Poll of the Day > Favorite temple in Ocarina of Time

(+) Yeah! (+)

That's a tough one for me, I know that Shadow is at the bottom though with Fire right above it. Forest, Water and Spirit all have different things I like going for them.

Shadow was just tedious. Water was pretty easy once you knew the right pattern for the water. Fire was fun but long. And Bolero of Fire was dope.
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Spirit has long been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, the atmosphere and having to do things as both Links was so cool.

Water is one I've gained an appreciation for since it's more complex than the others, but the atmosphere is pretty bleh outside of the Dark Link fight.

Forest Temple is probably the most "objective" best one, I think it does a little bit of everything right. The atmosphere and theming are nice, pretty cool boss, decent puzzles. I guess I'll vote for that

Spirit Temple followed by Forest Temple.

I don't care for the Young Link part of the Spirit Temple, though. I appreciated it being an idea they used in the game, it's just the Young Link section was more boring and linear than the Adult Link portion.
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faramir77 posted...

I don't care for the Young Link part of the Spirit Temple, though. I appreciated it being an idea they used in the game, it's just the Young Link section was more boring and linear than the Adult Link portion.

I don't really disagree with this.

I also would say pretty much the same about the Twinrova fight. It's cool as an idea, but it's just kind of obvious. At least the second stage mixes it up a bit, but I feel like there's more you could do with it.

Despite the easily miss-able hidden passageways that caused the Water Temple to be legendary for being annoying, I really like the Water Temple conceptually.
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Favorite would be Spirit either way. Least favorite would be Water in the original and Fire in the 3DS remake.
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The Spirit Temple, and the Gerudo region in general, was the only area of OoT I really enjoyed.

It just does everything right. Including the most memorable non-Ganon boss in the game and a mini-boss that breaks OoT's awful convention of "waiting for an opening = difficulty" and is an actual active fight.

Despite my constant bitching of late about deserts in games, the Spirit Temple is consistently a favorite of mine. It was done just oh so right; the right amount of time travel, the right tone of music, solid puzzles blended with the right amount of combat, and it wasn't so tedious to me as Shadow Temple was.

The Lens of Truth spam and constant changing of boots made Shadow rank lower for me.
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Either Spirit or Shadow, I guess. For some reason I thought there were six rather than five.
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Zeus posted...

Either Spirit or Shadow, I guess. For some reason I thought there were six rather than five.

OoT is weird like that. There are six medallions, there was a plan for a light temple that never panned out, we did get the additional Ice Cavern before Water Temple, and Ganondorf's Tower had the six chambers that we had to traverse in order to proceed.
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Forest > Fire > Spirit > Water > Shadow
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I thought the Shadow Temple was a ton of fun. The rest of them, barring the Spirit Temple, all feel like a chore. And I only really like the Spirit Temple because of the iron knuckles.
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Water, honestly. It is a little slow, but the aesthetics and puzzles are great IMO.

Forest is pretty good too, but just a little too short.
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I think I'd go for Spirit. I liked it. I mean, I like all of them. But probably spirit the best. Then forest. Though, I think I had trouble my first time through it on Master Quest. Fire felt kinda long, and water was ok. Shadow was fine except for switch the boots on and off (which I almost forgot Water did), though the remake fixed that. I didn't like having to use the Lens of Truth everywhere constantly, though...
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TES_Nut posted...

Shadow was just tedious.

Not as tedious as all the back and forth changing water level stuff.
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rexcrk posted...

TES_Nut posted...

Shadow was just tedious.

Not as tedious as all the back and forth changing water level stuff.

I feel like more of those around would have made things a little better... maybe...

But maybe they wanted you to keep using the same ones so you wouldn't miss the key...
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Forest Temple is the only one even remotely decent, imo. Majora's Mask has the far better dungeons.
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Probably Fire or Spirit. The Master Quest Shadow Temple gets an honourable mention as being quite solid. I don't remember what exactly changed, but I remember enjoying it much more than the regular one.

_AdjI_ posted...

Probably Fire or Spirit. The Master Quest Shadow Temple gets an honourable mention as being quite solid. I don't remember what exactly changed, but I remember enjoying it much more than the regular one. The MQ Water Temple sucked, though. Handed you the Longshot in the first couple minutes and then railroaded you through a laughably linear dungeon.

But the Master Quest Fire Temple did the same thing. I got the hammer minutes after starting it. I had the hammer, longshot, and bi before even finishing the Biggoron's Sword before finishing the Forest Temple. I also actually had the sword before starting it, as well...
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The MQ Fire Temple was still reasonably enjoyable, though. Water, however, took what was once the most intricate dungeon in the game and made it horribly linear and straightforward (I'd even say easiest). The longshot's a big deal because of how much extra mobility it provides, whereas the hammer just means you can hit some switches you couldn't before.

_AdjI_ posted...

The MQ Fire Temple was still reasonably enjoyable, though. Water, however, took what was once the most intricate dungeon in the game and made it horribly linear and straightforward (I'd even say easiest). The longshot's a big deal because of how much extra mobility it provides, whereas the hammer just means you can hit some switches you couldn't before.

I wouldn't say it added that much. To the temple, at least. Now you can move twice as far. But they changed the dungeon around so that you needed to get it pretty early. It's not like getting it was a secret that made it possible to go faster. I believe you had to get it early to complete the new dungeon as it should have been. Just like getting the hammer early was to complete the new dungeon the correct way...
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GenericGuy posted...

Forest Temple is the only one even remotely decent, imo. Majora's Mask has the far better dungeons.

Was about to post this. MM's dungeons are so much better than OoT's, it's not even funny.
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I never got into MM. The story felt so pointless compared to OOT.
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The spinning corridors summed to the spike in dungeon complexity from Jabu Jabu to the forest temple made it a headache for me. Fire temple was really cool, and would be my favorite if the so hyped Valvagia wasn't so lame (how was that thing even supposed to eat a freaking Goron? Even the King Dodongo felt more menacing than it). Water temple is a nightmare for me, cant get trough it without getting lost for hous even nowadays. Shadow temple is only okay-ish as long as you don't run out of magic (having 4 potions is a must).

But the Spirit temple is a masterpiece. I just wish they had gone a step further with the time travelling in it.

GenericGuy posted...

Forest Temple is the only one even remotely decent, imo. Majora's Mask has the far better dungeons.

If it wasn't for the goddamn time limit...

I enjoy them all, but I love the atmosphere of the Forest Temple the most I think.
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LanHikari10 posted...

I enjoy them all, but I love the atmosphere of the Forest Temple the most I think.

This.
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VixYW posted...

If it wasn't for the goddamn time limit...

git gud
wat r u casul
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VixYW posted...

If it wasn't for the goddamn time limit...

It wasn't that bad. Apparently, it was made so that after you opened the dungeon, you could go back and in time, play the inverted song of time, then have three full slow days to beat it... But it was still easy to do all the before dungeon stuff and beat the dungeon while collecting all fairies within the 3 days while time is moving slow. Though, I heard that the time isn't slowed down as much in the remake or something...
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Shadow is the worst, it's literally just a straight line. The Boss Keys video on OoT explains it pretty well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LO8Z1DkDqc" data-time="
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Forest Temple. I liked the atmosphere of the place. Spirit would be a close second contender.
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I was going to mention the Shadow Temple just being an essentially straight path to the end. Not to mention it's ugly and the music isn't very enjoyable (albeit both of those things are done intentionally in service of a certain vibe).

They could have done so much more with the Shadow Temple too. It would've been cool if it linked back up to the well somehow, maybe do it like the Spirit Temple where kid Link has to activate something so you can reach the well as adult Link.

GanglyKhan posted...

Water, honestly. It is a little slow, but the aesthetics and puzzles are great IMO.

Water temples are always annoying. Granted, the shadow Link fight was fun.
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the windmill
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This topic reminded me that I still haven't played MQ. I got OoT3D almost a year ago but I just gave it a regular playthrough. Maybe soon I'll try out MQ, though I'm not really expecting anything too exciting since I know that only the dungeons are changed.

In MQ can you basically do temples in the same set of orders as the original, or do you have to do them in the "correct" order? For example I do Water before Fire sometimes, or Fire before Forest

Chewster posted...

This topic reminded me that I still haven't played MQ. I got OoT3D almost a year ago but I just gave it a regular playthrough. Maybe soon I'll try out MQ, though I'm not really expecting anything too exciting since I know that only the dungeons are changed.

In MQ can you basically do temples in the same set of orders as the original, or do you have to do them in the "correct" order? For example I do Water before Fire sometimes, or Fire before Forest

AFAIK, you can do those first three in any order. Though, I think you do need to get the arrows from the Forest Temple.
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Gotta give it up for forest imo

Chewster posted...

For example I do Water before Fire

Can you do that? I thought you couldn't for some reason.
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Zeus posted...

GanglyKhan posted...

Water, honestly. It is a little slow, but the aesthetics and puzzles are great IMO.

Water temples are always annoying. Granted, the shadow Link fight was fun.

Man, I loved Great Bay Temple too lol
The one from TP was highly forgettable, I don't remember anything about it, honestly.

Man, I should replay TP.
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I think I actually did Water before Fire the very first time I played it. I don't know exactly why, but I do know I was a kid and probably didn't pay much attention to the very obvious cues that point you towards a certain order.

The Water Temple doesn't have any rusted switches (which would require the Fire Temple's Megaton Hammer). The Fire Temple doesn't have any eye switches (which require the Forest Temple's bow), but the Water Temple does. Yeah, I know it's weird I remember that, but I've played this game a lot

Spirit. I love them all, but generally Forest will bung me up a little bit, Fire is long, Water is long (I don't find it so hard though, just the first time when I was...10), Shadow is tedious...Spirit is just plain fun. Good puzzles, great fights. Chance to experience stuff as a kid again.
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GanglyKhan posted...

Chewster posted...

For example I do Water before Fire

Can you do that? I thought you couldn't for some reason.

I remember in my first playthrough of Ocarina of Time back in 1998/1999 that I did the Fire Temple first, then part of the Water Temple, then the Forest Temple, and then finished the Water Temple.

To finish the Water Temple, you need the bow.
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My ranking would be Spirit > Forest > Fire > Water > Shadow

Also, isn't there an eye switch somewhere in the Fire Temple? Or am I imagining things?
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GanglyKhan posted...

Chewster posted...

For example I do Water before Fire

Can you do that? I thought you couldn't for some reason.

I believe you can do them in sort of any order. You can definitely start them in any order. I don't believe many temples actually have rusted switches. I can't remember any except for in the Fire Temple. And maybe in the castle somewhere...
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SilentSeph posted...

My ranking would be Spirit > Forest > Fire > Water > Shadow

Also, isn't there an eye switch somewhere in the Fire Temple? Or am I imagining things?

There is, but it isn't required to complete the dungeon. Gets you the compass or something.
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Its SO hard to pick, since I love all of them. Although I think I like the shadow temple the most.
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GenericGuy posted...

VixYW posted...

If it wasn't for the goddamn time limit...

git gud
wat r u casul

I'm not bad at playing the game itself. I'm just slow and get lost a lot. Also, the mere presence of the time limit puts pressure over me and I end up making a bunch of stupid mistakes in my attempts to save time that actually makes me waste more time...

LinkPizza posted...

Apparently, it was made so that after you opened the dungeon, you could go back and in time, play the inverted song of time, then have three full slow days to beat it... But it was still easy to do all the before dungeon stuff and beat the dungeon while collecting all fairies within the 3 days while time is moving slow.

I didn't know about the slow time back then. And I tried again recently with it, had still to give up on the faries on the 1st dungeon because I was running out of time. There were only 2 of them left and I had no idea of where I missed them. If I could just search in every room once more... but nope, time limit.

See, the great thing about Majoras Mask is that you have unlimited chances. Its just a video game, so do what you can in the allotted time, learn from it, and if you have to restart, its not the end of the world.
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VixYW posted...

And I tried again recently with it, had still to give up on the faries on the 1st dungeon because I was running out of time. There were only 2 of them left and I had no idea of where I missed them. If I could just search in every room once more... but nope, time limit.

Did you have the Great Fairy's Mask? That dramatically cuts down on the time involved in hunting down fairies.