I played this when I was 7 when it came out, and remember having to get my dad to call the nintendo helpline, and a man patiently talked me through the water temple room by room, till I was able to find the key I was missing. 🙏 Thank you, extremely patient nintendo call center man.

Fun fact: Dark Link's health mimics your own when you enter the room, so if you enter on the brink of death he'll go down in a hit or two or he'll take awhile if you have full health. I always thought that was interesting

This temple always gave me a serious claustrophobic feeling. You're in this ancient man made cave buried deep underneath a giant lake. It's dimly lit, the corridors are tight and awkward, goddamn prehistoric crustaceans wandering around, oh and one of the rooms involves an existential hallucination. You can almost taste the stale dead air that's been sealed in that watery tomb for who knows how long.

EVERYONE would miss that key that's under the platform in the middle column of the temple. Where you raise the water the first level. Seemed like back in the day whenever anyone was stuck they always missed that key, thinking they couldnt beat it.

I just want to point out too that using Farore's Wind at one of the water level switches really helps to minimize the backtracking.

I think the annoying thing was realising you have to actually memorise the temple’s design, not just blag through with your short term memory. And THEN the spatial reasoning is tested, if you’re into that.

I actually compleated this enitre dungeon without the blue tunic by accident. I remember freeing the King Zora after finishing the Water Temple and him giving me the tunic and thinking "Man this would have been useful in the Water Temple."

It's more tedious than it is hard, having to raise and lower the levels, and then equip/unequip the boots. The remake fixed the latter part, and if you play the randomizer, they map the Ocarina and both Boot items to the d-pad, making it even better.

When my brother first played this dungeon, my sister and I watched and helped as much as we could as he was getting confused. This was our first Zelda and the third video game we ever got our hands on as kids. We developed a strategy of process of elimination and constantly checking the map. Checked all available routes on the bottom floor, okay move on to the next floor. It was a constant rechecking and reexploring that helped us and the satisfaction we got when it was beaten. When I played on my own, I did the same. During my childhood, I found this temple to be annoyingly tedious. But now that I'm older, I appreciate the design more and was glad I had a chance to explore.

On my first try I struggled finding the basement. I remember noticing the entry but from that angle it just seemed as a bottomless pit. Remember, in that era we were trained to avoid holes in the ground!

The 3D models you used to explain the map and water level mechanics are amazing. They make it very clear what you're telling

The water temple was always my favorite with the fire temple being a very close second. The puzzles, the mini boss and the hookshot made this temple the best imo. ooT has always been my favorite, hands down.

I actually found it relaxing, just floating up and down the water. The Fire temple and Well were more frustrating/nerve wrecking (as frustrated as I could get from a game I adore) yes the boots issue was a tad annoying but not enough to ruin it for me

I found it really interesting a breakdown of a temple’s progression and mechanics. You should do the other temples

This got recommended to me directly after watching TerminalMontage’s Water Temple video 😂😂😂😂😂

So glad I first played Ocarina on the 3DS and didn't have to deal with the Iron Boots shenanigans! I got thrown off by the Water Temple, but for completely different reasons: I entered the Water Temple wondering when the heck I would get the Zora Tunic and finally be able to breathe underwater, not realizing until I looked it up online that I had to go back and unfreeze the Zora king! And then I got stuck in the Dark Link room, getting confused by it, wandering the temple some more, and returning several times before I finally figured out how to trigger the mini-boss!

I LITERALLY just did the Water Temple in OoT yesterday. The key in the hole under the floating block in the center pillar (spiked floor) was easy to forget

The Water Temple has been my favorite since the first time I played the game when I was in middle school. I love the atmosphere and slowly working through the dungeon learning the layout and figuring out how it all fits together is something I really enjoyed. Also never felt bothered by the Iron Boots. It's not much more tedious than swapping items around anywhere else in the game

I think this is one of the best designed dungeons in the entire series. I wish every dungeon had this level of complexity.

What I found useful was setting up Farore's wind at either the Top Floor (Where you raise the water to the top level) or in the area where you lower it back down. That way you can skip a huge portion of the cycle by using Farore's wind to instantly teleport to the spot you need, saving quite a bit of time Edit: Guess I should have read the comments.. looks like some people already beat me to this x.x

The Water Temple is actually one of my favorite temples of OOT. I like when a game or stage is challenging. Yes, putting on and taking off the boots can initially be quite tedious but I got so used to it that it doesn't bother me that much. I think that nowadays people got so spoiled with the newest more modern games where everything is more comfortable, practical and everything is spoonfed to you telling you more than in older games what to do. And besides , older 2d games were so much harder and more difficult that in comparison playing the water temple is a quite a piece of cake😁

Found it a little intimidating in my first playthrough all those years ago but got used to the way the dungeon works eventually. Great Bay Temple in Majora's Mask however, is a different story.

1- Farore's wind. Use it. 2- Get the secret scarecrow song. Move around faster. Including using the hookshot from the central platform to the triforce that influences the water. 3- Take notes. Mentally or an a paper. 4- Pay attention to your surroundings. Not everything is blinking neon lights.

The most frustrating part was the cave with whirlpools. Link can't walk up a slight slope underwater there. The main area with water levels was a puzzle but it's meant to be. Solving it is fun.

I don't have concrete memories of my first time experiencing this dungeon, since I was so young. All I know is that I was fascinated by how it looked and sounded, and came out of it loving it. The 3DS changes were basically all the game needed imo, and I'm glad Zelda dungeon design has still remained very solid to this day despite the pushback the Water Temple got. Really good video detailing the dungeon, it's nice to get some really good retrospective on this type of thing. Not my favorite dungeon, but still a really solid one imo Also, another thing I'd always thought was hysterical to me was how the Master Quest version of the dungeon felt easier? I remember beating it first try with 0 issue or thinking, yet the Water Temple definitely left me stuck and lost in a few areas. It's crazy lmfao

Before watching the video, i can say that the water temple in OOT is not hard. It’s tedious because you have to constantly pause and unequip and reequip the iron boots.

I love that the main stumbling block that most people actually have with this dungeon (the time block behind the longshot chest) you just completely gloss over. The camera obscures the block on a first trip, and when you get the longshot, the average player's first thought is going to be "oh boy, now I can reach that target in the main room, or that other one in the waterfall room!" And immediately be on their way, before completing everything available to them before going, "Hmm, can't progress any further, what do I do now? Well, there's that one room I haven't gotten to yet..." only to find the only logical path to it is the way OUT of the room. And then you're left confused, bumbling around looking for things, with a map that doesn't seem to help. The connection between the Longshot room and the water rapids room looks more incidental than anything.

I’ve noticed in games where there is a central location in the dungeon you come back through often, those dungeons tend to be tedious and easy to get lost in. Snowpoint temple, great bay temple, and of course the water temple

Yeah that basement key was the only key I struggled to find when I first played. When I found the stupid room under the platform I was so mad because I didn't even see that whole. But overall it was super easy to complete and easy.

I never really found it that difficult or challenging, I found the Forest Temple and Spirit Temple to be more harder and more difficult

Dude you should do other explanations of dungeons like this, going through and watch how all the water temples mechanics worked was neat, I'd love to see an in depth type of this like this with like the spirt temple or any other dungeons tbh

I seriously have no idea how my older brother beat the water temple and the whole game in 1999 with no Internet guides that is so amazing to me

I actually really loved the water temple the first time I played it. I could never understand why people hated water dungeons, but I think this video actually helped me better understand why people hate them. I never even thought about people avoiding the map, that was just something I did automatically. I always enjoy learning about other people’s perspectives.

I actually really enjoyed the water temple as a kid, the atmosphere, the music, the mysterious feel to it, I remember it was kinda confusing, but every small progression was so exciting. The water temple is definitely a top favorite for me. I also thought the Forest Temple was the most difficult dungeon to beat, that one stumped me for days! 🤷‍♂️

Loved this breakdown

I recently played ocarina of time for the first time ever. And I've always heard the water temple sucked because of how annoying everything about it is. But in all honesty, the water temple is my second favorite temple in oot. I love how complex it is and how much it makes you look around to try and figure out where to go. I admit I did get stuck once but that's because it was on me and not the temple. And for the case of the iron boots people are just impatient lol. I had no problem at all going back to the pause button. I love this temple :)

My dad and I worked together to complete this temple when I was a kid, so I actually have fond memories of the water temple. The only thing that impeded our progress was the switching between the boots. I know if I played this by myself though I probably would’ve been very overwhelmed LOL Also wanted to edit my comment and add that I enjoyed this sort of re-exploration of the water temple, and your defense of it. I’d love more videos going into details of dungeons like this.

Hardest parts of the game that I can think of: - knowing where to go to find the hookshot in the graveyard - certain parts of Jabu Jabu's belly. I can't remember exactly which parts - noticing the cutscene in the water temple where the platform rises with the water opening up a new passage -knowing to bomb that one unmarked wall towards the end of the water temple - getting the windmill guy to play the song of storms and flood the well. I didn't clue in that I'm supposed to hold up my Ocarina in front of him - placing the bomb in front of the rolling goron. It has to be very specifically placed and timed - Bongo Bongo

The basement key was the bane of my existence, the one and only reason why this temple took me hours to beat. I was cruising through with just that one tiny, easy to overlook detail holding me back. When I see a platform raising I don't look under it, I look at it because the moving object draws my eye; it took me hours to spot the hole under the platform. Nintendo may have put in a cutscene to tell players "look here dummy," but I can say I'm the dummy in question and I appreciate it.

I do remember getting lost the first time I played but after understanding how it was set up made the times I played after that was so much more fun and interesting. The factory level in Resident Evil Village kinda reminds me of the water temple because of the multiple ways you can go to the floors and the elevator can go to three different levels only accessible at specific points.

This is a good analysis of it. Especially how you say simply inexperience with 3D games or even just Metroid type games where checking the map is frequent and necessary, is likely an influence in how some people had little issue and others had hard times. I had already played at least Link to the Past and Wind Waker completely before I played Ocarina, as well as I believe up to Gen 5 Pokémon games, so it was more straight forward for me even tho at the time I hadn’t played more open world or Metroid games yet. I think it is interesting to consider both one’s life, as well as gaming experience in having an effect on player’s perceptions of this dungeon. There is often many times where something is regarded as “bad” just because it’s new or unfamiliar, but with slight tweaking, it can actually be quite amazing and fun.

In my opinion this water temple was easier than the one in Twilight Princess. Honestly I had to watch walkthroughs for both of them when I was younger though.

It has always been my favorite of the OOT dungeons from the first time I played it way back in 1998. I couldn't have articulated it at the time but now I know it is because it is the most open ended and least linear of the dungeons in the game. Plus it has kickass music.

I have just now gotten through the water temple for the first time and it feels so good!

I remember, as a young kid, my friend and I were stuck on the water temple for over a month (this was around 2000, so no internet). Specificly, the part in the main room were the block was blocking the door on the ground floor and you had to raise the water levels. We didn't know there was a door there. I don't remember how we solved it (it might have been a game guide we read inside gamestop, although I don't quite remember), but I DO remember how hyped we were when we did. We felt so proud of ourselves, it's kinda sad how those types of moments are a thing of the past nowadays. It's oddly comforting to hear a lot of people also struggled with the water temple, makes me feel less like a fool.

The water Temple is one of the best designed dungeons in Ocarina of Time in my opinion.

Some companies have design documents that tell them how to design things. For instance, a game company might have requirements that puzzles have some type of audio/visual cues to help players find items related to the puzzle. "If a player's actions reveal a secret passage way, clearly show the location of the passage way to the player" is something I could see in a design document that would influence those types of decisions.

I'm so glad I first did this temple with the 3Ds remake. It made the n64 version so much easier. If I'm being honest it's one of my favorites.

Thank you for this trip down memory lane, sneakily combined with a walk through! I don't remember having too much trouble with the dungeon my first time back around '99. But Dark Link I sure had trouble with! Maybe the boss as well. As for the boots, back then we never really worried about it - it was what it was. One particular challenge was finding all the skulltulas!

The hardest part is the "hidden" key that I won't spoil. Otherwise the dungeon is just really slow paced compared to the rest. It's just easy to get distracted and lose your train of thought due to the constant pausing / unpausing to swap boots. At least on the original N64 Still a great temple, I love the idea of thinking vertically.

This has to be some of the best production value I've seen from a channel with less than 100k subs. Major props!

outstanding visuals, the representation of the dungeon is well done !

The only problem I had with this dungeon was finding the key that was hidden at the bottom of the central tower. I saw the wooden box float up but I never thought there was anything underneath it.

For me it really was just that one room that A) locks behind you when you exit, requiring you to go re-do some water-raising, B) has a longshot target taunting you, and A) opens up the way to progress under a platform that floats up.. if you weren't paying really close attention, noticing that hole? You'll never think to go down there.. at least I didn't. And the fact that if you get confused, the first two points waste your time and add more junk to your active memory.. doesn't help.

I started oot yesterday, then quit over the water temple, watched your video to cope, then you motivated me and now I made it. Thanls :)

The atmosphere of this dungeon is fantastic. Although navigating it was so confusing and frustrating at times, they nailed the overall vibe.

Commenting before watching all the way through: This was my favorite temple simply because I spent so much time in it that I developed an understanding of it, like some kind of weird gamer stockholm syndrome. I got very comfortable there. I remember being nervous because I felt very lost and all the websites were saying it was possible to be permanently stuck, but I didn't listen because I had the compass and knew there was an extra key the guides weren't mentioning, I just couldn't find it. But after persevering, I found a basement room with said key that no online guides mentioned. Ever since, I wondered if the water temple was never truly game-breaking, and so many people just ragequit at the prevalent rumor (?) that Nintendo put an extra key in. I've seen other posts with similar stories. That said, I fully understand why so many people found this temple absolutely infuriating. Finding that key in the bottom took so long-- 15:07 yep, that's the one. I also felt smart when I found it.

When I played this level for the first time during my college years, it didn't stand out as being any more difficult than most of the other dungeons. It was ALL difficult to me haha. I did eventually beat the game though, so there's that.

Thank you for bringing up the importance of checking the map to complete the dungeon. The Water Temple is the ultimate test of the player’s spatial awareness and critical thinking; as you said, you can’t just run around mindlessly hoping to stumble upon the solution. Instead, you need to examine the dungeon layout and choose the correct path. Every action needs to be deliberate and well thought-out. I didn’t even find it all that confusing, even on my first playthrough. There may be 14 exits from the central chamber, but as you emphasized in the video, only a few of them are available at any given moment. I actually think that the cyclical nature of the water panels (you have to go from 3 to 1 to 2, not from 2 to 1 or 1 to 3) further helps with navigation because it forces you to backtrack and become more familiar with the layout. Maybe I was spoiled by playing for the first time in 2020 when 3D games were well-established in my mind and I had been exposed to years of people complaining, but the Water Temple is actually my third favorite dungeon of all time, after the Spirit Temple and MM’s Great Bay Temple (which I would also enjoy a video on, should you want to make a sequel of sorts to this one).

"... Chances are, you wont see the Game Over screen very often" Me: Laughs in Masterquest fighting 3x Stalfoss in thightspace just before Dark Link (if i remember that coreectly ;D)

I really love these panned out views of the temple, giving a better view of how large the temples are and gives a sort of awe to their ancient vastness.

It's design is genious! All these mechanics, right placed roadblocks, hidden keys, and still making it impossible to get stuck anywhere! That is fantastic dungeon design!

Use Farore’s Wind. A lot of the hallways are dead ends which will have you back tracking just to get back to the main room. Farore’s Wind will save you a lot of time back tracking and reduce boot equips. There are a lot of keys in this temple. If you are missing a key to a door, drop Farore’s Wind close to that door and then back track to look for the key. Lastly, Farore’s Wind can help warp you back to an upper level of the temple without having to raise the water level.

As a little kid I watched my older sister play OoT and she got stuck in the Water Temple. When I was allowed to play, I explored the dungeon and figured out it was stuck on that last key door before the boss key. I even figured out that said key must be behind the block which you can only move by shooting an eye switch on the second level. However, here's my problem: I didn't always watch when my sister was playing, so I DIDN'T KNOW you could change the water levels with Zelda's lullaby. So that safe file remained stuck forever. It was only years later when I started a new file and played the entire game on my own, when I got to the Water Temple and to Ruto explaining the mechanism that it clicked for me.

First time was Hell underwater. Second time and the times after, takes 20 minutes to beat. That said, I love this level, it's design, the music, and the tone it sets. Very mysterious.

What would be nice to have at Water Temple: Changing the water levels at will. Sinking and floating faster. Full combat underwater.

Great analysis! I love the Water Temple's maze-like design but I cannot ignore one of its obvious problems: the way the "Key Phase", as you called it, is laid out. Once you lower the water level, you're given access to two keys, which you pointed out. You only need ONE of them, though, to enter the central tower and raise the water level to the second floor. Then you have access to two more keys, the one in the basement and the one behind the cracked wall. And again, you only need ONE to unlock the door that leads to the panel that raises the water to the third floor. Point being, I could see how it would be really easy for the less methodical to get to the locked door on the third floor having missed two of the FOUR keys that you can grab up to this point, saying "oh, I need a key to get past here", and then it's back to looping through the water levels. Maybe you find the key behind the cracked wall, and feel stupid that you completely forgot that cracked wall was there or just never saw it. Then you raise the water back up, use your one key... only to find that there's another locked door behind the one you just unlocked, requiring you to do another cycle through the water levels to find yet another key. Clueless as to where this one missing key could possibly be, this is probably where many people would just quit. Yes, this is a worst case scenario, but is it really that unlikely? The two keys you can get after lowering the water all the way down are pretty obvious, but the one behind the bombable wall and rising platform are definitely more hidden (at least in the N64 original). I'm sure there's plenty of people who completely missed both of those keys and ended up frustrated, because even if they went back and found one of them, they're roadblocked by another locked door they didn't even know was there. Even on repeat playthroughs I could see it being very easy to get distracted and forget one of these four keys. ...Long story short, thank god they eventually made it so locked doors show up on the map screen.

Gotta say, the 3Ds made it so much more bearable. It was honestly FUN to navigate and solve the puzzles (granted, it was a third ish play through). I think if you go into a temple with the mindset of “just getting it done” you’re going to muddle the entire experience and stop having fun. I will say though, backtracking is just annoying, not hard. Not a fun aspect of the temple but it’s a necessary evil I suppose.

I was EXTREMELY lost and frustrated with Water Temple when I was younger. I swear it had like 100 keys to collect! Now I find out that there were only 6(regular) keys? I never actually counted the keys

for some reason i found the forest temple the most frustrating, i think it was the music that did it

When I was 10 it was an incomprehensible maze that took me over a month to brute force my way through. Playing it again in adulthood, it is indeed that hardest temple but it wasn't that bad. It was refreshingly difficult and I wish every temple after it could have lived up to the same difficulty.

This is the one that stumped me and a bunch of my Zelda pals for a long time. When I first played OoT I stayed stuck in Kokiri Forest for the first month because I couldn't figure out how to bust the spider web inside the Great Deku Tree. Finally figured that out then breezed through Dodongo Cavern, Jabu-Jabu's Belly, Forest Temple, and Fire Temple. Then I got to Lake Hylia and the dread Water Temple. For two years, at least an hour or two a day average, I tried to beat this temple. I lacked a single small key to get through the last locked door before the boss door. I knew exactly where it was, in the alcove high up in the whirlpool room, but I couldn't figure out how to get to it. Finally, a guy I went to elementary school with brought in the Prima guide one day and if I could have cloned myself and kicked my own ass right then and there I would have. In two years I never ONCE noticed the Time block behind the chest after you fight Dark Link. When I got home that afternoon I finished the Water Temple in less than ten minutes from system boot to collecting Morpha's heart container. Needless to say my Zelda buds felt the same when I showed them. We were all so damned mad but looking back now I find it hilarious.

I actually always loved the Water Temple. Am I struggling everytime I play through it? Hell yes! But the temple really made Use of the 3rd Dimension and was a huge exploration game.

Now I'm going to say some "blasphemies". Ocarina of Time was my first proper 3D Zelda game and I have to say, the water temple is the one I liked most. Yes it took me two and a half hours to complete but I don't know why, I had so much fun! Being able to manipulate the dungeon itself was fascinating! Also the music is great, the atmosphere is incredible, the mini boss is a masterpiece, and I've played the 3DS version so I could experience what I think is the better version of it. To be totally honest, what I did actually get frustrated on was the forest temple, and most of all, the Shadow Temple. I HATED the Shadow Temple. Mainly because I don't really like spooky things, I'm not a fan of that, so I didn't like the atmosphere. Also I'm scared of redeads because I cannot get them off me so I ended up playing the Sun's Song at least 100 times. Then I also died or got tired and stopped playing the game only to be dropped at the beginning of everything every single time and MY GOD THAT CORRIDOR WITH SPIDERS AND GUILLOTINES. I don't mind backtracking, but having to go through the same road again and again only to get to a point where you previously died, hoping that this time you will not die is something that I hate. And after that the name of the boss pretty much offended me, and I think it was the hardest boss on the game.

When i played the water temple a few years ago i didnt have much trouble. The iron boots did annoy me a bit but that was just navigating the item screen. In every game with a map i heavily depend on the map. I love exploring and finding all the little nooks and crannies the biggest issue was remembering the bombable wall under water and the sinking platforms room. But i had a lot of fun playing the dungeon, and i actually had a lot more trouble with the forest and fire temples than i did with the water temple.

I've always loved water levels in games in general. Ocarina of time's water temple was really fun even if keep forgetting the same key on every playthrough. I think just being in the water is fun and calming and getting to travel through it is very fun. I know you can't really do that in ocarina of time, but I liked rolling through the water. Also I understand why the controls were slow. It would be harder to swing a sword through water than the air because water molecules are more packed than air. Longshot has an exception because of how it works. I've been waiting for the day that someone asks this question. You deserve a sub!

This temple's constant trolling of surprising you with a locked door at the end of a challenging/tedious room is what frustrated me the most. Of course, the boots switching as well, especially when the design exacerbated this by having a small notch that you need to sink below only to immediately need to float up again, for no good reason! Another thing that frustrated me a lot is how the enemy AI only considers horizontal distance and not vertical distance when engaging with you. So when you're at the bottom of the main room, the Tektites at the top will start chasing you even though you're far away from them and eventually they'll drop on your head and give you a heart attack. The worst thing for me though is how you go through all this tedium and then you get the most underwhelming boss in the entire game. The first time I played OoT, I was blown away by every boss up to that point in the game, as well as the dungeons, and was almost ready to proclaim OoT as better than ALttP but the Water Temple and its boss made me go "Nah, ALttP is still the better game".

I was around 8 years old when I first beat the water temple and didn't struggle with it once. The fire temple on the other hand I had skipped because I never figured out how to get the fire tunic from the little rolly guy in goron city. I believe that my temple order in the first playthrough was forest->water->fire->spirit->shadow, which is kind of an odd order I think.

Wait... People thought the water temple was HARD? I thought the complaint was that it was TEDIOUS constantly going through menus to switch between boots. The puzzles themselves were fairly simple.

This Temple is infamous for being the hardest temple in the game but the music Is one if the best ones.

I found it difficult as a kid purely just because I got so disoriented. Going into the menu to take on and off the iron boots or getting distracting by killing something, but I did have undiagnosed ADHD so getting side tracked was something common in dungeons lol. But to this day the mini boss fight is one of my favourites from the actual enemy to the room it’s in! So freakin cool

Hey don I haven’t watched but I know it’ll be great

That block being raised by the water, opening the way to the basement, was what got most of us back in the day. Yes, it is shown in the cut scene, and yes, I eventually saw it. But I probably watched that cut scene about a dozen times before noticing it, which was exceedingly annoying... raising and lowering the water levels that many times. Which is why they changed the cut scene to explicitly show the opening. But I also agree with you that doing so completely erases a very good puzzle. I think they could have made the opening a bit easier to see (like they did by changing the angle of the cut scene) without completely zooming in on it. That one detail alone (along with having to pause to change boots) is what made it so annoying to me back in the day.

i remember i was stuck on the water temple as a kid but my aunt got me a zelda guide and i just missed a room that had a small key. I knew where the small key went but i remember thinking "ugh i swapped the levels of the water to every level and never found this key..." it was the basement key. i totally never saw it. OOT was my very first n64 game and I say my first video game. i played super mario on the super nintendo but as like a todler... it never registered to me as a video game it was jsut another toy back then and i re-ran the first world over and over and over again and then i would go outside and do the next thing.

Since one of my first zelda games was spirit tracks, i grew up with hard zelda games. I always liked the difficulty of the water temple, i remember constantly loading save states from just before the water temple, so i could solve it again. I'm fairly sure that i beat it when i was around 6 and i strongly think that it is by far the most underrated dungeon.

I’d say it was tedious, the fire temple felt more hard to me. The amount of times I forgot the one last key needed to get the boss key made me hate the water temple.

I played oot for the first time when I was 20, and was already a seasoned 3-d videogame player. I can confirm that this level was some bullllshiiiit

I used to turn off my N64 when I am happily exploring hyrule field then suddenly night comes up and those creepy wolf sounds and skeleton rise from the ground💀 that stuff used to creep me out but it made the game soo much alive in my childhood memories, it gives the game a unique feeling.

I had more trouble with Whitney's Miltank.

It was genuinely one of the best dungeons in the game. It was a time where wikis and walkthroughs didn't exist (or were pretty rare in any case) and you actually had to have half a brain to beat a game. The satisfaction after finishing that dungeon was second to none.

Farores Wind is a lifesaver on this level, it can save you a bunch of time. For instance, you find yourself in that situation where you forgot the cracked wall key just as you’re doing the hookshot platform room just before Dark Link and you realize it too late. Use farores wind, it creates a warp point at the last door you came out of. Take the necessary steps to get to the cracked wall and get the key. But not instead of raising the water again, just use farores wind to warp back the room where you needed to be in the first place. Farores wind saves time when you know how to use it.

The graphic work and animations for this video are awesome! It really helps visualize it all.

After you figure it out, the temple is straight forward, and it's actually easy to beat it with an extra small key

I never had any trouble with Water Temple. Until I watched this video, I always through people just missed how you can go down within the central tower by raising the platform up. The iron boots switches were a little tedious, sure. But you just had to explore and keep track of where you'd gone, and use the map when you could.

Glad to see someone who understands this, you explained it perfectly in the video. I dont remember ever having a difficult time, I actually remember it being one of the most fun temples, if annoying as I do remember having to re-do the entire process to get the key...But that was my fault, the game is fairly clear on how everything works. But also I was a lot in to exploration and games that did metroidvania kind of stuff, so the checking the map and all was fairly natural for me. I can totally see a lot of kids not being used to that kind of exploration.

I got OoT for my 16th birthday, shortly after it came out. I had no guides back then, I just had to figure it out. Luckily I had nothing else better to do! And yes, it was tough, but eventually I did it, and wow was it rewarding to finish that temple. My sister later made me a cloth map of the temple as a wall decoration, which is hanging up in my living room. I've never played the 3DS remake, I think that would probably have been a better experience, but still.

i agree with your theory she was a contributing factor i was a teenager when ocarina came out and I had been gaming for a while. i remember it being tricky, but not anywhere near as hard as a lot of gamers just a few years younger than me claimed it to be

I beat OoT (the 3DS version) for the first time a few weeks ago, and I very much appreciate this level-headed look at the Water Temple! I had heard about it being so bad for so long, so I went in expecting some frustrating mechanic or inscrutable design, but I ended up really enjoying myself! I've always had a soft spot for water areas and the design of this dungeon is really clever, like you said. I enjoyed having to really pay attention to the temple's layout and overall structure to figure out where I was supposed to go next, especially since the game's dungeons only 'clicked' with me during the Fire Temple. It also definitely helps that I didn't have to go through quite as much of a hassle with the Iron Boots because of the 3DS version's item slots I do disagree a bit about the lines indicating the rooms where you can raise the water levels being unnecessary. While they're not crucial, I had to go through that cycle of changing the water level several times, so those lines definitely saved me some time and annoyance. The challenge of the Water Temple is supposed to be how the changing water levels affect which areas you can access, not changing the water levels, so it's helpful to let players know where they can do that so they can get on with the puzzlesolving

Woah, such a huge increase in production values since the last Monster Maze video the algorithm recommended to me! I fully expected an ad break telling us how you learned these new 3D skills via Skillshare or something.

oot was my first zelda, and this still is my favorite dungeon as of today, its so good