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Dungeons in Zelda games- Are they actually good?

Dungeons are good?

  • Total voters
    186
DownLikeBCPowder

DownLikeBCPowder

Member
ChoosableOne said:
The first Zelda game I finished is TOTK. I had played a bit of Ocarina of Time before but dropped it after few hours. But after finishing TOTK, I decided to pick it up again.

The game progressed wonderfully until the Forest Temple; I was excited to play it every day. However, the puzzles in the Forest Temple felt so complicated(with a lot of backtracking), and coupled with those awful sounds in the background, I completely lost interest in the game. I'm even considering quitting.
For those who want to endure that awful sound, I'm sharing a video:



This video provides that awful sound in a 10-hour loop format. I listened to it for 2 hours in the game already.

Are the dungeons in other Zelda games like this? Are the other temples in this game as confusing and frustrating as this one? And should dungeons really make a comeback in Zelda games?
Click to expand...

Forest Temple is one of my favorites from Ocarina!
 
DownLikeBCPowder

DownLikeBCPowder

Member
Shake Your Rump said:
Whatever you played in TOTK probably isn't even even a dungeon (I haven't played it).The dungeons are, for example, the four beasts in Breath of the Wild, not the shrines sprinkled about. Would you quit when you came to one of the four beasts?
Click to expand...
I'd say the divine beasts are more of a dungeon than what we got in TotK..
 
TheGodfather07

TheGodfather07

Member
Vandole said:
I found the ones in Skyward Sword to be overwhelming. They are some of the largest in the series. When you get stuck in one, or you're not enjoying it, it gets very frustrating. And personally I found the Mining Facility to be enough of a challenge that I didn't enjoy it.

That said, that's just a personal preference, and potentially a minority preference at that. I know many people who consider the skyward sword dungeons to be some of the best of the series.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me. I just want traditional dungeons again. I actually like that they are large and difficult. That's exactly what I want. What was it about skyward sword that people disliked so much? I remember how much criticism it got. Was it just the motion controls? I hear you can disable them on the switch version. Did you play the switch version?
 
C

CityHunter1981

Member
Love the Zelda dungeons, but not a fan of the dungeons in BOTW and TOTK.

I was actually shocked, when I played the TOTK. The biggest criticism of the fans about BOTW was the dengeon design, so I really don’t understand why they addressed this problem better. Sure they try to sell you the TOTK dungeons as legacy dungeons, but they were not. It was always the same thing (you need to find and enable 4 things to proceed to the boss, but that is just not good dungeon design, like in the old games.

I could live with much less shrines, since half of them were anyway just copy and paste blessing shrines, but they should focus more time in adding better legacy dungeons.

Elden Ring showed that you can have an open world, but still great legacy dungeons, so no idea why Nintendo can’t do it.
 
BlackTron

BlackTron

Member
x5zxi7E.gif
 
buenoblue

buenoblue

Member
Its an old game at this point. If you havent cared enough to play it after 26 years and are not enjoying it then just move on m8. No need to shit on a great game of its time, obviously its dated now.
🤷‍♂️
 
gtabro

gtabro

Member
Reading the title made me realise something about TotK...
- you have an amazing freedom on how to tackle different situations, kinda like a role-playing game
- you can change some of Link's stats with clothes and weapons
- there are dungeons
- Gleeoks are back, so there are also dragons, meaning...

The Legend of Zelda: Tear of the Kingdom is secretly a Dungeons & Dragons game
* puts a tin foil hat on*
 
Dacvak

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Lol who votes no for a poll like this.
 
C

Chastten

Banned
While I vastly prefer the BotW/TotK style going forward, I don't think classic Zelda is bad by any means.

Hell, even your example is a great, athmospheric temple with music that gives me the chills to this day. Obviously, lots of them could do with a bit of QoL updates, but yeah, I do think they are mostly good.
 
Majukun

Majukun

Member
you never realize how good zelda dungeons are before you check copycats like darsiders and see how their dungeons are.

but in short. Yes.
 
BlackTron

BlackTron

Member
Porcile said:
Skyward Sword dungeons were amazing. It's the rest of the game which wasn't particularly great.
Click to expand...

It's kind of annoying those dungeons are trapped in this husk of a game I don't want to deal with. I wished they had released one BOTW scale game with the dungeons instead of two games.
 
V

Vandole

Member
TheGodfather07 said:
Sounds good to me. I just want traditional dungeons again. I actually like that they are large and difficult. That's exactly what I want. What was it about skyward sword that people disliked so much? I remember how much criticism it got. Was it just the motion controls? I hear you can disable them on the switch version. Did you play the switch version?
Click to expand...
I played the Wii version.

As to why people didn't like it, there's a host of reasons. I think. A lot of people didn't like the controls, some people didn't like the art style, and others didn't like how the overworld was actually very much like the Wind Waker. In this case, you just flew between the islands instead of sailed between them.

At the end of the day though, I think most people we're just tired of the Wii. People were ready to move onto something new, and pretty much anything that got released forward around that time was getting crapped onto some degree. And when we got the switch remaster, at the end of the day it still felt a bit dated since it was a 10-year-old game.
 
Last edited:
fart town usa

fart town usa

Gold Member
TheGodfather07 said:
How good are the dungeons in skyward sword? It's the only main zelda game I've never played but im thinking of playing it on the switch. I'm thirsty for classic zelda after botw and totk.
Click to expand...
Some are really good as you get further in. There's a desert/pirate themed one and I won't spoil it but it involves two different points in time and it's a really cool effect that Nintendo incorporated into it to solve puzzles. The overworld is split into hubs and some areas are only accessible with certain items. Feels more like a Metroid style progression than it does traditional Zelda, for better or worse 🤷.

The worst part of Skyward Sword are the fetch quests and repeat boss fights. They went overboard in two areas and both times it's prevented me from finishing the game cause I just don't want to slog through it.

The OST and occasional dungeon are the best parts of the game. I say try it out at some point, you might really dig it.
 
TerribleAtThisGame

TerribleAtThisGame

Member
TheGodfather07 said:
How good are the dungeons in skyward sword? It's the only main zelda game I've never played but im thinking of playing it on the switch. I'm thirsty for classic zelda after botw and totk.
Click to expand...
It's a flawed game with a slow-ass opening and fetch quests later on but I really, really enjoy the dungeons. It absolutely is the classic structure you're thirsty for imo. Maybe go in with the expectation that it isn't the absolute GOAT and has some annoying bits and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I didn't play it until only a few years ago and despite some of those gripes, I still consistently thought "wtf this game is great!?"
 
cireza

cireza

Member
Puzzle based dungeons suck. Let's do a succession of tedious actions which have been obvious for the last 10 minutes, but still having to endure doing them.

Zelda was great on NES, but then it became boring and made for casuals.
 
A

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
In "Modern" (re: BOTW) Zelda - not even funking close. In older Zelda - absolutely. The last Zelda I played (and enjoyed) was Wind Walker (might have been the wolf one) and those dungeons absolutely blow ANYTHING in BOTW/TOTK out the funking water. Not the least of which because those dungeons had character and a connection to the narrative around you, while dungeons or puzzles in BOTW/TOTK are just someone doing their best THE WITNESS or TALOR PRINCIPLE impression (though both those games also had a connective tissue to their world around them).

. . .give how popular BOTW ended up being, I'm legit floored that they didn't bring back "traditional" puzzle-dungeons in TOTK, while still utilizing the "emergent physics" capabilities that are opened up by the new powers.
 
P

Poppyseed

Member
ChoosableOne said:
The first Zelda game I finished is TOTK. I had played a bit of Ocarina of Time before but dropped it after few hours. But after finishing TOTK, I decided to pick it up again.

The game progressed wonderfully until the Forest Temple; I was excited to play it every day. However, the puzzles in the Forest Temple felt so complicated(with a lot of backtracking), and coupled with those awful sounds in the background, I completely lost interest in the game. I'm even considering quitting.
For those who want to endure that awful sound, I'm sharing a video:



This video provides that awful sound in a 10-hour loop format. I listened to it for 2 hours in the game already.

Are the dungeons in other Zelda games like this? Are the other temples in this game as confusing and frustrating as this one? And should dungeons really make a comeback in Zelda games?
Click to expand...

That video. Noooo. Make it stop!!!
 
M

MagnesD3

Member
ChoosableOne said:
Perhaps the absence of dungeons contributed to its popularity among the new generation.
Click to expand...
Yeah we are trending smooth brain and small attension span based in a world where tiktok is as popular as it is, its all downhill baby. At least TOTK was a very fun video game still.
 
Last edited:
tkscz

tkscz

Member
ChoosableOne said:
The first Zelda game I finished is TOTK. I had played a bit of Ocarina of Time before but dropped it after few hours. But after finishing TOTK, I decided to pick it up again.

The game progressed wonderfully until the Forest Temple; I was excited to play it every day. However, the puzzles in the Forest Temple felt so complicated(with a lot of backtracking), and coupled with those awful sounds in the background, I completely lost interest in the game. I'm even considering quitting.
For those who want to endure that awful sound, I'm sharing a video:



This video provides that awful sound in a 10-hour loop format. I listened to it for 2 hours in the game already.

Are the dungeons in other Zelda games like this? Are the other temples in this game as confusing and frustrating as this one? And should dungeons really make a comeback in Zelda games?
Click to expand...

Dungeons in Zelda games tend to differ from one another in a multitude of ways, it's the reason people have their favorites. Some are more complex than others. The forest temple is more on the complex side but once you understand whats going on, it gets easier. A tip, if you haven't found it, there is a key in the very first room you start in.

As others have said though, in terms of complexity, none is more complex than the water temple. It's overly complex in fact and unless you're playing the 3DS version, there is a key you'll miss every single time as there is almost no hint you can go to this spot to get the key. Along with being tedious with the water levels, that one you'll need a guide for.

If the music bothers you on the forest temple, the shadow temple will give you the shivers.

Keep at it, you'll get it.
 
GymWolf

GymWolf

Member
Can't remember the old games but last 2 zelda had pretty bad dungeons (and stupidly easy bosses)

Pretty sure i liked the dungeons in wind waker tho.
 
Phase

Phase

Member
In everything before BoTW and ToTK, yes. Really hope they get back to metroidvania-like progression in the next Zelda's.

Down with the Ubisoft style. Too much empty land and disappointing chest items.
 
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