You know a game has reached its nadir when it is actually being lampooned by Nozomu Itoshiki himself.
Translation:
“They spent 5 years making huge dungeons which in the end were whittled down by superiors and marketing… Now it’s just a one-way tunnel!”
The diagram below:
Development Department – “I’ll bet today’s kids can’t clear it like that!”
(Source: Sankaku Complex)
While the game is, of course, not specifically stated, the “5 years” and “one-way tunnel” references likely refers to a certain Square-Enix game…