Basically, the game often guided you directly or indirectly. The first three dungeons are easy to find, and it's reasonable to do them out of order, but after that the game becomes more linear. In the third dungeon, an old man introduces you to the waterfall to get the 2nd sword. From here, the only path to the fourth dungeon is with your new raft from Dungeon 3. In Dungeon 4, another old man tells you to walk IN the waterfall, which leads you to an old woman, who explains how to reach Dungeon 5. In Dungeon 5, you get the stepladder, which leads you to Dungeon 6. In Dungeon 6, you have yet another old man who tells you how to find Dungeon 7. And I forget if it's Dungeon 7 or 8 which has an old man telling you how to reach Death Mountain.
While there's a pattern of the game telling you where you need to go, there's also indirect methods of guiding you. For example, once the game pushes you to check out the waterfall, you have explored the east. Once Dungeon 5 is done, the logical next step is to explore the west. This, alongside your new stepladder, would lead you to Dungeon 6. There are hidden areas, but most of the important ones are obvious. For example, the magic ring is at a dead end with two statues and nothing else.
The only really random hiding spot is Dungeon 8, beneath some random tree. But even then, it was clear to me that it would be underneath a tree. Why? Because in Dungeon 7, I had just received a new red candle that I could use as many times as I want per screen. To me it seemed obvious that the path forward involved burning trees.
