Several of the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda surprised players by being hard. Here are some of the hardest ones we’ve seen so far.
In every Zelda game, Link has to go through a series of dungeons, which are often called temples or palaces. To move forward in the game, you have to finish these Temples. Often, this means getting useful items, beating tough bosses, and leveling up Link’s health.
In the many games in the Legend of Zelda series, there are a lot of dungeons that are hard to get through. Whether it’s the layout, the puzzles, or the bosses, there are many things that make a dungeon hard. Keeping all of this in mind, here are some of the most difficult dungeons in the Zelda series.
The Wind Temple (The Wind Waker)
Style and setting make The Wind Waker stand out. Makar, a musician who is a Korok, is on his way to becoming the Sage of Wind, with Link’s help, of course. Link must go with Makar into the wooded Wind Temple and help the helpless Korok through a series of puzzles and fights.
Link has to switch between the Deku Leaf and the Iron Boots all the time in order to solve the tricky puzzles of the Temple. Link must also use the Command Melody often to take control of Makar and move him around to solve puzzles and avoid fights. Even though Makar is a nice kid, it is hard to watch him during the Wind Temple.
Snowpeak Ruins (Twilight Princess)
The Snowpeak Ruins are a dungeon in Twilight Princess that is cold and full of ice. This dungeon is a mansion that was once home to two Yetis. Since then, it has been taken over by monsters who are guarding a piece of the Mirror of Twilight that is there.
Link has to get around the winding mansion with the help of Yeta the Yeti. This is on top of the usual mechanics, like icy floors with little friction. She does her best, but sometimes she forgets what needs to be done and gives the wrong instructions. A lot of the time, big chunks of ice will block the way, forcing Link to backtrack to a cannon that can break the ice and clear the way.
City In The Sky (Twilight Princess)
The City in the Sky is another part of Twilight Princess. Its name gives away its two main features: it is a huge city, making it one of the biggest and most confusing dungeons in the Zelda series, and the airborne parts of the map make it hard to move horizontally. Not only is the dungeon very big, but the map has many confusing layers on top of each other.
After you finish the confusing map, Link has to fight Argorok, the armored wyvern, who is a boss that isn’t too easy.
Pirates’ Fortress (Majora’s Mask)
Even though it’s not a main dungeon, the Pirates’ Fortress is important to the main story and a few side stories in Majora’s Mask. In fact, the Fortress is where you can find the Hookshot, which is one of the most important tools in any Zelda game. You also need to get a few Zora Eggs from the Fortress to finish Lulu’s questline.
The Fortress works like a stealth mission, where you have to time your moves carefully to avoid the guards (or with the Stone Mask). There are also a few minibosses that can be hard to beat if you aren’t ready.
Great Bay Temple (Majora’s Mask)
After beating the Pirates’ Fortress, players will move on to the Great Bay Temple, which is the game’s third main dungeon and even tougher. Link has to solve a few puzzles where he has to change the way water flows to make a path for his Zora form.
After swimming through this Temple, the boss Gyorg, a big fish that is hard to beat, is the last thing players will face. This boss fight requires Link to have a lot of magic and to switch between his human and Zora forms carefully. Since this is Majora’s Mask, everything has to be done on the three-day timer, which is always there.
The Ice Palace (A Link to the Past)
A Link to the Past is a classic two-dimensional Zelda game that you can play over and over again. The Ice Palace, on the other hand, makes it hard to want to play the whole Happy Wheels game again. The icy floors of the Snowpeak Ruins are just annoying, but the icy floors of the Ice Palace are dangerous and often kill Link by sending him right into enemies, traps, or off a ledge and to his death.
Stone Tower Temple (Majora’s Mask)
The fourth and final dungeon before the final battle with the Skull Kid on the moon is the Stone Tower Temple. So, Link needs to use all of the tools and masks he has found so far to get through this Temple. Link will have to keep changing shapes to get around and figure out how to use statues made from the Elegy of Emptiness to solve puzzles.
In other words, this is not a typical dungeon where one key item is enough. In The Stone Tower Temple, you have to use every trick and convention in one long, hard go.
Palace of Winds (Minish Cap)
Like the ice-themed levels on this list, the “wind” trope is a big part of how to move around in the Palace of Winds in Minish Cap. Link must use Roc’s Cape to fly through the air between platforms so he can solve puzzles and fight enemies. In other words, the platforming is the hardest part of the Palace of Winds because it is uncertain and very dangerous.
The Great Palace (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)
In The Adventure of Link, the Great Palace is the last dungeon. If Link loses all of his lives, the game starts all over again. Because of this, the stakes are very, very high. When you add this to the mix, it makes this Palace’s sprawling mess even harder to get around.
Link is not safe even at the end. Thunderbird is the last boss in the Great Palace. Most people agree that he is the hardest boss in all Zelda games. Thunderbird is throwing a lot of projectiles at poor, two-dimensional Link, which makes the stakes even higher.
The Water Temple (Ocarina of Time)
In Ocarina of Time, the Water Temple is known as a notoriously hard dungeon for a number of reasons. First of all, the key economy. It’s very easy to use keys to open doors in strange places and times, which makes it hard to find more keys to move forward. Between all of these locked doors are puzzles that require the player to keep putting on and taking off their Iron Boots.
Even though most people find the final boss to be easy, many find the mini-boss, Dark Link, to be very hard. Since he copies (most of) Link’s moves, players must think of new ways to beat someone who is almost exactly like them.
