Daily Debate: What Zelda Puzzle Has Made You the Most Grateful for Guides?
Posted on January 06 2025 by Kora Burton
Going into the the recent holiday season and emerging into the new year, I’ve recently set a goal for myself to finish a few games I’ve fallen just shy of beating over the last couple of years. Given the timing of the more recent Zelda releases which arrested my attention, some life stuff, and my terrible habit of setting games aside for a breather right as I approach the final, toughest bosses, there are several games I’ve done dirty and allowed to gather dust. One of these titles was the acclaimed Zelda-like Tunic, which I just finished a couple of days ago. The game deserves all the praise it has received, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet; honestly, I’ve gotten so used to the typical $60-$70 USD triple-A game price that it’s unbelievable that a game of this quality, ambiance, and the amount of content it contains goes for $30 on the Switch (although I’ve seen it go on sale for as much as 50% off!). I’m already trying to decide how much time I should give myself before replaying it, as I find myself still pondering its many secrets, lore, and drip-fed story whenever I have a free moment.
That said, while the game includes collectable manual pages to decipher that give you hints and guide you on your quest, I would still be slamming my head against the wall trying to figure out some of the major end-game puzzles had I not had access to some really helpful guides online. I know for me that kind of frustration can keep me from enjoying a game, or finishing it at all, as I turn to games to relax from life’s stresses, rather than add to them. While the puzzles that I could solve on my own were satisfying, following a guide allowed me to feel like I was progressing and didn’t diminish the value of these puzzles for me — although sometimes it did leave me scratching my head as to how the developers thought anyone would figure some of them out!
Following this experience, my question to you is this: what Zelda puzzle or puzzle sequence has made you thank Hylia for guides, whether they be official or unofficial strategy references, websites like ours, video tutorials, etc.?
Often for me, following instructions for solving a puzzle in a guide is less about learning the answer right away, and more just trying to change my frame of mind for how to approach the predicament. In newer Zelda titles, I find myself looking these things up less often because the puzzles are being designed in ways I’ve come to expect and can anticipate. When playing older titles, however, sometimes I just need to flip the right switch in my brain to get on the same page as the game logic then vs. now. An example I can think of is playing Oracle of Seasons and encountering the blue and red statue-matching puzzle during the Poison Moth’s Lair dungeon. It’s not a difficult puzzle, and nowhere near one of the hardest puzzles in the series, but for a little while I just wasn’t approaching it from the right angle. Once I referenced our very own Zelda Dungeon walkthrough, though, I realized what I was doing wrong and could take the reins just fine from there.
On this topic, I’ve also been considering other questions. Is there such a thing as a puzzle that’s “too hard?” Should developers really expect players to figure things out on their own after a certain point of design esotericism? With more recent Zelda games slammed for their disappointing puzzles according to some fans, what should be the middle ground?
There’s no shame in looking for a little outside guidance on your journey — so let us know down in the comments below what Zelda series puzzles had you counting on the adventurers who went before you.
Kora started writing for Zelda Dungeon in 2022, leading up to Tears of the Kingdom‘s release, and now assists the writing team as an Executive Editor. She also works as a college administrator assisting students with their travel, research, and internship goals. She’s an avid lover of board games, fantasy fiction, and DragonCon, and is a mother to a kid in the stars.
