With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Switch 2 remake out now, long-time Nintendo fans are in for a lot of warm nostalgia. A trek through the lost woods, duets with Sheik, a return to the Bombchu Bowling Alley — all of those wonderful moments return in a faithful remake that feels every bit as magical as the Nintendo 64 classic. But with all those wonderful moments comes a painful reunion with one of the most hated moments in Zelda history. Yes, you will have to return to the dreaded Water Temple.
Don’t worry! Even though the Ocarina of Time remake is careful not to change too much about the original game, it does make some small tweaks to a dungeon that still haunts a generation. It’s mercifully easier to navigate now thanks to a few minor but smart updates that go a long way.
The Water Temple is the most infamous dungeon in the original Ocarina of Time, so much so that it has been a bit of a running joke for decades now. The gist is that it’s a four-story structure built around a central room, and it’s flooded with water. To access certain areas, you need to find rooms in the dungeon that allow you to change the water level throughout the temple. Easy enough on paper, but it’s a bit of a pain in practice. Due to the limited visual information you get in-game, it requires you to keep a mental map of where each water adjustment point is, as well as how each of the three levels will change the layout of the dungeon. It’s a headache to keep everything straight, thus earning it a reputation as a frustrating rite of passage.
While that structure hasn’t changed much in the remake, Nintendo does make it easier to get through with a few smart decisions. That came at the request of Eiji Aonuma, who directed the original Ocarina of Time. “I had some overdue homework: I wanted to do something about the Water Temple I created 28 years ago,” Aonuma said in a recent Nintendo developer interview. “Since it became well known for its difficulty in the original game, I had the team make some adjustments in this version.”
One of those adjustments just comes down to clearer signposting. Building off the dungeon’s Ocarina of Time 3D redesign, the doors that lead to water controls are now clearly marked with symbols showing you exactly how the water level will change. You no longer have to remember which door leads to the room that drains the room, or which one will get you to floor two.
On top of that, each of the routes are now color-coded. You’ll find variously colored pipes around each of the three doors, and those visually lead you to the control room if you follow them through the dungeon. For instance, when you enter the route to the room that brings the water to its lowest level, you’ll notice that some blue pipes signal that you should float to the water’s surface. Follow that hint and you’ll find that the pipes lead to clearly marked pedestals for you to play your ocarina on. All of that makes it significantly easier to remember exactly where you need to go at all times.
Arguably, the more impactful Water Temple change comes from a top-level control decision that just so happens to make life easier in the dungeon. Part of why the Water Temple is such a pain is because you need to use a few key items throughout it. Your ocarina, Iron Boots, Hookshot, and more all play major roles in solving puzzles throughout the temple. Since the original game only gave you three item slots to work with, you were often left juggling around your item shortcuts in the main menu. It’s a minor pain point, but one that stands out when you’re constantly swapping items.
While the Switch 2 remake still has its own item management quirks, it wisely keeps your ocarina mapped to the D-pad at all times. Your boots get a quick swap button on the down button there too, meaning that you don’t need to waste an item slot on the Iron Boots. With those two necessities free up, you can dedicate your ZR item slot to the Hookshot and only swap to other items as needed with a quick menu on the R button. That decision cuts out any need for pause-menu management, allowing you to move through the dungeon more fluidly.
For the ‘90s purists, these changes might sound a little sacrilegious. As much as players claim to hate the Water Temple, that complaint invariably comes with a fondness for a genuinely memorable bit of frustrating design. “Why shouldn’t today’s youths struggle through the Water Temple like their elders once did?” you may ask. I, for one, welcome the help, just as I support the idea of today’s students having their loans canceled even though I had to pay mine off. The new visual design tweak makes for some sensible signposting that still feels part of the dungeon’s architecture, and the control solution just makes it easier to stay immersed in a well-built dungeon. New generations of players needn’t suffer like us old Zelda fans once did. Swim free, ye tadpoles.
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