Love it or hate it, the Water Temple is certainly a contender for the most infamous Zelda dungeon of all time. As the sixth dungeon in Ocarina of Time, it provides quite a challenge for players while listening to its memorable, ambient music and taking in its unique atmosphere.
For such a dense series as Zelda, there's always a hefty amount of info about dungeons that are left out of the game itself, and players will have to dig a little deeper to uncover their secrets. Here are 10 facts you might not have known about Ocarina of Time's Water Temple.
10 One Of Aonuma's Favorites
Series director, Eiji Aonuma, has been in charge of planning and designing many of Zelda's dungeons across multiple titles, including Ocarina of Time. Out of all of the dungeons in the franchise, however, he considers the Water Temple to be one of his absolute favorites.
If not for his love of deep-sea diving, which inspired him to make a temple with diving mechanics built into its puzzles, then the creative puzzles and captivating ambiance have surely stuck with him over the years.
9 Quality Of Life Changes
When the N64 classic was remastered for the Nintendo 3DS 13 years after its initial release, Nintendo and Grezzo made sure to alter the bits of the game that didn't age very well.
Besides the inclusion of virtual item buttons and gyroscope controls, a lot of these changes actually stemmed from the Water Temple's poor reception, as the 3DS version now allows for the Iron Boots to be equipped as normal items, and it also color-codes certain areas of the dungeon for easier navigation.
8 Extra Small Key
Ocarina of Time's more difficult, remixed version, Master Quest, changes up each dungeon layout to provide a fresh experience to those who completed the base game. The Water Temple was changed, as well, but the developers overlooked a certain aspect of it.
It's actually possible to complete the dungeon with an extra small key that will never be used, as a locked door will open itself after an enemy encounter, making this one of the rare extra keys throughout Zelda dungeons.
7 Difficult Development
When discussing the frequent criticism that has been met with this dungeon over the last two decades, Eiji Aonuma stated that "water levels like the Water Temple were a difficult thing for The Legend of Zelda designers to overcome"
It's no secret that dungeons in the Zelda series can be an extremely complex labyrinth full of puzzles and layout-changing mechanics, and it seems that water-based dungeons are always on the more difficult side of development.
6 Link's Shadow
Dark Link likely serves as one of, if not the most memorable mini-boss fight in all of Zelda, appearing as the mini-boss in the Water Temple. It's unlike any other fight in the game, and it is certainly the most mechanically unique mini-boss.
After passing the singular dead tree in the water, which many players allude to the now-dead Great Deku Tree, Link's shadow will actually disappear from the ground, proving that this is the physical manifestation of his shadow. It will mirror most of the player's actions, including Link's idle and fatigued animations.
5 Speedrunning Tricks
As a game that's over 20 years old and released during the more primitive era of 3D games, Ocarina of Time can be broken in a variety of different ways. Every dungeon in the game has certain skips or points where the player can access items early, including the Water Temple.
Like most dungeons, the player can reach the boss door without the dungeon's special item, receive said item early, clip through the boss door without getting the key, use the water out-of-bounds to float to higher areas, or open doors without ground underneath them by utilizing the Hover Boots.
4 Master Quest Differences
Ocarina of Time's Master Quest dungeons usually feature extra enemies, differing puzzle mechanics, and a completely remixed room layout to give as much of a fresh experience as possible without making completely new dungeons.
The Water Temple goes against it's "water" theming and includes quite a bit of fire-based puzzles with Din's Fire. While there aren't any Iron Knuckles as there were in the Fire Temple, many Stalfos, Lizalfos, and Dodongos are included to spice-up the otherwise minimal combat present in the original dungeon.
3 Connection To Lakebed
The official Zelda timeline may haunt many players for the rest of their lives because of its needless complexity, but at least its connections to games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are relatively simple, as they lie close to Ocarina of Time on the timeline and were always meant to have connections to it.
Twilight Princess is much more blatant about its nods to Ocarina, as seen with the first three dungeons being themed exactly the same with forest, mountain, and water. Instead of Jabu Jabu's Belly, however, Lakebed Temple bears a striking resemblance to the Water Temple both in layout, puzzles, and appearance, making it likely that it is the same location, and they also both lie under Lake Hylia.
2 Design Regrets
Developing such a grand series for multiple decades will obviously bring along some regrets when it comes to design choices, as gaming drastically changes over generations and the developers gain more experience and feedback
Eiji Aonuma stated in an interview that the reception of the Water Temple stuck with him quite harshly, to the point of being one of the main reasons he wished to recreate Ocarina of Time on the 3DS and alleviate the issues that players had with the dungeon.
1 A Humorous Reference
In 2017, the real-life Zelda-themed escape room, Defenders of the Triforce was available for Zelda fans to experience. It was made to give fans a similar experience in solving puzzles and finding items in the actual games.
In one of the areas featured in the event, a sign was placed that read "Easier than the Water Temple!," which is an obvious reference to just how notorious the temple was among many players who found it to be punishingly difficult.