Nintendo Reveals the Changes It Made to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Notoriously Difficult Water Temple for the Remake

Nintendo has discussed the changes it has made to the notoriously difficult Water Temple for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.

In an interview with Zelda boss Eiji Aonuma, Production Group No.3’s HokWai Ng, and other members of the development team published on the Nintendo website, changes made to dungeons were outlined. Crucially, Aonuma — who worked on the original Ocarina of Time back in the ‘90s — was able to finally get to what he called “overdue homework” on the Water Temple.

The original Water Temple in the 1998 N64 masterpiece is infamous for its complex puzzle solving, but also its lack of handholding. This made it a bewildering challenge for many players of the original game. As someone who played Ocarina of Time back in the day — and without the help of a guide —- I found the Water Temple pretty frustrating. It took me longer to work out than pretty much any part of the game, as I struggled to make sense of the water levels and locked doors. And don’t get me started on that item toggling.

Ng said that Nintendo’s approach with the remake was to retain the dungeon mechanisms from the original game, but improve “playability.”

“For example, we placed objects in such a way that players intuitively figure out which direction to go,” he said. “So if you look closely, you may notice areas where the layout differs slightly from the original game.”

For Aonuma, the Water Temple was personal. “I wanted to do something about the Water Temple I created 28 years ago,” he said, laughing. “Since it became well known for its difficulty in the original game, I had the team make some adjustments in this version. When I designed the Water Temple all those years ago, I wanted to create an experience where simply being underwater was fun. It was a time when there were very few 3D games that even let players go underwater. I enjoy freediving, and what I find fascinating about being underwater is how different everything feels. The sounds change, and it feels like you’re in a completely different space. I wanted to create a place where players could experience those sensations.

“However, with the dungeon’s complex structure and a lot of item toggling involved, you often had to open the menu screen repeatedly, making it hard to keep track of where you were and which way you were facing. We addressed those issues in this version.”

To that end, the remake makes item toggling “much easier,” and Nintendo has “changed some of the walls that made it easy to lose your sense of direction to lattice-style structures, making it possible to see the rooms beyond them and get a better sense of the overall space.”

Essentially, rather than simply changing the structure to make things easier, Nintendo came up with various ideas to rework it so that players wouldn’t get lost.

As IGN’s Logan Plant spotted while viewing Ocarina of Time remake gameplay, the 3DS version’s wall lights, which helped guide players to water-shifting spots, return for the Switch 2 remake. And, as teased by Nintendo today, Link can instantly take off his iron boots without having to pause and go to the equipment menu.

There’s a fun exchange at the end of the interview that taps into the immense nostalgia fans have for Ocarina of Time, and what I imagine will be a typical household experience when the remake comes out.

“More than anything, I personally would be happy if it became a conversation starter that encourages players of different generations to share memories with each other,” Ng said. “You know, your Dad got stuck in the Water Temple plenty of times back in the day.” (Laughs)

Aonuma: “Then kids playing this version might say, ‘Come on, it’s not that hard.’ Poor old Dad might end up feeling deflated.”

I feel seen.

While you wait for the game to come out, check out a special episode of Nintendo Voice Chat where we dive deeper into our Zelda preview. Meanwhile, we finally have confirmation of who actually developed the Ocarina of Time remake, and a roundup of the Ocarina of Time remake global release times.