As a four year old, Wind Waker was actually kind of hard. It took me forever to figure out how to damage the first boss haha. It’s a much easier game for me now, but I do think a child would still struggle in areas.
I couldn’t get past the first dungeon for the longest time as a kid and would just ride around on the water and visit islands once I could 😂 I love this game so much
Much agreed. After my mom took me to gamestop after kindergarten to pick this up, I had to wait for my older brother to get home to make it through Dragon Roost haha.
I could not beat valoo when I was 10, my friend came over and absolutely destroyed him. I played wind waker HD because I had a Wii U, I'm not old enough for the GameCube but I do have one now lol
Thats one big thing I love about wind waker. How versatile a majority of its items are. They aren't immediately forgotten about after their respective dungeon ends and most of them get regular use throughout a majority of the game. And are incorporated nicely into future dungeons to make fun layouts. This is the biggest issue with twilight princess, most of its items may as well stop existing after the dungeon you get them in
whats funny is technically for a while the dominion rod LITERALLY stops existing after the temple of time until you bring it back to get to the city in the sky
I was 6 or 7 when I first played wind waker and I remember actually getting stuck in dragon roost cavern! There’s one part that you need to use the grappling hook and you need to stop swinging to turn direction.. I had no idea that was even possible..
This was my first Zelda game as a 10-11 year old. A lot of the dungeons was harder when i was a child, and would probably be much more of a breeze. One of the primary reasons is that we learn more and more patterns, so if you have played 7 other Zelda games, then suddenly the next dungeon is going to be easier and easier, as they still need to produce a game that even beginners can complete. I think the difficulty in this game in the dungeons was good if it was your first Zelda game, otherwise i would agree that there is something missing with regards to difficulty.
I’m late but while it wasn’t my first Zelda game, it was my first one after taking a few years off of the series so some of the dungeons were a little hard for me.
I would disagree with your take on Dragon Roost as I consider it the first dungeon of Wind Waker so it being a little easy is forgiven, it introduces a lot of new elements, like watering the bombs to get in and using water jars on lava, blocking the mice, cutting rope bridges and the use of enemy weapons. The layout is also pretty nice, you do a loop of the first part which granted is a personal plus because of Pandoras Tower, all in all I would say it's higher because it's a great proof of concept of all Wind Wakers new features..
Your channel is underrated asf. Your videos are extremely well thought out and structured and you narrate your opinions very well also. Subscribed. Definitely want more Zelda videos!
Forsaken fortress mechanics at the beginning of the game, such as the sneaking around, was due to being a product at its time. It was mainly a hook piece to show some cool little strategy and facial expressions, which wasn't a point in Nintendo games prior. Yes it can be grueling on later repeat walkthroughs, but it was a cool little piece of mechanics at its original time of release.
That's a good point. I find the hardest parts when making these types of videos is remembering what that first playthrough felt like and the context of when the game came out.
I remember a TH-cam video years ago, that stated there were supposed to be two more dungeons you encounter during the second part of the quest, that were dropped, due to budget and scheduling. These were what became the both the mini ice and fire dungeons, where you acquire the Iron Boots and power bracelets, to gain entry to the Wind and Earth temples. Apparently, the small volcano was supposed to be a larger island, with a tribe of residents that had built a steam powered town.
That’s interesting to know. Did it say whether they were supposed to be fully fledged ‘main’ dungeons, or mini dungeons along the lines of OoT’s Ice Cavern and Bottom of the Well?
Yep I’m pretty sure Nayru’s pearl with Jabun was never intended to be a dungeon originally. Counting FF it would’ve been strange if you did 5 dungeons before obtaining the master sword and only 3 afterwards. Power Bracelets and Iron Boots would’ve been the dungeon items
omg, you are criminally underrated.. I'm usually not the biggest fan of 3D Zelda games, but this video just made me want to play Wind Waker, with the way you describe and analyze each dungeon. I'm super glad youtube has recommended your channel to me, looking forward to more interesting videos :)
Hey MrDrBoi! Great content. As a big Zelda [and Banjo Kazooie] fan, I'm enjoying all your ranked videos. I find that your take on the games resonates with me and it's really soothing to listen to. Hoping to see more on the Zelda series! Subscribed.
Wind temple has always been my #1 favorite Zelda dungeon period since I was a kid. The ancient, almost psychedelic atmosphere and music, brings about an emotion that I've never felt in any other Zelda dungeon or game in general. I can't even imagine how many hours I have listened to that OST singlehandedly lol. I find it's good for meditation and sleep especially 🙏 Aside from that though, I do enjoy the verticality of the dungeon and it's puzzles/combat, although I admit they arent the best compared to other WW dungeons. But damn bro, that atmosphere is enough to make me look past any flaws in it's actual design 😂
@@MrDrBoi Oh yeah definitely similar vibes. It's almost like a feeling of something alien, yet familiar. Unsettling, yet comforting. Forbidden wood's music also conveys that ancient and mysterious energy.
I also enjoy the Wind Temple a lot even though I'll agree Makar is a weaker character to control. Another of my favorite elements is that a couple optional treasure chests are actually hard to figure out. It feels like a remnant of Zelda dungeons having more to do outside the main goal, akin to Stray Fairies in Majora's Mask.
Great video! Wind Waker is one of my favorites of the Zelda series, but I agree that the dungeons on the whole are a bit too easy compared to other Zelda dungeons in the series. Keep up the good work, love your world ranking videos!
Cool Ranking! I personally have Tower of gods and dragon Roost cavern a bit lower and earth/ wind a bit higher, but I do agree with your points. They just affect me a bit differently
One of the best things about Windwaker are all the little islands you get to explore. Some of which have their own mini dungeons. I dont care for the dungeons.
Very different list than my personal one but interesting hearing your reasoning. This was the first Zelda game I played significantly, although I never beat the wind temple as a kid. My rankings really reflect more the enjoyment I got as a kid than how it was when I finally played through the whole game as an adult. My personal ranking: 7. Ganons Tower - I don’t really think of this as a dungeon 6. Wind Temple - Probably mostly due to getting stuck her as kid. The platform room was not possible at my skill level without the magic upgrade and I got lost a lot. Even after beating it as an adult, I actually really didn’t enjoy the boss fight outside of the music. 5. Forsaken Fortress - I replayed the beginning of the game a lot since I enjoyed it and this terrified me until I found a route that I liked. I enjoyed beating up the watchtower guards and fighting the helmorack king feels really satisfying the first time. 4. Tower of The Gods - I feel like this one is kind of bland and has a lot of annoying elements like the water on the first floor, electric chus, and beamos. 3. Forbidden Woods - I don’t have any issues with this one, but I also don’t look forward to anything in it. The section flying into the dungeon is also tedious waiting for the tornado. 2. Earth Temple - As a kid, the level of difficulty here felt just right. The puzzles were difficult enough to be satisfying, but easy enough to not get stuck. The floor masters were annoying but less punishing than in wind waker. Also loved getting to play as a girl. 1. Dragon Roost - This one is just so fun. Yes, it’s pretty easy, but playing this as a kid gave me the same feeling as sight reading a piece of music. Just felt really well-designed and natural. A big reason why I replayed the beginning of the game so much. I think overall, the strengths of wind waker really lie outside of the dungeons in the tasks you do to open them up and side quests (minus the triforce shards).
Have to agree, Wind Waker really shines outside of the dungeons. It's why the HD Remake is so phenomenal, it really doubles down on what makes the adventure fun.
I abhor dungeons where you have to bring along an NPC (Wind Waker's Earth and Wind temples, Jabu Jabu's belly in OoT). In WW, my favorite places were actually Fire Mountain and Ice Ring Isle. I like how you had to use the Fire and Ice arrows to their opposite elements to help complete them.
22:03 i died on that boss first time but its because i didn't know how to auto aim and was trying to do everything manually. I beat him second try like that and if I had used auto aim I'd probably agree with you but i didn't know or had forgotten about that function from twilight princess.
Just played again I actually got stuck for a few minutes on Fire Roost. After getting the boss key I kept looking for the way forward, didn't expect there to suddenly be backtracking.
As much as I know the earth temple has weakish puzzles and the command medley use... I adore it. Probably my favourite dungeon ever. The aesthetics and atmosphere is unrivalled for me. The allegedly bland tone completely sets the tone for it as a foreboding decrepit crypt with redeads and the silly but evil entity of Jalhalla. Oh, and as an Aussie, hearing a didgeridoo in any music at all is a huge blessing.
@@MrDrBoi I just mean it's weird to be in that specific situation without actively striving for it. Dying in Godhome doesn't release your shade, so someone went out of their way to die, then go to Godhome, THEN fight NKG. Why?? Lol I know the community is super masochistic at this point, but still.
It's crazy looking back and seeing how clearly excited the devs were about the deku leaf that they made all that stuff for it, and then on the other side of the gamecube's lifespan seeing how creatively barren twilight princess was with its items by comparison
@@MrDrBoi And it's not even like TP's items are fundamentally bad ideas, there could've been a ton of unique and creative things done with any of them, they just didn't for whatever reason Like the Gale Boomerang is a wind thing just like the Deku Leaf, just combined with a boomerang- world of possibilities right there. But then the game just uses it as a boomerang that can press special wind switches and fetch slightly heavier objects for you, not really expanding what's possible at all
TP has items that are difficult to justify considering they weren't in the development rush that Wind Waker was. They should have had a lot more integration of item use from one dungeon to another, but instead it's this episodic progress that is exemplified by one of the first items we receive: the slingshot. It's useful for about one chapter and then immediately rendered obsolete in the second dungeon by the bow. And then there's just to many niche items. Wind Waker continues to justify pretty much all its items by making them good for both specific tasks and general combat.
@@Levacque Well first, TP did apparently have development issues- they've outright stated there were things they didn't have time to do, and the game was delayed for a year to finish the wii port and "add more content"(so the game somehow had even LESS stuff in it before) And two, the slingshot was never useful. You have to use it to take out the bee hive in Ordon, and then use it to kill spiders on two climbable surfaces before the first dungeon- one of which is artificially placed on the ladder to your house in between events just to force you to use it. And then that's it, you never really need it again, and you never use it for any kind of complex purpose. It's really just in the game for story purposes
Twilight Princess had way too many items and they were all underutilized as a result. The spinner is one of the coolest items in any Zelda game but it's almost useless outside of the dungeon where you acquire it. And why did we need both the slingshot and the bow? It made sense in OoT where only one was available at a time but in TP the bow renders the slingshot entirely pointless, and you get it already in the second dungeon.
I quite liked the big mirror puzzle in the Earth Temple, actually! I will agree with you to a large degree about unlocking Hyrule, though...that was one of my favorite parts! I just wish they had utilized it more as an area of exploration and additional dungeons rather than just a hub between the Great Sea and Ganon's Tower. I'm hoping someday they do a remastered, expanded version of the game that features this. That would be awesome! Ultimately, though, nothing can subtract from just how utterly depressing the ending to the game is for me, even over 20 years after I first beat it.
forsaken fortress is my goat. to me its the most memorable one. that and the volcano dungeon. forsaken fortress is tedious, but thats what makes it good. you have to be cautious and weary. you have to study the enemies, you have to learn the different mechanics, you get to see ganon there. then theres the second visit where you can unleash mayhem and also fight phantom ganon, a really cool mini boss. definitely my favorite.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to your Twilight Princess ranked video. Wanted to also mention that I thought you brought up quite a few fair points that contrasted my own opinion. Your list is pretty different from my own. However, I was curious why The Ghost Ship, The Underwater Volcano, and The Frozen Island ( forgive me, I don't know their names ) weren't included since they are mini dungeons, or at least I think so. Perhaps I'm in the minority? If I were to rank them I would say: 10. Forsaken Fortress 9. Underwater Volcano 8. The Frozen Island 7. Earth Palace 6. Gannon's Tower 5. The Ghost Ship 4. Forbidden Woods 3. Dragon Roost Cavern 2. Wind Palace 1. Tower of the Gods
Thanks, Twilight Princess is definitely coming soon! As for mini-dungeons, I generally don't rank them because they'd usually just wind up near the bottom of the list because they are so short. For example, Fire Mountain took me less than four minutes to complete, which can't really compare to a full dungeon. Probably gonna do a 3D Zelda Mini-Dungeon video in the future though!
@MrDrBoi Eh, I guess that is fair. I thought The Ghost Ship was pretty interesting in both how you get to it and strikes that cord of the mysterious happenings in the ocean. But if you do happen to make a 3D mini dungeon ranked video. Then I guess ranking them among kin would be more fair and interesting for us viewers. Regardless, I look forward to you continuing this series. Also, if I may, I would be VERY interested if you were to cover The Paper Mario series in this fashion. I know you've done a few videos of it in the past. And I would be interested in seeing your analysis style pick apart the different pros and cons of locations like the Boo House in SS, Dry Dry Desert in PM, Twilight Town in TTYD, and Chapter 5 in CS. Similarly to how you covered Bug Fables. Anyways, despite what future content you plan, thanks for the video and I'm looking forward to the next one!
As much as I dislike the forsaken fortress as a dungeon, I get a strange nostalgia from being there the first time. One of my earliest Zelda memories was playing the intro to windwaker in like 2006 on a GameCube 🤣
I wouldn't say Wind Waker is my favorite, but it definitely holds a special place for me. I didn't manage to play WW until years later on an emulator. Instantly loved the game and will always be sorry I didnt get to play it when it came out.
It's funny, I really wasn't crazy about WW for most of my life, but my last playthrough really changed that for me. It's still not my favorite either, but I've definitely grown a soft spot for it.
Wind walker is definitely one of my favorites but I only major criticism was and is that it is a bit to easy. Hero mode on the Wii U version helped a lot, that and it fixed the slow sailing issue and tri force quest.
Part of the difficulty was supposed to come from the big ask of the tri force quest. Which forced you to immerse yourself hardcore into the open world, and exploring.
I mean, yeah, ramming a sword through the forehead of such an evil force is a badass way to end an easier Zelda game. And I agree, Ganon's tower is no true dungeon.
Focused a great deal on your perception of the difficulty playing the game and let that heavily dictate how favourably you ranked the dungeons. IMO, wind waker wasn’t as easy as you made it out to be, and the entire video it almost felt as if you were bragging how easily you could figure the game out because of how advanced your video game logic was. I must’ve played WW tens of times and every time I still need to look up FAQs on what to do cuz it’s not as cut and try, or the sequencing of the game messes me up. I’m not trying to be chronically online and I wanna make that clear. For any future vids if the difficulty of something is going to significantly influence your perception of something, I’d double check with a couple other people outside of the WW/Zelda meta, or those who are only casually familiar with it
I love the hollowknight cameo at 14 min while saying ww is too easy; I think we all agree that hollowknight is EXTREMELY difficiult even for seasoned players ;)
I first got Wind Waker as a birthday present, which is ironic as the game starts out on Link's birthday lol. As someone whose first game they bought with their own money was Twilight Princess, I'm eager to see your Twilight Princess ranking video if it's on your agenda.
>Gohdan >Forgettable Pick *one*. He's easy (as are all 3D Zelda bosses), but his music and design are pretty striking. The low light of the arena for some reason boosts his imposing statures especially when he opens his eyes giving a sharp red glow and letting his powerful energy attacks stand out. I love the switch up to a more intimidating organ when you disable his hands. And it's interesting to face a Zelda boss that is not in any sense evil, but rather a test. Friendly to a fault almost as he even replenishes Link's arrows when he knows you've run dry. I wouldn't call him anything close to forgettable.
You forgot the water dungeon. Obtaining the Nayrus orb is like a dungeon. You got to go sail back to windfall island in a storm fighting sea monsters where you unlock bombs at the island. Then you sail back through the storm where you fight a boss using the item you just got thereby unlocking the final orb and meeting Jabuu. Its not a traditional dungeon but it fits wind waker.
My personal favorite of the whole bunch, the Triforce Hunt dungeon, was left off the list too. It’s got a main dungeon item, the IN-credible Chart, with the eight Triforce charts being keys you need to solve puzzles to collect. And Tingle is probably the most villainous dungeon boss of the game.
My list would be: #7: Ganon’s Tower (Though I’ve played this game countless times, I never beat it, so I’ve never played this dungeon, so I can’t put it any higher than the bottom.) #6: Forsaken Fortress (Worst first dungeon ever!) #5: Tower of the Gods (I don’t like slowly drifting around at the beginning.) #4: Wind Temple (Kind of confusing) #3: Earth Temple (Pretty cool and just creepy enough) #2: Dragon Roost Temple: I consider this the first REAL dungeon in the game, and it’s one of my favorite first dungeons in the series. I never considered the Forsaken Fortress a real dungeon on the first visit because it didn’t have a boss. #1: The Forbidden Woods (Such a cool dungeon, and my second favorite “forest” themed dungeon in the series.
I also dislike the Wind Temple because Makar is locked in a cell for the first half of it, locking you out of the majority of the stuff you need him for till you get him out.
As a 27 year old man with no "spacial awareness" to speak of, I enjoy almost all of the dungeons in wind waker. Makar drags the wind temple down, and the forest temple... it's good. But for some reason I like the temple of the gods far more. Also, you can one shot the inner head of the forbidden woods boss. You just need spring water from the great deku trees woods.
7. Ganon's Tower 6. Forbidden Woods 5. Forsaken Fortress 4. Wind Temple 3. Tower of the Gods 2. Dragon Roost Cavern 1. Earth Temple I didn't really like the Forbidden Woods. The Deku Leaf is an awesome item, but I feel like it's awesome because of the stuff you can do with it around the world and how often it's used throughout, not really because of the Forbidden Woods, which imo is kinda bland in level design. I like the theming, it's one of the better looking dungeons, I just don't find it very fun to play. Ganon's Tower I agree is pretty disappointing, but that hallway/staircase filled with strong enemies after you get the Light Arrows and you're able to just one shot all of them is one of the coolest feelings ever. Wind Temple and Earth Temple I think are both really fun and I don't mind taking control of Medli/Makar at all, and I think they add to the overall puzzles. I love in the Earth Temple that Medli basically starts with the dungeon item, so by the time you get the Mirror Shield you already know how to use it and you are immediately thrown into puzzles that you have to use Medli and the Mirror Shield in combination to solve.
That's a great point about Medli and another reason I like her more than Makar haha. The only thing I wished was that the puzzles were a bit more intricate when you finally gained the ability to reflect light yourself.
I've never disagreed with someone's opinions more. Maybe my judgment is clouded having played this when I was about 6 years old, but the fact that the dungeons were more linear, simple, and easy made it so I was never frustrated trying to figure things out. It did actually take me a bit to figure out how to beat the first boss. Similarly, I'm pretty sure I died a couple times to the 2nd boss. 4 hearts isn't a lot of room to make a challenging boss in. You praised the temple of the gods, but mostly for Hyrule, which isn't part of the actual temple. I agree, Hyrule is the best part of the game, but the temple of the gods is boring, filled with taking control repetitively of statues like in the Wind and Earth temples. The boss was actually the only part of that dungeon that I LIKED! Having to use both a bow and bombs to defeat this challenge and be worthy of the hero title, while avoiding both the hands and face at once feels good. You put ganon's castle down for basically being a boss rush of the previous temples, but you praised ocarina of time for basically the same thing. Seeing how far you've come since the beginning and doing it all back to back without pause lets you feel ready for the final challenge, which is a gauntlet of 3 puppet fights and then a very dramatic cutscene into one of the best ganondorf fights ever. The spider may have been easy if you knew what you were doing, but the worm thing was so hard they had to nerf it later. The forsaken fortress was anything but straightforward and easy for me! Having to find the right place to sneak in and beat up the bokoblins without your sword to turn off the searchlights so you can pass and get to your sword, and when you're caught you get put in a different place than you started without a way to know where to go. Then, when you come back with the master sword, you're obviously much stronger so you just rush in and make your way to the boss, but that's exactly the point! You just obtained a legendary sword and are supposed to be the courageous hero instead of the kid searching for his sister.
Appreciate the write-up! Just to respond to a few points: I think that you can justify making the bosses more difficult, even with 4 hearts, because there is basically no penalty for dying. There are warp pots outside the boss room door in every dungeon, making it really easy to retry if you fail. Also, bosses should be challenging, otherwise, they aren't satisfying to beat. It's why many people look at Dark Beast Ganon in BotW as a disappointment. I did consider not including any of the Hyrule stuff in the TotG section, but they always felt linked because you are brought directly there. That said, I understand it's technically not part of the temple. Even so, I didn't find TotG boring and actually enjoyed the command melody initially. It was only after two other dungeons heavily used it afterward that that style of gameplay soured on me. One of the key differences between OoT's final area and WW's is again, the difficulty. Ganon's Tower's puzzles aren't engaging because they are incredibly basic and short. You get through them so quickly it feels like you're basically just fighting bosses, hence the glorified boss rush line. On the other hand, Ganon's Castle's puzzles offer substance through their challenge and reward you with the golden gauntlets to give you one final power increase before you face off with Ganondorf. While narratively it makes sense to blow through challenges you've already encountered, like the return to Forsaken Fortress and Ganon's Tower's boss rush, I personally don't think it translates to gameplay well. I want to feel engaged in the action when I'm in control, not feeling like I'm going through the motions. Obviously, challenge and difficulty aren't everything for a Zelda title, but it is something I want in each entry's dungeons. But keep in mind this comes from someone who played Wind Waker for the first time at 10-11 years old and after I had already beaten OoT, MM, and TP. Perhaps my judgment is clouded by that and had I experienced this game first, maybe I'd see things differently. Either way, thanks for the thought-out response!
I hate wind temple with a passion. It's awful and nothing but bad memories to me. Running out of magic in the platform room probably contributed to my trauma.
I do not hate Makar or the Wind Temple, but I am rather indifferent to both, which isn’t that much better. Doesn’t help that their counterparts are the best parts of Wind Waker, making them just pale and shrivel by comparison.
That's one good thing about Wind Waker. If you don't enjoy the dungeons at least they are quick and simple. Makes it easier to enjoy the other parts of the game.
It’s funny how I mostly agree with your Mario and Banjo Kazooie level rankings, but totally disagree with your Zelda ones. Tower of the Gods was my least favorite on my recent playthrough and the Wind Temple was my favorite.
Wind Temple definitely has the most dungeon-y feel to me. Tower of Gods isn’t my favourite but I do appreciate what it was going for. I’d say Dragon Roost Cavern is the most forgettable outside of Forsaken Fortress
Ironically I personally find Tower of the Gods one of my least favorite dungeons in the whole series and without a doubt my least favorite in Wind Waker, partially BECAUSE of how good its aesthetic is. I love its looks and its theme, but it's all gone to waste for me because the dungeon is an absolute crawl. It's kind of absurd how much of your time in the tower is spent just...waiting for stuff to happen. Wait for the water level to go up and down. Wait for the slow hopping animation of the statues. Wait for the moving platforms to shift into position. Wait for the boss to open its eyes, you get the idea. Comparing briefly to another slow dungeon, the Goron Mines, there the slowness is offset somewhat by the fact you need to be engaged and moving for the duration of the iron boots sections, and woven between them are a bunch of other puzzles and the bow to boot. Having consistent control of my progress (even when it was a slow stomp) went a long way. I can understand why people like TotG, I just do find it funny that you put it on the exact opposite end of where I would (okay maybe not exact, Forsaken Foretress is pretty rough too...)
I dunno why so many people rate this game so high. So many temples are a chore or underwhelming. Compare this to OOT or MM. You can argue maybe one temple in each of those is a chore but they are still great and super innovative. WW is derivative at best, you then have the chore of sailing where you just sit and wait, or the chore of hunting those god awful triforce shards. Honestly I enjoyed playing it, but I do not enjoy nor desire replays of it unlike OOT, MM, or TP. I’d pick SS for a replay over WW.
I personally really enjoyed a lot of the non-dungeon parts of Wind Waker in my last playthrough for the vibes and aesthetic, but the dungeons are definitely the weakest aspect of the game to me. Compared to OoT, MM, and TP, they leave a lot to be desired.
@@MrDrBoi hey dude, great videos and of course I still enjoy WW. I just find that its rated higher than it should be. So much of it needs to be excused and aesthetics only get it so far.
Yeah I like to do a playthrough to refresh myself! Idk if I'll do the shrines for BotW, but I might do a Divine Beast video before TotK releases. We'll see haha
@@MrDrBoi LMAOO i meant the divine beasts 😂 120+ shrines is a monster video lol. Maybe a top 10 shrines if anything? Idk man. Your channel. But I’m here for whatever you drop!!
Honestly my opinion of Tower of the Gods went down after playing Breath of the Wild because I got sick of the repetitive shrines, and Tower of the Gods has that same atmosphere.
This made me really think about why I don't enjoy Wind Waker, most of the dungeons are too easy, tedious and really not memorable, Forbidden woods always felt like a drag to me since I don't really enjoy the slowness of the deku leaf or the slow puzzles as you showcased, also be spiky things that make you go slower, the most memorable thing about it is just the "DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ACTUALLY KOKIRI FOREST ALL ALONG??!?!?" Tower of the Gods is pretty neat tho, and maybe the only dungeon I actually look forward to, it utilizes the unique elements of this game ina good way and expands on the lore of the world The others.... meh
Yeah that was me until I played Wind Waker HD for the first time a few months ago. Was never really a fan of Wind Waker because of the dungeons, but my last playthrough really made me appreciate the game's other strengths.
I'm noticing a trend with these videos in that they're pretty clearly made by and for people who consider themselves "gamers™." I'm a much more casual gamer, and most of the things you describe as "too easy" were at least somewhat challenging for me the first time around.
You're somewhat right. When I describe something as too easy, I'm definitely comparing it to other Zeldas/games in general because I imagine most things in games are hard for people who play casually or don't play them all the time.
My main issue with Makar is just how god damn slow he is. Medli is about as fast and agile as Link but Makar just takes forever to maneuver
It's painful lol
And it's like, "Now that you're accustomed to controlling (and loving) the deku leaf, here's little wooden helicopter to figure out."
MAKAR IS SO CUTE THO
But he jingles
That dungeon was pissing me off
As a four year old, Wind Waker was actually kind of hard. It took me forever to figure out how to damage the first boss haha. It’s a much easier game for me now, but I do think a child would still struggle in areas.
Lol fair enough, idk if I could even tie my shoes at 4, let alone complete a Zelda dungeon.
You played zelda at FOUR!??!
I couldn’t get past the first dungeon for the longest time as a kid and would just ride around on the water and visit islands once I could 😂 I love this game so much
Much agreed. After my mom took me to gamestop after kindergarten to pick this up, I had to wait for my older brother to get home to make it through Dragon Roost haha.
I could not beat valoo when I was 10, my friend came over and absolutely destroyed him. I played wind waker HD because I had a Wii U, I'm not old enough for the GameCube but I do have one now lol
Thats one big thing I love about wind waker. How versatile a majority of its items are.
They aren't immediately forgotten about after their respective dungeon ends and most of them get regular use throughout a majority of the game. And are incorporated nicely into future dungeons to make fun layouts. This is the biggest issue with twilight princess, most of its items may as well stop existing after the dungeon you get them in
Have to agree, Wind Waker definitely utilizes its weapons very well.
@@MrDrBoi true
whats funny is technically for a while the dominion rod LITERALLY stops existing after the temple of time until you bring it back to get to the city in the sky
And it was nice how the grappling hook was even implemented in the sea exploration for pulling up treasure
@@Fueledbychapstick and for attack you had the boomerang, bow and most importantly bombs.
I was 6 or 7 when I first played wind waker and I remember actually getting stuck in dragon roost cavern! There’s one part that you need to use the grappling hook and you need to stop swinging to turn direction.. I had no idea that was even possible..
The platforming is way harder than modern games that baby you, you gotta get the camera and swing just right.
Same thing that happened to me but at like 15😢
This was my first Zelda game as a 10-11 year old. A lot of the dungeons was harder when i was a child, and would probably be much more of a breeze. One of the primary reasons is that we learn more and more patterns, so if you have played 7 other Zelda games, then suddenly the next dungeon is going to be easier and easier, as they still need to produce a game that even beginners can complete. I think the difficulty in this game in the dungeons was good if it was your first Zelda game, otherwise i would agree that there is something missing with regards to difficulty.
I’m late but while it wasn’t my first Zelda game, it was my first one after taking a few years off of the series so some of the dungeons were a little hard for me.
Being able to turn mid swing was such an improvement to the grappling hook in the HD version. I wish they ported it to the Switch already.
I would disagree with your take on Dragon Roost as I consider it the first dungeon of Wind Waker so it being a little easy is forgiven, it introduces a lot of new elements, like watering the bombs to get in and using water jars on lava, blocking the mice, cutting rope bridges and the use of enemy weapons. The layout is also pretty nice, you do a loop of the first part which granted is a personal plus because of Pandoras Tower, all in all I would say it's higher because it's a great proof of concept of all Wind Wakers new features..
That's fair, I figured some people would consider Dragon Roost as the first dungeon and under that framing, I'd agree with some of your points.
The Wind Temple was actually really good and Makar is precious and needs to be protected at all costs.
Your channel is underrated asf. Your videos are extremely well thought out and structured and you narrate your opinions very well also. Subscribed. Definitely want more Zelda videos!
Forsaken fortress mechanics at the beginning of the game, such as the sneaking around, was due to being a product at its time. It was mainly a hook piece to show some cool little strategy and facial expressions, which wasn't a point in Nintendo games prior. Yes it can be grueling on later repeat walkthroughs, but it was a cool little piece of mechanics at its original time of release.
That's a good point. I find the hardest parts when making these types of videos is remembering what that first playthrough felt like and the context of when the game came out.
It is a way more immersive stealth mechanic than whatever Ocarina had.
I remember a TH-cam video years ago, that stated there were supposed to be two more dungeons you encounter during the second part of the quest, that were dropped, due to budget and scheduling.
These were what became the both the mini ice and fire dungeons, where you acquire the Iron Boots and power bracelets, to gain entry to the Wind and Earth temples.
Apparently, the small volcano was supposed to be a larger island, with a tribe of residents that had built a steam powered town.
That’s interesting to know. Did it say whether they were supposed to be fully fledged ‘main’ dungeons, or mini dungeons along the lines of OoT’s Ice Cavern and Bottom of the Well?
@@welshlout3400 Can't remember, but I would say they were intended to be fully fledged dungeons.
Yep I’m pretty sure Nayru’s pearl with Jabun was never intended to be a dungeon originally. Counting FF it would’ve been strange if you did 5 dungeons before obtaining the master sword and only 3 afterwards. Power Bracelets and Iron Boots would’ve been the dungeon items
omg, you are criminally underrated.. I'm usually not the biggest fan of 3D Zelda games, but this video just made me want to play Wind Waker, with the way you describe and analyze each dungeon. I'm super glad youtube has recommended your channel to me, looking forward to more interesting videos :)
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
You should make more “dungeons ranked”! They are super enjoyable to watch as a Zelda fan who’s played through the dungeons
Thank you! Definitely will be doing more!
Are any 2D ones coming or just 3d? 🙂 they have been really good so far
Thanks! Definitely gonna do some 2D ones in the future as well!
I freaked out when you put wind temple that low on the list. Wind temple is the best dungeon in the game!
Forbidden woods is one of the most underrated dungeons in the series
Hey MrDrBoi! Great content. As a big Zelda [and Banjo Kazooie] fan, I'm enjoying all your ranked videos. I find that your take on the games resonates with me and it's really soothing to listen to. Hoping to see more on the Zelda series! Subscribed.
Thank you! Happy you've been enjoying them!
I think dragon roost is fine considering how early in the game it is and that you only have 3-4 hearts.
Wind temple has always been my #1 favorite Zelda dungeon period since I was a kid. The ancient, almost psychedelic atmosphere and music, brings about an emotion that I've never felt in any other Zelda dungeon or game in general. I can't even imagine how many hours I have listened to that OST singlehandedly lol. I find it's good for meditation and sleep especially 🙏
Aside from that though, I do enjoy the verticality of the dungeon and it's puzzles/combat, although I admit they arent the best compared to other WW dungeons. But damn bro, that atmosphere is enough to make me look past any flaws in it's actual design 😂
I didn't really touch on it, but I do enjoy the Wind Temple's theme. Gives me similar vibes to those in the Forbidden Woods, which I really liked.
@@MrDrBoi Oh yeah definitely similar vibes. It's almost like a feeling of something alien, yet familiar. Unsettling, yet comforting. Forbidden wood's music also conveys that ancient and mysterious energy.
@@MrDrBoi amazing content btw 👌
@@Spore_Money thanks!
I also enjoy the Wind Temple a lot even though I'll agree Makar is a weaker character to control. Another of my favorite elements is that a couple optional treasure chests are actually hard to figure out. It feels like a remnant of Zelda dungeons having more to do outside the main goal, akin to Stray Fairies in Majora's Mask.
Great video! Wind Waker is one of my favorites of the Zelda series, but I agree that the dungeons on the whole are a bit too easy compared to other Zelda dungeons in the series.
Keep up the good work, love your world ranking videos!
Thanks, glad you've enjoyed them!
6:33... nice
What can I say haha
Cool Ranking! I personally have Tower of gods and dragon Roost cavern a bit lower and earth/ wind a bit higher, but I do agree with your points. They just affect me a bit differently
Dude what an awesome channel, love your work bro
Thanks a lot!
One of the best things about Windwaker are all the little islands you get to explore. Some of which have their own mini dungeons. I dont care for the dungeons.
I like how this is one of the few times where the early dungeons are better than the later ones
"It's been 20 years since... "
Me: WWWWWHHHHAAAATTTT?!?!
I know it's crazy all these games are getting so old.
It's even more crazy to me that A Link Between Worlds turns 10 years old this year. That game really feels like it just came out.
Windwaker has some of the absolute best music!
Absolutely! The Great Sea may be my favorite song in the series and if not its definitely up there!
really good video! this high quality content deserves more subs!
I appreciate it, thanks!
Very different list than my personal one but interesting hearing your reasoning.
This was the first Zelda game I played significantly, although I never beat the wind temple as a kid. My rankings really reflect more the enjoyment I got as a kid than how it was when I finally played through the whole game as an adult.
My personal ranking:
7. Ganons Tower - I don’t really think of this as a dungeon
6. Wind Temple - Probably mostly due to getting stuck her as kid. The platform room was not possible at my skill level without the magic upgrade and I got lost a lot. Even after beating it as an adult, I actually really didn’t enjoy the boss fight outside of the music.
5. Forsaken Fortress - I replayed the beginning of the game a lot since I enjoyed it and this terrified me until I found a route that I liked. I enjoyed beating up the watchtower guards and fighting the helmorack king feels really satisfying the first time.
4. Tower of The Gods - I feel like this one is kind of bland and has a lot of annoying elements like the water on the first floor, electric chus, and beamos.
3. Forbidden Woods - I don’t have any issues with this one, but I also don’t look forward to anything in it. The section flying into the dungeon is also tedious waiting for the tornado.
2. Earth Temple - As a kid, the level of difficulty here felt just right. The puzzles were difficult enough to be satisfying, but easy enough to not get stuck. The floor masters were annoying but less punishing than in wind waker. Also loved getting to play as a girl.
1. Dragon Roost - This one is just so fun. Yes, it’s pretty easy, but playing this as a kid gave me the same feeling as sight reading a piece of music. Just felt really well-designed and natural. A big reason why I replayed the beginning of the game so much.
I think overall, the strengths of wind waker really lie outside of the dungeons in the tasks you do to open them up and side quests (minus the triforce shards).
Have to agree, Wind Waker really shines outside of the dungeons. It's why the HD Remake is so phenomenal, it really doubles down on what makes the adventure fun.
I abhor dungeons where you have to bring along an NPC (Wind Waker's Earth and Wind temples, Jabu Jabu's belly in OoT). In WW, my favorite places were actually Fire Mountain and Ice Ring Isle. I like how you had to use the Fire and Ice arrows to their opposite elements to help complete them.
I disagree about the Wind Temple, I thought it was the best one.
Great video! I love your rankings
Thanks a lot, glad you enjoy!
22:03 i died on that boss first time but its because i didn't know how to auto aim and was trying to do everything manually. I beat him second try like that and if I had used auto aim I'd probably agree with you but i didn't know or had forgotten about that function from twilight princess.
Just played again I actually got stuck for a few minutes on Fire Roost. After getting the boss key I kept looking for the way forward, didn't expect there to suddenly be backtracking.
As much as I know the earth temple has weakish puzzles and the command medley use...
I adore it. Probably my favourite dungeon ever. The aesthetics and atmosphere is unrivalled for me. The allegedly bland tone completely sets the tone for it as a foreboding decrepit crypt with redeads and the silly but evil entity of Jalhalla.
Oh, and as an Aussie, hearing a didgeridoo in any music at all is a huge blessing.
Yeah this temple's aesthetics definitely deserve more love than they get.
13:58
In what world is someone fighting Godmaster NKG while their shade is out??
I might be wrong, but pretty sure their is no real death penalty against the Nightmare King Grim because it's technically in the dream world.
@@MrDrBoi I just mean it's weird to be in that specific situation without actively striving for it. Dying in Godhome doesn't release your shade, so someone went out of their way to die, then go to Godhome, THEN fight NKG. Why?? Lol
I know the community is super masochistic at this point, but still.
It's crazy looking back and seeing how clearly excited the devs were about the deku leaf that they made all that stuff for it, and then on the other side of the gamecube's lifespan seeing how creatively barren twilight princess was with its items by comparison
Yeah the Dominion Rod, Spinner, and Ball and Chain really don't compare to how innovative and fun the Deku Leaf was.
@@MrDrBoi And it's not even like TP's items are fundamentally bad ideas, there could've been a ton of unique and creative things done with any of them, they just didn't for whatever reason
Like the Gale Boomerang is a wind thing just like the Deku Leaf, just combined with a boomerang- world of possibilities right there. But then the game just uses it as a boomerang that can press special wind switches and fetch slightly heavier objects for you, not really expanding what's possible at all
TP has items that are difficult to justify considering they weren't in the development rush that Wind Waker was. They should have had a lot more integration of item use from one dungeon to another, but instead it's this episodic progress that is exemplified by one of the first items we receive: the slingshot. It's useful for about one chapter and then immediately rendered obsolete in the second dungeon by the bow. And then there's just to many niche items. Wind Waker continues to justify pretty much all its items by making them good for both specific tasks and general combat.
@@Levacque Well first, TP did apparently have development issues- they've outright stated there were things they didn't have time to do, and the game was delayed for a year to finish the wii port and "add more content"(so the game somehow had even LESS stuff in it before)
And two, the slingshot was never useful. You have to use it to take out the bee hive in Ordon, and then use it to kill spiders on two climbable surfaces before the first dungeon- one of which is artificially placed on the ladder to your house in between events just to force you to use it. And then that's it, you never really need it again, and you never use it for any kind of complex purpose. It's really just in the game for story purposes
Twilight Princess had way too many items and they were all underutilized as a result. The spinner is one of the coolest items in any Zelda game but it's almost useless outside of the dungeon where you acquire it. And why did we need both the slingshot and the bow? It made sense in OoT where only one was available at a time but in TP the bow renders the slingshot entirely pointless, and you get it already in the second dungeon.
I quite liked the big mirror puzzle in the Earth Temple, actually! I will agree with you to a large degree about unlocking Hyrule, though...that was one of my favorite parts! I just wish they had utilized it more as an area of exploration and additional dungeons rather than just a hub between the Great Sea and Ganon's Tower. I'm hoping someday they do a remastered, expanded version of the game that features this. That would be awesome!
Ultimately, though, nothing can subtract from just how utterly depressing the ending to the game is for me, even over 20 years after I first beat it.
forsaken fortress is my goat. to me its the most memorable one. that and the volcano dungeon.
forsaken fortress is tedious, but thats what makes it good. you have to be cautious and weary. you have to study the enemies, you have to learn the different mechanics, you get to see ganon there. then theres the second visit where you can unleash mayhem and also fight phantom ganon, a really cool mini boss. definitely my favorite.
Are you gonna do the other games? This series so far is great
Yep, definitely! Thanks!
Personally, I'm really looking forward to your Twilight Princess ranked video. Wanted to also mention that I thought you brought up quite a few fair points that contrasted my own opinion. Your list is pretty different from my own. However, I was curious why The Ghost Ship, The Underwater Volcano, and The Frozen Island ( forgive me, I don't know their names ) weren't included since they are mini dungeons, or at least I think so. Perhaps I'm in the minority?
If I were to rank them I would say:
10. Forsaken Fortress
9. Underwater Volcano
8. The Frozen Island
7. Earth Palace
6. Gannon's Tower
5. The Ghost Ship
4. Forbidden Woods
3. Dragon Roost Cavern
2. Wind Palace
1. Tower of the Gods
Thanks, Twilight Princess is definitely coming soon! As for mini-dungeons, I generally don't rank them because they'd usually just wind up near the bottom of the list because they are so short. For example, Fire Mountain took me less than four minutes to complete, which can't really compare to a full dungeon.
Probably gonna do a 3D Zelda Mini-Dungeon video in the future though!
@MrDrBoi Eh, I guess that is fair. I thought The Ghost Ship was pretty interesting in both how you get to it and strikes that cord of the mysterious happenings in the ocean. But if you do happen to make a 3D mini dungeon ranked video. Then I guess ranking them among kin would be more fair and interesting for us viewers.
Regardless, I look forward to you continuing this series. Also, if I may, I would be VERY interested if you were to cover The Paper Mario series in this fashion. I know you've done a few videos of it in the past. And I would be interested in seeing your analysis style pick apart the different pros and cons of locations like the Boo House in SS, Dry Dry Desert in PM, Twilight Town in TTYD, and Chapter 5 in CS. Similarly to how you covered Bug Fables.
Anyways, despite what future content you plan, thanks for the video and I'm looking forward to the next one!
6:34 my heart just shattered 😭💔💔
As much as I dislike the forsaken fortress as a dungeon, I get a strange nostalgia from being there the first time. One of my earliest Zelda memories was playing the intro to windwaker in like 2006 on a GameCube 🤣
I wouldn't say Wind Waker is my favorite, but it definitely holds a special place for me. I didn't manage to play WW until years later on an emulator. Instantly loved the game and will always be sorry I didnt get to play it when it came out.
It's funny, I really wasn't crazy about WW for most of my life, but my last playthrough really changed that for me. It's still not my favorite either, but I've definitely grown a soft spot for it.
Wind walker is definitely one of my favorites but I only major criticism was and is that it is a bit to easy. Hero mode on the Wii U version helped a lot, that and it fixed the slow sailing issue and tri force quest.
Wind Waker HD made me love this game so much more for those reasons. If they ever port it to Switch I'm definitely gonna have to try hero mode.
Part of the difficulty was supposed to come from the big ask of the tri force quest. Which forced you to immerse yourself hardcore into the open world, and exploring.
I mean, yeah, ramming a sword through the forehead of such an evil force is a badass way to end an easier Zelda game. And I agree, Ganon's tower is no true dungeon.
do spirit tracks or phantom hour glass next, we need to appreciate those titles more
Perhaps in the future! Unfortunately, I've never played either of those titles so I gotta get on that first haha
6:35 aaaand subbed
There was soooo much humblebrag in this video. Nicely edited and presented but really creator-centric
What does this even mean lol?
Focused a great deal on your perception of the difficulty playing the game and let that heavily dictate how favourably you ranked the dungeons. IMO, wind waker wasn’t as easy as you made it out to be, and the entire video it almost felt as if you were bragging how easily you could figure the game out because of how advanced your video game logic was.
I must’ve played WW tens of times and every time I still need to look up FAQs on what to do cuz it’s not as cut and try, or the sequencing of the game messes me up.
I’m not trying to be chronically online and I wanna make that clear. For any future vids if the difficulty of something is going to significantly influence your perception of something, I’d double check with a couple other people outside of the WW/Zelda meta, or those who are only casually familiar with it
Oh my good old friend the wind waker
One of ma fav Zelda
I love the hollowknight cameo at 14 min while saying ww is too easy; I think we all agree that hollowknight is EXTREMELY difficiult even for seasoned players ;)
My ranking:
7- Ganon’s Tower
6- Forsaken Fortress
5- Dragon Roost Cavern
4- Forbidden Woods
3- Wind Temple
2- Tower of the Gods
1- Earth Temple (biased for dead/haunted and dark themes)
I first got Wind Waker as a birthday present, which is ironic as the game starts out on Link's birthday lol. As someone whose first game they bought with their own money was Twilight Princess, I'm eager to see your Twilight Princess ranking video if it's on your agenda.
That must've been a cool feeling to play it on your birthday! And for sure, Twilight Princess is coming at some point!
I don’t usually like random videos, but “Fuck Makar” earned a sub and a like!
Haha thanks!
Rank every Twilight Princess dungeon and every Skyward Sword dungeon.
They'll definitely be coming out sometime in the next few months!
So funny, as wind temple came up I thought “yeah I agree, Makar is annoying” and bam! You roast the heck out of Makar hahaha
It's what he deserves lol
>Gohdan
>Forgettable
Pick *one*.
He's easy (as are all 3D Zelda bosses), but his music and design are pretty striking. The low light of the arena for some reason boosts his imposing statures especially when he opens his eyes giving a sharp red glow and letting his powerful energy attacks stand out. I love the switch up to a more intimidating organ when you disable his hands. And it's interesting to face a Zelda boss that is not in any sense evil, but rather a test. Friendly to a fault almost as he even replenishes Link's arrows when he knows you've run dry.
I wouldn't call him anything close to forgettable.
i played this in the GC back in 2002 and today I find Out you can kill the black Jellys with the hammer after they turn to stone.... mind blown....
You forgot the water dungeon.
Obtaining the Nayrus orb is like a dungeon.
You got to go sail back to windfall island in a storm fighting sea monsters where you unlock bombs at the island.
Then you sail back through the storm where you fight a boss using the item you just got thereby unlocking the final orb and meeting Jabuu.
Its not a traditional dungeon but it fits wind waker.
My personal favorite of the whole bunch, the Triforce Hunt dungeon, was left off the list too. It’s got a main dungeon item, the IN-credible Chart, with the eight Triforce charts being keys you need to solve puzzles to collect. And Tingle is probably the most villainous dungeon boss of the game.
7. Ganon’s Tower
6. Forsaken Fortress
5. Dragon Roost Cavern
4. Forbidden Woods
3. Tower of the Gods
2. Earth Temple
1. Wind Temple.
Mine
7. Wind Temple
6. Ganon's Tower
5. Earth Temple
4. Forsaken Fortress
3. Tower of the Gods
2. Woods
1. Dragon
My list would be:
#7: Ganon’s Tower (Though I’ve played this game countless times, I never beat it, so I’ve never played this dungeon, so I can’t put it any higher than the bottom.)
#6: Forsaken Fortress (Worst first dungeon ever!)
#5: Tower of the Gods (I don’t like slowly drifting around at the beginning.)
#4: Wind Temple (Kind of confusing)
#3: Earth Temple (Pretty cool and just creepy enough)
#2: Dragon Roost Temple: I consider this the first REAL dungeon in the game, and it’s one of my favorite first dungeons in the series. I never considered the Forsaken Fortress a real dungeon on the first visit because it didn’t have a boss.
#1: The Forbidden Woods (Such a cool dungeon, and my second favorite “forest” themed dungeon in the series.
You should totally beat it next time you decide to play, the final battle is one of my favorite parts of Wind Waker!
Not sure what you meant about “not the strongest reputation” as wind waker has a strong one
I think he meant about the dungeons
I also dislike the Wind Temple because Makar is locked in a cell for the first half of it, locking you out of the majority of the stuff you need him for till you get him out.
As a 27 year old man with no "spacial awareness" to speak of, I enjoy almost all of the dungeons in wind waker. Makar drags the wind temple down, and the forest temple... it's good. But for some reason I like the temple of the gods far more.
Also, you can one shot the inner head of the forbidden woods boss. You just need spring water from the great deku trees woods.
I just learned that trick for the Forbidden Woods boss recently and it blew my mind haha
9:15 bro that boss was annoying af good luck hook shotting him when there's 20 worms in front of you
7. Ganon's Tower
6. Forbidden Woods
5. Forsaken Fortress
4. Wind Temple
3. Tower of the Gods
2. Dragon Roost Cavern
1. Earth Temple
I didn't really like the Forbidden Woods. The Deku Leaf is an awesome item, but I feel like it's awesome because of the stuff you can do with it around the world and how often it's used throughout, not really because of the Forbidden Woods, which imo is kinda bland in level design. I like the theming, it's one of the better looking dungeons, I just don't find it very fun to play. Ganon's Tower I agree is pretty disappointing, but that hallway/staircase filled with strong enemies after you get the Light Arrows and you're able to just one shot all of them is one of the coolest feelings ever. Wind Temple and Earth Temple I think are both really fun and I don't mind taking control of Medli/Makar at all, and I think they add to the overall puzzles. I love in the Earth Temple that Medli basically starts with the dungeon item, so by the time you get the Mirror Shield you already know how to use it and you are immediately thrown into puzzles that you have to use Medli and the Mirror Shield in combination to solve.
That's a great point about Medli and another reason I like her more than Makar haha. The only thing I wished was that the puzzles were a bit more intricate when you finally gained the ability to reflect light yourself.
Rank Tears of Kingdom temples next?
I've never disagreed with someone's opinions more. Maybe my judgment is clouded having played this when I was about 6 years old, but the fact that the dungeons were more linear, simple, and easy made it so I was never frustrated trying to figure things out. It did actually take me a bit to figure out how to beat the first boss. Similarly, I'm pretty sure I died a couple times to the 2nd boss. 4 hearts isn't a lot of room to make a challenging boss in. You praised the temple of the gods, but mostly for Hyrule, which isn't part of the actual temple. I agree, Hyrule is the best part of the game, but the temple of the gods is boring, filled with taking control repetitively of statues like in the Wind and Earth temples. The boss was actually the only part of that dungeon that I LIKED! Having to use both a bow and bombs to defeat this challenge and be worthy of the hero title, while avoiding both the hands and face at once feels good. You put ganon's castle down for basically being a boss rush of the previous temples, but you praised ocarina of time for basically the same thing. Seeing how far you've come since the beginning and doing it all back to back without pause lets you feel ready for the final challenge, which is a gauntlet of 3 puppet fights and then a very dramatic cutscene into one of the best ganondorf fights ever. The spider may have been easy if you knew what you were doing, but the worm thing was so hard they had to nerf it later. The forsaken fortress was anything but straightforward and easy for me! Having to find the right place to sneak in and beat up the bokoblins without your sword to turn off the searchlights so you can pass and get to your sword, and when you're caught you get put in a different place than you started without a way to know where to go. Then, when you come back with the master sword, you're obviously much stronger so you just rush in and make your way to the boss, but that's exactly the point! You just obtained a legendary sword and are supposed to be the courageous hero instead of the kid searching for his sister.
Appreciate the write-up! Just to respond to a few points:
I think that you can justify making the bosses more difficult, even with 4 hearts, because there is basically no penalty for dying. There are warp pots outside the boss room door in every dungeon, making it really easy to retry if you fail. Also, bosses should be challenging, otherwise, they aren't satisfying to beat. It's why many people look at Dark Beast Ganon in BotW as a disappointment.
I did consider not including any of the Hyrule stuff in the TotG section, but they always felt linked because you are brought directly there. That said, I understand it's technically not part of the temple. Even so, I didn't find TotG boring and actually enjoyed the command melody initially. It was only after two other dungeons heavily used it afterward that that style of gameplay soured on me.
One of the key differences between OoT's final area and WW's is again, the difficulty. Ganon's Tower's puzzles aren't engaging because they are incredibly basic and short. You get through them so quickly it feels like you're basically just fighting bosses, hence the glorified boss rush line. On the other hand, Ganon's Castle's puzzles offer substance through their challenge and reward you with the golden gauntlets to give you one final power increase before you face off with Ganondorf.
While narratively it makes sense to blow through challenges you've already encountered, like the return to Forsaken Fortress and Ganon's Tower's boss rush, I personally don't think it translates to gameplay well. I want to feel engaged in the action when I'm in control, not feeling like I'm going through the motions. Obviously, challenge and difficulty aren't everything for a Zelda title, but it is something I want in each entry's dungeons.
But keep in mind this comes from someone who played Wind Waker for the first time at 10-11 years old and after I had already beaten OoT, MM, and TP. Perhaps my judgment is clouded by that and had I experienced this game first, maybe I'd see things differently.
Either way, thanks for the thought-out response!
I hate wind temple with a passion. It's awful and nothing but bad memories to me. Running out of magic in the platform room probably contributed to my trauma.
That'll do it
I replayed wind waker on an emulator and speed hacked the game and the command melody still pissed me off, even at 200% speed.
I do not hate Makar or the Wind Temple, but I am rather indifferent to both, which isn’t that much better. Doesn’t help that their counterparts are the best parts of Wind Waker, making them just pale and shrivel by comparison.
Yeah I sometimes wonder if indifference is worse than disliking something being. Like at least I still care even if its bad lol
Wow a friend and I just raced in this game
This game is like the ‘Ladybird collection of first Zelda Dungeons’. Great world and exploring, very underwhelming dungeons…
It was BotW before BotW
6:35 it's a cello
Nah it's definitely a violin, based on the sound it creates. Makar just plays it like a cello because he's so tiny.
It's a violin. Makar is just small. Check out the cutscene of the past Kokiri sage Fado playing it, he plays it like a violin.
Dungeons are one of my least favorite parts of 3D Zelda games anyway, so the easy dungeons of Wind Waker probably made me love the game more
That's one good thing about Wind Waker. If you don't enjoy the dungeons at least they are quick and simple. Makes it easier to enjoy the other parts of the game.
u should do a skyward sword or twilight princess dungeon ranking videos.
Definitely in the works!
Damn, our lists are almost reversed
7: Tower of gods
6: Forbidden Woods
5: Ganon Tower
4: Wind Temple
3: Dragon roost Cavern
2: Forsaken Fortress
1: Earth Temple
Dragon Roost in 3rd 🤝
"Screw him [Makar] and his violin!"
ITS A CELLO!!!!!
It’s funny how I mostly agree with your Mario and Banjo Kazooie level rankings, but totally disagree with your Zelda ones. Tower of the Gods was my least favorite on my recent playthrough and the Wind Temple was my favorite.
Wind Temple definitely has the most dungeon-y feel to me. Tower of Gods isn’t my favourite but I do appreciate what it was going for. I’d say Dragon Roost Cavern is the most forgettable outside of Forsaken Fortress
"You can turn mid swing"
you couldnt do that in the original version of the game, this is an HD remaster thing
Ironically I personally find Tower of the Gods one of my least favorite dungeons in the whole series and without a doubt my least favorite in Wind Waker, partially BECAUSE of how good its aesthetic is. I love its looks and its theme, but it's all gone to waste for me because the dungeon is an absolute crawl.
It's kind of absurd how much of your time in the tower is spent just...waiting for stuff to happen. Wait for the water level to go up and down. Wait for the slow hopping animation of the statues. Wait for the moving platforms to shift into position. Wait for the boss to open its eyes, you get the idea.
Comparing briefly to another slow dungeon, the Goron Mines, there the slowness is offset somewhat by the fact you need to be engaged and moving for the duration of the iron boots sections, and woven between them are a bunch of other puzzles and the bow to boot. Having consistent control of my progress (even when it was a slow stomp) went a long way.
I can understand why people like TotG, I just do find it funny that you put it on the exact opposite end of where I would (okay maybe not exact, Forsaken Foretress is pretty rough too...)
I dunno why so many people rate this game so high. So many temples are a chore or underwhelming.
Compare this to OOT or MM.
You can argue maybe one temple in each of those is a chore but they are still great and super innovative.
WW is derivative at best, you then have the chore of sailing where you just sit and wait, or the chore of hunting those god awful triforce shards.
Honestly I enjoyed playing it, but I do not enjoy nor desire replays of it unlike OOT, MM, or TP.
I’d pick SS for a replay over WW.
I personally really enjoyed a lot of the non-dungeon parts of Wind Waker in my last playthrough for the vibes and aesthetic, but the dungeons are definitely the weakest aspect of the game to me. Compared to OoT, MM, and TP, they leave a lot to be desired.
@@MrDrBoi hey dude, great videos and of course I still enjoy WW. I just find that its rated higher than it should be.
So much of it needs to be excused and aesthetics only get it so far.
Are you replaying these games when you make these videos? Just trying to gauge when youll do one for BOTW, imagine that one will take forever😂
Yeah I like to do a playthrough to refresh myself! Idk if I'll do the shrines for BotW, but I might do a Divine Beast video before TotK releases. We'll see haha
@@MrDrBoi LMAOO i meant the divine beasts 😂 120+ shrines is a monster video lol. Maybe a top 10 shrines if anything? Idk man. Your channel. But I’m here for whatever you drop!!
6:34 fucking killed me
Makar is the only one whom I love in this game xd
Honestly my opinion of Tower of the Gods went down after playing Breath of the Wild because I got sick of the repetitive shrines, and Tower of the Gods has that same atmosphere.
I can understand that, the Shrine aesthetic definitely wears on you after you've seen it 100 times.
Wind Waker has always been my favorite even though Twilight Princess was my first. The game is a bit too easy for me though.
This made me really think about why I don't enjoy Wind Waker, most of the dungeons are too easy, tedious and really not memorable, Forbidden woods always felt like a drag to me since I don't really enjoy the slowness of the deku leaf or the slow puzzles as you showcased, also be spiky things that make you go slower, the most memorable thing about it is just the "DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ACTUALLY KOKIRI FOREST ALL ALONG??!?!?"
Tower of the Gods is pretty neat tho, and maybe the only dungeon I actually look forward to, it utilizes the unique elements of this game ina good way and expands on the lore of the world
The others.... meh
Yeah that was me until I played Wind Waker HD for the first time a few months ago. Was never really a fan of Wind Waker because of the dungeons, but my last playthrough really made me appreciate the game's other strengths.
I'm noticing a trend with these videos in that they're pretty clearly made by and for people who consider themselves "gamers™." I'm a much more casual gamer, and most of the things you describe as "too easy" were at least somewhat challenging for me the first time around.
You're somewhat right. When I describe something as too easy, I'm definitely comparing it to other Zeldas/games in general because I imagine most things in games are hard for people who play casually or don't play them all the time.
You didn’t add the water temple
Jokes aside earth temple and forbidden woods are best
It's actually pretty funny that this game doesn't have a water temple now that you mention it haha
The wind temple is the only good one in my opinion, the others are piss easy
Except the main char isnt link lol
I thought the Earth temple was the games best
Just beat the Wind Temple for the first time yesterday, man what a piece of dogshit. Might be my least favorite 3D dungeon I've beaten.
LMFAO THE MAKAR HATE GOT A SUB FROM ME HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TRUE
Worst dungeons in any pre-BotW Zelda game. They really hold the game back.