“I Had Some Overdue Homework”
By Indeed, Aonuma is aware of your disdain for those Iron Boots
- by Jim Norman
- Yesterday, 4pm
It’s well-known that Eiji Aonuma perceives the challenges with Ocarina of Time‘s Water Temple. The series producer discussed it upon the game’s release on 3DS, and it still lingers in his mind today, as he has mentioned it again in the latest Ask the Developer interview.
“I had some overdue assignments: I aimed to address the Water Temple I designed 28 years ago,” Aonuma-san remarks concerning the Switch 2 remake. He delves into various well-known grievances about the dungeon (the item menu frustrations, perplexing design, etc.), and verifies that he “requested the team to implement some modifications in this edition”.
Director HokWai Ng elaborates on these modifications, indicating that the Switch 2 remake has “simplified item toggling” — it is now assigned to the D-pad, drawing from the ease of the 3DS version — and there have also been certain architectural adjustments: “We transformed some of the walls that made it easy to lose your sense of direction into lattice-style structures, allowing visibility into the adjacent rooms and providing a clearer understanding of the overall area.”
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The intriguing part is observing Aonuma-san discuss his motivations behind the dungeon’s initial design. It often gets overshadowed by negativity, so it’s refreshing to be reminded of its origins:
When I crafted the Water Temple so many years ago, my intention was to design an adventure where simply being submerged was enjoyable. It was an era when very few 3D games allowed players to dive underwater. I appreciate freediving, and what captivates me about being beneath the surface is how distinct everything appears. The sounds shift, and it feels like you’re in an entirely different realm. I sought to create a setting where players could feel those experiences.
