The negative reputation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Water Temple precedes itself, but for all the negativity, it may not be quite what some fans . The dungeon has long been seen as the worst in the series due to it being difficult and needlessly tedious. However, when looking at Ocarina of Time in retrospect, one will find that the Water Temple may actually be one of the best designed dungeons in the entirety of Legend of Zelda.
Much of the reason why the Water Temple is so lamented by fans is due to the lack of -friendliness found in older games on the N64 like Ocarina of Time. Navigating the Water Temple's four floors and hidden corridors requires Link to find specific spots within the Zelda: Ocarina of TIme dungeon to adjust the water level and repeatedly equip his Iron Boots in order to sink. Because the Water Temple's labyrinthine structure and repeated wall patterns make it difficult to navigate, players usually have to repeat these two processes dozens of times to get to the dungeon's end. What makes this worse is that, on the N64, Ocarina of Time required players to enter the complex menu screen in order to equip or take off the Iron Boots. The repetition of these difficult and sometimes annoying tasks made the Water Temple feel tedious in comparison to other dungeons in the game.
However, the difficulty and tediousness baked into the Ocarina of Time's Water Temple are part of what makes it so brilliant. Other than the annoyances that arise from the lack of use-friendliness, the Water Temple's challenges are so memorable because they are genuinely challenging; players are forced to explore, backtrack, and rethink their strategies rather than run in a straight line from Point A to Point B. What's more, Ocraina of Time's 3DS version fixed a lot of what made the Water Temple so infuriating on the N64, namely by allowing players to take the Iron Boots on and off with the press of a single button. But the truth is that the Water Temple never needed to be tinkered with too much to fix it, as it was always conceptually brilliant.
What Makes The Water Temple Secretly Great In Ocarina Of Time
The Water Temple will quickly unveil its genius in Ocarina of Time if players are paying close enough attention to recognize it. Upon entering the Water Temple, Link will be able to see numerous doorways on the top level that will remain dead-ends until he explores further. This forces him to sink to the bottom of the dungeon, along the way finding only more dead-ends or inaccessible areas blocked off by locked doors, explodable walls, or missing platforms. After reaching the bottom, Link will be informed by Legend of Zelda's Princess Ruto that he can change the water level in the dungeon to navigate its many corridors.
What makes this dungeon design so smart is that the Water Temple forces players to use logic to interact with its puzzle systems. The lack of options on the top levels of the Water Temple teaches players that they must sink downwards in order to make it through, and the explodable walls seen along the way also show that the water level will have to be changed so that bombs can be used. YouTuber Breath of the Wild's Great Plateau tutorial in that players must explore and experiment in order to test out what works and doesn't work. And if the Great Plateau, Metroid, and Castlevania can be so loved for this, so can the Water Temple.
The Water Temple also features one of the Legend of Zelda series' best villains: Dark Link. Not only is the battle with him the perfect level of difficult to be fun, but Dark Link himself is the perfect miniboss for this dungeon. Just as the difficulties of the Water Temple causes players to rage and see the worst of themselves, so too does Link see the worst of himself in Dark Link. Though this comparison certainly was not intended by Nintendo, it only serves to show why The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Water Temple should be more appreciated than it is.
Source: Monster Maze/YouTube
