I Didn’t Realise How Much I’d Missed ‘Traditional’ Zelda Dungeons
Last year, hot off the back of Tears of the Kingdom, I wrote a piece expressing my love for Zelda’s ‘Modern’ dungeons. These puzzle-centric areas had been a little hit or miss, sure, but I found that there was a lot to like in each once I got past the general terminal-activation-ness of it all.
I thought I was over Zelda’s ‘Classic’ dungeon format — moving from one room to another via a series of puzzles, opening chests of increasingly flamboyant design and picking up unique items along the way. I thought the series was striding towards something new and I was excited by the prospect of that. I thought the Divine Beast formula was the future and I was ready to welcome it with open arms.
Last week, I started Echoes of Wisdom and, two rooms into Suthorn Ruins, realised I was completely wrong. ‘Traditional’ Zelda dungeons still absolutely have my heart, and I didn’t realise how much I had missed them until now.
I’m sure there will be a few of you out there who have already rinsed Echoes of Wisdom for all it has to offer. I am not at that stage — nowhere near, in fact. At the time of writing, I have only polished off the first three dungeons, and I’m avoiding internet spoilers like the plague. I will be discussing this initial trio of dungeons in some depth here so, if you’re also on a social media blackout, feel free to bookmark this one and come back when you’re ready…
As much as I’d like to be a good little Zelda fan and say the thing which excited me the most in Suthorn Ruins was a hidden bit of lore, room layout, or obscure returning monster, it was actually seeing a big ol’ boss door, with a big ol’ lock on it. What can I say? Years of “We have X terminals remaining” had left me desperate for a good bit of archway anticipation and I’m a sucker for an oversized keyhole. We’re so back.
But it wasn’t just the aesthetics. This opening dungeon delivered on just about every traditional touchstone I could think of: blocked-off rooms packed with enemies; switch puzzles which require moving a giant statue; a collection of small keys with just the right amount of backtracking required to find a home for them. In the grand scheme of quality Zelda dungeons, it’s nothing special; but as the first original classic-style Zelda in years, it brought me nothing but joy to be reintroduced to all these mechanics again.
Things aren’t all that puzzle-y on this first go-around, though the Ruins are essentially a tutorial this early in the game, so I’ll forgive it. Fortunately, the ensuing two dungeons felt the most ‘Zelda’ that the series has in years.
I first popped over to the Gerudo Desert (who’s trekking all the way North when you’re already in the general area?) and, after some Rift shenanigans, made a start on the Sanctum. This was more like it. We’re no strangers to a sand-themed temple at this point — heck, even TOTK offered one — but the puzzle layering had me reminiscing about classic Zelda in an instant.
Naturally, each room acts as a small challenge of its own with a gap to cross, flamethrower to navigate, or gang of monsters to defeat, but it’s the bigger underlying puzzles that sold me on this one. There’s a little bit of Ocarina of Time’s Deku Tree with a riddle that you’ll need to remember across multiple rooms and a pinch of The Minish Cap’s Deepwood Shrine with its piles of dust/sand. The TOTK freedom is still present and correct (I completely bypassed a seemingly immovable statue by trampolining over it), but all those puzzles stacked on top of each other provided some pure, classic dungeon-exploring.
Jabul Ruins kept the good times flowing. I’ve voiced my love for OOT’s Water Temple more than once, so you can only imagine my excitement when I first stepped on the big purple button in the dungeon’s opening room. It’s a puzzle built around changing water levels!
Now that I think about it, Vah Ruta delivered on the exact same mechanic back in Breath of the Wild (hey, I said modern dungeons are good), but there’s something about Jabul Ruins’ central fountain room that tickled my nostalgia all the same. Perhaps it’s how the water controls are divided into their own sections or the obvious colour-coded directions that connect each of them, but as I incrementally moved up the dungeon’s central chamber, it was OoT’s Water Temple or A Link to the Past’s Swamp Palace that leapt to mind before the Hero of Hyrule’s later adventures.
This one is more linear, it’s true, but after the best part of a decade with, “Here are your objectives, complete them in whatever order you like,” it’s nice to see something a little more structured make a return.
I’m still yet to discover the full extent of where Echoes of Wisdom goes after these first three areas (I’d be surprised if it weren’t another four dungeons), but the nostalgia is strong in everything I’ve seen so far. There’s a time and a place for less structured temples, and BOTW/TOTK have shown that it can work, but I had let that blind me to the series’ roots.
Welcome back, Big Keys. I’ve missed you.