RPG Blog
Related Articles
While many fans of The Legend of Zelda Dread the series’ water-themed dungeons, places like these deserve credit for at least one thing: imaginative bosses that put together awesome combat. There are quite a few bosses that it would be fair to call really bad, because even ZeldaWorst Dungeons emphasizes puzzle solving and spatial awareness in a way that extends to providing players with combat that tests both their wits and their reflexes. Facing something new for the first time is more often than not a thrilling experience, and aquatic dungeons refuse to sag to provide that impact, no matter how difficult players might be to reach their final battles.
Water levels have an unfortunate tendency to be unpopular in video games that aren’t centered around them, for reasons ranging from disappointing layouts to unwieldy changes to game mechanics – and pacing and music are better considered. Zelda oddities for a reason. ZeldaWater dungeons tend to be the black sheep of their games as parts of them become accessible via factors like changing water levels and currents. It’s easy for a player to become disoriented while navigating spaces like OcarinaWater Temple or Majora’s Mask‘s Great Bay Temple while trying to remember where they have and haven’t already investigated in changing conditions. Same breath of the wildcontaining simplified dungeons, features the interior of the water-themed robot Vah Ruta, which can be dull to complete.
No such problem arises in water dungeon boss fights, which can focus the memorability and near-alien weirdness that underwater pattern mining allows and creative, fast-paced play in tight, punchy encounters. . Morpha, boss of Ocarina of timeThe hated Water Temple dungeon isn’t a difficult enemy from a distance, but its buildup and concept are truly unnerving: after spending nearly an entire dungeon swimming or walking underwater, Link encounters a pool deep of what Navi urgently warns him that he is”no normal water“before a Jaws-the submerged sight gives way to a large transparent amoeba rising from it, stretching its body in arms to reach out and attack the young swordsman. Meanwhile, Barinade, boss of Jabu-Jabu’s belly filled with sea creatures before Morpha, is a gigantic, mobile, electrified anemone that intimidates a player with its quirkiness and sets up one of the best fights Young Link has ever faced. .
Even Zelda’s Less Popular Water Dungeon Bosses Are So Cool
Other Zelda water monsters may not be as iconic as the two (like any creature that never appears in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is likely to be), but they are no less remarkable. Majora’s Mask Gyorg is a polarizing fight due to his leaps in and out of water, attempts to knock Link into his domain, and the requirement that the player learn to act quickly underwater as Zora Link with little of time and space. But it’s a wonderfully satisfying boss to fight once you’ve mastered it. Even in principle, few things are cooler than battling a giant masked piranha – and a contender for one of those rare things is slaying a dragon-sized eel, as Link does in Twilight Princess. The Lakebed temple boss wafts through the water in his arena in such a way that he manages to look like Hydrus from The shadow of the colossusinsta-cool factor that manages not to exhaust its welcome due to battle, even when playing comparably to a faster-paced Hydrus.
Same skyward swordThe ancient cistern of features Koloktos, which makes up for the lack of anything overtly watery about it by being nothing if not intimidating. The huge golden idol forces Link to watch his increasingly aggressive attack patterns for opportunities to dismantle him with his attacks and reach his weak body, an exciting and rewarding battle loop that marks a memorable fight with a well-designed boss.
Aquatic environments are some of the most atmospheric and fascinating (but frightening) places a human being can experience in real life. While his experiences in creating his own may elicit varying reactions from players, The Legend of ZeldaThe best bosses never fail to serve as stunning cornerstones capturing their own degrees of majesty, weirdness, or terror that an aquatic adventure should entail.
