Breath of the Wild’s map is among one of my absolute favorites. Hidden chests, surprise mini-bosses, and changes in weather kept me curious and playing for weeks. Four years later, and there’s nothing else that’s quite captivated me in the same ways. It took me ages to encounter my first Divine Beast, as I was often too busy crawling up a mountainside, digging into the cracks and crevices in search of even the smallest of new discoveries. In perhaps what was Nintendo’s best vision of Hyrule, there’s really only one thing that pains me while exploring the world – I really miss Zelda’s more traditional dungeons, Breath of the Wild’s shrines just don’t cut it for me.
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Don’t get me wrong; things didn’t begin that way. At first, I loved finding new shrines in Breath of the Wild. When I’d spot a new one, I’d make my way over to it in a frenzy, eager to see what surprises were tucked away in its forgotten dark corridors. There was plenty of variety – there’s 120 of the things, after all – and I was in no short supply of shrines that felt challenging, rewarding, or there for a satisfying, easy win.
As time goes on, though, shrines lose their luster, and it wasn’t until I was about halfway through that I realized that was it. I had gone into Breath of the Wild at launch, steering clear of spoilers if possible and just assuming that surely somewhere, somehow a traditional Zelda dungeon would pop up. Obviously, that never happened, and it was a bit of a gutting revelation. More than anything else, with each new Zelda, my favorite part is discovering in what new ways Nintendo has reinvented the dungeon. Yet with Breath of the Wild, I think we go careening past that, and these small, scattered shrines don’t feel as impactful as Zelda’s most significant set-pieces.
Zelda’s dungeons don’t have a set formula throughout the series. You aren’t always guaranteed your favorite will pop back up in some new variation, and some – like the Water Temple – remain divisive. I’d reckon though, that it’s the dungeons, not even Link or the princess herself, that make Zelda feel like a Zelda. It’s the reason we see games like Okami get compared to Zelda so much, it’s the pattern, the puzzles, and their towering presence that make these games feel like a proper entry to the series.
They’re thematic, each dungeon feels like it plays into Zelda’s, admittedly thin, story to some degree. Dungeon beats don’t quite wear in the same way, and I don’t quite feel the same sense of fatigue when I’m moving between ten or so big beats, as opposed to trying to chance 120 little ones. There’s quite a bit of charm in seeing how each entry will stylize some version of the Forest, Water, or Fire Temples – even if they aren’t those places in name, you understand their role.
When I look out over Breath of the Wild’s massive landscape, I find thrills, just not in the same way. I love chasing Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra, and I’m always excited by the prospect of challenging a Guardian, but when I return to that version of Hyrule, I just always feel like something is missing. I desperately want to look out and see a massive fortress built into the side of Death Mountain, or drain an area of Lake Hylia to uncover a hidden temple entrance that the Zoras will warn me about.
I have nothing to contribute to conversations about weapon degradation, and I’ve adored just about every Zelda I’ve played, but Breath of the Wild feels like it’s missing a secret ingredient. I couldn’t recall the name of a single shrine to you from Breath of the Wild, but I can name damn near every Zelda dungeon in my favorite entries. Breath of the Wild 2 may not have much reason to change given its success so far, but I sure hope I’ll get to walk through some variation of another big fire dungeon soon. It’s always one of my favorites.
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