What was the best forest-themed "dungeon" in any video game?

[Nathaniel3W]

I'm trying to get some inspiration. I'm looking for the best forest-themed "dungeon" levels in any video game.

By dungeon, I don't mean a literal dungeon. I mean a level or a zone where your movement and view are limited to a certain path or a maze and there are enemies trying to kill you. And instead of cave walls or bricks, your path is limited by trees or some other kind of natural barrier.

Have there been any really great forest-themed dungeons that you can think of? In 2D or 3D? Scour your brain for levels from Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Dark Souls, anything at all in the last 35 years or so. What made that level work?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The Forest Kingdom from NieR: Automata

For the atmosphere

 

[Red Hexapus]

 

[Jasede]

I like the woods in Lands of Lore because of all the secrets and knotholes. And they look great.

I love the forests in both Etrian Odyssey 1 & 2, mainly because of the music and what a good introduction they are to the gameplay: very hard for normies, but a good introduction to the game for genre and series veterans. The colors are nice too. Mostly, though, because of the music. Here:

 

[Grimlorn]

Does the whole game have to have a forest theme?

If not Grimoire came to mind.

 

[Ash]

Jungle, Tomb Raider 3: One of the lesser classic Tomb raider games, but the jungle is still nonethless solid classic design. Genuinely beautiful, atmospheric and ambitious to nail such an environment in 3D in 1999. Death traps everywhere. Great music tracks. Tricky puzzles. Brutal level design. Beware the tigers, and check every body of water because the piranhas don't fuck around.

Jungle. Spelunky 1 & 2: not particularly atmospheric, spooky, profound, beautiful, but just really solidly designed action-platformer gameplay, and the jungle is probably my favorite stage in both games.

Dark Woods of the Serpent, Shadow Warrior (1997):
Again classic stuff. Not all of the level is forested, but it's a solid level. Atmospheric and spooky in the forest, semi-complex and maze-like, fun secrets, even a brief (as it should be) tank segment, a cool puzzle or two, magic carpet rides, and all-around badassery. It's levels like these that makes the build engine FPS trio top ten of genre material.

Turok 1/2 (various): Many levels set in the forest or jungle. Just more classic FPS gaming goodness, but also most notably some of the most complex level design in FPS in terms of size and paths. You will get lost and learn to love it. If I had to pick one level, the Death Marshes from T2 (forested swamp), even though it's one of the more linear levels of the two games.

Greenpath, Hollow Knight: The level that makes you realize the game is above average. And later connects to a solid late game forested level, queen's garden.

Trying to think of RPGs with significant forest levels. I'm coming up kinda short. Definitely some good ones, like those in the Souls games, but nothing too notable or memorable. I can't justify recommending just "good" forested levels, has to be special in some way. There must be some. I'll leave it to the other posters as above I suppose. I've not played either of those games and can't judge.

And now for the winner:

Darkwood. The entire game is set in a forest. Sounds boring? WRONG. The game is a modern masterpiece, a genuine evolutionary branch of survival horror, immersive, scary, oppressive, intriguing, and of course fun. Quite the ride.

 

[Morroweird]

I always hated this notion of making a dungeon with impassable 'forest walls' and calling it a forest level. Immersion killer for me. Crystal Lake in Blood ep. 4 stuck in my memory as especially bad and artificial.

 

[Ash]

I never had an issue with that. it's called "suspension of disbelief". And also pacing and design focus. if there are no walls, then you get an open world game, and not every game should be open world. If you do make it open world, then there are only two options remaining: 1. mountains...why can't we climb mountains now? Humans have been doing that since the beginning. 2. Ocean. Go for a swim and eventually you'll be met with an invisible wall. Sure both these options are still more believable or less in your face, but who cares. All else fails make up some bullshit about mass overgrowth because EVIL MAGIC and use that as your perimeter.

 

[laclongquan]

Fallout 3, Point Lookout region, the swampy areas

The areas are sectioned with series of small creeks, some small enough to wade/run through without problem, some large enough that can make you change to swimming motion.

The lands are dotted with swamp trees (too long scientific name) with big root space and big canopy. PLUS some wild hedgerow (cant go through, must jump over or go around). Grass also grow to near waist height, so it hide terrains from players' view, and small hostile or crouching can hide without careful glance or VAT view. At certain type of terrains there's swamp muck with swamp gas bubble floating up and burst.

The default hostiles in these regions are simple enough and not making full use of these terrains. But a modder can add low-height enemies for extra tactical challenge (like nightstalkers, gecko, small yao guai).

Humanoid enemies using guns can also enjoy much tactical benefit due to numerous wood trunks that, while providing some cover for players, can also hide enemies from their visual sight.

Note: due to its terrain designs, PLO is a heaviest demanding area in the whole gamebryo fallout. It proves that a good design demand big graphical resource.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

It's interesting to consider this one, and then compare it to the forest levels of EotB 3.

The forest level in EotB 2 (also the starting level) is small and grid-based, and yet packs in some interesting things. There's a graveyard squeezed into a corner, and a secret passage can be found by exploring the 'walls' closer. But it also accomplishes something else despite its small size - it's confusing to navigate. Short passages, plenty of turns and no real landmarks around. It's actually not one of the best places in EotB 2, but the fact that it comes in at the start, and is dealt with so quickly due to its size, means that it doesn't leave a bitter flavor in anyone's mouth.

Meanwhile EotB 3 has two forest levels, each with a different theme. The first one (which also serves as the starting level) comprises of a large, open space to the west, and then a bunch of tree 'obstacles' to the east, which need to be chopped down to be removed. Exploring large open spaces in a grid-based game without an automap is tedious because the chance of missing out on something is actually quite high... but at least it's easy to find your way again if you get lost. The choppable trees are only a speedbump - forcing the player to do tedious busy-work for little to no reward - though it is required to find the exit gate and progress further. The end result is that the first forest level's novelties wear off really quickly, and instead end up annoying and delaying the player.

The second forest level is no better. It's a long, winding tunnel filled with briar patches which split off into different directions. Due to how they function, diligent mappers will run into a bad time here. Add into the fact that there are "stubborn trees" here which need special methods to be removed and invisible monsters, and most players just want this section to end already.

For further examination, consider this; the devs of EotB 2 went on to make Lands of Lore, while a different team handled EotB 3. What are the forest levels in LoL like? Long, winding tunnels with plenty of turns to make navigation difficult. Thankfully the automap saves the day, as well as the game rewarding aware players who peek into every crevice and hole they come across. The only notable part of the forest IMO is the swamp, and how the Freeze-spell can help you navigate it.

Finally, to complete the chain of grid-based forest levels, there's the Czech RPG Cardhalia which is heavily influenced by Lands of Lore. It too features forest levels, but it's the one after the mines that I want to mention. Imagine creating an completely empty map, then adding in Tetris-shaped blocks around the map, making sure they never/rarely touch each other, until you've filled out the place. The end result is an incredibly annoying level to traverse, it gathers up almost every negative aspect of the aforementioned forest levels, and none of the positive ones.

In short, I don't recommend any of these as 'best forest level', but they're still worth discussing.

 

[gurugeorge]

Taking a detour to MMO land, I thought the original version of the Old Forest in Lord of the Rings Online was amazing. You really felt lost in the Old Forest in Lord of the Rings, with all sorts of weird and dangerous shit happening. (I gather it's since been streamlined for navigation, which is probably a good idea, it was very confusing, but that was part of the charm when I played it.)

 

[DJOGamer PT]

If were talking about actual Dungeon Level Design, then I would say that Majora's Mask Woodfall Temple is the goat (but then again not surprising, since the Zelda series shits on 95% of other video game dungeons)

Although I prefer Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple Theme:

 

[Melan]

Grimoire's forests are a strong continuation of the Wizardry 7 legacy, and a lot of fun to explore since while the regions are small, they are interconnected into a greater wilderness with just enough dungeons and points of interest to keep you going on and baiting the hook to explore further. Master class.

For mood, Ishar 2 and 3 are hard to beat, although the gameplay is more repetitive, so it suffers a little. But it feels like a proper fantasy forest.

In adventure game land
, Quest fir Glory 1 and Heroine's Quest are top notch. Large, interesting, lots of variety.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Legend of Grimrock II features Twigroot Forest as its second zone, combining an overground forest with conventional underground dungeons:

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Seems like a lot of blobbers come highly recommended for forest dungeons. I wonder if that's because blobbers do dungeons so well, and a forest dungeon is merely a reskin of the dungeon walls. Red Hexapus Unkillable Cat what is that screenshot from? I googled EotB and that's Eye of the Beholder. Is that first screenshot from EotB 1? I never played those games.

I also never played the Nier games. Zed Duke of Banville I tried looking for maps and playthroughs of that area. The map wasn't super helpful for getting an idea of the what the place is like. The only playthrough I found was for the Forest Castle and I'm not sure that's the same area. The beginning part had some giant tree roots growing through ruined buildings. Is the Forest Castle the same place?

Ash thanks for the recommendations. Spelunky is the only game on that list I'm really familiar with. I watched some videos on the procedural generation in putting the levels together. Procedural generation when done right can make for some really fun levels. And if I can meander for a second here, I loved the original Diablo. The procedurally generated levels added to the unnatural, eerie feeling of the place. But then there was a classic D&D 3e-based video game that I think came out after Diablo, and it had a procedurally generated area that was really boring. Is the Spelunky jungle just a well done platformer and the jungle is just a tileset? Or is there a lot that makes the jungle feel especially jungley? I'll take a look at those other games too to get an idea of their level design.

laclongquan I played Fallout 3, including Point Lookout. I liked Point Lookout well enough. But I don't remember the outdoor swampy area being especially mazelike. Wasn't the area mostly open, and your vision obscured only by fog? I remember it delivering a unique atmospheric experience, but I remember it as being open world.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Taking a detour to MMO land, I thought the original version of the Old Forest in Lord of the Rings Online was amazing. You really felt lost in the Old Forest in Lord of the Rings, with all sorts of weird and dangerous shit happening. (I gather it's since been streamlined for navigation, which is probably a good idea, it was very confusing, but that was part of the charm when I played it.)

Funny to see a recommendation for an MMO when everyone else is recommending blobbers. I looked up a map of the area. Looks like a fantastic maze. Or at least, it was before the devs streamlined it. Alas.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I don't think the old forest got streamlined, most of the content in lotro is untouched since the day they made it. Which makes it a fairly unique game in that it's like a time capsule.

 

[Red Hexapus]

Seems like a lot of blobbers come highly recommended for forest dungeons. I wonder if that's because blobbers do dungeons so well, and a forest dungeon is merely a reskin of the dungeon walls. Red Hexapus Unkillable Cat what is that screenshot from? I googled EotB and that's Eye of the Beholder. Is that first screenshot from EotB 1? I never played those games.

It's Eye of the Beholder 2, one of my fav old blobbers, I highly recommend it

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Have there been any really great forest-themed dungeons that you can think of? In 2D or 3D? Scour your brain for levels from Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Dark Souls, anything at all in the last 35 years or so. What made that level work?

I enjoyed the design behind Kashyyyk in Kotor 1. Starting in the relatively safe canopy areas that leads into the progressively more dangerous levels then down to the mysterious shadow lands. Too bad gameplay wise most of Kotor is a wash and it doesn't do much with it though.

 

[NecroLord]

If you have played Thief:The Dark Project and its Gold version,then you already know of the mission named "The Sword". It has certain maze-like areas and generally weird stuff,but also natural barriers like moss,trees,vines.
Damn,I really need to replay Thief.

 

[deuxhero]

Red Forest in "open world" mods for STALKER. It's not nearly as good (not bad, but not amazing) in the original two games it appears in, since it's a late game area the player will be totally prepared for, but in open worlds it actually presents a lot of interesting gameplay since you'll often need to go through it early game since it lays between several major settlements (and going around is a huge detour that's much longer), and holds the only technician who starts able to perform all upgrades (who is super expensive compared to people you actually supply, but often worth it for one critical upgrade or two early game) while still retaining the late game enemy spawns and other hazards. This actually puts a totally different spin on it because you're an under-equipped early game character just trying to get through, meaning you'll be sticking to the mostly anomaly free but windy main footpath and running like hell so the alpha mutants in the area don't get you. It's also dark even relatively early in the afternoon, and lights attract mutants and gen 1 NVG are horrible for this type of environment. Even once you're good enough to actually "explore" the area, there's plenty here.

Gothic II's forest area is also worth a note for similar reasons. Relatively safe main path you need to pass several times during the game, paired with a horrifically dangerous (but rewarding) outside of it.

Dragon's Dogma's Witch Wood is also worth a note. Quest timing means you'll be forced to go there early game and unprepared to avoid locking yourself out of major content, and it actually had the guts to disable your map (due to magic jamming things rather than being a dense wood, but it works regardless) while being dark like the rest of the game.

 

[schru]

‘The Enchanted Earth’ in MediEvil. One of the more interesting stages in the game as it isn't completely linear and it's possible to access it early and get to know something about what is required to open all the paths and also what place it has in the story. It's very atmospheric and as it opens up, it contains some interesting fights and platforming challenges. Additionally, it also has an entrance to a hidden level.



Also, doesn't Baldur's Gate have a lot of forest dungeons?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Legend of Grimrock II features Twigroot Forest as its second zone, combining an overground forest with conventional underground dungeons:

Ah yes, the Grimrock-forest.

Imagine an invisible maze. You can see most things pretty clear, but you spend most of the time finding the way to get to them.

That's annoying as hell, of course, so an interrim solution is to have the walls semi-transparent - so you can kinda see that they're there.

Less annoying, but still annoying.

That is the forests of Grimrock.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

In Faery Tale Adventure (1986), you must at some point explore Grimwood, a labyrinth of twisting passages hemmed by dense trees, and defeat the witch possessing the magic lasso, which then allows you to tame the giant swan.

 

[Borelli]

I have always liked the forest from Icewind Dale 2 where you have several screens that are same looking
and if you went the wrong way you would return at the start (it's been a while but i think the level played out that way)

There are other games using the same mechanic but ID2 is the one that i remember the most.