Yes, even Eiji Aonuma knows that the original water temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, frankly, kind of sucked.
In an Ask the Developer interview today, original Ocarina of Time director and now producer and franchise head Eiji Aonuma was asked about the game’s dungeons, which he was “deeply involved with” in the first game’s development. But when asked about changes to dungeons in general, Aonuma immediately brought up one in particular: the water temple.
The water temple is both an absolutely fantastic dungeon and also one of the most infuriating in the series, at least in its original incarnation. Its main mechanic involves raising and lowering the level of water throughout the dungeon in order to proceed to new areas, with both high and low water being required for certain doorways and paths to be useful. That on its own can be disorienting and confusing, which is part of what makes it so effective. But what was annoying was the need to constantly don and doff the Iron Boots to sink and float in the water. In the original game, Link couldn’t swim, so the only way to get down into the water was to equip the Iron Boots and sink, and then de-equip them to float. But doing this involved opening the game’s menu, navigating to the page they were on, and toggling them from there. Every. Single. Time. Combining this with one required treasure chest in particular hidden under a moving platform that most people struggled to find on their first attempt, and the water temple cemented itself in many people’s childhood memories as a nightmare.
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