Daily Debate: What Unconventional Methods Have You Used to Overcome an Obstacle in a Zelda Game?
Posted on April 04 2024 by Nick Miller
In the age of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, unconventional solutions to problem-solving are the name of the game. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi told Game Informer in a 2023 interview that one of the goals in the development of the open world Zelda games was to create obstacles for the player where “there are many answers to a single problem, and all of them can potentially be correct.” So, the player will have a variety of tools and objects at their disposal and the games give them free rein to find any solution that works.
However, this open-ended approach to puzzle-solving is a relatively novel feature. For most of Zelda‘s history, games have been built around problems with single solutions, with guard rails often put in place to prevent alternative approaches. That being said, developers didn’t always account for every decision a player could make, and right decisions may often let you bypass key items, sequence break, or solve a puzzle in an odd way. So, what unconventional methods have you used to overcome an obstacle in a Zelda game?
The most unconventional means I’ve used on a standard playthrough of a Zelda game comes from the first time I played through Ocarina of Time. I was just a kid, and maybe reading comprehension wasn’t my strong suit because I had no idea that the Goron Tunic existed. I didn’t know this was an item that I should acquire and, although I tried to stop the rolling Goron who gives it to you, I couldn’t get the timing right, so I just moved on thinking it wasn’t that important. This means that when I entered Death Mountain Crater and saw the timer that counts down the seconds until Link’s death from heat exposure, I assumed that this was normal, and that the timer was just something the player was expected to contend with.
Well, let me tell you, beating the Fire Temple without the Goron Tunic is possible, but it’s no walk in the park. Although not every room in the dungeon is on a timer, any room with open pools of lava or excessive fire elements are, and this includes Volvagia’s lair. This forces the player to speed through combat encounters and rush to solve puzzles under threat of spontaneous combustion.
There are some tricks, however, that you can use to make your time in the Fire Temple easier. If you exit and re-enter a room, it resets the timer. The timer is based off of your health so collect heart pieces and keep your bottles full of fairies to give yourself the most time possible. You can also use Farore’s Wind to save your progress as you leave the temple to collect more fairies or potions.
It wasn’t easy, and it took some finagling, but I was able to beat the dungeon without receiving the Goron Tunic. Funny enough, beating the Fire Temple without talking to the rolling Goron actually locks you out of getting the tunic altogether because the store in Goron City never opens. That means I never knew about the Goron Tunic until I beat the game with an unfilled equipment slot and checked online to see what I was missing.
Now tell us about your experiences. What unconventional methods have you used to overcome an obstacle in a Zelda game? Did it make your playing experience more enjoyable, or was it just a hassle? Do you prefer more structured puzzles, or the open-ended approach of newer Zelda games? Let us know in the comments below.
Nick is a writer for Zelda Dungeon and a longtime fan of the Zelda franchise. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, archery, skateboarding, and some good ol’ fashioned family time. He’s an advocate for physical media and an avid video game collector. His favorite Zelda game is Ocarina of Time, though Breath of the Wild and the Link’s Awakening remake are close contenders.
