One staple feature of the Zelda series was missing from Breath of the Wild: the temples. Dungeons that are filled with intricate puzzles and multi-layered maps that have Link exploring every room. With Tears of the Kingdom though, the temples make a strong return. However, some temples are not as great as others. This list will feature all of the temples and will contain major spoilers for the game. A temple’s ranking will be determined by design, buildup, puzzles, and bosses.
Honorable Mention: Spirit Temple
One of the best surprises playing through the game was the Dragonhead Sky Island, which led to the Depths and the Spirit Temple. The buildup to this temple alone was remarkable. Link explores the foggy sky island and flies down a talking stone to the surface, which leads to an elevator going down to the Depths. There, he must find four different parts of a mech to make a body for the Sage of Spirits, Mineru.
Building Mineru’s mech body is one of the best surprises in Tears of the Kingdom
The factories for each part, two arms and two legs, have some great puzzles associated with them. One of my personal favorite parts was riding one of the parts down the river to bring it to the central factory. After all of this, Mineru will have her mech body complete. This was one amazing reveal in Tears of the Kingdom. Riding the mech, shooting arrows while riding, and fusing parts to each arm and the back was an incredible experience when first introduced. Fusing Zonai devices especially allowed a lot of creativity. For example, attaching a rocket to the back allowed the mech to boost up into the air like using a jetpack.
After trekking through the Depths on Mineru, Link arrives at the Spirit Temple. As astounding of a reveal as this temple was, it sadly wasn’t a fully realized dungeon like the rest of the temples. Link simply goes down an elevator and fights another mech with Mineru in an awesome boxing match in a ring. Once the boss is defeated, the temple is completed, story is told to Link by Mineru, and he is released back to the world. And luckily, he gets to keep the mech for his journey.
The boxing match boss fight in the Spirit Temple is a blast, and easily one of the best bosses in the game.
Considering the Spirit Temple was not a dungeon like the rest on this list, it remains an honorable mention. However, it is still an unbelievable experience and should be completed by anyone playing through Tears of the Kingdom, as it can be missed.
Water Temple
It was difficult ranking each temple, but I always knew the Water Temple would be at the bottom of the list. There was a mediocre buildup to the temple itself, with the gravity balls and low gravity being the only interesting part during this. Prince Sidon also never accompanies Link during this journey to the temple. This is strange considering all the other temples have their associated sage with Link throughout the process.
The Water Temple is definitely lackluster in design compared to the other temples in Tears of the Kingdom.
Once arriving at the temple itself, it is a massive letdown. It doesn’t feel very unique, as it is just a few sky islands attached together. This makes the Water Temple a very linear dungeon, with not much intricacy to it or its puzzles. As with every temple in Tears of the Kingdom, a certain amount of switches must be unlocked in order to fight the final boss and end the temple. With the Water Temple, finding the switches does not take much work. There are not many floors to the temple and each switch can be seen from the beginning, making it very simple to complete this task.
After finding all the switches and activating the main mechanism, Link is met with one of the worst bosses in Zelda history. A goofy-looking Octorok that spews mud across the floor and jumps around to each puddle. Link has to use Sidon’s power or another water source to wash away the mud, then hit the Octorok as it slowly runs away. After repeating this process a few times, the boss is defeated.
The Mucktorok fight is one of the worst bosses in Zelda history and is extremely tedious to deal with.
This fight is very tedious, as walking through the mud slows Link down and the boss is extremely quick when jumping around the mud. Fighting this boss again in the Depths does not make it any more fun. There are a few Autobuild devices that can be made to make this fight a breeze, but the initial fight is still a pain.
With all of this combined, the Water Temple does not have many redeeming qualities. A mediocre buildup, an extremely linear design, and a lackluster final boss put this temple at the bottom of the ranking.
Lightning Temple
The Lightning Temple has a lot going for it. A great buildup with the fight in Gerudo Town, along with an interesting final boss that can be difficult if not careful. However, the temple itself is dragged down by some simple puzzles and a very linear design that makes it third on this list.
First arriving in Gerudo Town, the amount of destruction from the sandstorm is shocking. There are no people to be found except for the shelter underneath. Once Link finds Riju, the Sage of Lightning, they must defend Kara Kara Bazaar from an invasion of Gibdo, zombie-like creatures that are only weak to elemental weapons. This is just a short defense and a taste of what will come at Gerudo Town.
Link pairs with Riju to defend Gerudo Town from a Gibdo invasion, which is the best part of the buildup to the Lightning Temple.
Arriving back in Gerudo Town, Riju tasks Link with setting up the defenses for the army of Gibdo that will be arriving. This is easily the best part of the buildup, as Link is allowed to place guards at different gates around the town to defend, along with a cannoneer and barricades. Once this is completed and the invasion starts, Link has to run around to help defeat the Gibdos and destroy their nests with Riju’s ability. I ended up using Zonai turrets from Autobuild to help defend each gate, which is just one of many different ways to complete this task.
The Linear Pyramid in the Desert
After this, Link has to complete a mirror puzzle out in the desert. This isn’t exactly hard but can be tedious if not using a Zonai build to fly around to the three towers. Once completed, the Lightning Temple reveals itself, and Link and Riju must fight the boss almost immediately, However, this is a short fight as the boss runs away to the top of the temple. The temple itself is very straightforward, with a central room that has a few paths to different switches. This linearity, along with some simple puzzles, is a letdown after quite the buildup to the temple.
The boss for the Lightning Temple, Queen Gibdo, can be quite difficult due to her damage output.
The final boss, Queen Gibdo, is a fun fight. It isn’t too complicated, just constantly attacking with element attacks and Riju’s ability. Halfway through the fight, Link can destroy Gibdo hives to produce light in the room, which can reflect with a mirror to weaken the boss. All of this put together makes for a great temple in Tears of the Kingdom, but the lackluster design of the temple brings it to the lower half of the list.
Fire Temple
Possibly a controversial take, but I believe the Fire Temple is the second-best temple in Tears of the Kingdom. One of the main issues brought up is that the temple itself is extremely confusing at times. With mine cart rails going in many different directions, it is easy to get lost at times when trying to find the switches. However, that is also the beauty of the temple. I will explain later on.
The buildup to the temple is mediocre, but certainly better than the Water Temple. Fighting Yunobo, the Sage of Fire, as a mini-boss was an enjoyable surprise. After the fight, Yunobo and Link ride mine carts all the way to the summit of Death Mountain, where another boss awaits them. The rock hydra monster wasn’t difficult as long as Link has a flying Zonai build and enough battery. Once defeated, the Depths open up at the summit and Link dives in with the Sage of Fire. Once landing, surrounded by lava, Yunobo and Link journey over to the temple itself. There are a few areas and enemy camps surrounding the temple, but they are all optional.
The Fire Temple’s intricate design marks it as a very open-ended temple with many different solutions to its puzzles.
The City of Gorondia
The Fire Temple is huge and fairly intimidating at first with how many floors there are. This is where the issues arise for some players, as it is easy to get lost. However, this allows a lot of creativity in order to get around, which is what Tears of the Kingdom is all about. There are mine cart rails everywhere, but if they get too confusing, use a build to get around easier. The puzzles also have very open-ended solutions, which is amazing considering the linearity of other temples. Considering this temple is usually not tackled until later in the game by most players, the temple provides ample challenge, which I welcome.
The boss for the Fire Temple is a great callback and was an amazing surprise. Queen Gohma, the first boss in the Deku Tree in Ocarina of Time, makes a return in the Fire Temple. This time, Queen Gohma is covered in marbled rock, requiring the use of Yunobo to break through her shell. However, the fight plays very similar to Ocarina of Time as Link just has to shoot her eye and attack once she is downed. As incredible of a surprise as this was, the fight is fairly simple.
The return of Queen Gohma from Ocarina of Time in the Fire Temple of Tears of the Kingdom is a welcome surprise.
Although the buildup to the temple isn’t as great as the Lightning Temple, the Fire Temple itself is a more open-ended dungeon. With a plethora of solutions to all the puzzles and traversal around the temple, along with a great final boss, the Fire Temple is close to the best temple in Tears of the Kingdom.
Wind Temple
Almost every factor for the Wind Temple is better than all of the rest and is easily the best temple in Tears of the Kingdom. The buildup is incredible, the temple is open-ended, and the boss is astounding. Along with all of this, Tulin, the Sage of Wind, offers the best sage ability out of all five sages.
Rito Village is frozen over. Tulin, the son of the chief, wants to find out why by exploring the wind storm above the village. The chief of the village, who is also the champion that helps Link in Breath of the Wild, says he is not mature enough to go off on his own. Tulin does anyway, and Link must help him as there is no changing his mind.
Tulin is easily the best sage in Tears of the Kingdom, with a great ability to quicken air travel with the paraglider.
Climbing up to the peak of the mountain, there are floating ships that lead up to the center of the storm. This part of the buildup is especially astounding. As Link jumps on a ship, they launch him into the air. Link must use the ships, paraglider, and Tulin’s ability to ascend higher into the sky. Once he reaches the center of the storm, the Wind Temple reveals itself as The Legendary Stormwind Ark.
The Legendary Stormwind Ark
The temple itself is a great in-between of the Fire and Water Temple. Not as complicated as the Fire Temple, but is more challenging and open-ended than the Water Temple. Link has to fly around the entire ship, entering from different holes around the ship’s hull to find the switches. Along with this are some good puzzles that keep you thinking throughout, with many of them having several solutions. Activating all the switches reveals the boss. And this is easily the best boss out of all the temples.
Colgera, the Scourge of the Wind Temple, is one of, if not the best boss in Tears of the Kingdom.
Colgera, the Wind Temple boss, is very threatening and intimidating at first with a top-notch design. The music during the fight also is incredible, with an amazing callback to Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker during it. Link must dive or shoot arrows through the ice-covered holes on Colgera, requiring some intense movement and paragliding skills at times. Being able to slow time while shooting in the sky does make the fight fairly easy though.
Every temple in Tears of the Kingdom is very unique. Whether traveling through the abandoned Goron city that is the Fire Temple, or the Lightning Temple pyramid with murals everywhere, each temple stands out. However, The Legendary Stormwind Ark that is the Wind Temple takes the cake as the best temple in Tears of the Kingdom. For a full review of Tears of the Kingdom, check out mine.
