Board 8 > What RPG has the BEST final dungeon?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like, I tried to think about it, but I can't think of any absolutely fantastic ones. At best just ones that weren't as bad as they could have been. Usually by the end of the game I just want to get things over with.
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Yeah, RPG dungeons aren't exactly something that I enjoy. There's bad dungeons and tolerable dungeons.
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Ultimecia's Castle

the puzzle to unlocking your full potential bit by bit was really fun, then top it all off with the Omega Weapon fight and The Extreme for A++ fun time
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I also love how reminiscent it is of survival horror locales.

End of the World and The World that Never Was from KH series are also pretty baller
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Anyone else having hard time remembering? god this is a hard question
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I guess I'm in a minority where the end of a game is where I get the most hype.

Memoria from ffix is also really cool. I like final dungeons of most Mario RPGs.
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Majora's Mask
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I might be in the minority here since I don't think it was generally well regarded but my favorite was always Kefka's Tower from FFVI. Unlike the Phoenix Cave which is one of my least favorite the party split mechanic is actually used well there and makes it feel like a bigger deal, and rewards you for building up a lot of characters. Not to mention the last 5 bosses and how they're killed across the 3 paths in parallel, it's all great.
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I think the problem is, that even in good RPG's, the last dungeon can be just so long, that often times, they are just not memorable, even if the final boss is a good fight overall.
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Does it count if I say Tartarus?

Actual answer I'm going to give is probably Paper Mario TTYD, though it's possible I'm forgetting something. There's nothing really leaping to mind as being great.
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Chrono Cross?

A long, but unique and varied dungeon, awesome music, lots of boss fights, cool callback to the library bridge thing, I like the part where you reach the top part with the wings and have to walk along them, etc

That's kinda the best I can come up with from my list of beaten RPGs

That's a good question and one I cannot answer. I'm not a fan of underground caves, temples, castles, and giant cathedrals, though.
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KCF0107 posted...

Yeah, RPG dungeons aren't exactly something that I enjoy. There's bad dungeons and tolerable dungeons.

I wouldn't go that far. There are plenty of RPG dungeons that are great for a number of reasons; inspired design, fun gimmicks, great atmosphere, etc. It's just that final dungeons always seem to drop the ball. I think most RPG designers don't want to experiment with the last dungeon, so it ends up being generic and uninteresting most of the time. And because it's the end, it tends to more serious to try and be more dramatic but usually just ends up boring instead.

Anagram posted...

That's a good question

I was just going to post it as a dumb inversion of the other topic but realized I couldn't think of an outstanding example myself.
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Ultimecia's Castle is great. Inside Sin in FFX is great, too.

if this isn't just JRPGs then ME2's final "dungeon" is pretty outstanding
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Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra
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Vagrant Story is pretty good. Black Omen was solid too.
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Mario RPG

DWM/DQM tends to be pretty okay too

I liked Persona 4 aesthetically
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FFVIII jumps to mind but I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Am I crazy or do I remember ToS being up there?
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra

... I've played through this game three times but i still can't remember which dungeon was the final one
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metaIslug posted...

Ii'm kinda stretching the concept of final dungeon here a bit though

And the concept of RPG
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while I don't ACTUALLY think its one of the best by any margins

FFMQ's doom castle's theme kicked in my head when I read the topic title

as for the actual topic, I'll have to think about that

What would you consider the last dungeon in Chrono Trigger?
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So they say.

As for CT's last dungeon it's probably Castle Zeal I guess? Pretty solid one if you consider it that.
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I like Legend of Mana's final dungeon since it's pretty, mostly straightforward but at least it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

I guess if the 3 main quests count I also love Lucemia for the atmosphere, hate the other two quest's final dungeons however, castle is too confusing and the Jumi city is too short and samey.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

FFVIII jumps to mind but I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Am I crazy or do I remember ToS being up there?

I remember liking Tales of Symphonia also. It's what I was going to say for this topic before I remembered TTYD after that
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Lopen posted...

So they say.

As for CT's last dungeon it's probably Castle Zeal I guess? Pretty solid one if you consider it that.

CT's last dungeon is the Black Omen for sure.
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Symphonia's last dungeon is pretty good, yeah, which is impressive considering it has some of the worst dungeon design in an RPG in general.
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I really enjoyed the Mana Fortress in Secret of Mana.
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Lopen posted...

I might be in the minority here since I don't think it was generally well regarded but my favorite was always Kefka's Tower from FFVI. Unlike the Phoenix Cave which is one of my least favorite the party split mechanic is actually used well there and makes it feel like a bigger deal, and rewards you for building up a lot of characters. Not to mention the last 5 bosses and how they're killed across the 3 paths in parallel, it's all great.

I don't know if it's my favourite but I do like Kefka's Tower, it can be a bit frustrating at times how much backtracking you have to do if you don't have a ton of characters leveled up (well, more along the lines of having a decent set of spells for them) but it's mostly pretty fun.
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Black Omen.

Yes I know its optional, but still.
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Kefka's Tower is pretty good. I just put one really strong character and Mog in the last party with my two weakest characters, and I don't have any problems navigating it.
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kefka's tower is probably my answer here
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As a recent example, Xenoblade 2 is pretty cool. It's a really interesting transition, especially if you think of it from the characters' perspective.
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I don't mind any party splitting in RPGs.

Sucks for the people that don't rotate the whole cast I guess!
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Party splitting is the best. Makes the larger cast feel like they matter holistically.
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I'm trying to think.

Nothing stands out.

I feel like every time I'm nearing the end of an RPG, it's this same scenario where I stayed up til 2am and realized "I'm so close!" and just vowed to finish it that night, but the end of RPGs tend to stretch out longer than I anticipate, so then I'm still awake at like 5am wrapping things up and thinking "why the fuck did I play this all night I'm so tired fuck me fuck my life" so none of the endings seem all that great.

Maybe that's just me

Final Fantasy VIII
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Probably The World That Never Was for me. Really enjoyed all of that.
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Tales of the Abyss is the first one that comes to mind for me. No idea if that's a hot take or not.
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Calintares posted...

CT's last dungeon is the Black Omen for sure.

That's what I meant I just forgot the name.
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The only things that come to mind are Venus Lighthouse and Mars Lighthouse and they are not even that good, other dungeons in that games are better
And if it's coming from the games that has the best dungeons in RPG....I really don't know how to answer this topic
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Final Fantasy VIII easily