The longer I play Breath of the Wild, the more easily I can deduce which kinds of shrines are going to be absolutely my shit, and which shrines are going to frustrate me. By far my favourite shrines are the ones that deal with launching Link (and other objects) into the air, followed by shrines that involve using bombs in interesting ways. My favourite shrines so far combine these things.
The Sho Dantu shrine, subtitled Two Bombs, makes you use both the square and round bombs. Up until this point I wasn’t even aware that you could do that, and when I realised it was an option I felt a bit like a dunce. The shrine is in two stages, and the second stage is my favourite.
Essentially, you have to flip a switch in order to raise a platform, and then switch it back to open a door, which also lowers the platforms to their original location. The bombs also have to be flying through the air while you do this, meaning you have to time them so they won’t be above the switch at the same time. It requires you to both work out a mechanical puzzle and also be precise with your timing.
The Shodah Sah shrine is also all about timing — in fact, it’s subtitled Impeccable Timing. At a glance I thought this would be irritating to solve. It looks suspiciously close to the “golf range” type puzzles, where you have to cast Stasis on an object, hit it a bunch of times, and hope you’ve hit it with enough force that it will go in the right direction.
But the Shodah Sah shrine offers a launcher, which you whack with a weapon to send a ball launching towards a hole. You have to pay attention to the obstacles and time your launches around that. It got me into a zen-like state, watching a series of panels fly past as I tried to finish the shrine.
The Ya Naga shrine is really just about using the bombs in a way that feels satisfying, and then gliding in a way that feels satisfying too. The solution is simple and takes less than a minute to pull off, but it still feels good to get it right. Subtitled Shatter The Heavens, it asks you to use one bomb to launch a block into the air, and then another to shatter the ceiling.
Then, you set off another bomb beneath that block while you’re standing on it to launch yourself through the hole you’ve made. You can’t see through to the next room from your vantage point below, so the surprise of it accentuates your accomplishment. Look: you made it.
The shrines in Breath of the Wild aren’t just about being compelling brain teasers. They’re also about giving the player a sense of triumph. For me, that’s most easily communicated through explosions and flying.
What are some of your favourite shrines?
Comments
10 responses to “Three Shrines I Loved In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild”
My favourite experience with a dungeon so far, was the one requiring you to carry a block of ice through a bunch of fire. Attached a couple of Octorok balloons to it, flew it directly to the end with a Korok Leaf. Felt like a proper genius afterwards
I was stuck on this one this morning (it was way too early but couldn’t sleep), and now feel like an idiot.
Also, the Ya Naga one sounds much more satisfying the way the author did it. I just shot it with a bomb arrow I think.
My favourite was the one with the green electricity grid thing where you had to connect the circuits together – I wasn’t having a great puzzle solving day, but then I thought the game’s been pretty good with physics so far, so I lay a few metal weapons between a few points I couldn’t work out – bam!
I’ve probably had the most fun with the timing puzzles. Not sure I have a favorite that springs to mind but I can say without a doubt the most frustrating shrine I’ve done is that gyro shrine where you need to navigate a ball through a little maze then flick it over to another platform. I can’t remember the name of it but anyone who’s done it will know what I’m talking about.
I know the one you mean. I got the game on Wii U and, after a couple tries and getting the ball to the end only to have the maze exit not perfectly aligned with the ramp, I simply flipped the tablet controller over, which flipped the maze upside-down, and took the ball straight to the ramp on the completely flat surface.
Yeah, I did that several times as well. I think all they really need to do to fix that level is just have the axis locked so you can only tilt it so far in any direction.
Only just completed the final shrine a couple of hours ago. Only took about 145 hours to complete them and the main quest line. Enjoyed every minute of it too.
Now to finish off the last 50 side quests, and hunt down the remaining 844 korok seeds.
Something tells me this is gonna take a while.
screw the article, there’s a video link at the bottom of an IGN news article that Psyonix is considering rocket league for switch…..
DEAR GOD MAKE IT SO!!!
I’ve only really been disappointed with one shrine. It’s the Misae Suma Shrine in the desert where you have to get a Gerudo to move off the Shiekah slate podium thing.
I really think it should have puzzles inside instead of just rewarding you for opening it.
How did they know, when setting up the shrines hundreds of years ago, that an alcoholic would pass out on it & not move for days.
Unfortunately there’s heaps of them like that. I do wish they had more going for them inside, although I’m sure it’s hard to come up with concepts for 120 different mini dungeons.