Countdown: Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Dungeon Crawl #8
By Image: Jim Norman / Nintendo Life
Having completed five Sages, it was time to set off to the ultimate temple in my Ocarina of Time replay to gather the remainder before the grand confrontation (not technically the ‘final’, but you understand my point).
I decided to wrap up the Shadow Temple last week, leaving me with no other choice but to venture west to the Gerudo Desert and complete the primary quest with one of my favorite dungeons in the game.
If by chance you’re just tuning into the series now, I’m about to delve into some significant dungeon spoilers here, so best turn back if you’ve been saving yourself for the Switch 2 launch!
Dungeon Crawl #8 – The Spirit Temple
I noted previously that I was uncertain why I consistently approached the Shadow Temple first, but as I navigated through the Gerudo Fortress and ascended to the Colossus, I think the reason might have hit me: it’s because I always desire to conclude with this gem.
Similar to the Fire Temple earlier during this playthrough, I frequently overlook the Spirit Temple. This could be due to its late occurrence in the game and my usual fatigue by this stage, but I don’t have this one memorized and I often struggle to finish it without a fair amount of backtracking.
The same held true when I revisited it this time. While I recalled the mid-dungeon time travel and the mirror puzzles, everything else felt unfamiliar.
I appreciate how from the outset, the temple is divided into two sections: the left side accessible only to Child Link after conversing with Nabooru, and the right to Adult Link once you’ve acquired the Silver Gauntlets. There’s a wonderful intrigue to the entire setup, knowing that you have yet to explore half of the dungeon when you finally figure out how to remove that large boulder in the entrance hall.
