I would rate the dweomer ruins from Morrowind as examples of dungeons done well too. I personally don't think in terms of dungeons, but an area well designed and having an evocative atmosphere is always welcome. In the ruins, when you first enter them, you have a depressing atmosphere and tough enemies to contend with. The ashen remains of the Dweomer add to the feeling.
Morrowind's dwarven spectres are undead formed from dwemer who died before the event that caused the Disappearance of the Dwarves.Where they really good? Those were one of the few big dungeons in Morrowind - most other were small caves or tombs - but like the rest of Morrowind dungeons they still weren't complex at all. Strong theme, yes, but even that is somewhat spoiled by Dwemer ghost who have no reason to exist thematically. Because when you ask the big question of where the Dwemers went - here, go into the ruins, they're dead and turned into ghosts, case closed.
Exploration of the mythic underworld; a nearly universal theme in all cultures throughout history. Often it's about mortals entering the world of the dead and being altered by the experience in some fundamental way. This guy has a pretty good take on it: https://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-mythic-underworld-persephone.htmlWhat's the specific appeal of a dungeon?
Morrowind's dwarven spectres are undead formed from dwemer who died before the event that caused the Disappearance of the Dwarves.
This x1,000! Still the best even after all these years!The Stygian Abyss.
Interesting. Is there any specific type of dungeon that really appeals to this or is it more of a dungeon is a dungeon is a dungeon thing?Exploration of the mythic underworld; a nearly universal theme in all cultures throughout history. Often it's about mortals entering the world of the dead and being altered by the experience in some fundamental way. This guy has a pretty good take on it: https://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-mythic-underworld-persephone.htmlWhat's the specific appeal of a dungeon?
Tomb of Horrors or go home.Interesting. Is there any specific type of dungeon that really appeals to this or is it more of a dungeon is a dungeon is a dungeon thing?Exploration of the mythic underworld; a nearly universal theme in all cultures throughout history. Often it's about mortals entering the world of the dead and being altered by the experience in some fundamental way. This guy has a pretty good take on it: https://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-mythic-underworld-persephone.htmlWhat's the specific appeal of a dungeon?
How many times it needs to be said that japanese rpg != jrpg. JRPG is a specific subset of the genre but Japs make other CRPGs as well - their wizardry inspired dungeon crawlers like Elminage series have as much in common with JRPG as an average western CRPG has. In fact even less so because an average western CRPG these days must have an "emotionally engaging" and "immersive" story, something that JRPG have been doing since forever but it's not necessary in a jap dungeon crawler.M&M6, Castle Darkmoor.
Entire Temple of Elemental Evil.
No jrpgs nonsense.
Most jrpg dungeon sare either stupidly simple likenew Persona or endless grindy corridors filled with same traps and random enemy encountersAs long as those *posers* will keep chanting that PST and BG2 are the best CRPG while JRPGs are not *real* rpgs we will have rpgs with shit dungeons and shit gameplay.
I'd say Wizardry 8 is a good example of why mechanically satisfying dungeon design is so important for RPGs. That game is really dragged down by its low ratio of dungeons to overworld (not counting the three secret ones which are clearly easter eggs), and most of the dungeons aren't particularly engaging: no traps, spinners, teleporters, fake walls, hidden switches, creative item usage, or logic puzzles, and the encounter placement isn't too impressive either. That's pretty much my personal baseline for a good dungeon, and it's shocking how few games meet that baseline.
So I'd say op is right that dungeon design has been declining, the problem is, it's been declining since CSB, Wizardry 4, and Dark Heart of Uukrul. Once you've played those, everything else is at best good, but not great.