Daily Debate: Were The Early Dungeons In Ocarina Of Time A Suitable Introduction For New Fans To The Franchise?

Posted on September 14 2018 by Judy Calder

It’s safe to say that Ocarina of Time did a lot of things right, especially when it came to the early dungeons in the game.

Link’s initial quest in the game is to rid the Great Deku Tree of the curse set upon him by Ganondorf. This challenge would act as the players first introduction to the style of gameplay, with more easily defeated enemies such as deku scrubs, skulltulas and finally, Parasitic Armored Arachnid, Queen Gohma. She would be the most difficult enemy that the player would have encountered by this point, but with that huge red eye, the key to beating her should be obvious.

The next challenge set before the player is to help the starving Gorons on Death Mountain to take back Dodongos Cavern; home to their delectable rocks (Gorons love a good rock sirloin). With stronger enemies such as lizalfos to tackle, and a larger dungeon area to cover, the player can begin to understand how difficulty in the game will progress. This dungeon boss, Infernal Dinosaur, King Dodongo, puts on a good show. But with the right strategy, he is easily felled.

Lastly, with some more difficulty due to electrically charged enemies in the form of biri and shaboms, Link is tasked with escorting Princess Ruto around Lord Jabu Jabu’s belly until she finds her mother’s jewel, the Zora’s Sapphire. Not only is there a final boss in this dungeon, but there is a mini boss in the form of a Big Octo to tackle as well. The final boss, Bio-Electric Anenome, Barinade, is certainly more challenging, and presents a more frantic battle due to the jellyfish that protect it. If the player has learned anything from the game so far, they should be able to tackle this monstrosity and eventually take it down.

I think that Nintendo managed to create the perfect introduction to a Zelda game through these early dungeons in Ocarina of Time. Enemies are initially pretty easy to deal with and become more of a challenge as the player’s experience is built up. The puzzles are also easy to work out if you think logically and the stories behind the tasks set before Link are interesting; enough so to make the player really want to complete the quest!

What do you think of the early dungeons in Ocarina of Time? Were they a suitable introduction for new fans to the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!