ZD Top 5 – A Link Between Worlds Dungeons – Staff Picks

Having now been a few weeks since the launch of A Link Between Worlds, we’ve decided to make the newest top listing focus on the dungeons from the game. This week we have a number of staff members that list what they thought were the best dungeons in the game, along with a brief reasoning of their picks. Go ahead and make the jump to check out this weeks listing.

Mases Hagopian

5. Turtle Rock
4. House of Gales
3. Swamp Palace
2. Lorule Castle
1. Desert Palace

A Link Between Worlds had a lot of themed dungeons and the Desert Palace stood out most to me. I enjoyed the uniqueness of some of the puzzles involving the Sand Rod. I also thought the four different chambers of Lorule Castle were fun and challenging.

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Josh Zelinsky

5. Turtle Rock
4. Swamp Palace
3. Desert Palace
2. Dark Palace
1. Ice Ruins

I enjoyed the Ice Ruins the most of any dungeon, and the game felt extremely satisfying my first time playing it because it was my last Sage. It had a great uniqueness and puzzle solving aspect found in no other dungeon, and it took me the longest time to complete. I especially liked the Dark Palace as well due to its completely dark nature, along with some of the puzzles that were rather complex. The dungeon’s greatness is shown when I’m proud to say I had absolutely no idea how to reach the dungeon item.

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SkyruleArcher

5. Lorule Castle
4. Swamp Palace
3. Desert Palace
2. Turtle Rock
1. Thieves’ Hideout

I really enjoyed the Thieves’ Hideout because it felt so unique. This dungeon was the first in a long time to not require a specific item, even though almost all were helpful. The boss, a re-imagined Blind the Thief, was my favorite boss in the game. I also enjoyed Turtle Rock, as the level-switching puzzles were both challenging and fun.

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Cameron

5. Swamp Palace
4. Skull Woods
3. Dark Palace
2. Lorule Castle
1. Ice Ruins

Ice Ruins was the absolute standout to me, so many floors, so intricate, so slippery, all with that constant reminder that there is a very, VERY long drop to a pit of lava. I loved Lorule Castle having four separate, distinct mini-bosses. Dark Palace, Skull Woods, and Swamp Palace were dungeons that I really liked in A Link to the Past and these iterations of the dungeons are slightly less confusing and much more enjoyable. Honorable mentions to Thieve’s Hideout and House of Gales.

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Brian

5. Thieves’ Hideout
4. Dark Palace
3. Skull Woods
2. Ice Ruins
1. Lorule Castle

I don’t believe that there was a single dungeon in A Link Between Worlds that I found to be uninteresting or sub-par, but of course, some are more memorable than others. Topping my list is what I believe to be the single most epic dungeon in the game, with some fantastic theme music, great puzzles and a structure similar to Ganon’s Tower in The Wind Waker. Having multiple boss fights did well to lead up to the ending of the game. The Ice Ruins were particularly tricky, as I decided to do them earlier on. The enemies hit hard, the puzzles were tricky and the build-up (scaling the mountain through the mines) was absolutely excellent. Coming in third place is the Skull Woods, simply because it kept the brilliant structure that it had in A Link to the Past. While, again, there is not a single dungeon which I disliked, each of my top five are thematically interesting dungeons with some really great gameplay!