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Early access - How Zelda's Puzzle Box Dungeons Work
🕑 Added 2020-11-19 09:17:39 +0000 UTCHello!
So, this was supposed to go up when I hit a million subscribers, but it ended up taking a little more time than expected.
Mostly because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted the video to be!
For some context: Back in 2016 I decided that I wanted to make a GMTK episode about Zelda dungeons. But to research it properly would involve playing through about 15 very long games. So I turned my research process into a series called Boss Keys - with the intention of making a GMTK episode at the end. Boss Keys was for super dedicated true fans, while the final video was for everyone.
Then two things happened. One: when I finished Boss Keys (plus a couple Breath of the Wild videos), I was so burned out on Zelda content that I couldn't bring myself to talk about locks, keys, dungeons, and water levels for a long time.
And two: Boss Keys was really popular. Far from being some niche side content that only true fans watched, BK videos are as widely viewed as everything else on the channel. So a wrap-up felt a tad redundant.
And that's what I struggled with in this video. I originally wrote (and recorded) a whole script where I talked about everything I learned in Boss Keys. And it just felt pointless. Everyone knows this suff now! So instead, I decided to focus the video on the thing I wanted to talk about at the very beginning: puzzle boxes. From the Water Temple to the Sandship.
Hope you like it! Out for everyone tomorrow
Mark
Comments
Yücel Cil
Sometimes... life is struggle. That's what i said to my self. Very good video.
tgva8889
It’s the first long-form analysis of their traits that I’ve seen.
Daniel Zaleznik
You know, when you spend years researching a topic, and distill it down to 15 minutes, the quality shines through. This is really amazing work! Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first time someone has made this observation about the unique nature of Zelda's puzzlebox dungeons?
Tukaro
If I may suggest: LEGO (or Mega Blox or another cheap alternative) might be helpful for such a thing so you can build out the important parts of the dungeon
Dalen W. Brauner
I once designed and tried to run a "puzzlebox dungeon" in D&D, and, well, let's just say that spacial puzzles are a LOT harder when you have to rely on a verbal explanation of the space. (I am still proud of the dungeon, though.)
