Daily Debate: Which Of The Heavily Thematic Zelda Dungeons Is Most Memorable?

When it comes to dungeons, The Legend of Zelda loves its themes. The early, 3D entries, especially, doubled down on giving each temple a specific motif and sticking to it. Ocarina of Time’s Fire Temple, for instance, is a straight-up, no-nonsense, fire-themed level. The Wind Waker’s Forbidden Woods? That’s a forest dungeon if ever I’ve seen one.

More recent titles have experimented with multiple ingredients, with Twilight Princess’ Arbiter’s Grounds feeling more like a blend of desert and shadow. Similarly, the Ancient Cistern from Skyward Sword is definitely a hybrid of water and darkness. The Lanayru Mining Facility and Sandship, too, are clearly desert-based levels, but boast an additional layer of time travel to spice things up.

Today’s question is this: of the dungeons that adhered strictly to one particular theme or element– whether it be fire, water, ice, desert, shadow– which one do you think did it best? Which dungeon took the greatest advantage of its respective motif? For me, it’s tough. I love even the less “out there” dungeons from Twilight Princess– the Forest Temple and Lakebed Temple immediately spring to mind– but I’ve got to go with Ocarina of Time’s Spirit Temple.

Everything from the music, to the architecture, to the puzzles and traps evoke the sense of traversing an Egyptian tomb– something that I’m a huge sucker for. That concept was definitely taken to the next level with the aforementioned Arbiter’s Grounds, but again, that locale feels so much like an Egyptian tomb– poe chasing and all– that I tend to not consider it among the single-themed dungeons. Admittedly, I may be reaching a bit there, so I’ll let you decide whether Arbiter’s Grounds counts. Either way, consider that theme mastered!

What about you? Which dungeon do you think best embraced its particular theme or element? Let us know in the comments below!

This Daily Debate was inspired by Discord user @Spiritual Mask Salesman#7455.