Final Dungeons that made an impression on you

[LauriJ]

Note: Doesn't necessary have to be dungeons or even from an RPG game.

I remember playing the first Kingdom Hearts game back in the PS2 days and the final world in that game, End of The World certainly is a stark contract to the rest of the game. It's full of areas that are beautiful and yet rather unnerving and there's literally nothing in-game that would tell you more about the mysterious locations you visit.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Sora no Kiseki SC.
When I entered that location I was like *jaw drop*, it's literally useless to describe how beautiful it is. You just need to experience it for yourself.

 

[machomuu]

Tartarus from Persona 3?

I wasn't exactly a fan, but it certainly left an impression on my that basically stretched from beginning to end.

Of course, by the end, the game was less Turn-Based RPG and more Hack-and-Slash. (Ah, stat increasing items and experience dungeons. Good times.)

 

[Shhwonk]

I love final dungeons that feel like the whole world/universe is depending on me getting through it.

The last areas of Final Fantasy V, EarthBound, Dark Souls, Terranigma, and Tales of Symphonia are pretty trippy and rad.

 

[pkmin3033]

One that really impacted on me was Ultimecia's Castle in FFVIII, actually. Mostly for its music, admittedly...you get a nice, lighthearted little accompaniment when you first see it, move towards it, and suddenly this ridiculously ominous organ kicks in. It then goes all over the place, which gives this certain level of suspense; every time the organ comes back it feels like something ridiculously powerful is going to jump out at you...which is definitely possible, considering the numerous bosses you can find in it. It's like Final Fantasy meeting Castlevania or something. It was one of the first RPG final dungeons I got to as well, and it stuck with me.

Mars Lighthouse in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, too. Whilst Venus Lighthouse was the more memorable dungeon - that music! - Mars really drove it home that the journey was coming to an end; it had taken years of waiting and a lot of patience, but finally being at the last of the four lighthouses was an incredible feeling.

Also, the Shadowlord's Castle in NieR. One of the more haunting background pieces, plus the shit that goes down in there...well. Sometimes the level design doesn't need to be all that memorable for the place itself to be memorable, and that place shocked and appalled me in equal measure.

The most recent final dungeon to leave its mark on me was Lorule Castle in A Link Between Worlds, though. It's a lot more puzzle-oriented than most final dungeons in Zelda titles, which are typically a lot shorter and easier when compared to previous dungeons (excluding, perhaps, Dark Hyrule Castle in Minish Cap, which was ridiculously long) and the best part? The music evolves with each section you complete. It starts off quiet and simple and eventually turns into a full-blown orchestra and choir the closer you get to the final boss!

...yes, I know; my choices are motivated mostly by the background music. But a final dungeon doesn't feel like a final dungeon if it doesn't have a suitably epic/haunting/climactic background to it! Without that, it's just another location you need to battle through before fighting a boss. Resonance of Fate's Basilica, as another example, is just a series of rooms with enemies in it. But this and then this play in the background the whole time you're there. It goes from creepy to intense at the drop of a hat and it's fantastic.

 

[Centipede Chan]

The last chamber and fight of Portal 2 was great. I don't know why Cara Mia by a bunch of Turrets gave me feels like it did.

 

[Ullion]

Mars Lighthouse in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, too. Whilst Venus Lighthouse was the more memorable dungeon - that music! - Mars really drove it home that the journey was coming to an end; it had taken years of waiting and a lot of patience, but finally being at the last of the four lighthouses was an incredible feeling.

Funny, I was thinking the overworld theme from Golden Sun: The Lost Age right after you beat the Jupiter Lighthouse and need to make your way to the Mars Lighthouse. That song has stuck with me for so long! Even though I felt Golden Sun DS was a let down, the music and overall dark theme in the ending was also very well done. :D

In a Diablo 2 mod I've put lots of hours in (called Eastern Sun), they turned the Nihlathak questline into a post-Baal "dungeon" that required you to go through many many maps of very high difficulty mobs and bosses to reach the end. In Hell difficulty, I don't think I've ever managed to solo run that entire area - and even with multiple people we had lots of trouble doing it!

 

[Mark Kamill]

-Hyrule Castle in Twilight Princess. One of the rare cases where the final dungeon is not a hyper remix of all the dungeon themes, and very non video gamey.

Spoiler:

Hyrule Castle is literally a castle, having been abandonded, torn to shreds, and overall unsettling. You are the lone hero reclaiming the kingdom, a man on a mission, and the atmosphere is out of this world. The LttP Hyrule Castle theme is slowed down, taken down from high fantasy epic to a thriller inspired drone, and alowly builds up to a climax spliced in with Ganon's theme from LttP as well. Its not a dungeon at all if you think about it, its an exploration of the castle to defeat the evil ruling the land.

-999. The last room has one puzzle, and one puzzle only.

Spoiler:

solving it has you hold the DS upside down and realize that the narrarator is actually Zero, who is actually Akane in the past, trying to fix the timelines so she can survive, so she can set up the Nonary game, so Jumpei can save her in the past, so the loop can close. A+ plot twist.

-Sky Fortress Bahamut, Final Fantasy XII. No spoiler here, experience it yourselves if you haven't. One of the most batshit insane skyforts in Final Fantasy history for me personally, and just an insane climax to an already insane escalation of the game. Phobos Lighthouse should also get a mention for being the last dungeon before the Point of No Return.
-Apollo Justice has the best Final Case for me, after Case 2-4. Yes, 3-5 is the trilogy climax, and yes it has its merits, but the gameplay and how the trial plays out just trumps everything else. I really liked the Mason System.

 

[pkmin3033]

Funny, I was thinking the overworld theme from Golden Sun: The Lost Age right after you beat the Jupiter Lighthouse and need to make your way to the Mars Lighthouse. That song has stuck with me for so long! Even though I felt Golden Sun DS was a let down, the music and overall dark theme in the ending was also very well done. :D

You're talking about this theme, right? One instance when getting to the final dungeon is more dramatic than the dungeon itself! xD

On that note, I found the dreamy, purple labyrinth of Derris Kharlan much more interesting than the generic castle that served as the final dungeon too, even though both were technically the final dungeon.

Also, Demon Gaze took it up to eleven for its final dungeon theme. Bloody horrible place, that was. Great music, though.

 

[Ullion]

this one :)

 

[pkmin3033]

Ohhh, that's the second overworld map theme! The one I posted plays literally just before you reach Prox, if I remember correctly...which I might not, as it's been YEARS since I played Golden Sun. Something I should rectify somewhen.

 

[LauriJ]

Meloetta^ Yes, Ultimecia's Castle really is impressive. Before, you had modern day-ish locations and then suddenly the game goes all medieval on you. And again, the game would tell you nothing about the castle itself besides the fact that it's owned by Ultimecia.

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

When it comes to final dungeons that left me impressed, one of the was the Lunar Subterrane in Final Fantasy IV. I liked how long it was, plus I liked how floors B1 - B7 used one music track, while floors B8 - B11 used another music track. Course it made sense to do so since floors B1 - B7 were made of rock and floors B8 -B12 were made of glass or crystal.

Course another final dungeon that left me quite impressed was Tarqaron in Tales of Vesperia. The fact that it is a floating city/weapon was impressive.