The Legend of Zelda is no stranger to designing frustrating dungeons, but in this list, we’ll dive into the top 10 most frustrating Zelda dungeons in the franchise. As the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom approaches, it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on the franchise’s most unforgettable and exasperating dungeons. While the dungeons are a cornerstone of the Zelda series, we all know they can also be a source of immense frustration. From challenging bosses to tedious puzzles and confusing layouts, we’ve all experienced those moments of rage and despair. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane and relive various challenging obstacles that have caused Zelda fans frustration over the years.
Zelda Franchise: Top 10 Most Frustrating Dungeons
10. Temple of the Wind (Wind Waker)
The Wind Waker’s Temple of Wind is a frustrating dungeon for two reasons. Firstly, you’re stuck being a babysitter for the cute but helpless Makar, which makes navigating the dungeon a headache. Secondly, the dungeon’s main room is a cylindrical nightmare, with access points requiring excellent gliding skills, leading to confusion and disorientation. So it’s no wonder this dungeon is notorious among Wind Waker fans.
9. Lake Shrine (Twilight Princess)
Another of the most frustrating dungeons in the Zelda Franchise is water levels. They are the bane of every gamer’s existence, and The Lake Shrine is no exception. It forces players to deal with a tedious mechanic staircase and a disorienting cylindrical design, making it a recipe for disaster. As if things weren’t already terrible enough, the key to the boss is incredibly hard to find and obtain, adding even more frustration to the situation. But, all in all, The Lake Shrine is a masterclass in frustrating video game dungeons.
8. Tower of Souls/Tower of Gods (Spirit Tracks)
The Legend of Zelda handheld games often get overlooked in favor of their desktop counterparts, and dungeons like the Tower of Souls certainly don’t help their cause. This dungeon requires players to revisit the same reset floors multiple times, which is frustrating and boring. Although some changes have made things easier, including stairways to skip past completed challenges and eliminating the time restriction, the dungeon still maintains its repetitive and nightmarish qualities.
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7. In Jabu Jabu’s Gut (Ocarina of Time)
Jabu Jabu’s Belly is a dungeon in Ocarina of Time that makes gamers cringe due to its escort mission involving Princess Ruto, a particularly annoying character. Her uselessness and the fact that players must carry her around only add to the frustration of the dungeon’s confusing organic design. To make matters worse, the mini-boss involves running in circles around a thorn-covered platform, which becomes tedious quickly. The dungeon was designed to test the limits of players’ patience, making it a place gamers hate to revisit. Because of the above, we consider Jabu Jabu’s Gut another of the most frustrating dungeons in the Zelda Franchise.
6. The Tower of Hera (A Link to the Past)
The Tower of Hera in A Link to the Past is like a cruel carnival ride that throws you around a room with a bouncing, erotic worm for a boss. Every time you fall through one of the many holes, you must start over from scratch. This is the thing that makes gamers throw their controllers, rage quit and even question their life choices. Moldorm is a fitting name for such a frustrating boss.
5. Temple of the Sea King (Phantom Hourglass)
The Temple of the Sea King is like a never-ending nightmare that puts players through multiple dungeons of frustration. It’s like trying to solve the same Rubik’s Cube repeatedly while a timer is ticking, and you have to avoid obstacles that will set you back even further. All this while there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, no shortcuts to make the journey any easier. Unsurprisingly, players would rather face a real-life kraken than tackle this daunting dungeon again.
4. Level 9 (The Legend of Zelda)
Level 9 of The Legend of Zelda is one of Zelda’s most frustrating dungeons. It just makes difficult-mode players scream in agony. The dungeon was filled with challenging enemies, and the rooms were designed to make you take damage. But what made it unbearable was that it was the last dungeon, and back in 1986, you couldn’t just hop on YouTube to look up a guide. And to make things worse, the game’s translation should have mentioned that you needed the Silver Arrows to defeat Ganon. So, players were left to figure it out independently, with the only option being to call up a friend or someone who had beaten the game before. It’s no wonder that many players probably tore their hair out in frustration while playing this dungeon.
3. The Great Palace (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)
The Grand Palace, the franchise’s third most challenging dungeon, takes its predecessors’ most frustrating aspects and amplifies them into frustrating dungeons. Deadly traps, relentless enemies, and two borderline unfair bosses combine to make it a challenge for all but the most skilled players. Add in the mandatory Thunder Spell, lack of explanations, and hidden corridors; you’ve got a recipe for frustration. Conquering this dungeon is a must-do for anyone who wants to be considered a member of the Zelda elite.
2. Temple of the Great Bay (Majora’s Mask)
The Temple of the Great Bay is a real headache. Its design requires you to switch streams constantly, with only vague color clues to help you. In addition, the Zora mask’s controls are so bad that even the boss battle becomes a nightmare. It’s like trying to swim upstream while blindfolded and wearing flippers. The result is a tedious and frustrating experience that makes you wonder why you ever decided to play this game in the first place. This is the dungeon for you if you’re looking for a challenge that tests your patience and sanity.
1. Water Temple (Ocarina of Time)
Water Temple takes the winning spot in this list of the most frustrating dungeons of the Zelda Franchise. To no one’s surprise, the water level is the one to crown the list. The experience of navigating the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time can be likened to being trapped in a swimming pool with no means of escape. It’s confusing, tedious, and requires you to wear heavy boots to get anywhere constantly. In addition, the lack of indicators for changing water levels means you’ll get lost and spend hours searching for hidden keys like they’re in the witness protection program. The worst part? You can get stuck and have to restart the game from the beginning. It’s no wonder the Water Temple is infamous for being one of the worst-designed dungeons in video game history.
Nintendo has had a long run in developing Zelda games for the franchise. Almost 40 years to be precise. So let’s hope they have learned from their mistakes — and these frustrating dungeons — and spare us of them in the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.