General Zelda Worst Puzzles in Zelda

[Spirit]

Opinion list thread woo!

So, simple enough, in all of the Zelda games that you have played which games have had the worst puzzles and which puzzles in particular did you hate?

For Example, when compared to Wind Waker i think TP's puzzles were quite lacking, WW's weren't hard but they all poured in at a steady pace and were quite different each time but TP just felt low on them and made more of a meal of the puzzles you did come across, this isn't a bad thing but it did make me notice the puzzles in TP more and i did end up disliking a lot of them, for example; the Sacred Grove puzzle with the jumping guardian statues, i wasn't in there very long but it was as annoying as hell while i worked on cracking it... i'll never forget it and will always dread it.

Another puzzle i really hated was the Thunder Head puzzle on the Isle of Songs with that jewelled block, i have never really come across anything so forced as a puzzle mechanic as i have with that thing, very annoying and out of place.

Other puzzles i hate include the entirety of the tower of the Ocean King especially all that gem carrying and placing.

your turn!

 

[Ventus]

Worst puzzles as in too easy:
-Every enemy in Skyward Sword; includes bosses as well.
-Every dungeon bar Sky Keep; I realize that SS wouldn't be hard to a Zelda veteran, but Nintendo should take into account that they're rehashing puzzles out the wazoo.
-Jumping through the spider web in Ocarina of Time's Inside the Deku Tree.

Worst puzzles as in too complex:
-Water Temple
-Last two dungeons in Majora's Mask, ESPECIALLY Stone Tower Temple's upside mechanic
-A Link to the Past's Ice Palace
- Most water temples in general

 

[Kirino]

-Every dungeon bar Sky Keep; I realize that SS wouldn't be hard to a Zelda veteran, but Nintendo should take into account that they're rehashing puzzles out the wazoo.

How were SS puzzles rehashed?

Worst puzzles as in too complex:
-Water Temple
-Last two dungeons in Majora's Mask, ESPECIALLY Stone Tower Temple's upside mechanic
-A Link to the Past's Ice Palace
- Most water temples in general

I don't see how any of those were too complex. They were challenging, but not to the point where it became frustrating or a chore to complete them. I thought they were all fun. If anything, the complicated puzzles made it better and more fun.

 

[DarkestLink]

SS's puzzles felt...the easiest to me, but not the worst. The worst came from Wind Waker. Half of the dungeons relied on the Command Melody. This didn't just get repetitive...it was just ANNOYING. The earth temple especially was awful with those mirror puzzles AND the Command Melody. If it switched like ST, then maybe it'd just be moderately bad due to how repetitive it was...but the way they presented it...just awful. This isn't even going into the Triforce Hunt....

The overworld was terrible in this respect. Rather than giving you clues on where to go next, or just give a brief description, it would do one of the following.

1) Mark it on your map. ...Eh.

2) Leave you in the dark, ripping your hair out as you try to figure out what's part of the main quest and what's a sidequest.

 

[JuicieJ]

Zelda generally doesn't have bad puzzles, but the GameCube games definitely were the all-time low for the series in this regard. Some dungeons were fantastic (Earth Temple, Arbiter's Grounds), but others were downright horrible (Forbidden Woods, City in the Sky). Prior to and after the GameCube games, downright horrible dungeons are non-existent. They're just not a factor. So there's really no available choice but the puzzles from The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

The worst puzzles I can recall are those from Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Phantom Hourglass. They just didn't really do it for me, didn't leave me scratching me head wondering what it was I was supposed to do like the other games did, they were almost always straightforward to figure out (well, except for that statue puzzle in TP, I'll admit I was stuck there for like an hour... and I'll admit I really liked that one puzzle in PH where you had to close the ds to imprint that one emblem on the map, genius!)

 

[Mastersworddude]

Throwing a pot at it to open the door in LA. I dosen't really make sense and I can't believe I got stuck so long on it.

 

[JuicieJ]

Throwing a pot at it to open the door in LA. I dosen't really make sense and I can't believe I got stuck so long on it.

That one actually didn't take me that long to figure out -- I mean, come on, why else would jars have been in the room? -- but, yeah, that made no ****ing sense.

 

[Mastersworddude]

That one actually didn't take me that long to figure out -- I mean, come on, why else would jars have been in the room? -- but, yeah, that made no ****ing sense.

I broke them all looking for rupees, it wasn't until I realized they respawned when you came back did I figure it out. Still took took a while

 

[Not Take Mirror]

Puzzles where you have to step on a switch, light all the torches, or shoot the eye thingy with an arrow. It's so overused.

Block puzzles are kind of overused too but at least the good ones make you think.

One of the most frustrating for me was the bridge puzzle in Skyward Sword.

 

[JuicieJ]

Puzzles where you have to step on a switch, light all the torches, or shoot the eye thingy with an arrow. It's so overused.

Block puzzles are kind of overused too but at least the good ones make you think.

Thank God Skyward Sword eliminated the torch-lighting and kept the other three to a minimum. This was way overdue.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I think the best puzzles are the ones that make you confused, in my opinion that's what puzzles are all about. So in general that's why liked the statue puzzle in the Sacred Grove.

However even though I love TP I still think some of the puzzles were lacking especially in the Dungeons....For example the overuse of the lantern :/ I also thought the Temple of Time for the 6th dungeon in the game had some of the easiest and most lacking puzzles in the 3D era.

Though this doesn't really count as a concrete puzzle I just think the whole idea of making each specific enemy a puzzle was going to end up acting as a negative inmy eyes. Of course they tried to make combat and enemy encounters less of a chore however I quickly learned the easy ways of killing the enemies in SS. So every encounter felt more like a chore, just rince and repeat Etc. In fact I found myself trying to dodge each enemy after a while especially the Bokoblins.

Another puzzle I really hated was the Fire maze in the Fire Temple from OoT. I found this to be annoying more than anything else and make a slight turn and you're on fire :/ Every time i come to this Dungeon I try to rush through it due to my dislike of fire dungeons and this part always frustrates me, especially when trying to rush through.

 

[Cipher]

The one with the monkeys in Twilight Princess-it went by so fast I didn't even think it was a real dungeon. Also Wind Waker forbidden forest... and the forest temples/dungeons in general..

 

[Imprisoned]

Has anyone else found the Ends of the Earth Station in Spirit Tracks? o.0 I'm currently dying on it.

Also, the stone giant puzzle thing from Twilight Princess, the Isle of Songs puzzle, any of the water temples, (I really haven't played the Ocarina of Time one, I suck.) and the whole of Skykeep Temple.

 

[SuitedRoots]

Another puzzle I really hated was the Fire maze in the Fire Temple from OoT

I hate that maze! I can never remember where to go!

I also don't care for the MM Great Bay Temple. It just isn't an appealing idea to me. Although it has many elements like other water temples (manipulating the flow of water) the whole idea that one can only access certain parts of the dungeon based on that water flow is annoying to me.