or runs out of ideas (hello,  Mary Skelter ). Unlike many DRPGs, including most Wizardry clones, floors are also quite dense: events and treasure chests (usually with good items; eat your heart out, Experience Inc.!) are everywhere. I

  I just beat Wizardry Gaiden I's second dungeon for the first time and thought I'd take the opportunity to rave about the game. — Wizardry Gaiden I: Suffering of the Queen (ウィザードリィ外伝I ～女王の受難～), released for Game Boy in 1991 and  fan-translated in 2014 , is an absolutely masterful DRPG. Maybe that isn't a surprise—looking at Mobygames, much of the team, including the director,  had previously worked on NES ports of the original trilogy . Gaiden I's biggest strength is its dungeon design, which compares favorably to every other DRPG I've played, including the first few floors of the original Wizardry. Each floor is not just a different layout but a different  kind  of layout: 1F's apartment complex gives way to 2F's outline of a yet-unenterable fortress, which yields in turn to 3F's long L-shaped monster condo. 4F is a tricky teleporter maze, 5F is a rambling cavern full of dark patches, and 6F is another teleporter maze (OK,). Then a dimensional rift tak