Nintendo Reveals the Changes It Made to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Notoriously Difficult Water Temple for the Remake
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2 will include significant improvements to the Water Temple, one of gaming’s most infamously problematic dungeons. Eiji Aonuma, the legendary producer who originally designed the Water Temple in the 1998 N64 classic, has described addressing the dungeon’s flaws as “overdue homework.”
The original Water Temple became notorious for its complex puzzle design, confusing layout, lack of clear guidance, and frustrating mechanics like the Iron Boots and menu-based water level adjustments. These issues have remained a point of discussion for nearly three decades, with Aonuma having previously acknowledged the problems when the game was ported to Nintendo 3DS.
In a Nintendo “Ask the Developer” interview, Aonuma confirmed the team has made targeted adjustments to address the dungeon’s well-documented sticking points. While specific changes were not detailed in these excerpts, the effort represents an opportunity for Nintendo to preserve one of gaming’s most beloved titles while finally resolving one of its most criticized elements.