The Desert of Mystery in A Link to the Past is probably one of the most pleasant deserts in the Zelda series. Yes, pleasant. The entrance is simple and requires no puzzles or wardrobe change, unlike some Zelda titles. It’s located in the bottom-left corner of the map and is home to the Desert Palace, the game’s second dungeon. While Kakariko Village lies south of the desert, there is no way to access the two locations from each other. The only way to access the Desert of Mystery is via the Great Swamp region which lies directly east of the desert. It should also be noted that the desert is only available for access in the Light World. The Dark World location is changed to the Swamp of Evil, which is pretty ironic.
When I was younger, I hated the Desert of Mystery. As it’s the location of the Pendant of Power, the second pendant in the game, it made the desert feel like a hump to go over. Finding the first pendant is easy because it’s in the first dungeon, and finding the last pendant isn’t terrible because once you obtain it, you know that the Master Sword is within your reach. The quest of finding the second pendant located in the Desert of Mystery is a Wednesday: an annoying hump to go over. It’s also possible that this is all just in my head considering there are eight more dungeons to conquer.
The enemies in this desert include Geldmans and Vultures. Geldmen are these Goron-like creatures who burrow in the hot sand and attack once you are close enough. Geldmen are easy enough to kill but can be troublesome since you can’t see them at first. I love vultures (and all birds) in real life, but not the ones in A Link to the Past. The Vultures in this game will swarm around you and divebomb (they don’t really blow up, but it feels like they should) and the only way to kill them is by aiming ever so carefully. The Vultures come in close for only a couple of seconds before distancing themselves in circular motions. Arrows and the Boomerang also work on them.
The desert is also full of cylinder cactuses that harm you if you touch them, as well as landmines that explode when walked on. Thankfully there are no soldiers in the desert, but I like to imagine that they’re the ones responsible for leaving the landmines. I’m willing to bet rupees that the Geldman and Vultures aren’t intelligent enough to plant landmines, but the intelligence of Zelda enemies is an article topic for another day.
In Ocarina of Time, Link receives a Red Tunic to survive the heat in the Fire Temple. Without this tunic, Link will perish. A Blue Tunic is also given to help with swimming. In A Link to the Past, however, there are different colored tunics that help with defense instead of helping Link through heat and water. You might think that the Red Tunic’s purpose in A Link to the Past is to protect Link from heat in the Desert of Mystery because it’s red, but it’s actually for defense. This makes me wonder when Nintendo decided to make different colored clothes to help against the elements versus defense abilities. Breath of the Wild’s clothing options allow for both.
In conclusion, the Desert of Mystery in A Link to the Past isn’t too terrible of a location. The enemies aren’t too difficult and no special clothing is required. It’s home to the second dungeon in the game, which thankfully brings you closer to obtaining the Master Sword. This location isn’t particularly my favorite Zelda area, but it’s by far better than some other places in the Zelda series. Whether we like the desert or not, we must remember that this is Link’s journey, and if crossing a wasteland of hot sand helps save Hyrule, then so be it.
