The WORST Temple From Every Zelda Game
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VOICE OVER: Kasey Thompson
WRITTEN BY: Garrett Alden
From the frustrating depths of Jabu-Jabu's Belly to the mind-numbing Temple of the Ocean King, we're diving into the worst temples in Zelda history. Join us as we explore the most annoying, poorly designed, and downright terrible dungeons that made us want to throw our controllers! Our countdown includes infamous locations like the Great Bay Temple, Forsaken Fortress, Divine Beast Vah Naboris, and more! Which Zelda temple drove you crazy? Let us know in the comments!
The Worst Temple From Every Zelda Game
Garrett Alden
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most frustrating, poorly designed, and outright bad dungeons from “The Legend of Zelda” franchise. To be clear, we already have a video on the hardest temples in each game. This is not the same thing, though there will be some overlap. We also won’t be including any randomly generated dungeons.
Before it became associated with the Gorons, Death Mountain was synonymous with its namesake for “Zelda” fans. This absurdly convoluted dungeon is frustrating on a number of levels. It’s filled with the most difficult enemies in the game. Despite featuring 16 locked doors, there are only 4 keys inside, so if you didn’t get the Magical Key, you’re gonna’ have a bad time. Likewise, it’s also fairly easy to miss the Silver Arrows, which are the only thing that can beat Ganon at the end of it. Death Mountain’s obtuse design makes it not only difficult, but also straight up terrible.
The only thing “great” about this palace is the amount of annoyance it has caused gamers over the years…also the theme music. “Zelda II” in general is a miserable experience for many players, and its final dungeon cranks things up even further. The Great Palace is not only a veritable maze, filled with dead ends, lava, and obnoxious enemies, but its ending has you face two of the franchise’s toughest bosses - back to back! First, the Thunderbird, which is basically invincible unless you got the specific spell that works on it. Then, you have to fight a mirror match against Dark Link. Granted, your doppelganger is easy to cheese once you know how, but it’s hard to stumble onto it without a guide.
Although the Blue Mail you acquire in the Ice Palace is nice to have (who doesn’t love reducing your damage by half?), the rest of the dungeon is an exercise in frustration. The vast majority of the floor is slippery, which makes something as simple as walking more difficult. It’s highly likely that you’ll slip and fall between floors, leading to plenty of backtracking through a confusing mess of a dungeon. Much like shoveling snow or de-icing your stairs, the Ice Palace is less “winter wonderland” and more of an annoying chore.
Although this oft-remade “Zelda” title is generally pretty easy and fun, Eagle’s Tower is arguably a low point, despite how tall it is. The dungeon’s main mechanic revolves around breaking four pillars with a large ball. Some of the puzzles involving it are genuinely good, but after a while, it can be irritating to throw the ball over a wall and backtrack through half the dungeon just to pick it up again. The dungeon boss is also lackluster. The Evil Eagle that gives the tower its name is not defeated with the dungeon’s item, the Mirror Shield. Instead, you…attack it with your sword. We’ll grant that the boss fight’s presentation is novel, but ultimately, Eagle’s Tower simply doesn’t live up to its potential.
Yeah - that’s right! Worse than the Water Temple! Link’s sojourn in the literal belly of a beast is an annoying slog of an experience. Whether Jabu-Jabu’s Belly makes your stomach turn at the gross, fleshy aesthetic or not, there’s no denying how irritating it is to navigate. Keeping track of which fleshy columns were blocking which hallway is tricky, as is keeping Princess Ruto, whom you’re escorting, from falling down a hole or into water. You’re a Zora! Why can’t you swim?! Not to mention the jellyfish, all of which can stun you with electricity! Plus, it has one of the most difficult minibosses in “Zelda” history! Between all the backtracking, annoying enemies, and escort mission, Inside Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is a tough pill to swallow.
Another water dungeon, the Great Bay Temple has a confusing central mechanic involving redirecting water. The strong currents throughout can often send you in a direction you didn’t want to go, which leads to backtracking and more annoyance. While everything is color coded to make it easier in theory, in practice, most players still get lost. With the 3-day time limit in “Majora’s Mask,” there’s the added stress of a deadline if you can’t finish in time. It’s a real hassle, particularly if you’re looking for all the Stray Fairies. The minibosses and boss are obnoxious too, with the latter being particularly frustrating. Our advice - use a walkthrough, and cheese that stupid fish boss as much as possible.
Guess who’s back! Why are we still going inside this thing?! The electric enemies that made the inside of Jabu-Jabu annoying previously return, but this version of the dungeon has some new headaches. Like the Water Temple in “Ocarina of Time,” you must raise and lower water levels and navigate with a hookshot (or Switch Hook). However, given that it’s a 2D “Zelda” game, figuring out the water levels is even more difficult. Chances are, you’ll be backtracking a lot. And considering you’ll be doing so through spikes and annoying enemies, Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is once again a dungeon that turns our stomach.
Mazes are as well known for their simplicity as rocket science - so not at all. This particular maze is a fire and ice temple in one. The frigid shield portion is filled with those oh-so-pesky slippery floors. Meanwhile, the fiery sword floors are loaded with lava pits and a ton of enemies that will throw fire at you. One of these extremes would be bad enough, but both at the same time is truly the worst of both worlds. The only thing easier than getting lost in the Sword & Shield Maze is getting frustrated by the whole experience.
“You know what everyone loves? Mandatory stealth sections!” Clearly someone at Nintendo didn’t get the memo, because the first real dungeon in this game forces Link to give up his newly acquired sword to sneak around in barrels. The Forsaken Fortress’ wide open, yet somehow confusing design certainly doesn’t help, nor does the fact that you have to revisit the area a second time later in the game. Absence doesn’t make our hearts grow fonder either! The second time around has a couple of decent boss fights, but the rest of the layout hasn’t changed enough for it to be any less tedious. The Forsaken Fortress kills the momentum of the game not once, but twice! That’s enough for us to forsake it entirely.
Even some of the worst dungeons have good things about them, like their atmosphere, mechanics, or theme music. The Cave of No Return isn’t especially difficult or frustrating, though the fact that it’s set entirely in darkness is pretty annoying. No, the Cave of No Return is just…boring. It’s an early tutorial dungeon meant to teach you how to control 4 Links in concert or work together to solve puzzles. Beyond that, there’s not much to it. The “Zelda” franchise has had many introductory dungeons, but the Cave of No Return is one we’d rather not return to.
Can an ancient temple have false advertising? Because the Fortress of Winds doesn’t have any wind in it! Instead, what we get is a bog-standard dungeon whose central item gimmick involves digging - which kind of feels like the opposite of wind. Fortress of Winds is also fairly easy to get lost in and the many moving portions make getting through it quickly more difficult. Even the boss is the same “head and two disembodied hands” boss we’ve seen a million times before in Nintendo games. While Fortress of Winds isn’t the worst dungeon, it simply doesn’t do as many new or interesting things compared to the others in “The Minish Cap.”
Linearity in dungeon design is one thing, but the Palace of Twilight is basically 2 straight lines! The majority of this dungeon boils down to retrieving a pair of light orbs from the end of several long hallways. The boss fight is something of a letdown too, since Zant, the fake out big bad of the game, merely repeats the patterns of bosses seen earlier in the game. Don’t get us wrong, the atmosphere and eerie environment of the Palace of Twilight is fantastic. But when most of the dungeon involves doing the same fetch quest twice in a row, followed by what’s basically a boss rush, the Palace of Twilight just can’t stack up to the wild creativity of the rest of “Twilight Princess.”
Imagine if Nintendo decided to include all the worst things about temples, like forced stealth sections, time limits, or returning multiple times, into one temple. Well, you don’t have to imagine, because Temple of the Ocean King is, unfortunately, real. You can only survive so long inside the temple, giving you a strict time limit, which is drained by Phantoms. And to keep your time, you’ll want to avoid Phantoms as much as possible. To beat “Phantom Hourglass,” you’ll have to return to this temple no less than four times, and having to redo the puzzles becomes a chore after the second. It’s the mark of a terrible temple that this one drags down its entire game.
Another central dungeon like its predecessor, the Tower of Spirits is an improvement in some ways over Temple of the Ocean King. For one, you don’t need to repeat sections you’ve already completed. Being able to possess Phantoms is also pretty cool. However, the Tower of Spirits is a whopping 30 floors long! And its later levels include some surprisingly complex puzzles that can be frustrating to complete. By the time we’re done with it, we just wish the Tower of Spirits would live up to the title of its game and make “tracks.”
Despite often being called a black sheep among “Zelda” games for its awkward control scheme, “Skyward Sword” has some really solid temples. Arguably the weakest of them is the Earth Temple. A fire temple by another name, the Earth Temple is extremely short and only has about 3 rooms in total. Rolling around on a boulder is pretty fun and the boss is a decent challenge. However, the dungeon item is just bombs, which doesn’t change up gameplay that much. And did anyone else struggle with finding that stupid crack in the wall? “Skyward Sword” has some of the most inventive dungeons in “Zelda” history, so yet another fire temple just can’t hold a candle to the rest.
This is one of those “love it or hate it” temples, and we…aren’t fans. To be fair, this version of the Dark Palace is an improvement over its counterpart from “A Link to the Past.” It makes the lantern, often derided as a useless item, absolutely essential. Its sporadic use of color and a challenging boss fight are also highpoints. However, the ever-present darkness makes everything from puzzles, to enemies, to finding your way around that much more difficult. If Dark Palace was a shot in the dark, then it would definitely be a miss.
Minecart levels can be an exercise in frustration, and this “Zelda” take on it is no exception. Hinox Mine sees your trio of Links forced to go round and round on carts. You open up new paths by throwing bombs and shooting switches with arrows. Timing is everything, and hitting small targets while in-motion isn’t the easiest thing in the world. If you miss, you’ll have to wait for your chance again, and if you miss more than once, you’re gonna’ start hating this dungeon really quick! Plus, these difficulties are only compounded when you’re playing co-op. A gold mine this dungeon is not!
Traditional temples went out the window in “Breath of the Wild” in favor of the Divine Beasts. While most of them are fairly easy and straightforward, Vah Naboris has a reputation for frustration. To progress, you must rotate the cylinder of its body to connect electrical currents. This isn’t exactly the most intuitive puzzle for many, and led to plenty of head scratching over how to solve it. But players’ ire only increased when we faced the boss, Thunderblight Ganon. Not only is this thing wicked fast, it will also stun you if you don’t have shock resistant potions or clothing. Even if you came prepared, Thunderblight remains one of the toughest bosses in the game. Vah Naboris overall is like desert sand - irritating.
Tragically, Nintendo didn’t learn their lesson about minecart levels after the Hinox Mine. Link and his companion Yunobo are supposed to travel along several mine tracks throughout this large, open temple to hit several gongs to unlock the way to the boss. Granted, the boss is straightforward, as it’s a fire version of a longstanding spider boss, but the rest of the temple can be confusing and frustrating to navigate. Perhaps that’s why many people just decide to climb the walls to reach the gongs or else craft vehicles to bypass the intended routes entirely. When players find it easier to skip large sections of a temple, maybe it doesn’t have the best design…
While the idea of setting a dungeon inside a living being is great in theory, it has rarely led to a good dungeon - see Jabu-Jabu. Set within the final villain Null, Null’s Body does offer something new by having Link fight alongside Zelda. However, fighting is primarily all you do together, as the puzzles aren’t very involved and Link’s A.I. makes us “hyah!” at our screens sometimes. Null itself makes for a decent boss fight, with echoes of the previous bosses returning. However, Null’s Body is an incredibly short dungeon overall. It feels like they could have done so much more with Link and Zelda working together. In other words, this temple doesn’t make us mad - just disappointed.
Is there a “Zelda” dungeon from these games you think was worse than our picks? Con-temple-ate your most hated and share them in the comments!
Garrett Alden
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most frustrating, poorly designed, and outright bad dungeons from “The Legend of Zelda” franchise. To be clear, we already have a video on the hardest temples in each game. This is not the same thing, though there will be some overlap. We also won’t be including any randomly generated dungeons.
Death Mountain (Re-read full intro)
“The Legend of Zelda” (1986)Before it became associated with the Gorons, Death Mountain was synonymous with its namesake for “Zelda” fans. This absurdly convoluted dungeon is frustrating on a number of levels. It’s filled with the most difficult enemies in the game. Despite featuring 16 locked doors, there are only 4 keys inside, so if you didn’t get the Magical Key, you’re gonna’ have a bad time. Likewise, it’s also fairly easy to miss the Silver Arrows, which are the only thing that can beat Ganon at the end of it. Death Mountain’s obtuse design makes it not only difficult, but also straight up terrible.
Great Palace (Re-read full intro)
“Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” (1987)The only thing “great” about this palace is the amount of annoyance it has caused gamers over the years…also the theme music. “Zelda II” in general is a miserable experience for many players, and its final dungeon cranks things up even further. The Great Palace is not only a veritable maze, filled with dead ends, lava, and obnoxious enemies, but its ending has you face two of the franchise’s toughest bosses - back to back! First, the Thunderbird, which is basically invincible unless you got the specific spell that works on it. Then, you have to fight a mirror match against Dark Link. Granted, your doppelganger is easy to cheese once you know how, but it’s hard to stumble onto it without a guide.
Ice Palace
“The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” (1991)Although the Blue Mail you acquire in the Ice Palace is nice to have (who doesn’t love reducing your damage by half?), the rest of the dungeon is an exercise in frustration. The vast majority of the floor is slippery, which makes something as simple as walking more difficult. It’s highly likely that you’ll slip and fall between floors, leading to plenty of backtracking through a confusing mess of a dungeon. Much like shoveling snow or de-icing your stairs, the Ice Palace is less “winter wonderland” and more of an annoying chore.
Eagle’s Tower
“The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening” (1993)Although this oft-remade “Zelda” title is generally pretty easy and fun, Eagle’s Tower is arguably a low point, despite how tall it is. The dungeon’s main mechanic revolves around breaking four pillars with a large ball. Some of the puzzles involving it are genuinely good, but after a while, it can be irritating to throw the ball over a wall and backtrack through half the dungeon just to pick it up again. The dungeon boss is also lackluster. The Evil Eagle that gives the tower its name is not defeated with the dungeon’s item, the Mirror Shield. Instead, you…attack it with your sword. We’ll grant that the boss fight’s presentation is novel, but ultimately, Eagle’s Tower simply doesn’t live up to its potential.
Inside Jabu-Jabu’s Belly
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)Yeah - that’s right! Worse than the Water Temple! Link’s sojourn in the literal belly of a beast is an annoying slog of an experience. Whether Jabu-Jabu’s Belly makes your stomach turn at the gross, fleshy aesthetic or not, there’s no denying how irritating it is to navigate. Keeping track of which fleshy columns were blocking which hallway is tricky, as is keeping Princess Ruto, whom you’re escorting, from falling down a hole or into water. You’re a Zora! Why can’t you swim?! Not to mention the jellyfish, all of which can stun you with electricity! Plus, it has one of the most difficult minibosses in “Zelda” history! Between all the backtracking, annoying enemies, and escort mission, Inside Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is a tough pill to swallow.
Great Bay Temple
“The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” (2000)Another water dungeon, the Great Bay Temple has a confusing central mechanic involving redirecting water. The strong currents throughout can often send you in a direction you didn’t want to go, which leads to backtracking and more annoyance. While everything is color coded to make it easier in theory, in practice, most players still get lost. With the 3-day time limit in “Majora’s Mask,” there’s the added stress of a deadline if you can’t finish in time. It’s a real hassle, particularly if you’re looking for all the Stray Fairies. The minibosses and boss are obnoxious too, with the latter being particularly frustrating. Our advice - use a walkthrough, and cheese that stupid fish boss as much as possible.
Jabu-Jabu’s Belly
“The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages” (2001)Guess who’s back! Why are we still going inside this thing?! The electric enemies that made the inside of Jabu-Jabu annoying previously return, but this version of the dungeon has some new headaches. Like the Water Temple in “Ocarina of Time,” you must raise and lower water levels and navigate with a hookshot (or Switch Hook). However, given that it’s a 2D “Zelda” game, figuring out the water levels is even more difficult. Chances are, you’ll be backtracking a lot. And considering you’ll be doing so through spikes and annoying enemies, Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is once again a dungeon that turns our stomach.
Sword & Shield Maze
“The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons” (2001)Mazes are as well known for their simplicity as rocket science - so not at all. This particular maze is a fire and ice temple in one. The frigid shield portion is filled with those oh-so-pesky slippery floors. Meanwhile, the fiery sword floors are loaded with lava pits and a ton of enemies that will throw fire at you. One of these extremes would be bad enough, but both at the same time is truly the worst of both worlds. The only thing easier than getting lost in the Sword & Shield Maze is getting frustrated by the whole experience.
Forsaken Fortress
“The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker” (2002)“You know what everyone loves? Mandatory stealth sections!” Clearly someone at Nintendo didn’t get the memo, because the first real dungeon in this game forces Link to give up his newly acquired sword to sneak around in barrels. The Forsaken Fortress’ wide open, yet somehow confusing design certainly doesn’t help, nor does the fact that you have to revisit the area a second time later in the game. Absence doesn’t make our hearts grow fonder either! The second time around has a couple of decent boss fights, but the rest of the layout hasn’t changed enough for it to be any less tedious. The Forsaken Fortress kills the momentum of the game not once, but twice! That’s enough for us to forsake it entirely.
Cave of No Return
“The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures” (2004)Even some of the worst dungeons have good things about them, like their atmosphere, mechanics, or theme music. The Cave of No Return isn’t especially difficult or frustrating, though the fact that it’s set entirely in darkness is pretty annoying. No, the Cave of No Return is just…boring. It’s an early tutorial dungeon meant to teach you how to control 4 Links in concert or work together to solve puzzles. Beyond that, there’s not much to it. The “Zelda” franchise has had many introductory dungeons, but the Cave of No Return is one we’d rather not return to.
Fortress of Winds
“The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap” (2005)Can an ancient temple have false advertising? Because the Fortress of Winds doesn’t have any wind in it! Instead, what we get is a bog-standard dungeon whose central item gimmick involves digging - which kind of feels like the opposite of wind. Fortress of Winds is also fairly easy to get lost in and the many moving portions make getting through it quickly more difficult. Even the boss is the same “head and two disembodied hands” boss we’ve seen a million times before in Nintendo games. While Fortress of Winds isn’t the worst dungeon, it simply doesn’t do as many new or interesting things compared to the others in “The Minish Cap.”
Palace of Twilight
“The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” (2006)Linearity in dungeon design is one thing, but the Palace of Twilight is basically 2 straight lines! The majority of this dungeon boils down to retrieving a pair of light orbs from the end of several long hallways. The boss fight is something of a letdown too, since Zant, the fake out big bad of the game, merely repeats the patterns of bosses seen earlier in the game. Don’t get us wrong, the atmosphere and eerie environment of the Palace of Twilight is fantastic. But when most of the dungeon involves doing the same fetch quest twice in a row, followed by what’s basically a boss rush, the Palace of Twilight just can’t stack up to the wild creativity of the rest of “Twilight Princess.”
Temple of the Ocean King
“The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass” (2007)Imagine if Nintendo decided to include all the worst things about temples, like forced stealth sections, time limits, or returning multiple times, into one temple. Well, you don’t have to imagine, because Temple of the Ocean King is, unfortunately, real. You can only survive so long inside the temple, giving you a strict time limit, which is drained by Phantoms. And to keep your time, you’ll want to avoid Phantoms as much as possible. To beat “Phantom Hourglass,” you’ll have to return to this temple no less than four times, and having to redo the puzzles becomes a chore after the second. It’s the mark of a terrible temple that this one drags down its entire game.
Tower of Spirits
“The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks” (2009)Another central dungeon like its predecessor, the Tower of Spirits is an improvement in some ways over Temple of the Ocean King. For one, you don’t need to repeat sections you’ve already completed. Being able to possess Phantoms is also pretty cool. However, the Tower of Spirits is a whopping 30 floors long! And its later levels include some surprisingly complex puzzles that can be frustrating to complete. By the time we’re done with it, we just wish the Tower of Spirits would live up to the title of its game and make “tracks.”
Earth Temple
“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” (2011)Despite often being called a black sheep among “Zelda” games for its awkward control scheme, “Skyward Sword” has some really solid temples. Arguably the weakest of them is the Earth Temple. A fire temple by another name, the Earth Temple is extremely short and only has about 3 rooms in total. Rolling around on a boulder is pretty fun and the boss is a decent challenge. However, the dungeon item is just bombs, which doesn’t change up gameplay that much. And did anyone else struggle with finding that stupid crack in the wall? “Skyward Sword” has some of the most inventive dungeons in “Zelda” history, so yet another fire temple just can’t hold a candle to the rest.
Dark Palace
“The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds” (2013)This is one of those “love it or hate it” temples, and we…aren’t fans. To be fair, this version of the Dark Palace is an improvement over its counterpart from “A Link to the Past.” It makes the lantern, often derided as a useless item, absolutely essential. Its sporadic use of color and a challenging boss fight are also highpoints. However, the ever-present darkness makes everything from puzzles, to enemies, to finding your way around that much more difficult. If Dark Palace was a shot in the dark, then it would definitely be a miss.
Hinox Mine
“The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes” (2015)Minecart levels can be an exercise in frustration, and this “Zelda” take on it is no exception. Hinox Mine sees your trio of Links forced to go round and round on carts. You open up new paths by throwing bombs and shooting switches with arrows. Timing is everything, and hitting small targets while in-motion isn’t the easiest thing in the world. If you miss, you’ll have to wait for your chance again, and if you miss more than once, you’re gonna’ start hating this dungeon really quick! Plus, these difficulties are only compounded when you’re playing co-op. A gold mine this dungeon is not!
Divine Beast Vah Naboris
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” (2017)Traditional temples went out the window in “Breath of the Wild” in favor of the Divine Beasts. While most of them are fairly easy and straightforward, Vah Naboris has a reputation for frustration. To progress, you must rotate the cylinder of its body to connect electrical currents. This isn’t exactly the most intuitive puzzle for many, and led to plenty of head scratching over how to solve it. But players’ ire only increased when we faced the boss, Thunderblight Ganon. Not only is this thing wicked fast, it will also stun you if you don’t have shock resistant potions or clothing. Even if you came prepared, Thunderblight remains one of the toughest bosses in the game. Vah Naboris overall is like desert sand - irritating.
Fire Temple
“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” (2023)Tragically, Nintendo didn’t learn their lesson about minecart levels after the Hinox Mine. Link and his companion Yunobo are supposed to travel along several mine tracks throughout this large, open temple to hit several gongs to unlock the way to the boss. Granted, the boss is straightforward, as it’s a fire version of a longstanding spider boss, but the rest of the temple can be confusing and frustrating to navigate. Perhaps that’s why many people just decide to climb the walls to reach the gongs or else craft vehicles to bypass the intended routes entirely. When players find it easier to skip large sections of a temple, maybe it doesn’t have the best design…
Null’s Body
“The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” (2024)While the idea of setting a dungeon inside a living being is great in theory, it has rarely led to a good dungeon - see Jabu-Jabu. Set within the final villain Null, Null’s Body does offer something new by having Link fight alongside Zelda. However, fighting is primarily all you do together, as the puzzles aren’t very involved and Link’s A.I. makes us “hyah!” at our screens sometimes. Null itself makes for a decent boss fight, with echoes of the previous bosses returning. However, Null’s Body is an incredibly short dungeon overall. It feels like they could have done so much more with Link and Zelda working together. In other words, this temple doesn’t make us mad - just disappointed.
Is there a “Zelda” dungeon from these games you think was worse than our picks? Con-temple-ate your most hated and share them in the comments!
