Watching Mark Brown's Boss Key series I've grown a better understanding of dungeon designs in the official Zelda titles. Interestingly enough in this episode he has pointed out there are three types of dungeons and some people seem to prefer one type of dungeon over the other. And while it's obvious some people might like more than one type or all the types of dungeons in the series what do you prefer the MOST?
If you don't want to watch the video and need a quick rundown, I got you covered:
Lock + Key: These dungeons are usually non-linear and present a lot of paths and options. There is an emphasis on unlocking things and this isn't limited to just keys and locked doors. Dungeon items can serve the same purpose as you use the item to unlock parts of the dungeon you couldn't access. Usually a good amount of backtracking. Most 2D Zelda dungeons use this style.
Puzzle Box: These dungeons are usually the most complicated in the series. They present ways to manipulate the entire layout of the dungeon giving you new paths and blocking previous paths, it's almost like one giant puzzle. These dungeons have multiple states instead of having a definitive layout. 3D Zelda dungeons love to use this style but there have been some 2D examples (Jabu Jabu's Belly).
Gauntlet: These dungeons are usually linear and present a simplistic approach. There is a heavy focus on completing tasks rather than finding stuff meaning getting lost is usually a hard thing to do with these kinds of dungeons. These kinds of dungeons are very common in games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
That doesn't mean each game only has one style of dungeons. Ocarina of Time for example has dungeons that fit all three categories. That said, my personal favorite is the lock and key dungeons. A nice combination of non-linearity and linearity, something not straight forward but not TOO easy to get lost in. Also the idea of backtracking with dungeon item seems more appealing the continuing a straight path to the boss with the item.
So! What is your favorite dungeon type?