Gamasutra: I always remember getting the feeling that I was navigating my way through the rooms almost randomly, spitting in the designers' faces and getting to the end only because of my mighty gaming talents!
After analyzing the flow of the dungeons, I quickly abandoned this notion. As it turns out, the dungeon layouts are very carefully planned and the flow is very cleverly executed.
If [co-director Shigeru] Miyamoto's intent was truly to give the players the feelings associated with exploration, then this design is a masterful execution of that intent.
It is ironic that the first two Zelda games offer the most freedom of progression. Get back to your roots, Zelda!