Earlier this week, Nintendo confirmed what many of us feared and others already saw coming. It so happens that the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild It will not be reaching our hands until the spring of 2023, that is, there is still a year to go, and possibly even a little more, to enjoy this anticipated title. While we wait for its eventual arrival, we decided to review a bit of its history by examining what have been the five most difficult dungeons in games from this franchise to date.
Turtle Rock – Link’s Awakening
We start this list with Turtle Rock, a dungeon that undoubtedly caused a lot of headaches for those who had the opportunity to go through it in Link’s Awakening. Although this dungeon does not require a key to enter, it will be necessary to face a boss to access it and once inside, things become more confusing. Traps, puzzles, and a variety of enemies make traversing this dungeon a challenge, and even with the map, it’s not always clear where to go or what to do.
Sandship – Skyward Sword
Despite being one of the best designed dungeons in Skyward Sword, the reality is that Sandship was also one of the most complex for a variety of reasons. Players had to alternate between the past and the present to solve puzzles, something that turned out to be much more confusing than expected. Not only that, but some of the enemies encountered in this dungeon were extremely annoying to defeat, and considering that Skyward Sword didn’t have the best control scheme at the time, this made it even more difficult.
Tower of Spirits – Spirit Tracks
The Tower of Spirits is the central dungeon in Spirit Tracks, so you’ll need to return to it multiple times as you progress through the game. This is a much longer dungeon compared to others in the series with a total of 30 floors. Link must possess several Phantom Knights, each with their own unique abilities, in order to advance. If you don’t know where to go once you take control of a Phantom Knight, and you end up in the wrong place, then you’ll have to start from scratch and by then it’ll be hard for you to remember what you were doing or were supposed to do.
Stone Tower Temple – Majora’s Mask
The fourth and final dungeon in Majora’s Mask is one of the most difficult not only in this game, but in the entire franchise in general. To access the Stone Tower Temple you will need all three mask transformations and extensive knowledge of the title’s mechanics to advance. The Goron Mask will help you walk on lava, while the Deku Mask will help you fly, and many other times, you won’t even need to wear a mask to progress when the game makes you think you do. There are two mini-bosses, a portion where you have to flip headfirst into the temple, and puzzles that are anything but easy.
Water Temple – Ocarina of Time
Of course, this list couldn’t be complete without the infamous Water Temple from Ocarina of Time. What made this dungeon so difficult? The main mechanic was raising and lowering the water level to solve puzzles, which is quite confusing and requires a lot of experimentation and backtracking before you know exactly what to do. In the original version of the Nintendo 64, you had to constantly equip and remove your iron boots, which was tedious and annoying. As if that weren’t enough, we also have a fight against Dark Link to finish it off.
