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The long-awaited sequel to Breath of the Wild is set to release soon. The highly anticipated continuation of the Zelda franchise, Tears of the Kingdom, has fans replaying their favorite games in preparation; one of the most important aspects of any game in the franchise is the puzzles. While many of them are fun ways to test players’ brains, many others cause them to want to throw their controllers through the screen. From irritating to unfair, here are ten of the hardest puzzles in the series.
10. The Water Temple (Ocarina of Time)
On anybody’s list of the hardest Zelda puzzles, odds are this infamous puzzle will show up. As opposed to being a single puzzle, the Water Temple is one giant puzzle players must traverse through in order to make it out. Ever since Ocarina of Time was released in 1998, fans have loathed this portion of the game. With how infamous it is, one would assume it would top the list. However, the temple is so infamous fans have become pros trying to master it. On top of that, Nintendo themselves modified it on the 3DS remake, making it significantly easier.
9. Copying the Sacred Crest (Phantom Hourglass)
This puzzle isn’t exactly hard, but it is tricky in an obvious way. The player is told to copy the sacred crest into their chart. Instinct says that the player must draw the crest onto the DS’ touch screen using the stylus. However, the user finds regardless of how pixel-perfect they draw it, they fail the puzzle. The trick is to close your Nintendo DS, causing the top screen to physically touch the bottom. This causes the image of the sacred crest to copy onto the chart. This isn’t obvious, but once players figure it out they realize how easy this puzzle truly was; this level of fourth wall breaking is clever, and fans hope it returns in some way in Tears of the Kingdom.
8. Turtle Rock (Link’s Awakening)
This dungeon is filled with secret rooms hidden behind walls. As with any game in the series, players must place bombs near cracks in the wall to open a new area. Each area is filled with annoying and challenging puzzles. Once the player goes through every room, there is still one missing. Players must look at their map to find the missing room. Then they go to the adjacent room and blow up the wall separating them. There isn’t a crack indicating this, so players may run in circles a bit before they figure it out. While The Nintendo Switch remake of Link’s Awakening fixes this issue, the original GameBoy version can be irritating.
7. Joloo Nah Shrine (Breath of the Wild)
The precursor to Tears of the Kingdom is no stranger to difficult puzzles. One of the most infuriating is the final room in the Joloo Nah Shrine. The premise seems simple enough, simply light the torches on each side of a cube controlled by the player. Actually lighting the cube is annoying enough, but there are pillars on each side of the cube shooting out water. If water touches one of the torches, the fire goes out. This puzzle is enough to make some players never touch a game again, but it is far from the hardest in the game.
6. Bottom of the Well (Ocarina of Time)
Water-based puzzles tend to be among the hardest in the first Zelda game on N64. This puzzle requires time traveling and a player with a keen memory. Link must learn the classic Song of Storms as an adult. He then must travel back in time to become a kid and play the song in the well in Kakriko Village. This causes the water to lower, opening up a dungeon. In the days before detailed internet walkthroughs, this is a puzzle that is far from obvious and caused players to go crazy figuring it out.
5. Jabu Jabu’s Belly (Oracle of Ages)
What makes this dungeon irritating is the fact it is easy to mess up. So are many other puzzles throughout the Zelda series, but one mess-up could cause Link to have to traverse the entire dungeon again. The maze is filled with mini puzzles and dead ends. The icing on the cake are the many black holes scattered throughout. If Link falls in one, it is back to the beginning. This is a dungeon that tries a player’s skill as well as their patience. Odds are this level of annoyance will appear in Tears of the Kingdom, so players should prepare themselves.
4. The Guardian Statues (Twilight Princess)
Attempting to make two giant statues stand in specific spots is just as annoying as it sounds, if not more so. A door is guarded by two statues standing on a series of platforms. Whenever the player moves, the statues move. In order to open the door, the statues have to be in specific spots. Nothing is more infuriating than having one statue in place, just to have it move while trying to maneuver the other. As with many Zelda games, patience is key here, and the puzzle ensures it is in short supply.
3. Keo Ruug Shrine (Breath of the Wild)
The shrines in Breath of the Wild are not always obvious in their puzzles. Such is the case with this constellation-based head-scratcher. Link is placed in a room with several constellations on one wall. The player must use orbs to light up the receptacles in front of the constellations. This puzzle is tedious to figure out and annoying to actually solve. If Tears of the Kingdom has puzzles anywhere near this level of irritation, fans should be ready for a stressful time.
2. Yiga Clan Hideout (Breath of the Wild)
This puzzle seems simple enough, simply sneak through an area without alerting guards. What makes this rage-inducing is how many guards there are. This section moves painfully slow and that causes the player to just fight their way out. While this is possible, the number of guards makes it close to impossible to leave unscathed. A lot of patience and even more luck is needed to retrieve this orb.
1. Stone Tower Temple (Majora’s Mask)
Imagine one of the hardest temples in any Zelda game. Now picture being under a strict time constraint. This is exactly the case with this relentless temple in Majora’s Mask. Each room causes the player to push their skills all the way to their limit. They must also show considerable brain power, as puzzles aren’t always obvious. Wrap it all up with a time limit in each room and you have one of the most unforgiving areas in any game in the franchise.
