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Ocarina of Time: Spirit Temple or Shadow Temple?

There's been a lot of controversy on which goes first based on "the legit order" in Ocarina of Time. People have said the Shadow Temple was originally supposed to be before the Spirit Temple. I personally don't care about the legit order, but since both them are accessible after the Water Temple, people do whichever one first.

I'm curious as to which one all of you do first. Me, I personally go for the Spirit Temple first for two reasons...

1: I follow the clockwise order of the medallions on the quest status subscreen and the chamber of sages.

2: As a kid, the Shadow Temple scared the crap out of me lol. I remember doing the bottom of the well when I was about 8 years old and never wanting to do it again, my brother then told me the Shadow Temple is just like it. I then stuck with doing the Shadow Temple last since then.

Which one do all of you do first?
I think a post layout goes here somewhere...
As far as the "legit order" goes, Shadow before Spirit is clearly the intended order in the final version of Ocarina of Time. The game practically begs you to do the temples Forest-Fire-Water-Shadow-Spirit. Not to mention the official game guides from Nintendo list Shadow Temple first.

But as for what order I do personally, it really depends. I'll usually do the intended order, but in a lot of my playthroughs I'll mix the entire order up for the heck of it. But in a normal run, yeah, I'll do Shadow before Spirit.
I always do the Shadow Temple first (I think Navi actually tells you to go to Kakariko before she says to go to the desert), but I like the Spirit Temple way more. I think it might be because of the music, though; I don't think there's a Zelda dungeon out there with music that's better and more atmospheric than what plays in the Spirit Temple.
I should get a new layout.

Probably won't, though.
I don't really recall, but I think Shadow first, not too sure though. Either way they're the only two dungeons you need to complete to trigger the light arrows cutscene. That leads me to believe the choice was intended, otherwise they'd make spirit trigger the cutscene.
I've realized this was outdated.
Originally posted by Zephyr
I don't really recall, but I think Shadow first, not too sure though. Either way they're the only two dungeons you need to complete to trigger the light arrows cutscene. That leads me to believe the choice was intended, otherwise they'd make spirit trigger the cutscene.

Actually, the reason you only need those two to trigger the light arrows cutscene most likely comes from the fact that, in a glitch-free run, the only way to enter the Shadow Temple is to complete the first three dungeons and trigger the Nocturne of Shadow cutscene. The Spirit Medallion can technically be the first medallion you get as an adult, but the Shadow Medallion will always be last or second to last, which is one of the arguments people bring up as to why the Shadow Temple was intended to be last. Regardless, having the Shadow Medallion implies you have the first three.

Fun fact!
Hmmm, well on the original 64 version, I always went to the shadow temple, but I've always meant to try it the other way round, and so I tried spirit temple first and it feels more natural in terms of story. After you defeat Bongo Bongo in the shadow temple, Impa always says you'll meet Zelda very soon, so if you do the spirit temple beforehand, imo, it feels more natural in terms of story.

I should of done it as spirit temple first ages ago...
That damn shadow temple gave me the creeps.
I always did the Spirit Temple first. I have this thing for mirror-related puzzles, and the fact that the Spirit Temple introduced them + a really awesome atmosphere overall made me want to do it more.

Also, Twinrova > Bongo Bongo, so that's a plus.
I did the spirit temple first, because when I was 8 or 9, I remember finally getting to the shadow temple boss...
...and then having him beat the crap out of me.
I was never able to beat that crazy boss until I was 11, when I got my Action Replay. (I played the game on Gamecube First, which is probably why I couldn't beat him, because I tryed playing it on the N64 and it wasn't that hard.)

EDIT: By the way, On DS Ultimate Forums, I think they had this exact same subject on there.
Nixon's the one.
Out of all 5 temples, i actually get the Fire temple done first. The Forest temple scared the shit out of me as a kid (especially the boss). This is normally the order in which i do things;


• Fire temple
• Forest temple
• Water temple
• Shadow temple
• Spirit temple


The Spirit temple used to confuse me back then, so i did it last anyways. I actually wasn't afraid of the shadow temple, if i remember correctly, it's one of the temples i wanted to go to.

The way i did the fire temple first was i played the Forest temple up to the point where i got the Bow, then just leave, since it's the boss i was afraid of
I always felt like the Spirit Temple was meant to be last, and for multiple reasons. The Spirit Temple is the only one that requires you to go back to being younger to complete, and the appearance of the twin witches who serve Ganondorf and you defeating them also makes it feel like it was meant to be the final challenge before the castle.
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Originally posted by Binrazan
...The Spirit Temple is the only one that requires you to go back to being younger to complete...

The shadow temple also required going back in time as a kid, as you had to have the lens of Truth to even begin the dungeon.
Nixon's the one.
The first time I played, I just happened to go to Kakariko first, and after seeing the cutscene, I just assumed that was the next temple.

Later on, though, I came to think of the Spirit Temple as the last one anyway, since you finally learn where Ganondorf comes from, and that always made me feel like I was getting closer to the final confrontation. It didn't hurt that the music and atmosphere were both excellent, and I wanted to save the best for last :b

Also, the desert temple feels derelict and has a sense of death that's different than the shadow temple's...The shadow temple is right next to a village, but to reach the spirit temple you have to traverse such lonely expanses...that always intrigued me.
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I always did Spirit Temple last because it's my favourite temple. Twin Rova, the puzzles and music make it better than any other temple. For that reason, I leave it last to savour it.

Chronologically though, I believe Shadow is supposed to be last.
Only Nintendo Knows. There was supposed to be two more temples (Not counting the Temple of Light you meet Rauru in). It's a shame the 3DS version didn't remove those crates, I don't think it even fixed the bug where getting the Poacher's Saw makes you unable to get a Deku Nut upgrade.
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Everypony's digging with a shovel
For me I do the Temples by how the plot is set up

1. Forest Temple (Simple Temple, until you fight the Poe-Mini Bosses)
2. Fire Temple (Too Big)
3. Water Temple (I always hated water-type castles, level, etc)
4. Shadow Temple (I really like to use the Lens of Truth and Hover boots)
5. Spirit Temple (I like to use the Sun shield to reflect sunlight. But the boss is a Bitch)

I enjoyed playing this game alot, unlike my sisters I actually didnt use the internet to continue the game and look for cheats. The equipment are incredible Hover Boots, Longshot chain, arrows with fire, light and ice
I have managed to get all items (except the last bottle), cleared the Gerudo's Valley Training ground, all arrows, bombs, all hearts containers, golden masks, long sword that doesnt break and the potion that both recovers hearts and magic.
Shadow Temple. The Ghost Temple has that "last temple" vibe, concluding the whole dungeon crawling and leading up to the endgame. Always done it that way and always will.
Yeah, I've always done Shadow before Spirit and did again in the 3DS version. It's just nice to have the Hover Boots ahead of time. You can technically get it before finishing Shadow, but if you're that far in, might as well finish the dungeon.

As a kid, Shadow Temple freaked me out (only managed to finish it with the TV on mute) but this time, I developed quite an appreciation for it and the puzzles. Still, I definitely prefer Spirit. The other Spiritual Stones had you returning to places like Death Mountain and Sacred Forest Meadow, but it was awesome to explore somewhere entirely new in the second part of the game. The boss was great and I loved how the dungeon was split into child/adult sections too.
Considering that the Spirit Temple's medallion is the last on the menu screen, I did it last.

I honestly didn't know you had a choice. I always thought this was the order you had to do it in:
Forest
Fire
Water
Shadow
Spirit
Shadow & Sprirt temple theory:
When the game plot & text was done, the spirit temple was supposed to be first. But Impa bribed the nintendo workers & offered $50 to put her temple first.
Nixon's the one.
Originally posted by moltensnow
Considering that the Spirit Temple's medallion is the last on the menu screen, I did it last.




Assuming you go clockwise following the Forest, Fire and Water Temples, Spirit should go next is why I do the Spirit Temple first. I'm not saying it was the intended order but I always went by that.
I think a post layout goes here somewhere...