Here’s Why Traditional Dungeons Got Axed in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I still would have liked a Zelda 2 Great Palace to find off in the distance or something, or a Tower of Hera near Death Mountain. Something in the ocean... just three more epic dungeons aside from the divine beasts. I mean c’mon. Its Zelda and the kingdom was so big.

Go back to labyrinthine mazes like the original Zelda.

Interesting, but the divine beasts themselves felt short too.

Based on this statement, would have been nice to have like 4 big dungeons the series is known for (with the divine beasts sort of unlocking the entrance to them)

But I'm sure this will improve overall. BotW was a first for the series, and I'm sure Nintendo will just keep polishing the games fro up here to truly deliver the best of both worlds.

Dungeon crawling was never an overall highlight of playing the Zelda series. If you want dungeon crawling there has always been better series for that.

The traditional old dungeons are like main meals, full and hearty meals. The current bite-size dungeons are tidbits, tasty but not fulfilling. It's a good thing for BotW, when you are tired of exploring, cooking or fighting those dumb camping goons, you pop in to one of these shrines to do some puzzles.

In BotW, exploration is the main meal, the dungeons are the snacks you eat between those meals.

@VR32F1END That would have been a great way to do it! Something either off the coast of Hateno or the southern coast, far enough that you just see it on the horizon. Maybe you could get the Wind Waker from another of these dungeons to make the wind stronger, allowing you to fly there?

Also, something in the emptiness of the Hebra region, and maybe on Mt Lanayru?

These three dungeons would be good if they had an order you had to complete them in, so these 3 at least can have some kind of progression.

I liked the shrines. They were fun to find, and I enjoyed the diverse, physics-based puzzles in them. Divine Beasts were also interesting on a conceptual level.

Dungeons always left me with mixed feelings in traditional Zelda games. Whenever I approached a dungeon, I was of course interested in what was to come, but also exasperated that I would probably spend a good 2 hours or more inside. Exploration has always been my favorite part of Zelda, so the fact that the team behind BotW managed to keep the puzzle-solving of traditional dungeons while maintaining that flow of exploration is truly admirable IMO.

My favourite experiences in Zelda were always the overworld explorations so by spending less time in the shrines and dungeons the better. I wouldn't have minded some thematic variety though with differences in interior design.

The shrines are fun but can't say the same thing about the devine beast's. After the first all have the same same feeling. I would prefer to divide de world map in two with 3/4 dungeons in each that you can sort in any order and gave the shrines as side quest's that give you weapon and armour upgrades. When finished with the first half you have the special equipment required on the second half of the map/dungeons

The explanation in the article makes sense to me. Exploring the over world was so involving that I wouldn't want to spend 2 hours in a shrine, so I welcomed this bite sized puzzle dungeon approach. If they reuse this system, I want traditional dungeonstyle this time though. Perhaps there could be about 5 large ones-- big enough to be worthwhile, but not too many as to get wore out on. Or maybe a single, super large dungeon that opens more as you progress in the game and/or acquire key items/weapons. I'm open, Nintendo!

It was a welcomed change, for sure. However, I hope they don’t completely abandon the original formulas forever. And give us another 2D Zelda from time to time. Thanks.

Seeing the tagline, I loved the Water Temple. The Fire Temple was terribly designed, though, with tons of back-tracking.

The shrines were awesome, some really fun puzzles to be had.

I would like to see shrines return in the next Zelda with the addition of traditional dungeons.

I’m very thankful for the change BOTW brought and I hope they continue to innovate and improve the series.

But pls not another 5 years wait! Till then, master mode!

I did like the short shrines but many were too similar to each other. I would have loved a couple of really big immersive dungeons. I hope they do that for the next game.

I wasn't a fan of the new layout. Between that and the more traditional format, I 100% prefer the latter. That said, it's not like I need it to be identical or anything. Just closer to the traditional way.

I also agree with the posts that said that the shrines felt very repetitive after a while. They all sort of "felt" identical in nature, even if the puzzles themselves may have differed. And while the interior shrine music was kind of cool and mystical, after hearing it for 10 minute stretches over 100 times... holy crap did it become tiresome to me.

Not a fan of shrines. Too much emphasis in exploration and not enough on meaningful and rewarding dungeons. I'd rather spend 2 hours in a dungeon and 2 hours trying to figure out how to get into it then running aimlessly from place to place to see if there was something under a rock(metaphor).

Love how the developers work from building the gameplay first and then wrap their story around that. I know there’s a lot of ways to go about it - and many build the story first - but this seems a unique way to do it.

As a matter of fact I was thinking about this too. The thing is, the more freedom you give the player in an open world, the more restricted the dungeons have to be. Like the director said, play time will be focused on the dungeons instead of the overworld.

I'm not sure why it was so important for them to be seen from far. It would have been cool to have to find them hidden away somewhere using hints from people in a nearby town or something.

And while I enjoyed the shrines, the fact that they were all exactly the same thematically was disappointing. In the next game if they use a similar idea, I'd like for them to at least use basic thematic elements matching the region like snow, lava, forest, etc.

Also the completely identical tests of strength shrines could have at least had different varieties of enemies in them. You literally had to fight one of the exact same generic mini guardian in 3 difficulties

At least in BotW the silly puzzles made sense from a narrative point of view: they were made to test the hero, and were created by an advanced civilization.

Whereas in the older games the temples had strange puzzles and overly complicated locking mechanics just for the sake of having them. Think of the Yeti Cabin in Twilight Princess: it's the home for the two Yetis, yet there are overly complicated mechanisms for opening closed doors. It makes little sense when it comes to the story.

So in that sense the shrines and divine beasts feel more organic than the temples in most of the 3D games. Much akin to the organic feel of the old 2D titles.

I really missed the standard dungeons. They were all so different. They really were unique. The divine beast were more of the same, but with a Tiny twist. I really prefer the longer dungeons with a wider variaty of bosses

Next Zelda to be future Zelda! Lazer swords, guns, robots, hyrule as a huge city and the baron wastelands that engulf it... Upgradable weapons and armour too.

Sounds fun to me haha

The problem with the shrines is that they were mostly exactly the same, with very few dungeon elements or challenges. Beating yet another guardian became boring very quickly.

Divine Beasts were a fun challenge but ultimately, too short. I really want more traditional dungeons for the next Zelda.Having something like shrines too is fun just make less of them next time so that there are less identical ones.

My one complaint about BotW is that the shrines, and devine beasts, all look pretty much the same inside. This consistent style is realistic I guess, as civilisations have a habit of building things in the same style, but it just made them feel a bit visually samey for me.

I can see their reasoning but there were far too many shrines and the divine beasts were barely any bigger anyway and outside of Rita were a bit boring. Half the amount of shrines and much bigger divine beasts with actual enemies that weren't those god awful guardians would improve the game, also some half decent bosses which aren't just bits of Ganon. Even just one huge optional dungeon would have made a massive difference.

I've just restarted Windwaker which doesn't have many dungeons yet for me it's probably the best 3D Zelda along with Ocarina and I don't get the Water temple bashing, I loved that one.

So yeah next time bring back some dungeons please

The Shrines were great, but at the same time though, I did miss the traditional dungeons. The Divine Beasts were a bit short although they were fun. The decision to go with the Shrines was correct, otherwise the landscape would have been too empty.

Worst idea ever and the reason I disliked botw. People who dont like dungeons in Zelda games are not Zelda fans, they just claim to be.

I would have preferred 4 traditional dungeons with varied themes over the Divine Beasts. I think that was really lacking. Everything else, shrines included - fine. But there is no way those beasts come anywhere close to some of the rich and varied dungeons in Zelda's history.

I'm still stuck in the Water Temple.
It's been 19 years... 🐟🐟🐟

I appreciated the efforts. I recognize the strengths of this concept. I ultimately felt as if the lack of dungeons did detract from my experience. I had like long exploration based dungeons. The lack of those was probably the biggest detractor to my enjoyment in the entire game. It is a major concern of mine that Nintendo seems to want to use Breath of the Wild as the go-to example for future Zelda development, and I feel this almost solely based on how they did the dungeons.

I loved the shrine concept and it totally works for the game. I also love the divine beasts but I would have liked a couple of traditional dungeons too. Maybe for the next game they could have a mix - perhaps three huuuuuuge themed dungeons in order to get the master sword or something and shrines for hearts/stamina again?

@Gridatttack Exactly.

@Nincompoop You hungry bro?

I liked the Shrine concept. However, sometimes I they seemed a bit short and left me wanting them to be a bit bigger.

I think they could have maybe added an extra style of Shrine, one that looked different on the outside, that maybe took 30-45 minutes to complete and just have 10 of them as an addition to the other shrines.

I also like the idea someone else suggested of a few hidden secret places, like an underwater ruin or an ancient abandoned town hidden inside a mountain that were just places to explore with a few minor puzzles and maybe a boss at he end. . Even if it was just 30-45 minutes to explore them. And to have it as an exploration item rather than a standard dungeon would have been my preference.

They still need fully fleshed out dungeons, it would not detract from the game in any way. They could simply have optional items only obtainable in their respective dungeons but they would not be required to complete the game. Also they could give a little set of quests and story surrounding each dungeon and a key you can quest for in the world for each one. This way each one could be its own unique individual experience within the open world.

To me, having big, traditional dungeons with a variety of themes, items and puzzles is what gives a Zelda game its signature. And here is where BotW came up short. The idea of shrines is good, but apart from a few interesting ones, they tend to be repetitive (hearing the monk after entering became annoying at some point). The divine beasts, except of the one in the desert, felt rather short. I am not sold on the argument that traditional dungeons are too long; for a game that requires 100+ hours to complete with most quests solved, spending 3 hours in one dungeon should not be a big deal, but it would make for great variety. I wish they would have made the overworld smaller in exchange for traditional dungeons. Just think back of some ingenious dungeons from past Zelda games, like the Forest Temple in OOT, Snow Temple in TP or the Stone Tower Temple in MM.

Personally liked the shrines though a few less test of strength shrines would be nice, would be interesting if the next zelda brought back dungeons and used them as narrative would be cool to enter a dungeon and after two hours you re emerge to find that your actions have fundamentally changed the world itself, that would keep exploring fresh.

Dang these beasts are hard on master mode dlc 2.

Was nice to get 12 fresh slightly "harder" shrines in the dlc

I liked the shrines and I LIKED THE WATER TEMPLE SO THERE!

There's still room for standard Zelda games with dungeons in my opinion. If Zelda games are only ever like BotW from now on, that means we'll only have 2 games per decade, and a shed load of 'go here then go here' side quests.

There's always DLC, but they need to up their game in that department if they adopt that strategy. The Champions' Ballad is ok, but when you see DLC on the likes of Horizon and Witcher 3 with whole new areas of world to explore, you start realising you paid £18 for not a great deal of content.

@Excalibur_120 I totally agree. I'd have much preferred spending a few hours in a dungeon, than spending a few hours doing side quests that you get in pretty much every single game these days.

Traditional dungeons are far better than the Divine Beasts. They better be bringing back traditional dungeons in the next game.

Also, make the world more interesting to explore. Add caves and hidden hideouts.

Oh, and for god sake stop making side quests lame fetch quests. Add some livelihood to them.

Also, in case anyone decides to reply to this comment with the smart remark of me being a troll; I can tell you now that you are horribly incorrect

I loved the Shrines (especially the DLC ones) and Devine Beasts too, but mostly because it really felt like you were inside this great beast, where you had to use the beast ability to get to the end.
It just all made sense.

@Lizuka

Gosh, you took the words right out of my mouth! I loved BotW's open world, but that was because it was fresh for Zelda. Another world just as big every few years would be a slog. Kind of the same reason I've cooled on the Xeno series, and Fire Emblem (I can only have so much strategy gameplay.) These styles of games take hundreds of hours to complete; it gets exhausting after so many.

What would I like them to do? Use BotW's engine and assets to create a traditional Zelda. Like a "buddy" game, that can even have bearing on BotW's story. Shorter development time, more money for Nintendo, traditional fans appeased. Who loses here?

I'm fairly new to the Zelda series, as I've only played 3 Zelda games besides BotW. In my opinion, this dungeon system is better than the one in Ocarina of Time (being in a dungeon for hours). Though, I would prefer about 5 main dungeons and, instead of 120+ shrines, about 50-80 slightly longer shrines. This shrine system works out really well and complements perfectly to the huge map it has, but if they were to make another Zelda open-world I would like it to be just a bit smaller with less shrines, but being a bit longer than the ones in BotW. Just my 2 cents.

Honestly speaking I strongly feel it needed a mix.. the shrines were cool n all but the game definitely would've benefited greatly from having a traditional dungeon in each area.

The idea I liked and enjoyed with the exception of the motion control dungeons. Nothing is worse than having to turn on the TV so I can see what I am doing after being required to flip the screen in my hand backwards or upside down.

I thought the Devine Beasts were interesting, but I wish there had been a longer dungeon at the ancient temple thing.

@MatthewHindmarsh Yes, I also couldn't help but end up with the impression that the overworld is so large, yet mostly so empty. The only incentive to visit those empty places is to collect Korok seeds, but the lack of proper reward makes it feel like a waste of time and a pointless task. Let me give you a comparison: In Super Mario Odyssey, you have a ton of power moons to collect, but at least it unlocks new costumes and new areas, which motivates me to continue playing and keep collecting. And what do you get in BotW for collecting the seeds? Only some extra slots for weapon/shield in the inventory, nothing more. (And you can max this out before collecting the 500th seed, after that, it becomes really pointless).

Oh, and before I forget, here is another reason why the argument about long times spent in traditional dungeons doesn't matter a big deal: Unlike with previous consoles, where you had to save your game and start from the beginning of the dungeon next time, you can just put the Switch in sleep mode and continue next time where you left off.

@Masurao Same here. And to be honest, I feel like that's the feel they were going for. And If you look at some of the elements of BotW's Hyrule overworld, you see ideas and concepts that you would normally find in a traditional Zelda dungeon. I do agree with the sentiment that the Divine Beast could have had a bit more to them (gameplay wise and aesthetically as well)

I much preferred the shrines and smaller dungeons in BotW. It helped alot with the pacing of the game. I find past Zelda games get bogged down in the dungeons. Most of them just drag on too long... especially that friggin' water temple...

I hope there are fewer Blessing shrines next time. On one hand, there are some that require you to pass a really cool challenge (Eventide Island), but then there are some that just give you the Spirit Orb, no puzzle, no fight, no satisfaction for getting the Spirit Orb.

Good explanation for a great game.

I liked the shrines, but I hope in later games that might include them have shrines more varied in design.

"We want to give the player absolut freedom of what he does!"
"We don't want that players can explore a large dungeon system and prefer to force him to spend hours on end on the overworld looking for shrines that repeat themselves because we ran out of ideas."

Seriously, shrines don't replace a dungeon, at all. They replace heart pieces that were always the reward for overworld exploration. And that would've been reward enough in BotW as well - Heart pieces and Stamina Pieces.

Why not the shrines plus the traditional dungeons in the various regions of Hyrule? I would’ve much rather had that than four main dungeons that didn’t last long at all. Still a damn good game though.

I thought the game suffered from the absense of dungeons, as the Divine beasts were simply too simple, empty, and uninspired to scratch the itch for a good Zelda dungeon.

@BlakeMorris

Thanks. Yes. The amount of emptiness in the overworld needed to be fixed just a little. I would have liked that one brutal dungeon or two that would be very elusive, and that I would get lost in. The mazes kind of satisfied this, but not by much. Zelda is known for going to certain unsuspecting places and persay playing a flute, then you have this terrifying place to conquer. It needed this place I would have suspense to unravel. Those are just my gripes. I still love the game; but I felt it needed just a few more labyrinths and enemy types.

Eh sorry, my rants go on and on.

Nope, sorry. Longer dungeons NEED to come back.

Look, BotW is an excellent game. I'm approaching 200 hours in it, normal and hero modes. It's an awesome, awesome game and will go down as one of the best ever made.

But it's not a Zelda game.

I hope the devs take what worked with BotW and find some way to make it more a ZELDA game next time. Some kind of combination of what works from the past and from BotW.

The lack of dungeons was the worst part about this game

@SLIGEACH_EIRE It was that mad thing early on where shrines were everywhere you looked, then as the game progressed it became a rabid hunt for those last few. I really enjoyed the mechanics of the Divine Beasts as well...somehow I reckon the next game will go back to big dungeons again.

Nintendo, botw is one of the best games in zelda series, and one of the best games ever. I felt like the whole world was one big dungeon. You could count the labyrinths, hyrule castle, ancient temple, etc... all as lite-dungeons. But I would love for botw2 to have everything from first game, but dungeons and specific items needed to beat them.

I loved the shrine system. I've always felt overwhelmed with previous 3D Zelda dungeons, having to consult player's guides by dungeon 3 in most games. Was even able to figure out the divine beasts nearly entirely on my own. having a wife who primarily plays puzzle games is very helpful. I really hope the next Zelda also has a ton of fun, fast mini dungeons, though they can definitely spice up combat shrines with multiple and different enemies instead of just one enemy with a ton of HP that becomes easy to defeat once you figure out how to properly defeat it.

Actually going back to the Windwaker connection that game did a fantastic job of incorporating its dungeons naturally into the world. Along with how it handled you using enemy weapons, it's a shame they didn't look to this more for inspiration

@SanderEvers

YES... i like BOTW but a new 2d title would be awesome. up the graphics 1000% and make a new link to the past type game.

take ma monies!

too bad the divine beasts are the worst part of BOTW, them and the boss fights.

well, i see their point, but instead of spending too much time in dungeons we spent too much time in empty open world ...it is an amazing game, but if only there was much less shrines but with higher difficulty

@Alikan "Was even able to figure out the divine beasts nearly entirely on my own." ....Zelda games arent for stupid players

The only thing I want them to change is to patch in a way of earning the rare amiibo stuff for those of us unwilling to pay several hundred pounds to buy all the amiibo required to unlock everything. Other than that, I agree with the general consensus that this is a strong contender for best game ever made.

anyways why do you hate the water temple ? whether we are talking about OoT or MM, they were always highlights of their games

It doesn't have to be old versus new. I liked the shrines, they were fun to discover and often more fun to figure out how to get to or get into, but the actual puzzles lacked the narrative depth and context of a traditional Zelda dungeon, which is why they fell flat for me after a while. I like traditional Zelda dungeons, because they have depth and context within the world. There are many examples, but for a simple one look to the Great Deku Tree from Ocarina: Ganondorf sent Ghoma to poison and destroy his enemy, Link has to go into the tree and battle the spiders that are infecting it. There's a narrative there, one that's reflected in the enemies (skultullas) and puzzles (burn webs) within the dungeon. The divine beasts did not scratch that itch because they were too simple and same-ey in design, scope, and narrative (an elemental piece of ganon has taken over a mechanical creature).

There's no reason we shouldn't have both. Imagine BotW as it is now, but in a handful of places in the world, you find a traditional Zelda dungeon. Saving the dragon Naydra almost scratched that itch for me. What if after battling Naydra over the mountain you had to descend into a shrine to end the curse instead of just being done? What if there was one for each of the three dragons? Even just 2-3 traditional dungeons would have elevated the game in my opinion, even if they were only side quests.

@Excalibur_120 I agree with you to an extent about the dungeons, but I just want to point out why BotW was so good for me.

I work full time and am married with kids, so dedicating a solid 3 hours to gaming is very rare. I recently started play Windwaker HD on the Wii U and it took me a whole weekend (three separate sessions) to complete one of the dungeons because real life was getting in the way. I have never had this issue on BotW. I can pick up and play when it suits me and if I only have 20 mins to play, no problem.

I do miss the traditional dungeons, but I’m also kinda grateful BotW didn’t have them.

Roughly half of the people here don't know how to spell divine, which is sadder than BOTW's lack of traditional dungeons

Stylistically the shrines and divine beasts all looked the same. That's my problem. Nothing felt unique. Just wishy-washy sameness.

I'm okay with the shrine system, but I would have really enjoyed some long ones and medium ones along with the short ones, and the Divine Beasts are undoubtedly some of the worst large dungeons in the series, at least that I've experienced so far.

And please don't make all the dungeons have the same theme next time. That's incredibly unimaginative and boring.

I like this idea, but I would have also liked a few larger dungeons that appeared after you reached a certain point, much like how the Master Sword was done.

Dungeons were always the best part of Zelda in my opinion. Sort of a 2:1 overworld exploration to dungeon ratio. I'd usually spend a play session or two to get the dungeon and then be excited to come back the next night and play through a whole dungeon in one sitting (unless it was a head scratcher and I needed a break). Whoever said "Zelda isn't for dungeon crawling" is seriously on crack. I liked the change of pace with the shrines but thought they could have used some design and theme variation.

@BlackenedHalo Merry Christmas to you too.

One of the best games I've ever played, for sure.

But next time I think it would be even better with, say, 15 of the shrines being very elaborate small dungeons. Maybe not even "dungeons" but just, really super elaborate shrines that kind of act the way a small dungeon would. That way when you find a shrine it's exciting, but then the bigger ones could look like the ones in the DLC2 pack where they're taller. So when you see one of those it would be even more exciting because you just found one of the big ones.

Aside from that just a few more hidden places around the world like the labyrinths and the Lost Woods quest in the dark... maybe some tunnel in a mountain that goes deep down into an underground dungeon...

Just a few more things like that and the next one could be perfect

I love the change of pace. We’ve had five 3D Zelda games in a row that focus on dungeons. The last thing I want to do in botw is to spend 2 hours in a dungeon when there’s so much to explore.

Simply put Death to the old Dungeon system.

It was one of the longest drawn out unchanged flaws to the franchise that was wearing out its welcome as much as the fact each game felt like mostly a re-run of the last with wide open areas that were long and fairly boring to cross around that. It got tedious as much as it was annoying.

The change to the areas of the world being a pseudo dungeon working to get that special item to then having the opening of the divine beast be much like the mid-boss fight made far more sense and helped the game flow so so much smoother, better.

No, the shrines were repetitive and mostly boring. Had the overworld been less empty and had more things to see and explore (ruins, caves, etc) then their design choices would have been fine.

I like water temples ... I like to dive etc...

I think, for me what was missing in BOTW was the different themed dungeons like in Ocarinas fire temple,water temple, forest temple and so on. It would have been nice to have had the the 120 odd shrines divided and given a theme with some taking on an overgrown forestry look and some with lava waterfalls etc just to break them up a bit whilst still giving a subtle not to Zelda games of old. I remember always being disappointed with Majora only having 4 dungeons. Also why was there no shooting gallery included in BOTW. I used to love shooting rupees to earn a bigger quiver etc.

@andywitmyer Glad I wasn't the only one annoyed by that. Apparently, it's okay to forget all about your education and mess up spelling when you're online. And don't even get me started on popular language and abbreviations of game names...

I don't like the new style Zelda game though. It has less soul in it. Those old dungeons had some real atmosphere. It's not really there in the new one and that's why it's to me forgettable experience. Just plain

The shrines are okay, they serve moreso as landmarks and progress trackers than as dungeons.

What IS a problem are the 4 main dungeons with the Divine Beasts. There's no reason why they couldn't have served as BotW's take on the traditional dungeons, with wildly different architectures and unique puzzles/tools associated with them. (Like Majora's Mask had for it's 4 main dungeons.) Instead, they all have the same architecture, and the puzzles use the same old tools you got from the beginning of the game on the Great Plateau. Not to mention the Divine Beasts at the end of them aren't unique either, they're just variations of the same type of boss. Imagine if you had to fight a variation of Ghost Ganon in every future era temple of Ocarina of Time, along with every temple resembling the Forest Temple. That's how it is in BotW.

All in all, the dungeons are definitely a weak point of BotW. (Except for Hyrule Castle, which is excellent, aside from lacking Darknut duels and human-based Stalfos that would team up using more intelligent AI than monster skeletons... seriously, what's up with that!?)

And to be honest, there are other weak points associated with the lack of traditional dungeons too- Settling for a poorly executed, disjointed story; providing less incentive for creating a fully fledged soundtrack played throughout the whole adventure; and endlessly recycling the generic, copy-pasted humanoid monsters and ancient mechs. Those are just a few things, but those three are proof positive that as good as BotW is as a whole, it's still incomplete in several ways.

They had to wrap up development to get it out the door, and they had to expend resources on making the NS port within a year to coincide with the NS launch, instead of putting everything into perfecting a single Wii U version. In other words, the lack of traditional dungeons is a key reminder of how BotW is not as good as it could have been. It's only worth an 8/10, or a 9/10 if you're being extra generous, and definitely isn't worth a 10/10 like the critical press claims.

Oh well, hopefully the Cemu modding community can add on some crazy awesome stuff to pick up the slack. As for the inevitable NS exclusive Zelda adventure, hopefully that improves on BotW in every way, with low console sales not being a factor impeding development.

I liked the water temple especially the two boss fights

What they could do is continue the open world theme, but throw a few dungeons in that share some of that space and gameplay style. In other words, you could have several underground sections, or large buildings with multiple entrances that can easily be visited more than once. These dungeons would be aesthetically distinct and a little harder than the overworld, and they might have some puzzles that lead you to an ultimate boss or item, but they would still mesh well enough that the line between dungeon and overworld is blurred. Being able to teleport out at any time might help to make these dungeons feel a little freer as well. Breath of the Wild's version of Lost Woods is the closest thing in the game to what I'm imagining.

“At least there wasn't a water temple...”
I like the the Water Temple in OoT 3D (but do find it annoying on N64).

It's so funny (read: sad) to see that so many people seem to think that they know better what the game needs than the actual creators and developers of the Zelda series themselves...

Another sad thing is all the negativity and whining/moaning. Don't like it? Don't play it. No one is forcing any of you.

Breath of the Wild is a stellar game, and the explanation that they gave for the way it is constructed/built up, is completely logical and understandable, and it shows that the development team is able to think on its feet on how to make the various game elements become more in tune with each other.

There are very valid reasons for there not to be traditional dungeons, but all some people can utter is "No, me no listen, me want dungeon. Otherwise, Zelda game not Zelda game" /caveman impression.

They friggin' explained WHY there couldn't be any traditional dungeons in this Zelda game, so people would do well to understand and accept that. In it's current form at least, so if they decide to upend the formula once again, then who knows what they'll come up with.

But ultimately, it's the development team that decides what a true Zelda game is, not the gamer. To disregard or dislike that, would more or less be to insult all the time and effort they've put into it to make this game what they hoped would be a wonderful experience for those that were going to play it. Emphasis on PLAY, not on bemoaning and dissecting it...

And of course there will always be lesser and greater outings in the entire series, but in my opinion, it's quite fair to say that almost all Zelda games are great in their own right and way, provided we're not constantly looking for what we're not getting...

And that the series is evolving, should also be considered a good thing. Standing still and just doing the same thing over and over again, except in another art style, might very well mean that the series and its quality is eventually going backwards, and that is something that none of us should want.

Sure, trying new things is always a risk, but considering the reception by the public and the media so far, it has definitely paid off again, so let's focus on that, instead of continuously wanting to rehash the same old formula...

Happy Holidays, one and all.

Agreed with @KeeperBvK , I don't get the ragging on the Water Temple. The Fire Temple was more annoying to go through. (But I liked it's BGM theme, with the chanting!) Didn't have trouble going through the Water Temple when it first released in 1998, still wouldn't now. (The 3DS update which allows quick equip/unequip of the Iron Boots, instead of having to go into the menu every time, is a nice modern touch though!)

Shrines were the best part of BOTW. I also loved the tune playing on the background. I really liked how the shrines made me think to find a solution.

I'm pretty torn on this. I loved both approaches. (I don't know why Wind Waker received so much flak; it's still one of my favorite Zelda games. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if they brought the HD version over to the Switch.)

Maybe a mixture of both? I don't know how that would work, though, in the grand scheme of things. I do miss the unique items, though, like the Iron Boots and weapons like the boomerang.

@ThanosReXXX BotW as a whole is great, yes, but there are certain points which can definitely stand to be harshly critiqued. The critical reception for many big games of late have increasingly been inaccurate or incomplete takes on each game's experience. (The Pokemon Ultra Sun&Moon review on NL is a recent egregious example of this.) I don't think there's ever been a time where user reviews have been more necessary to actually piece together an accurate representation of each piece of the experience. Although, the whole picture doesn't fully come into view until months after a game's launch.

Yes, the developers decide what's best, but ignoring user feedback is perilous. ...Or maybe not, since people will continue buying their games no matter what they do.

Happy Holidays to you as well!

@PlywoodStick I completely see the use of sharing experiences and so on, but not in critiquing or more or less ridiculing the developer's hard work, and their (certainly in my view) completely logical design choices.

Just think about how you would feel in their place, having done years of work, being happy with and proud of the end result and thinking you're going to make a lot of gamers very happy with it as well, only to find that a considerable portion of those gamers will rather focus on the stuff they aren't getting in Breath of the Wild, instead of actually enjoying the game for what it is...

From someone who grew up playing zelda in the 90s i can tell you that the shrines are a far more pleasureable experience than the old dungeons were. I will never forget the pain of the water temple as long as i live weeps

I feel as though the shrines where a good addition, but I was longing for more traditional dungeons as well. I better mix of both in the next game would be better. The Divine Beasts dungeons felt way too short and easy compared to past Zelda games as well.

So basically, less shrines, more traditional dungeons please.

@ThanosReXXX Giving critical feedback or generally saying what we didn't like about the game isn't wrong. If developers received no user feedback because people didn't want to offend their delicate souls with the possibility that not everything in their games is perfectly executed, who knows what the quality of the industry would be right now?

It's their job to make games that people enjoy, and if people don't enjoy certain aspects of it, they should be allowed to voice it. If I worked on a game, I would rather hear about the things I did right and also things I could improve on than have people just give me a pat on the head and say a disingenuous "Good job!".

@ThanosReXXX Personally, I would greatly appreciate critique, even harsh critique where appropriate. Regardless of how hard I worked, I would even encourage people to rip into the weak points of my creation, so I could learn from that and either fix it or improve upon it in the future. Making people happy with good stuff is goal #1, but fixing mistakes and addressing weaknesses honestly is also a very important aspect of that.

I know it's been done before, and not exactly been the most well received feature, but I'd love for the next Zelda to take another shot at a central Dungeon that you visit over and over.

Have the game be that, much like in BotW, Ganon has returned and taken over Hyrule Castle, and much like in that game has put up a barrier around the castle.

Link is tasked with collecting 5 magical orbs, which are located inside mini dungeons, similar to the Divine Beasts, which are each guarded by a boss. The first orb allows Link to enter into Hyrule Castle, where he'll fight the first main boss of the game.

After that the remaining Orbs will unlock the four towers, each with a different theme and boss, these can be tackled in any order, with Link's goal always been to get the orb to the top of said tower, defeat the boss, and place it in a pedestal at the top, once all 5 are returned to the castle, the way to Ganon would open.

Obviously, this is just my rough idea, but I still think it could be pretty cool, and would still keep the fresh feel of BotW, while also bringing back a bit more of the structure that past titles had.

@PlywoodStick @KirbyTheVampire Critique is fine, as long as it is constructive, otherwise it is not wanted nor is it useful.

Most of the stuff I've read here just comes down to people not liking the direction that the game went and just wanting plain old dungeons instead. And the way it is formulated by most, comes across as whining to me, and as I've already mentioned, discrediting the achievement and the effort of the developers.

@PlywoodStick As for those mistakes: some people seem to think that the shrines are a mistake, and continue with their point of view from there. What I'm saying is that all of the design choices they made are intentional, obviously, but also purposeful, so no mistake was made, and as such there is no "it would have been better if they... " and so on, and so on.

It's the proverbial glass half empty view, and it's a point of view that I absolutely detest, nor do I understand the people that look at life from that perspective.

@ThanosReXXX If there's anything I want to make clear, I loved BotW, full stop.

When I buy a title (1st party or not) Nintendo routinely sends me surveys asking my opinion of the game in question. They've done this so far for BotW, Splatoon 2 and even games like Namco Museum.

I'm certainly happy to give my feedback. (e.g., I love Splatoon 2 but the game hits its stride when playing with friends in League or LAN play locally. Solo play in Ranked is an exercise in plumbing the depths of a salt mine. That's to be expected for a game where communication is crucial in a team-oriented goal.)

@Iacobus You might not have noticed yourself, but your feedback/comment is constructive, so I don't mind, and neither will Nintendo.

Most people just go: "I want dungeons, because I like them better than shrines". That's a personal opinion, and in and of itself that's fine, but it isn't constructive, and it also isn't clear on the why, it's more of a "just because" kind of answer, if you get what I'm trying to say.

It would be cool if the next installment of LoZ had exploration AND more large, traditional dungeons.
I don't see why the player can't put a lot of time into finding things AND into running around in huge dungeons. It just increases the overall playtime and that's great!

@ThanosReXXX In that way, I agree, unwarranted and mindless critique isn't useful or helpful. In the case of BotW, the shrines serve their purpose well, and though there is the potential minor quibble of having to use motion controls in some of them, that's still not really an issue. The shrines don't represent any of the weaknesses that exist in BotW, they're a positive point.

There are bigger fish to fry, although even those can be overshadowed by BotW's strong points if they're not focused upon.

@PlywoodStick My point exactly. Focus where focus is needed, not on what we're NOT getting...

The problem with the idea that Shrines can be completed in 10 minutes is that most can be completed in closer to 2. I'm sure it's the case for many people- I once solved a Shrine after 5 seconds and didn't take long to enact the solution.

@ThanosReXXX I don't think purposely doing something to a game means that that thing is automatically good. For example, would it really be good game design for Call of Duty to be made into a walking simulator? It might be intentional and they might have their reasons for it, but is that really a good way to go about making a new Call of Duty game?

Good decision. It's one of those design choices that make Zelda's open world so good. The shrines are tailor made around the fact it's open world and best complements it. It's stuff like this that make it an 'Open World Zelda game' and not just a 'Zelda game with an open world'.

Dungeons as they appeared in OoT, MM, WW, TP and SS were not made with a big open world in mind. I always find it dubious when a game goes Open World and they instead just do everything the same way they did beforehand just with an open world tacked on(Witcher 3) since it makes me question whether they actually wanted to make an open world game or whather they simply took their existing linear RPG and plopped it in an Open world(still a good game but I think it's fitting it's a low 90s where BOTW is a high 90s scoring game).

@ThanosReXXX I can't help but think back to the Futurama God quote on this topic:

"When you (only) do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

It's human nature to focus on the negative, since it can be perceived as being against their well-being. It's a more cerebral form of the animal nature of focusing on, "What's going to harm me?" But that perception can be misjudged. Thus, to perceive something negative accurately, it must be tempered with an accurate perception of the positive.

In my case, I said, "BotW is only worth an 8/10", focusing on the -2 since it's integrally involved with the focal point of lacking traditional dungeons. However, if the discussion were about other things, like the exploration, physics, and inventory usage, the +8 would get all the attention.

In any case, I appreciate your focus on what was done well, and what raised the bar. If no one did, who would know anything good was done?

@KirbyTheVampire That's not what I meant by that. Purposeful not as in "purposely", but as in "thoughtful and with intended meaning". Maybe I should have formulated it better...

The Zelda team knew what it was doing, knew what it wanted to achieve with certain mechanics, and Aonuma was there to make sure that his vision of what it had to be, was realized.

And Nintendo itself is infamous for rigorously testing and fool-proofing their own products. Does that mean that Breath of the Wild is perfect? No, but then again: nothing is perfect, but Nintendo's way of working does come pretty close.

I wouldn't dare to ever compare them to Activision or whoever the hell it is that makes Call of Duty games nowadays...

@PlywoodStick Well, that's certainly a positive way of looking at being negative...

I guess I'm not human then, because it's not in my nature at all to look at the negative. If we look at it from a historical/evolutionary point of view, it could have been valid/useful at one point in time, but in modern times, we have little real fears, and most insecurities are the ones we create ourselves, something from which the glass half empty view probably also stems.

To me, that amounts to fatalism, something that I'm firmly against, both in my private and in my professional life. As a sales & marketing professional, such behavior wouldn't be good for business, and personally, I don't like to dissect everything or look back all the time either.

Life goes forward only, and focus on the wrong things makes you miss out on a hell of a lot that's WAY more important than all that negative whining. Some would even say that it is a shortcoming that denotes lack of intelligence, but personally, I wouldn't go that far.

I'll just say that it does seem to be far more prevalent in online communities than in real life, at least: if ones own environment can be counted as being representative...

Anyways, we're kind of drifting way off topic, no small thanks to little old me, so I'm just going to swing the wheel back to that wonderful, great and inspiring experience that is Breath of the Wild, and that includes all of its shrines and its Divine (for all you misspellers out there) Beasts...

@Dr_Lugae To be fair, Witcher 3 has exponentially more character development and world building than BotW. That's the real focus of Witcher 3, and it's world accommodates that. Whereas BotW's focus is on exploring the world, not on character interactions. One methodology isn't better than the other, they're just two different approaches. Low 90's, High 90's... either way, still above 90th percentile.

The concept they describe makes sense and overall it's a good plan, i just feel maybe they underestimated ut a little. Too many shrines were combat rooms against a single foe, and too many more were simple single mechanism puzzles. Hard enough to baffle novice players but not fulfilling for experienced players. The beast idea was ok but ultimately very small if only a few rooms. The idea they aimed for was good, but i think implementation lacked the scale it needed, maybe falling short of their own intentions.

@ThanosReXXX "Devine Beasts"

LMAO

@PlywoodStick I know, right? Also reminds of how some people on here always say "should of" instead of "should have"...

@ThanosReXXX I get what you meant, I just don't think changing something about a game with a certain thought process behind it automatically makes it a good change.

Ultimately, they can make whatever Zelda game they want, but I don't think it's wrong for me to voice my opinions, or that I'm trying to belittle Nintendo or make them feel bad about their game. I just didn't like certain aspects of it.

@NEStalgia That last sentence makes me think you're slightly inebriated, or your tablet's touch screen is screwing you over...

Come to think of it, what the heck does "The beat idea was ok" mean?

But I get the gist of it, and I might actually be persuaded to consider that a possibility. But consider this one as well: what if, because they've basically upended the entire structure of what we knew as a Zelda game, they considered that even seasoned players would have to get reacquainted/start anew? That would at least in part explain the "too easy" parts of the game: simply to give both seasoned and new players the same opportunities and starting position, which would actually once again make it a very logical design choice...

And perhaps we should also cut them a little slack, seeing as it's their very first open world Zelda, and regardless of that, it is still an admirable achievement. But for those wanting more, here's hoping that they stick with it, so subsequent outings will more than likely get better.

But knowing Nintendo, there's always the chance that they're going to do something completely different again the next time around...

Couldn't Hyrule Castle be considered a traditional dungeon in BotW?

@KirbyTheVampire No offense, but you're actually still not quite getting what I meant. It wasn't just them " changing something about a game with a certain thought process behind it", but adding/combining things that they thought (and found) to be the best possible combination and outcome.

They intended it to be this way, and as such, it simply cannot be wrong. It may feel like a lesser experience to the more seasoned Zelda players, but that takes nothing away from the purposeful intent of the designers.

But you voicing your opinion is perfectly fine, since you have a right to express that. And summing up the aspects of it that you didn't like is also perfectly fine. It also wasn't people like you that I was criticizing with my original comment: it was directed at the people who couldn't get any further than "I want original dungeons in Breath of the Wild" but who couldn't (or didn't) explain why they want it, other than saying they prefer it over the shrines.

I value constructiveness, clarity and positivity. If someone can put a little of each in their critique, then they'll hear no word from me...

@NEStalgia I think the shrines were well-implemented primarily for two reasons in the Normal Quest, and an additional reason in the Master Quest:

1. They act as much-needed landmarks and waypoints in a huge world.

Having nothing attached to them would make them too simple, but it would be too complicated to create more intricate mini-dungeons in each one. Completing one or a couple quick tasks in each one is a good balance. They also serve as goal points, giving concrete destinations to reach while gradually expanding your recorded traversal of the world.

2. They help build both basic and unorthodox skills for survival, exploration, and tool usage.

Even if it's only one enemy to fight, or one waterfall to climb, or a couple heavy balls to time-stop then smack as hard as you can with your hammer ( ), the shrines very quickly teach the player how to efficiently use their skills and tools out in the world. For example, after exiting the Magnesis shrine on the Great Plateau, I carried the steel ball outside it throughout my trip in the Forest of Spirits. It was loud as hell and alerted everything to my presence, but who cares? I killed every enemy in my path easily. Even the Stone Talus was readily tamed by swinging my ball of steel around and smacking it's weak spot.

...COUGH

But yes, in any case, they provide useful hints on how to play, just in case you hadn't already figured it out. Or an opportunity to speedrun them if you're already comfortable with their lesson.

3. They can actually provide a challenge in Master Quest.

Some of the shrines, while very simple in the Normal Quest, are much more demanding in the Master Quest. The casual stroll through many of the simpler shrines in NQ have turned into harrowing gauntlets in MQ. The pathetically weak lone monster in a one room shrine may now be a deadly Golden Lynel, or a quickdrawing Guardian Stalker. The MQ addresses the complaint that the shrines are too easy, and makes preparing for them a serious task.

The only possible critique I could have about the shrines is that they aren't used to build up towards the four Divine Beast dungeons, because... there's no substance to those. But that's not really a knock against the shrines themselves, just against the lacking implementation and presence of the Divine Beast dungeons. Hopefully in the NeXt mainline Zelda title, Aonuma will take some inspiration from his own roots in the series, Majora's Mask. (Which demonstrated an excellent buildup towards and implementation of each main dungeon, with each one progressively using lessons from the former. The Stone Tower Temple is the incredible crescendo in this case.)

@ThanosReXXX I don't see what I'm not getting. What I meant by "thought process" is that they're changing things with the thought process that the change is for the better. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it. Most game developers obviously don't change things just for the sake of changing them.

Either way, I do generally agree with you. I personally thought the shrines were mostly far too simple and short, but I think it's a solid foundation for dungeons in future games. I just hope they're not quite so bite-size next time, even if it means there are less of them.

@KirbyTheVampire Maybe it's something that gets lost in translation, I don't know, but what I read from your replies is not what my explanation meant, sorry.

One example: you talk about them changing something about a game, but that was never what I was talking about. I was trying to explain in my own comments how they designed the world, shrines included, to make the most sense as a whole, and their explanation only strengthens that.

Normal dungeons would probably have meant a different design change for them, which is not what they were aiming for, or trying to fuse two worlds together (regular Zelda with open world Zelda) which might run the risk of not being a natural fit at all.

They explained why regular dungeons weren't going to work in Breath of the Wild, so that simply wasn't an option for them, and I think their explanation makes perfect sense.

The way I see it, is that they took a kind of organic approach to their design/development trajectory of the game, and this is what came out of it and what worked the best in that specific design and setting. So, that's not saying that shrines are better than dungeons, or the other way around for that matter, but it was the best combination for this game.

As for the shrines themselves: considering this was their first go at it, I wouldn't find it at all strange that the next time around, they're going to be either bigger or more complicated.

Wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a sure bet, because like I said in my previous comment, it could very well be that the next Zelda is going to be something else entirely, just like every other Zelda game before it, or they could stick with the current formula and build upon that, in which case they could indeed have the option to fine-tune what they've made now, and expand upon it as well.

Guess we'll find out in a year or two, when the first tidbits of info will probably land in a Nintendo Direct or at that year's E3...

What do you mean, "At least there wasn't a Water Temple..."?

That level was genius!

I, too, liked the shrine idea, but I still look around for a dungeon

I liked the Shrine system, but I would like to see the return of traditional dungeons.

Take a look at Skyrim, for example: that's a huge world with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore in the overworld alone, and they have dungeons up the wazoo, from fortresses, to ruins, to caves, and more.

I'd like to have a Zelda game more like that.

I really hope for the next game they use the same engine and assets (like Majora's Mask) with a more involved story with gigantic dungeons to explore and keep the shrines to contain all the puzzles.

@PlywoodStick I don't think the simplicity of dungeon or shrine design can be fixed with rediculous difficulty monsters. The cerebral element is what's missing. I don't mean oot mental gyrations. I mean even Zelda 1 labyrinth cerebral thinking. Like i said in another thread the shrines felt like Portal, where the overworld felt like Zelda 1 modernized. It was ok, but could have been better in that aspect, especially with the beasts also being cut short.

As for the way points is love to see the fallout 3 Subway idea.... Or more aptly, the albw Forest dungeon system. What if there were a subterranean underworld or maze to form a single open world labyrinth across the over world, and shrines were entrances to that larger system? I.e. what if hyrule Castle spanned under the whole overworld and the shrines were entrances?

@ThanosReXXX swype topping typing... The easiest, fastest way to type words other than those you intended.....

@VR32F1END Enemy types is another good criticism. I think most of the issues were to do with balance, as you have areas like Hateno and Faron that are full of things to see, and then really empty places like Gerudo and Hebra. Strangely, the empty areas are all on one side of the map and vice versa.

@NEStalgia Figured as much...
Still can't stand touch screens myself, you should see some of my WhatsApp messages to my friends: I nearly always have to add a correction after the original message. Also because of auto correct and what not. I also had it switched off for some time, but that was somehow even worse, so I switched it back on.

Now I can at least blame the technology instead of myself...

I have to admit I was in absolute awe of the Divine Beasts. Aside from looking so majestic, they each felt like a big interconnected puzzle to solve. For someone who was 100% tired of the old formula for Zelda dungeons, they were a breath of fresh air.

I wouldn't mind it at all if the next 3D Zelda eschewed traditional dungeons once again.

@ThanosReXXX haha yeah. I'm a swype Nina and can pound out paragraphs i couldn't dream of writing without a keyboard a few years ago, but i sure get shocked with what i actually write when I re read it!

Yeees that makes perfect sense. Let's not have the players spend too long searching around for a handful of well designed dungeons. Instead we could have them spend too long hunting for 120 shrines that take 5 minutes at most to beat and 600 seeds!

• rolls eyes *

@Hikingguy

What are you smoking? The NES Zeldas have dungeons. Just because they were simple, doesn't mean they aren't dungeons.

A small but consistent complaint I had was the shrines all looked the same. Same color, atmosphere, music, enemies (Guardian Scouts), etc.

I hope a bit more variety is added to the shrines in future 3D Zelda titles. The idea of 10-15 minute puzzles/battles is cool, but a bit more differentiation would be nice.

@Excalibur_120
I reckon that the world in BoTW would have been excellent if it had a lot of lore in it. Perhaps some historic buildings that you could've explored and discover neat little facts about Hyrule's past. Korok Seeds were OK, but collecting all 900 and finding that the inventory is maxed out by about 500 is very demotivating. They also could've added more towns rather than having a majority destroyed and maybe they could've added sidequests where you had to protect some towns from Guardians and whatnot.

In regards to dungeons, your idea is very plausible. I'm also sure that Nintendo could've added in a function to the Shiekah slate where it records your progress in a dungeon before exiting the game, then when you play the game next you can play where you left off

Hyrule Castle was amazing! One of the very best according to me. The design, music, and oh the places you could explore! The whole thing was simply beautiful. I can't be the only one who thinks so I hope. Also, I myself thought of it like a dungeon aswell.

I do miss the dungeons, and I felt that the shrines could've used more variety in their theme. Every shrine looked the same on the inside. I also miss caves. BotW could've really benefited from some spelunking.

I thought I liked the idea of the shrines and beast "dungeons" then I started running around Hyrule Castle for hours, still dont think I searched it all. So maybe a bit of me did miss tranditional dungeons.

No reason they cant be added into the next game.

I personally love the water temples in Zelda. They are usually the most challenging and interesting. You could just 'get good'.

Well, I understand that they where proud about their huge overworld and didn't want the player to spend big amounts of time in dungeons. However, now that the big world isn't that "new" anymore. Next time they can make a big world AND big dungeons. Because we really need dungeons Nintendo?!

But I wonder if that will happen. With Nintendo the trend already seems short and snappy dungeons. Just look at Albw. A pity, I want 1 or 2 hour long dungeons!

Mission accomplished on their end then, at least as far as my playthrough is concerned. The hours and hours I would have normally spent inside dungeons, I spent exploring and chewing the scenery instead. I’ve been playing LOZ games since the original, and I didn’t miss the dungeons one bit. This game has been an amazing experience.

I understand where they're coming from however I started think they kinda dropped the ball with the divine beasts. They were far too easy. If they had dungeons that approached some of the complexity of a link to the past or even were as enjoyable as botw hyrule castle, I would like the divine beasts a lot more. In addition, if there was somewhat of a linear order, it would have allowed the devs to scale up the complexity of each dungeon.

I know I might get some flack but botws non linear design really hurt dungeons the most. Every dungeon could be the players first dungeon so none of them could be too complex. If the game was slightly more linear in structure then they could design dungeons with the knowledge that the player is capable of facing greater challenges. Linearity is not always a bad thing

@Hikingguy - It seems like I have at least one of those experiences you described every time I play. I think the “BOTW is empty” argument is just absurd. You might not be swinging your sword constantly at hordes of enemies (and why would it be like that, LOZ hasn’t been about combat since it went 3D, maybe it never was), but Hyrule is absolutely bursting with life, movement, sounds, weather, beauty, and moments to enjoy. This is a game about quiet exploration, and those who play that way are rewarded. If someone just blasts through the game for the story and to kill things, they’ll probably be sorely disappointed because the game was not designed for that. It’s a love letter from Nintendo to us, and it reads, “This is the game we always wanted to give you, and technology finally allowed us to do it.” It’s a true testament that it even hooks non gamers like your wife. My wife doesn’t really play either, but this is the first game that’s interested her since Boom Blox Bash Party.

@ilikeike im like the opposite. Dungeons are some of my favorite parts of zelda games so I was fairly underwhelmed by the divine beasts. I do agree that in recent years a lot of the dungeons have been too long but I think alttp had good dungeon length.

It's hard for me to accept this reasoning. Not every dungeon needs to be super long, but the shrines in BoTW rarely even took up that 10 minute target time. There are a few shrines I completed in around a minute, and then of course there are the numerous combat trials which are basically the same. The divine beasts were mostly quick and easy too.

I'd much rather have quality over quantity. I stand by the belief that Breath of the Wild would have been a much better game with a smaller world size and more focused content. Exploring a world is only fun when there are lots of exciting things to uncover.

This game is as close as it gets to remaking the original Legend of Zelda and that game was capable of handling dungeons as well. If not the base game this last DLC release was a prine time to include some dungeons and they didn't do it.

I like the shrines to an extent. I would have liked some dungeons and maybe have some shrines for upgrading weapons. Shrines became a chore and I didn’t like the fact that weapons became a resource and things like the master sword were just optional.

Any one of the water temples were better than the entire of Breath of the Wild.

@NEStalgia That reminds me of Mega Man Legends. Dungeons start out as ancient labyrinths within Kattlelox Island, but the deeper they're uncovered, the more technologically advanced their construction is, eventually finishing off with artificial skylines and high tech temples.

The Zelda series has also dabbled a little bit in the concept with Subrosia, the Underworld in Oracle of Seasons. But can you imagine how massive the total traversable landscape size would be if there were a fully fledged overworld and underworld to explore? There's no way a title based on Wii U tech could handle that. Maybe the NS could handle it, but it would still be a gargantuan undertaking which would be years away. Like... 2021-2022 away.

I really missed the classic Zelda-dungeons in Breath of the Wild. Shrines are too short, I like big scale dungeons, and the Zelda-type dungeons are my favorite type of dungeons!

I remember years ago reading a rumor for Zelda Wii U that described a massive dungeon, approx. the size of OoT's Hyrule Field

I loved the old dungeons, but they could scrap them forever if they so wish. It is crazy the amount of people complaining here and it's proof that there is no pleasing everyone. Nintendo should keep moving forward with the franchise, not backwards.

Botw is just perfect. Every 3D Zelda from Ocarina to Skyward Sword was way too predictable. It was great discovering this new world with its different rules and challenges. I'm currently on my second playthrough, which is something I haven't done with any game in at least 3 years or more.

Not a fan of these shrines, especially those annoying motion controlled shrines, ugh. I'd much rather have 10 or so unique and memorable dungeons filled with loot and boss fights then 120 similar and forgettable shrines.

Nobody works better from gameplay to scenario than Nintendo. I really admire how they do it.

@Al_Godoy It won myriad Game of the Year awards, and is selling gangbusters. It's pleasing most people. There is a vocal minority beholden to the old 3D titles.

They should have had a mix of the 2. I got SO tired of one shrine after another- very boring.

Loved the shrines and the idea of bringing in the traditional setup (mostly) with the Beasts. My only issue with BOTW is that I want to learn more about hyrule!

@HeroLink98,

Yeah, hyrule castle was great. And after several hours I still discovered new things. Its that big!

I think you should have left the dungeons in the original story Zelda is not Zelda without regular dungeon play bring them back. That's the only thing I found that I didn't like bout breath of the wild.

[removed]

@Hikingguy So? Other Zelda games call their dungeons palaces, temples, prisons and even cities. They are still dungeons.

@Hikingguy. Way to ignore my point.

@Hikingguy My point is that you can't say a game doesn't have dungeons, just because they aren't called dungeons. In fact this doesn't just extend to Zelda. Lots of video games don't call their dungeons, dungeons. But that doesn't mean that they aren't dungeons. The divine beasts are mini dungeons, as much as the bottom of the well or the gerudo pirate's hideout.