Zelda Wiki:Numerology in The Legend of Zelda Series: Difference between revisions

The light-and-dark treat is shared by other games in the series, such as ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'', the former from a age-based perspective, and the latter in a closer way to that in ''A Link to the Past''. In regards of the 1998 title, a very interesting detail is that, once again, the differences aren't limited to a meta scale. The contrasts, in opposition to popular belief, aren't actually based on light and dark; instead, they're based on what we might call ''symbolic age''. The explanation from this is a bit difficult to provide, but it can be started with a dungeon comparison. There may be a reason why ''Ocarina of Time'', unlike the majority of the other games in the series, seeks to replicate the elemental dungeon types seen in the Child age through the Adult age. Between the eras we witness exactly two forest dungeons, two fire dungeons and two water dungeons. In terms of difficulty, the Adult dungeons are significantly superior to the Child dungeons. Gameplay-wise, this may simply be because of the game gradually increasing the challenge factor, but the ''symbolic'' reason is more noteworthy: When Link becomes an adult, he has to face greater dangers than when he was a kid. This is reflected by the difficulty of the aforementioned dungeons, as well as that of the enemies and bosses. This difficulty symbolizes the maturity an adult has to develop so that he or she can overcome the deadliest obstacles. The complexity of the Adult dungeons' structure reflects the complexity of the subjects and events Link has to face in the future, in contrast to the earlier dungeons that required less intellectual and physical skills (and thus fit more for Child Link). Compare the simplistic [[Inside the Deku Tree|inside of the Deku Tree]] to the mind-bending twisted architecture of the [[Forest Temple (Ocarina of Time)|Forest Temple]], or the simplistic [[Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly|digestive tract of a whale]] to the controversially complex map of the [[Water Temple]], for example.