Zelda series lead Eiji Aonuma has admitted that he wanted to use The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake to make the Water Temple a bit less obtuse.
In the 28 years since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, one challenge has lived in infamy: the dreaded Water Temple. While the classic adventure game was universally praised, the Water Temple was the sole sticking point for many, with its somewhat obtuse design proving a huge challenge. However, to many people – myself included – the problem with the Water Temple was less about the challenge or dungeon design itself and more about the tedium of constantly pausing to equip or remove the Iron Boots to navigate the area.
As for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, Aonuma – whose role in the N64 classic was as the game's dungeon designer – explained that the Water Temple was a big motivator in Nintendo's Ask the Developer article about the game. "I had some overdue homework: I wanted to do something about the Water Temple I created 28 years ago," Aonuma says, explaining, "Since it became well known for its difficulty in the original game, I had the team make some adjustments in this version."
However, this is not the first time Aonuma spoke about wanting to change the Water Temple; in fact, in a 2011 Iwata Asks interview, Aonuma said, "I wanted to do something about the Water Temple" when discussing his motivation for making The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. He explained at the time, "Everyone talks about it, so it’s been a longstanding wish of mine these 13 years!" but clearly its version of the dreaded dungeon wasn't enough.
"When I designed the Water Temple all those years ago, I wanted to create an experience where simply being underwater was fun," Aonuma explains in 2026. He cites his love of freediving and finds it fascinating "how different everything feels" when you are submerged.
"I wanted to create a place where players could experience those sensations," Aonuma explains. The remake's director, HokWai Ng, explains that the remake makes item toggling easier, as well as changing "some of the walls that made it easy to lose your sense of direction to lattice-style structures," so hopefully this new version will finally satisfy Aonuma's desire to "fix" the temple.
