Favorite/Least Favorite Dungeons

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I actually enjoy the Water Temple. I don't find that it drags at all, and I find paying attention to what boundaries open for you at each water level - and when you get the Longshot - to be pretty fun. I also like how it rewards you for having Din's Fire; that lets you backtrack inside the main room's central tower if need be.
Pretty sure I've said this before, but the only room in the Water Temple I don't really care for is the ramp up to the boss door. There's a thread idea: Favorite/Least favorite dungeon rooms.

 

[Dizzi]

I actually enjoy the Water Temple. I don't find that it drags at all, and I find paying attention to what boundaries open for you at each water level - and when you get the Longshot - to be pretty fun. I also like how it rewards you for having Din's Fire; that lets you backtrack inside the main room's central tower if need be.
Pretty sure I've said this before, but the only room in the Water Temple I don't really care for is the ramp up to the boss door. There's a thread idea: Favorite/Least favorite dungeon rooms.

You can make the thread yourself...

 

[Doc]

How have I never responded to this??

Favorite Dungeons

Arbiter's Grounds
I think this dungeon had an interesting lore to it that really came through in its design and atmosphere. Similar to the Shadow Temple, it felt like a bad place for a bad time. The death motif was always present and combined well with the sand theme. Gameplaywise, it was the first dungeon after gaining the ability to transform from wolf to human, and I think this is the only that incorporates that into its design. As much as fighting as the wolf isn't the best, I still think it did a solid job making the wolf a part of the level.

Earth Temple
Similar to the Arbiter's Grounds, I really liked the atmosphere of this dungeon. It was dark and creepy. But it had fun light puzzles and Medli had a good range of use (in comparison to Makar). My only complaint is it was just too difficult switching back and forth into her character, as it made certain puzzles tedious, like the room with all the mirrors.

Tower of Hera

This dungeon gets so much hate and I get it, the boss is annoying when you have to restart. BUT, something about this dungeon's layout is awesome to me, and I really enjoy how compact it feels. I think I also like having to deal with the beetles that bounce you back and stuff, knocking them off the edge always feels like more of a puzzle than a fight to me.

Least Favorites

Wind Temple

The Earth Temple's counterpart, I just find this one so boring. I enjoy the theming, but this dungeon is just frustrating to navigate and the music is so dull. It's also the least linear dungeon of this game, and I think that hurts it more than anything else because it just becomes a hassle trying to find where to go. Moving from floor to floor on the central area was a hassle and it wasn't fun trying to scale it with the hookshot.

Water Temple

Are reasons even necessary here?

Divine Beasts

These were just disappointing, we should have seen a lot more out of them. Each one was just a large room with five disconnected puzzles.

 

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

The sparseness of the Divine Beasts seems to be the tradeoff for Breath of the Wild's overworld being one huge dungeon in its own way and it having a ton more demi-dungeons.

I have a hard time picking favorites because I like so many of the dungeons a lot.. Maybe instead of trying I should just go into what I like about each of them.

 

[Zoraslake]

This is my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkq3Ro_M80

My first Dungeon & my most fav

 

[TatlMajora]

I love the Snowhead dungeon from Majora's Mask the best since it's all fun and platformy. Killing Goht is pretty fun since he has an arena where you can roll around and kill him.

 

[twilitfalchion]

Favorites:

Wind Temple (WW)
Snowpeak Ruins (TP)
Dragon Roost Cavern (WW)
Arbiter's Grounds (TP)
Water Temple (OoT)

Least favorites:

Shadow Temple (OoT)
Fire Temple (OoT)
Tower of Hera (ALttP)
Lakebed Temple (TP)

 

[TheHeroofTime]

Favorites:

1. Forest Temple (Ocarina of Time). In my opinion, the Forest Temple is a perfect dungeon. I love everything about this dungeon. It's fun, atmospheric, beautifully and mysteriously thematic, and the music is ascended to a higher plane. The central theme of defeating the four poe sisters was really cool and satisfying to accomplish. The visual design is gorgeous and varied; the crumbling mansion in the deep forest is just such a fantastic concept. That's not to mention the awesome boss fight at the end, in the eerie and dark gallery.
2. Stone Tower Temple (Majora's Mask). I love towers and ancient structures. Stone Tower is dark and full of mysteries. The thematic elements are perfect, and the music is just so fitting for the location. Flipping the dungeon actually gave me pretty major spatial disorientation, something I didn't think videogames were capable of. It just really feels like you are exploring the highest, most ancient and evil place in Termina.
3. Ganon's Castle (Ocarina of Time). I still think that Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask have the best endings in gaming. Ocarina, though, has the better final dungeon (it actually has one). Even at this final dungeon, the game gives you one last item: the golden gauntlets. The sections leading up to the actual tower are lots of fun, but this dungeon really shines when you get to Ganon's Tower itself. Like I said earlier, I love towers. The final ascent is indescribable: Ganondorf's organ getting progressively more intense, the battles against the strongest enemies in the game, the ethereal light against the stain glass, and then the final climatic showdown with the King of Evil. The castle collapse and the battle against the Demon Thief's transformation. Perfection.
4. Shadow Temple (Ocarina of Time). I like linearity. I like dark and creepy places full of secrets best left buried. I like dungeons with powerful drum and chanting soundtracks. I like the feeling that this place should not have been disturbed. I like fighting my way past legions of the undead, boarding a boat to the underworld, and fighting a demon on top of a massive drum. This dungeon is simply awesome.
5. Spirit Temple (Ocarina of Time). I really like everything about this dungeon. It has some great puzzles, one of my favorite items in OoT, and of course, both the Iron Knuckle fights and Twinrova. The music is ethereal and resounding in a great way. The buildup is also really good too. Gerudo Desert is fun to explore, especially the Fortress stealth section.

Least Favorites:

1. Vah Rudania (Breath of the Wild). I already don't like the Divine Beasts much (except for Naboris), and Vah Rudania was the worst. The mechanics were not very much fun at all, the boss fight was absolutely pathetic, and to top it all off, I only mildly like Daruk.
2. Eagle's Tower (Link's Awakening). I got so lost in this dungeon. It took everything clever about the Tower of Hera to an extreme and made it incomprehensibly obtuse. Falling from the higher floors is just the worst feeling.

 

[jinzoningen17]

arbiters grounds, sky keep, ancient cistern, city in the sky, hyrule castle (botw and TP) are all amazinggg

i hate the water temple lol and lakebed temple is also kind of annoying. the divine beasts are all meh, not bad but really short and not what i wanted

 

[Chevywolf:30]

There's 2 things I consider important in a dungeon: Gameplay and story relevance. A good balance of those is essential.

The dungeon that did gameplay best was Arbiter's Grounds. It was great needing Wolf Link for the dungeon, the 2 part nature of it was good, the item fun and the boss fight incredible. Another one with fun gameplay was Lakebed Temple. I really enjoyed rotating the staircase around. One that I didn't enjoy the playing of was Goron Mines. There were just too many oppurtunites to die and have to backtrack the whole thing. Dodongo's Cavern was another one that I just didn't enjoy playing.
My favorite dungeon story wise is Fire Temple. Finding Goron City empty was unsettling, then going there and hearing from Darunia about Ganon locking them all up to feed to a dragon that could only be defeated with a hammer... You then had to free all the Gorons and find the hammer, surprise surprise. It's one of the rare times the dungeon item plays well into the story. You then defeat the dragon once and for all. Snowpeak Ruins had a good story as well. The temples from WW get a shoutout as well.
A dungeon that did story very poorly was Forest Temple. It's just "Hey, Saria is a sage, go rescue her from this temple". Then Ganon shows up out of nowhere.
City in the Sky was terrible on both counts. Ocucco was saying she needed to check on everyone because she had been gone so long, but the she doesn't have any special role in it. Gameplay just sucked.
The Twilight Realm is probably the best balanced one imo. It doesn't hurt that the boss fight is so significant, as well as this is where I had really started to grow fond of Midna. Gameplay wise, it was straightforward, simple and fun, getting the Sols to get more power for your sword.

 

[Dark Boo]

Temple of the Ocean King.
Is this Zelda or Metal Gear?

 

[Waffle Dee]

Favorite:
Spirit Temple
Least Favorite:
Woodfall Temple

 

[kikwi_lopsa]

favorite: twilight palace and vah naboris
least favorite: water temple 100%

 

[Greenie]

Ocarina of Time has my favorite dungeons in the series and I love all of them for a multitude of reasons. It's hard to pick one, but I think I will make my case for the Water Temple. I think it is the first dungeon of the game to really make you think about how you approach it in layers; as in being aware of what paths open up and close depending on where the water elevation is at. I like the complexity it brings to the exploration and it complements the central room style of dungeon the Water Temple is designed as. The Dark Link fight is awesome and I also enjoy the Morpha fight. On a puzzle basis I have fun with how water is used as both an assistance to you and an obstacle at times. It makes great use of the Hookshot specifically which is by far and way my favorite item in the game. Furthermore I appreciate how the dungeon allows you to skip keys if you are clever enough about it which makes it possible to clear the dungeon without even having the bow.

I understood the frustration many people have with this dungeon but as I got older I find the arguments just fall flat. I did get lost in it a lot as a kid, but it didn't instill any distaste for it in me. The temple gives you the map and compass very quickly and easily so you will always know exactly where the keys you missed are. I also never minded pausing to use the Iron Boots; for one it doesn't even happen as often as you would think and two the 3DS version completely nullifies this complaint. The Golden Scale, Farore's Wind and save warping can alleviate much of the Iron Boots usage otherwise. Farore's Wind even helps you skip messing with the water levels at points.

I know not many people feel this way, but I personally love water in video games most of the time. Any game that lets me swim and dive underwater at my leisure is always exciting on some level to me. I love swimming and I feel like it is freeing in a way, which is ironic since most people's gripes with water in video games come down to the restrictions it imposes on you. I'm not saying I innately like any water level in any game, but in my opinion the Zelda series has done underwater stuff consistently well for the most part. It should be no surprise that I think fondly of things like the Lakebed Temple and Ancient Cistern too.

 

[Princess Niki]

Abriters Grounds is my favorite dungeon in the series solely cuz of how much fun the spinner is to use in it.

Least favorite are most dungeons in Adventure of Link cuz of how unfair enemy placement in them are.