Best/Worst 3D Dungeon

[Mellow Ezlo]

I know a "Favorite/Least Favorite Dungeons" exists as a sticky in this section, but this is more specific. IThe topic of this thread focuses more on the 3D Dungeons, that is, the main dungeons that appear in the core 3D games (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword). For the purpose of this thread, I consider "main" dungeons to be ones that contain Heart Containers, so excluding mini dungeons like The Ice Cavern, Ikana Castle, or Pirate Stronghold. I also include all Final Dungeons with the exception of The Moon, since the real "dungeon" part of it is completely optional. Taking these criteria into account, there are a total of 36 dungeons considered between these five games.

I'll list my personal favourite and least favourites later, but I'd like to see your thoughts first!

 

[Jamie]

Oh this is a tough one for me. I love the dungeons in TWW so I almost picked that but, even though I didn't like the game very much, Skyward Sword's dungeons were probably the best as far as 3D games go (that prize would probably go to one of TMC, OoS, OoA or LA otherwise). Everything from the mechanics to the layout to the bosses were great.

 

[the8thark]

The Best - Twilight Princess
The Worst - Wind Waker

 

[Jamie]

Oh yeah, the worst. Forgot about that. Well, I suppose I'd order them like so
1. Squidward Sword
2. Wind Waker
3. Majora's Mask (would have contended for #1 if not for the water temple)
4. Twilight Princess
5. Ocarina of Time

Found Twilight Princess dungeons to be pretty lame and boring for the most part, except there were some cool bosses. Didn't like basically any of the adult dungeons on OoT. So I'd give it to OoT for the worst.

 

[MW7]

I'd go with

1. Ocarina of Time - The Forest and Water Temples in particular are extremely replayable for me. They are nonlinear and can be completed in different ways/orders. I've obsessed over the Water Temple in the past by trying to figure out the fastest way through it. At one point I had a save file just for the Water Temple, and I've probably beaten it several hundred times. The child dungeons weren't my favorite, but I loved the adult dungeons except for the Fire Temple. I thought the design of the Spirit Temple was pretty clever as well.

2. Skyward Sword - I love the Sandship and Sky Keep. The Sandship was another dungeon that I created a save file just to replay and analyzed like crazy to figure out the fastest way through. I didn't like the Earth Temple or Fire Sanctuary, but I liked the aesthetics of the Ancient Cistern and the time shift mechanic introduced in Lanayru Mining Facility.

3. Twilight Princess - I only loved the Snowpeak Ruins, but I felt that the game had consistently high caliber dungeons. If I had to criticize one, it would be the Palace of Twilight, but other than that I wouldn't have anything bad to say about any of them. Snowpeak was my favorite for several reasons - the atmosphere, the ice block puzzles, the misleading directions, and as far as I know the only instance in the series where knowledge of the location of a key can speed you through subsequent playthoughs (the key buried in snow). I also particularly liked the aesthetic of the Lakebed Temple. Even reaching the temple seemed awesome because it's hidden in a lake, and I thought the flowing water led to some good puzzles.

4. Majora's Mask - Overall it just didn't have many dungeons, but I loved Snowhead, Great Bay, and Stone Tower Temple. Woodfall is kind of boring compared to the others.

5. Wind Waker - The dungeons were good but not great. This is the only game that didn't have a dungeon that really stood out that I loved. The Tower of the Gods and Earth Temple were probably my favorites. I liked the use of Medli for puzzles a lot, and transporting statues also led to good puzzles.

One pattern that I noticed is that the two games with the best out of dungeon experiences ended up at the bottom of my list. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess had most of their best moments within dungeons. To me it seems clear that the game designers spent a greater portion of their time on dungeons for these games and it shows. Skyward Sword is kind of in between.