One dungeon immediately came to mind upon reading the article, and it matches both the criteria put forth by felipepepe and the ones given below:
Distilling it down, I feel like those are the Seven Pillars of Dungeoneering
- A reason for the place to be there and for you to explore it (Lore)
- Something that makes this place special and differs from the usual gameplay (Gimmick)
- A proper challenge (Combat)
- A long lasting reward that is unique enough to remind you of the place (Loot)
- An adequate size that makes the place not too drawn out but also not dissapointingly short (Pacing)
- Some way to alternate the path you take when you tackle the place on different playthroughs (Choice)
- Something that makes you feel your progress through the dungeon. Thinking of does not open from this site Dark Souls doors here. (Map Design)
And the dungeon in question? The Tomb of Praecor Loth from Ultima Underworld 2.
The Lore is that the great warlord Praecor Loth was eventually felled, and his companions literally carved his tomb out of a mountain. Then they interred his family, servants, and finally themselves to guard over Loth's final resting place for all eternity. Until the Avatar shows up asking if he can borrow the man's horn for a spell.
The Gimmick is that everyone's dead, yet the Avatar can converse with a few ghots and high-level undead. The biggest gimmick is that the tomb
ascends, which is very rare for tombs to do.
The Combat is passable for most of the tomb, but then one reaches the top floor and realizes it's three brutal fights against Loth's companions, an assassin-lich that deals in high-end poison, a wizard-lich with a huge assortment of spells, and finally a warrior-lich with maxed-out stats, putting it on par with the dreaded Destroyer-demon.
The Loot is a plot-vital item needed to complete the game: Praecor Loth's Horn. There's also the part where each 'world' has a blackrock item that needs to be found, and a 'focal point' which must be dispelled. The blackrock item is almost at the Avatar's feet when he arrives, but both the Horn and the focal point are in the same place: Loth's tomb. So the player must go through the entire tomb to get the prize and complete the game.
The Pacing is quite good. The first floor is an entryhall of sorts, comprised of basic challenges to not only grant access to the tomb itself, but to piece together a quintessential map for the third floor. The second floor is where all the 'lesser' tombs and graves are located, but there is still combat and exploring to do. The third floor is the main course, a jam-packed smorgasbord of traps, puzzles, monsters, secret doors and mysteries. By contrast the fourth floor is straightforward: Four chambers in a straight line leading to Loth's tomb, with short side-halls to help unlock each chamber in turn.
Choice is where the Tomb of Praecor Loth mostly fails, but only at the start. You can choose to go straight up, but then you miss out on the map pieces for the third floor. The third floor has a few secret doors and shortcuts, so many traps and travisties can be averted. The fourth floor is where things get interesting, though. In-game sources suggest that two of the three fights can be avoided, but in truth all three can be avoided by using an assortment of powerful spells, most notably the Portal and Fly spells.
Finally the Map Design. The first, second and fourth floors are fairly simple, but again it's the third floor is what it's all about. It uses about 75% of the available map space but it feels much larger due to how almost every turn and corridor has some kind of encounter, be it hostile, puzzling or mysterious. It's not a big dungeon (I'd say it's medium-sized) but also keep in mind that it's the seventh of eight worlds, and by that point most players just want to Get On With It, so it fits quite nicely.
What is missing from the above seven criteria is the Atmosphere. For a 1993-dungeon the tomb is imposing, and the build-up of suspense leading to the third floor is done very well, to the point that the fourth floor feels kinda flat by comparison.