Games where you explore one large, strange, complex building

[1upsuper]

Hello. I have always been fascinated with castles, mansions, etc. with secret rooms, passages, or other strange things, like non-euclidean geometry in the architecture. This is a very common theme in games -- perhaps too common to fit in one thread -- but I'm hoping to learn about some deeper cuts to explore. I'm particularly interested in games where there's just one main building to explore, but that's not a strict rule here.

My very favorite examples of the complex building trope are Shadowgate and La-Mulana, though Uninvited, Resident Evil 1, Maze of Galious, and Symphony of the Night are also great examples. Mario 64 also feels worth a mention; many of its secrets are obvious but I still find it fun two decades later to wander around the corridors and explore the wide variety of rooms. The Souls games also feel appropriate. While you don't spend the bulk of those games in any singular building, the impressive attention to space, architecture, and interconnections gives you the sense that you're exploring a thoughtful, complex environment full of secrets.

Lots of RPGs have you explore castles and manors but a lot of them are rather drab in terms of their use of space and complexity, relying instead on visual flair, monsters, and sheer volume of space to create the sense of grandeur and danger. In contrast, what I love about something like Resident Evil 1 is that the mansion is large and full of secrets and puzzles but it manages to feel cohesive and you can get from one corner to the other without too much time spent. It's a pretty densely crafted mansion all in all. Resident Evil 7 and 4 are similar in some respects.

While it's a bit of an oddball choice, I'd also like to include Dragon's Lair. I adore the design of the castle, and while it's random which rooms you enter when and the solutions to the rooms themselves are completely linear, the rooms are visually interesting and they make the castle feel alive with wonder and danger.

I think for the purposes of this thread I'll exclude games with procedural generation (since I'm focused on games with more deliberate, careful designs) as well as first person turn-based dungeon crawlers like Wizardry, Might & Magic, and Etrian Odyssey because they are all full of these sorts of labyrinthine buildings with secret passageways. Metroidvanias are similarly full of this sort of thing, but let's keep them in the discussion for now.

What are your favorite games where you explore thoughtful, complex buildings?

[GamerL]

Batman: Arkham Asylum is like that, while it's not a singular building but a few and there's small open areas between them, it's still the basic idea of a single, isolated and interconnected environment that has the metroidvania elements of areas only accessible after you've unlocked new abilities later on.

I haven't played it but I'm pretty sure Shadow Complex fits the bill with the Metroidvania approach of exploring an underground military base from a 2.5D perspective.

[ommadawnyawn2]

D/Generation (AMI/PC)

[JoeQ]

Luigi's Mansion should fit the bill, fun little game.

[ZenithianHero]

Ico and Last Guardian. You are confined to a labyrinth that is the central castles and immediate nearby structures.
Little Nightmares just has one central location: The Maw. Features connected rooms and living areas.
Chibi-Robo has just your family house to take care of. Only outdoors is the backyard.

[mikezilla2]

MGS1 Had you Confined to a single island...

drawing Blanks atm

[JoeQ]

Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle!

[wyrdwad]

Two of my favorite NES games of all time definitely fit the bill: "Solstice" and "The Goonies II." Solstice in particular has a really well-designed 3D castle to explore (though it also includes the surrounding forest and caves underneath, but it all feels very much like "one property"), and Goonies II has you exploring the Fratellis' hideout (which, again, includes a very large and complex house along with its environs).

On the subject of Solstice, I'd say a lot of games in its genre (isometric puzzle platformer) follow suit, with "Batman" for most European computer formats being a perfect example. There are definitely exceptions to this, as Head Over Heels takes place in multiple locations, Solstice's own sequel Equinox takes place in multiple locations. and Lumo -- the most recent entry in the isometric puzzle platformer genre -- takes place in multiple locations. But it's still a genre with a higher success rate than most, I'd say.

Another NES game that follows the single-setting structure which I have yet to play but have always wanted to is "Ghoul School." I've heard it's not very good, but honestly, I watched a full playthrough of it, and it looks like something I'd really enjoy. And that whole game takes place inside a single high school building that's become infested with monsters and ghosts, forcing you to use everyday school items as weapons.

"Haunting Ground" is a great example of this concept done in survival horror, since the entire game takes place inside one super-creepy mansion.

The progenitor of Haunting Ground, the original "Clock Tower" for Super Famicom, also qualifies -- though none of its sequels follow suit. Note, however, that SFC Clock Tower does have some degree of randomization in its map layout, with the location of certain rooms in the mansion being randomized each time you play -- but it's mostly a static structure, with only a few small bits of randomization here and there.

And I guess along those same lines, there's "Sweet Home" on the Famicom -- another game I have yet to play, but fully intend to at some point.

Somewhat related is "Mashou no Yakata Gabalin" on the MSX, which is based on the movie House, and takes place entirely in one unrealistically big house.

In terms of more modern titles, two of my favorite current-gen homebrew Metroidvanias 100% fit the bill: "Unepic" (which takes place entirely within a single castle), and the spiritual sequel to it, "Ghost 1.0" (which takes place entirely within a single space station). The 8-bit prequel to Ghost 1.0, known as "Mini Ghost" on Steam (and just "Ghost" on MSX), also takes place on a single space station (and a different one from Ghost 1.0's).

There's also another recent MSX homebrew Metroidvania, which has been expertly remade for Windows as well, called "Life On Mars," which takes place inside a single colony on Mars. Which is similar to an excellent Metroidvania we ourselves released a couple years back, "Exile's End," though I suppose that one technically takes place inside several connected structures.

Actually, a lot of Metroidvanias follow the structure you're looking for. The two most recent indie Metroidvanias I've played, "Mystik Belle" and "The Mummy Demastered," both take place entirely in a single structure -- a school for witches, in Mystik Belle's case, and some ancient ruins, in The Mummy Demastered's.

Another game that comes to mind, which is available for both MSX and Famicom Disk System (and is a very different game on each), is Casio's "Youkai Yashiki," sometimes simplified as "Ghost House." The entire game takes place in the titular Youkai Yashiki, which more accurately translates as something like "yokai manor."

Oh, and since I keep bringing up Metroidvanias, it's worth noting that most of the Castlevania games in that style -- and indeed, many Castlevania games in general -- follow this structure, as does at least "Metroid Fusion" and probably one or more of the Prime games.

...As you might be able to tell, I too love when games take place in a single structure as you've described.

EDIT: Ah, a couple more: almost feels like cheating, but technically "Ys Origin" fits the bill, since the entire game takes place in Darm Tower. Additionally, our Wii game "Pandora's Tower" technically fits the bill, though again, it feels a little like cheating since it's split into levels that aren't actually connected to one another, even though they all exist within the same central structure.

There's also an indie sci-fi MSX2 game from Europe, released in the early '90s, called "Akin" that fits the bill perfectly. The entire game takes place inside a single corporate building full of secret passages and hidden labs. The game's good, but feels rushed and incomplete, and the setting isn't as big as I'd like it to be, resulting in a lot more backtracking than you'd normally even expect from a game like it -- but it's still worth playing for its excellent atmosphere.

-Tom

[kaoru]

Lot's of (survival) horror games fit the bill, taking place in a single contained space. Like the first Alone in the Dark, Project Zero (the fourth one too, IIRC), D, Enemy Zero, Echo Night, or Clock Tower for quick examples. Not sure right now if you ever leave the ship in Alien: Isolation, Dead Space or Resident Evil: Revelations.

There's also SOS on the SNES, in which you have to navigate one constantly shifting, sinking luxus liner.

[Bumpyroad]

Toy Story lets you explore some building amenities, there's Elevator Action and its sequel set in the sort of the multi-floor property, NightCry has a cruise ship setting, MGS 2 being on a tanker and the "Big Shell" offshore facility, then Portal takes you to Aperture Science Enrichment Center to wonder about.

[kingmike]

Not an immediate mention of Metroid Fusion?

[wyrdwad]

I mentioned it! It's just buried in a very long post with a gajillion other games.

Also, NightCry starts off on the cruise ship, but that's just one stage. Later stages take place elsewhere, like on a deserted island. And the cruise ship is rather small, and structured rather logically, so I wouldn't call it large, strange, or complex -- though it does make for a nice, creepy setpiece.

-Tom

[toei]

Deep Fear takes place almost entirely within the Big Table, an underwater refueling facility, except for a bit where you board a submarine.

[magic89]

-Sega Master System game Zilion you spend most time in Nohzas underground base.

-An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire.
Titular military imperial academy

-Space Siege
Game take place in Huuuge colony space ship invadfed by alien forces.

[The Great Klaid]

I think Koudelka does that doesn't it?