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Roar_Of_War on 18 August 2018
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mZuzek said:
Roar_Of_War said:

The first dungeon is terrible and tedious, the 2nd is the same, the third is the same, Stone tower is literally the only good dungeon in that game lol

ironically, all of BOTW’s dungeons are similar to Stone Tower in some ways due to the divine beast gimmick. Just shorter and less tedious.

And Majora’s Mask is probably one of the few exceptions where the dungeons are SLIGHTLY complex. Tedious and boring, but slightly complex. Every dungeon in OoT, TP and SS are incredibly simple, just stretched out longer and visually interesting. Majora’s Mask fans tend to agree that the dungeons are the worst part of that game as well.

Admit it, most Zelda dungeons are overrated due to how ‘long’ and ‘cool looking’ they are. The puzzles themselves are just as simple as BOTW divine beasts at best or even MORE simple at worst. The only times you get stuck is when you can’t find a chest or a switch, not because of a head scratching puzzle or any sort of complexity.

So tell me what exactly about BotW is complex. Nothing? Yeah, that sounds about right. I can't think of a single thing in the entirety of BotW that is complex, in fact that's the reason the game is so good: because it manages to make everything seem simple and easy to understand.

Complexity doesn't mean quality. Zelda dungeons were never the most complex stuff ever (though there are some that are quite tricky, such as the Water Temple, Stone Tower Temple, Lakebed Temple, Sky Keep and more), but they were interesting and fun. They were an essential part of what makes Zelda itself, even dating back to the original NES game. I don't dislike BotW at all and I think the excessive hate on its dungeons is a little unjustified, but it is true that they're simply not a replacement for what the previous games had. I commend BotW for featuring loads of physics-based puzzles, because they feel quite natural and intuitive, but ultimately it did lead to 4 incredibly short and easy dungeons which are also sadly devoid of any thematic variety. Thankfully, the DLC Final Trial was an amazing dungeon which managed to bring with it some truly clever puzzles and took longer than 20 minutes. But overall, it is an aspect in which the game is lacking when compared to the likes Ocarina of Time or Skyward Sword.

Edit: also, I still think there's plenty of value in BotW's dungeons. Vah Naboris is particularly great, and it left me an amazing impression as it was my first one. The use of darkness in Vah Rudania was pretty interesting. And Vah Medoh, while an absolute joke of a dungeon, is thematically cool.

My entire point is that BOTW and past Zelda dungeons are all simplistic. What even isthe point of your first paragraph? I never said BOTW was complex, my point is that past Zelda games aren’t much, if at all, better in dungeon complexity. BOTW dungeons are short, and thats the primary difference, aside from having less of them.

Past Zelda dungeons arr just longer and look visually interesting. Gameplay wise, most of them aren’t better than divine beasts. A lot of older Zelda’s like OoT, in fact, have boring block pushing puzzles and torch puzzles littered everywhere. I see nothing there better than BOTW.

What’s better about past dungeons? Longer and aesthetics. That’s about it save for a few cool ones here and there. Not a single one of you has been able to tell me ‘why’ past dungeons are better from a gameplay perspective, aside from longer + more + visually. I’d like to hear it, cuz I certainly don’t see it. I am talking about batting average, of course SOME past Zelda dungeons stand above some others, but I’m talking about the majority.

This isn’t to completely dismiss past Zelda dungeons, only in comparison to BOTW dungeons are they overrated. 

Last edited by Roar_Of_War - on 18 August 2018