I love them both, but when the rubber hits the road I'm all about dungeons. It really takes me back to the basic d&d ideal that started the whole thing for me. Dungeons are horror, and harken back to old school horror cinema. Theyre just scary, and bad things happen there. In reality, you wouldnt want to go anywhere near one. That turns me on, Ive always been really into ruins and off-limits dangerous places that youre not supposed to mess around in. Makes it all the more satisfying to be able to go outside my comfortable life for a little while and into a dungeon w/ a big weapon and ultimately conquer it.
Not that they dont get boring or frustrating if theyre not designed well or dont fit well within the programming of the game. Firewine dungeon comes to mind as a terribly infuriating experience at times. As JDR once so eloquently put it - "firewine builds character", LOL that it does...
Dungeons designers make me happy who:
- have good yet not overpowering ambient noise like, water dripping, skittering and screeching vermin.
- make you provide your own light, whether it's lighting a torch on the wall or make you carry one. Flickering torchlight rocks
- an abundance of varied traps that keep you on your toes.
- Undead. They just go together so well
- dont load the place w/ insane puzzles, easy to progress thru
- torture chamber
- some nice treasure of course
- have a quick n convenient way to instantly gtfo when everythings said and done.
-varied rooms 'n corridors (temples, workshop, torture chamber, lair, etc) varying brickwork, fungus n stuff on the walls
Dungeon Keeper & sequel were landmark games for me (particularly the first one), some of the most memorable games of my career.