Top 10 Ocarina of Time Dungeons

The second dungeon that you’ll venture through as Child Link is Dodongo’s Cavern. Located on the Death Mountain Trail, Dodongo’s Cavern holds the main food source for the nearby Goron residents – but it’s been blocked up by that pesky Ganondorf in retaliation against the Gorons for not revealing their Spiritual Stone secrets. After “blowing the bloody door off” the entrance you’re welcomed by a huge cavernous space and a protruding Dodongo skull in the distance. It’s a lot larger than the first dungeon, composed of several larger cave-esque rooms all linked with narrow tunnels. However, where I think Dodongo’s Cavern really succeeds is its variety. There’s a really nice balance of puzzles and enemies in this dungeon. Whether it’s blowing up a room full of smaller Dodongos, or blowing up an entire staircase, the dungeon’s item – the Bomb Bag – comes in handy for blowing up pretty much everything here. Where Dodongo’s Cavern “caves-in” is the personality, it’s quite a plain dungeon compared to some of the others on this list and doesn’t really have a theme/gimmick that makes it stand out. It’s a solid Child Link dungeon but resides in the shadows of other OoT dungeons.

The second and last mini-dungeon on this list (spoilers – sorry Ice Cavern) is Gerudo Training Ground. This mini-dungeon is a cornucopia of rooms that each have a different theme – I’ve read in places that some people aren’t fans of this feature, as it creates a feeling of disjointedness – but they say “variety is the spice of life” and personally I think it’s a neat touch. The central area of GTG is a maze of locked doors. Each of the “mini-themed-rooms” provides a small key once you’ve completed the puzzle or tackled the enemies, and you ultimately collect enough of these to work towards the treasure at the centre of said maze. What I really like about GTG is that you need a lot of weapons to be able to make progress. As is common in Zelda, the item you obtain within the dungeon is usually the only one you need to beat all puzzles and the boss. However, in GTG you’ll need the Fairy Bow, Iron Boots, Lens of Truth and more if you want to get to that sweet treasure chest music at the end of this delightful miniature dungeon.

The final dungeon in OoT and where the “King of Thieves” Ganondorf resides, is Ganon’s Castle. Standing where Hyrule Castle stood as Child Link, Ganon’s Castle floats over a bed of lava, which you can only access after saving all six sages from the previous dungeons. Ganon’s Castle is composed of two “sections” – the first is a large hexagonal room with six doors representing each of the Sages saved. Behind those doors are puzzle-themed rooms that have (loose) connections to the corresponding dungeon. It offers a nice bit of variety, similarly to Gerudo Training Ground, which is fitting given Ganon’s Gerudo heritage. Once you’ve cleared all six rooms, the barrier surrounding the centre column disappears, allowing you to proceed to the second section – a spiral ascent to the top of the castle, and Ganondorf. The ascent in particular is super immersive – there’s a constant loop of organ music that grows in volume the closer you get to the summit. The cutscene that follows when you enter the final room shows that it was in fact Ganon who was busking away. He’d make a fine musician should this Hyrule-domination thing backfire. What persues is a boss fight with Ganondorf including the usual staples like dead man’s volley. Once victorious, Ganondorf uses the last of his power to hit the self-destruct button on the Castle, forcing you to flee to the bottom with Zelda whilst dodging small fires, falling rocks, and Stalfos. There is of course the final fight, but I feel like this is a stand-alone thing. Overall, it’s a fantastic final Zelda dungeon that brings together everything you’ve learnt throughout the game and gets you to use them to thwart that troublesome warlock.

The top three dungeons on this list shouldn’t be any surprise to the OoT fans out there. They’re probably at the top of 99% of similar lists – but it’s for good reason. The Shadow Temple impressively takes the aesthetic and theme of the mini-dungeon that comes immediately before it (Bottom of the Well) but completely nails it whilst simultaneously avoiding a feeling of repetition, or retreading old-ground. What the Shadow Temple delivers is a dark, depressing, and doom-filled dungeon with misery seeping out of every brick. Guillotines, rotating scythes, skeletal Stalfos, poison water – this dungeon has it all. Shadow Temple experiments and differs from previous dungeons, feeling more like a sequence of staged set pieces due to its linear progression, rather than being more exposed and open. The constant downward slope, revealing more disturbing Hyrule truths is like a descent into madness, before you peel back the curtain at the end to see the evils lurking behind. A nice little touch with this dungeon is how you enter – there’s a raised platform with numerous unlit touches that obviously need some attention. It’s the only instance in the game where you have to use Din’s Fire and it’s refreshing when a game keeps giving you reasons to use some of the previously obtained items.

Not only is the Forest Temple my favourite OoT dungeon, but it’s a strong contender for my favourite Zelda dungeon in the entire franchise. Buried deep within the Lost Woods at the end of the Sacred Forest Meadow, this dungeon – seemingly – comes out of nowhere. As Child Link, you map out the Lost Woods early on in the game, assuming there’s nothing more for it to offer. However, come back as Adult Link, and the Forest Temple entrance is right there, cleverly placed out of reach but now accessible with the nifty Hook Shot. It’s like you couldn’t see the wood for the trees…ahem. The first Adult dungeon, the Forest Temple is a perfect concoction of immersion, aesthetic and intensity. The creepy and eerie architecture of this corroding “haunted mansion in the woods” is magnificently and perpetually reinforced by the sinister music. There’s a part of the Forest Temple theme that always sounded like bones clashing together and as a 9-year-old boy, it had me on edge. It’s no surprise that the skeletal Stalfos and “bone-masked” Phantom Ganon appear here – the music clearly a prelude to their terrifying presence. The dungeon is also filled with tricks – whether it’s chasing down the four Poes (named after the Little Women) through picture frames, or wandering down twisting, Escher-style hallways – the Forest Temple keeps you guessing at every turn. There are even moments of light, serene greenery and picturesque beauty in the outdoor garden sections that substantially juxtapose the dark, haunting indoor segments. It’s difficult to not let the Forest Temple come to mind when trying to think of the “perfect Zelda dungeon”, but just like OoT being the greatest game of all time, I think it’s an accolade the Forest Temple deserves.