Is the Cave of Darkness the hardest dungeon in the series?

[Dr. Casey]

Required dungeons, that is. And I'm referring to the NES version. You can't run away from fights, the enemies kick your ass, the layout is complicated, and it's entirely too long. I can't think of any other place in the series that's more of a bitch.

[robfinalfantasy]

It's a good second, but I found the dark world to be more challenging. I remember sh*tting bricks the whole way through due to the fear of being slain.

[Hambone]

Which one was that?

[Tyrel1985]

some of the dunguens on the ps1 version of ff1 are fricken hard.not sure which one was the hardest tho

[robfinalfantasy]

Which one was that?

I think it's the one where the enemies split.

[Evastio]

I did find it difficult but it should be okay if your Mystic Knights are equipped with 2 Dark Swords.

[darksword12]

I did find it difficult but it should be okay if your Mystic Knights are equipped with 2 Dark Swords.

I'll bear that in mind when I get there.

Dungeons I hate include:

Sylvan cave (ff4)
Deist Cavern (ff2)

Curiously, I've found all the dungeons in ff3 to be insanely short.

[Crossblades]

I found the Cave of Darkness tough, even tougher than the Dark World. I remember making so many mistakes in that cave

[Hambone]

Which one was that?

I think it's the one where the enemies split.

Oh. That one. I had no problem getting through that one. However, I found the Temple of Time very challenging in the DS version.

[darksword12]

Which one was that?

I think it's the one where the enemies split.

Oh. That one. I had no problem getting through that one. However, I found the Temple of Time very challenging in the DS version.

Bear in mind they're talking about the nes version. Apparently it was a lot more difficult.

[Zeromus_X]

Pandaemonium in FFII.

Death Riders = Game Over. Thankfully you could avoid the more stupidly difficult random encounters on the PS1 version by abusing the memo save feature.

[SpikingZero]

Ridiculously long. If you're not at a good enough level, you're screwed. I found the DS version not as difficult (with not as many enemies per battle).

[Snap Jumper]

Square dumbed it down quite a bit for the DS version.

1. The encounter rate is lower. It is possible to get through an entire floor without a battle. On the NES, good luck getting off a floor with less than five.
2. Splitting enemies have a maximum of three at a time on DS. The NES version had a limit of six. (Meaning if there's already six on the screen, they won't split.)
3. The dungeon itself is shorter. I believe it's the same number of floors, but they're smaller.

Really, I was disappointed with this dungeon. It didn't have the same feeling on the DS. On the NES, I could sense being in a scary, uncomfortable dungeon. On DS, I was so comfortable in there that I walked back out after Hecatoncheir to level up, never afraid of getting wiped out.

[Sefie1999AD]

While the Cave of Darkness is an extremely long dungeon, I still think FF1's Ice Cave is a lot harder. At least there's no enemies in the Cave of Darkness that can just suddenly ambush your party and annihilate everyone before you get a single turn. IMHO, FFIV's Sealed Cave and the Lunar Subterrain are also harder than FFIII's Cave of Darkness.

[Sam250]

Square dumbed it down quite a bit for the DS version.

1. The encounter rate is lower. It is possible to get through an entire floor without a battle. On the NES, good luck getting off a floor with less than five.
2. Splitting enemies have a maximum of three at a time on DS. The NES version had a limit of six. (Meaning if there's already six on the screen, they won't split.)
3. The dungeon itself is shorter. I believe it's the same number of floors, but they're smaller.

Really, I was disappointed with this dungeon. It didn't have the same feeling on the DS. On the NES, I could sense being in a scary, uncomfortable dungeon. On DS, I was so comfortable in there that I walked back out after Hecatoncheir to level up, never afraid of getting wiped out.

I agree with everything you've just said. Although there are dungeons in the DS version which get you uncomfortable and a little scared, this one isn't one of them, like it was on the NES. Though those bones on the floor are awesome. I only needed one Dark knight with one Dark Sword to own this dungeon. In fact, i had a dragoon, and i could kill enemys with spears before they had a chance to split. Btw, who was the boss here, i forget.