Here's something to try:
* Get the item you need to beat the game
* Do not go past the dragon's location, and do not do what you need to do in the room behind the dragon
* Instead, walk all the way back to the start of the dugeon
* Watch the resulting cutscene

Also, try using the spell that lets you see through walls at the start of the dungeon, and look through the door that marks the entrance.

By the way, are you aware of its standalone expansion, Chaos Strikes Back? It has a much trickier and more complicated dungeon (but is easier to do mapless because of its higher density and smaller areas), is a lot harder, and is a lot of fun. While the game is challenging, the developers did make it so that many puzzles have multiple solutions, and there's even a contraption that places certain items in random locations!

There's also the sequel, Dungeon Master 2, which introduces outdoor environments (albeit dark and with frequent rain and even lightning that can strike), though the puzzles aren't as intricate here. (Also, I remember the game crashing constantly on period hardware, though it runs just fine under DOSBox.)

Anyway, I'm reminded of another dungeon crawler I like, Wizardry 4. This game, which is designed for experts (so it's quite difficult), turns the formula on its head; you control the evil wizard Werdna and have to summon monsters (which you don't control) to protect yourself from the do-gooders. It is very different from the rest of the series, Interestingly, this game lacks RPG growth mechanics; you level up when you find a pentragram on a new dungeon level, and while you go get gold from encounters, there are very few opportunities to spend it on (never on equipment or consumables; only on clues and on something needed for one of the endings). I should also point out that the game has a high puzzle difficulty, to the point where it can be compared to classic adventure games (to the point where I might describe Wizardry 4 as a puzzle game disguised as an RPG), though at least the game warns you before trapping you somewhere that you can't leave if you didn't bring in a certain item. (Also, there are 8 save slots.) I should also mention that combat sometimes gets a bit nasty; if you haven't been on the receiving end of MAKANITO, you haven't played the game enough to form a full opinion of it.

I know this might sound as heresy to any original fan of Realms of Arcania, but have you played the remakes of Blade of Destiny and Star Trail? TBH it was watching gameplay from those -- even with their dismal scores and general lack of artistry -- that brought me to looking at dungeon crawlers (and "tactics" games) again.

Bloodwych - I loved this one back then. Sadly GoG doesn`t seem to want to sell it. And because I don`t want to go back to Steam. I fear that I will never play this game again.

Dungeon Master is my favorite real time blobber. Its fantastic.
I liked Wizardry 5 a lot. 6 and 7 are cool too, but theres too much stuff you ahve to find and figure out while being interupted by a random battle every few steps.
Might and Magic VI has some great dungeons but I dont consider it a pure dungeon crawler.

My two favorite Dungeon Crawlers of all time are Shadow Tower and Kings Field- the Ancient City, for the PS1 and PS2 respectively.

Icewind Dale is great too, basically a dungeon crawler version of Baldurs Gate.

Oh, and I forgot the excellent SMT series. Particularly

SMT Strange Journey- brilliant and atmospheric sci fi step dungeon
SMT Nocturne

... and Arx Fatalis- Its more a mix of RPG and Dungeon Crawler though

Lands of Lore will forever be one of my dearest gaming memories. To me those years were a golden age. When I read LoL for League of Legends I can't stop yet thinking of the Westwood classic.

I really enjoyed Barony

There does seem to be a serious lack of space dungeon games, i have 2 casual ones in the pocket both copying other style games but both with an interesting enough ploy namely Deep Sky Derelicts and Robothorium to be fun though not really catchy in the sense of a game such as Grim Dawn which in a way manages to beat a lot of games such as Diablo or Titan questies with its thought out UI and pure killing fun

There's also Starcrawlers, which I *still* haven't gotten around to actually trying, even though I bought it when it was still In Dev.

Well...... it seems there is enough challenge ahead then.... I felt obliged to play the game i have installed immediatly but for some reason Deep Sky feels it should not run today... ah well at least this gives some time to name another little fun game i had surprising fun with namely Warhammer Quest

Hello!

Wow, it's a long time since I heard or thought about Shadow Tower!
I played it on the miniature PSOne console which came with an attached tiny monitor. The atmosphere and level of details for playstation one first person 3D graphics were really great. But it was soo slow, and I do not mean only the graphics, same goes for the (player's) progression in the game. Both Kings Field games had significantly less (to almost none) details but managed to run way more smooth, involved less loading screens and gave a better sense of progression in the game world -- at least the exploration felt more progressive!

Thanks for reminding me of those experiences! Thats why I like to follow these type of threads.

Kind regards,
foxgog

Have you played Warhammer Quest II? Keep getting tempted by that game.

Hello kai2!

No, so far I have not played either of the two Realms of Arcania remakes (by chromatix or something similar), because the developer/publisher had chosen to use the Steam service, and from reports during as well as after (initial) release my old rig did not met the hardware requirements. Maybe, I would give them a new chance, if they would appear here...
I was following the development and initial release of the Blade of Destiny Remake with a keen interest, though.

I am not sure about a "general lack of artistry". Maybe, I would call it a "lack of consistency" instead.
The new representation of the individual layers of the game did not seem to match or blend well together anymore.
I just think that for me multiple design decisions including in the art design of the Remake did not felt the same as in the original trilogy, and in my opinion strayed far away from the Dark Eye ("Das Schwarze Auge" in German) pen and paper roleplaying universe, I was used to. (I do not know, if the player's character models have been replaced or changed with later patches until the gold version. For me, they made me turning away from the games combat.)

Although my main problem (besides the distribution model with DRM) was related to the transition to a more capable 3D engine! What I mean is, the the engine or resulting 3D graphics are not ground breaking nor visually stunning, but much more sophisticated than the one in the second and third part of the original trilogy. And thus, my increased expectations were not met. Although some features were patched in afterwards, the damage of the initial impression were done.

Things, which were acceptable in the past due to hardware limitations -- like empty streets and a general lack of (background or character/npc) animations, smooth transitions from one area to the other or from distance visible event trigger items like chests -- seem not to be so easily tolerable nowadays! ...And this comes from someone who actually prefers the pseudo 3D graphics from the first part of the original trilogy over the real 3D engine from the second or thrid one, because it stimulated more my imagination. The book to film adaptation analogy comes to mind.

There are some tangible improvements in the remake, though:
Especially, the ease for modding the game since a lot of its rules implementation used accessible database formats or some easier exchangeable assets!
If I remember it correctly, they also applied the combat mechanics of the later two games from the original trilogy. The first did not allowed line of sight attacks from distance, but only in the four cardinal directions, for example.
Also no more Orc pelt color mismatch and no more confirmation bleep sound for every mouse click here and there in the game! =)
In fact, I still do like some of the new/remixed music from the Blade of Destiny Remake.

Regarding the remake of the second part (Star Trail) I do not know anything at all. It is not my favorite part either.

Sorry, for the long reply, but you had asked my opinion on these remakes.

Kind regards,
foxgog

Yeah it's like the Lucasarts adventure games, the art, music and design really hold up despite the old graphics. Worth playing today if you like blobbers.

heh, if this corona thing lasts for another couple of months i'm sure in a couple of weeks i can tell ya everything to know 'bout Warhammer Quest II, maybe you can dl if for your phone and try it out free? I belief the first one is free. After spending countless hours on battlevoid harbinger or royal heroes you won't ever hear me talking 'bout lame free phone games anymore!