How Many Dungeons Are In The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?
This article contains mild spoilers for "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom."
"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" was a massive hit both critically and financially, but one thing that longtime fans of the series agreed on was that they missed the dungeons of previous installments. Whereas older "Zelda" games featured dungeons with remarkably different layouts and aesthetics, the Divine Beasts in "Breath of the Wild" felt largely the same to some players. Meanwhile, the 120 Shrines scattered about the landscape could typically be plundered and conquered in a matter of minutes (once you'd taken the time to find and unlock them, that is). This sameness is getting shaken up with the reintroduction of more classic dungeons in "Tears of the Kingdom."
As explained by game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi in the debut episode of the Nintendo Power podcast, the developers wanted to break up the monotony in "Breath of the Wild" by removing old school dungeons as we'd known them. "We thought about perhaps making long, big dungeons," Fujibayashi said, "but that would take long, and players would dedicate their time too long in the dungeons, so we thought perhaps one Shrine is maybe 10 minutes."
It seems as though "Tears of the Kingdom" has figured out the sweet spot between lengthy dungeons and the overpopulation of Shrines. But just how many dungeons are there in Link's newest adventure?
Tears of the Kingdom has a handful of dungeons
During a press event attended by The Verge, Hidemaro Fujibayashi explained that the game's new dungeons were built with Link's new powers in mind. He said, "I think the core fundamentals of these dungeons are maybe a little bit different in that we're not really concerned about what we've done in the past, but rather really taking into consideration what new items are available this time." This helps to switch up the gameplay styles between dungeons and make them stand apart from one another.
Without getting into heavy spoiler territory, there are seven sections of "Tears of the Kingdom" that would classically be referred to as dungeons. Four of these are based around the four elements — so get ready for an infuriating Water Temple, of course! — while the other three are split amongst a return to Hyrule Castle, the Construct Factory, and the Forgotten Foundation.
Oh, and don't worry: For the fans who still enjoy them, Shrines are present in the new game. There are 152 of them, this time around. Get ready to conquer hundreds of traps and unlock all kinds of loot as you hunt through the game's lengthy campaign!