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[freeformschooler]

Okay. I think this is the first time I've made a topic specifically looking for a certain sort of game. Or, rather, recommendations for a very specific kind of video games. To sum up what I'm looking for, see this elegant and finely crafted link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarathonLevel.

I love games with replay value. I also like games that have enjoyable core concepts. Unfortunately, not all enjoyable games have a lot of replay value, and that's where this comes in: a dungeon, or cave, or maybe a temple, or WHAT HAVE YOU in-game that is a massive timesink in the sense that it has a truly gargantuan amount of floors/levels compared to other areas in the game.

The only other real requirement I have is that the game is not an MMO of any sort. I know WoW and such have several variations of No Social Life: The Dungeon, but I don't enjoy doing that while inside an MMO.

To better refine my preferences (though not at all requirements):

Better: Each floor is at least somewhat different/varied. (The marathon levels that tend to crop up as bonus content in certain Final Fantasy games, for example)
Worse: All floors have similar layout, enemy type, etc. (Disgaea's item world comes to mind, even though the world depends on the item)

Better: The dungeon/level/whatever is 100+ floors long. (I love the idea of an insurmountable dungeon)
Worse: The dungeon/level/whatever is less than 50 floors long. (A lot of "bonus dungeons" in RPGs)

Better: If the floors are procedurally generated, they're at least interesting (think Unangband's dungeon generation, only with the "interesting" amp'd up several levels, as implausible as that is)
Worse: If the floors are procedurally generated, they're more of the same, just with increasing difficulty (think a lot of early roguelikes)

Better: The game is not a roguelike. (I already know most roguelikes feature this, but with undesirable results due to the example in "worse" just above)

I think that's about it, really. I wonder if anyone will actually read this. Oh, and I've skimmed through the tvtropes article -- I've played most of the ones that sound interesting enough (usually with disappointing results)

[Soulwynd]

Disgaea is a marathon game. >.>

[Detrevni|inverteD]

I remember Dark Cloud on the PS2 having some pretty long dungeons, though it's been a reaaally long time since I've played it so I can't promise anything.

[freeformschooler]

I remember Dark Cloud on the PS2 having some pretty long dungeons, though it's been a reaaally long time since I've played it so I can't promise anything.

I've heard a lot of good things about this game.

Disgaea is a marathon game. >.>

That's why I love it.
But the levels weren't actually all that great.
Phantom brave did a similar thing (since it even uses the same engine, by the same company) but with more varied and pronounced random level themes.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

IDEA: Sometime around 1.0, DF gets infinite random dungeons.
...nah.

[Akura]

Dark Cloud definitely had a marathon dungeon. I never played through it, but I think it had somewhere around 100 levels(every other dungeon was around 10-15 levels).

Devil May Cry 2 and 3 both had a marathon level, with 9999 levels in it(you can skip 10 or 100 at a time though, but it makes it harder faster). Maybe DMC4 has it, but I haven't played yet.

[Virtz]

Populus 2, a strategy game of sorts. The game features 1000 levels, but you're able to progress through several at once based on your performance in a level.

[Soulwynd]

I used to play a Nascar game in the old days. One that tried to be realistic, as much as games in that era could be. You could play a full race, which in Nascar terms is a marathon.

[freeformschooler]

9999 levels

what
i must try this

I used to play a Nascar game in the old days. One that tried to be realistic, as much as games in that era could be. You could play a full race, which in Nascar terms is a marathon.

Heh, I remember a similar game for the Sega Genesis (yes, with mode 7 graphics or whatever). It definitely had a full marathon length race.

[GaelicVigil]

I think any dungeon or city in Daggerfall would qualify, or even the whole world for that matter.

[Sowelu]

I was going to happily point out Disgaia!...but then I got shut down. 

That's okay, my ex didn't like me playing the item world either.

_{(...she was all about the story mode though)}

[Soulwynd]

Heh, I remember a similar game for the Sega Genesis (yes, with mode 7 graphics or whatever). It definitely had a full marathon length race.

Was it a game with a car with a jet engine? If so, I used to play that game a lot when I was a kid. Some races were so long they even added the day-night effect.


Wurm is also a marathon game. I remember walking 2 hours irl or so to get to copperblazes in the old server. That and you have to grind waaaay too much. Just getting to level 50 in any skill means you will waste like a million clicks of your mouse through lil java menus.

Monday Night Combat has two infinite modes, but it doesn't really become a marathon, since you will most likely lose before that.

Anarchy online has a random dungeon generator and can make really huge dungeons that have multiple levels. So you can have infinite dungeons to play in. I had some that would take 20-30 minutes to complete fully.

Magicka's challenge mode could be considered a marathon, but I'm not sure how much time people put in them.

I think any dungeon or city in Daggerfall would qualify, or even the whole world for that matter.

Dungeons in Daggerfall are pretty quick to complete once you understand how the blocks are formed. (And you have stealth + Running past 50)

[Blaze]

DoomRL's Angel of 100 mode may count. It's a roguelike though.
La Mulana - HELL TEMPLE

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You need to repeat the entire thing 3 times! If you quit or die (It's a bit more difficult to die from platform mistakes here, compared to the rest of the game but...) you start the entire thing over again!

[Tnx]

Recettear may fit the bill here, although it gets really repetitive and there's no point for all that money you accumulate.

[freeformschooler]

La Mulana - HELL TEMPLE

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You need to repeat the entire thing 3 times! If you quit or die (It's a bit more difficult to die from platform mistakes here, compared to the rest of the game but...) you start the entire thing over again!

La Mulana is the best. I never got to hell temple so I'll attempt to do that some time.

[olemars]

A good number of SNES JRPGs have these. Offhand I can remember the Lufia games and maybe Breath of Fire.