There are a lot of stupid people out there. 83IQ is the lowest that the US army will hire, because any lower and the problems they cause more manpower than they can provide. 15% of the population is that stupid, which is a real problem for society.
The funniest thing is that you can actually complete the dungeon without that key at all. You can use another entrance to that center room by saving and starting on the top floor. I thought this was the way to do it as a kid when I restarted the whole game thinking I was permanently stuck. You can beat this dungeon with an EXTRA key!
The only dungeon I know of, if you do things right, you'll have a spare key. Shows how complex the water temple truly is. Farore's wind is MVP in the water temple.
I actually think that the water temple is an acquired taste. The more I play ocarina of time, the more I come to like it. With multiple playthroughs you start to rout this thing more efficiently using farores wind for instance. Also playing this temple in OOT3D is a lot better than in the N64 Version because you don't constantly have to pause to equip/unequip the iron boots. But in the end a temple has to be fun for everyone l, not just the ever recurring players that already know how to beat it. I have to admit It sure was frustrating as a kid.
Idk about that chief. I played trough it multiple times and I still get lost in it. It's always that point of the game where you bang your head against the wall multiple times until you break trough somehow and can't even explain how you did it.
@Ikey Ilex It's less of an "Eureka" moment and more like of "wait, why did that work? I've been doing the exactly same thing this entire time! Or was I?", so I never understand exactly what I did wrong in the first place and how I fixed it later. It's really a matter of keep trying for long enough and I'll magically beat it, be it in 1 hour or 8 hours later.
@Ikey Ilex Like I said, I dunno. Sometimes I'm just missing keys that I have no idea how to get (and it's not the one in the video, that I figured out quite fast). I remember struggling with the cracked wall you need to blast near the first water level changing spot a lot, that block puzzle in 1F(?) that you need to get to the other side to finish and I never know how to do, and I remember an entrance near the top of the whirlpool room that drives me insane and I don't even know if I'm really supposed to get there from that room or not. The map of that place is such a mess that it doesn't help me at all, so just go around doing things over and over again until at some point, somehow, I end up finding a key somewhere I had skipped before and I can finally progress.
Even I got stuck on the water temple myself :( and got stuck until I found you need to blow up a certain wall EDIT: 4:14 is the wall of which I speak of
“Did you miss it?” Nope, and I love hidden items like this. RIP to those who missed it back in the day. I didn’t know anything about this issue when my cousin got stuck here in the ‘90s. I borrowed the game and beat the game in a blind playthrough within one weekend. I remember thinking the Water Temple was tedious, but not necessarily hard. I don’t think my cousin ever forgave me for beating his game before him, but he still loves Zelda so it’s all good. Overall, I think this kind of hidden chest should be used for non-essential items. This hiding spot would be legendary if it were hiding a piece of heart instead of a key.
Didn't miss it either 😆 Haven't played the game for like 20 years and i have no memories of this specifically but my immediate reaction to something moving like that is, besides being able to climb it, check if it was hiding anything.
The strange thing is, for me, I kept looking at the gap under the block wondering how I was going to move it (since further up this room is the _second_ time you change the water level). After a while I gave up, and decided I'd come back to it later; and looked up to find something to latch onto. Needless to say, I very quickly stumbled upon the solution.
Yeah me neither, I always thought people just complained about how tedious the dungeon was or frustrating to navigate, I never heard anyone say they were missing that key, which is kinda stupid honestly.
I personally considered this temple not difficult, what most of the players forget is that there is an item that helps you A LOT with the backtracking to the water level rooms: Farore's Wind Using Farore's Wind helps a lot and many players did not even consider using it here
See, I didn't get stuck in this dungeon when I played it for the first time, so I've always liked it lol. It's my 2nd favorite Adult Dungeon, behind the Spirit Temple.
you and I are reversed on this front. water temple my favorite, ith spirit a very close second. shadow temple would be my third (especially trying without lens of truth)
I mean; if you managed to find everything else upto that point, you'd have the map and compass. And despite how the map works, the map is working correctly. And if you have everything except that 1 key it'd be the only chest on the map that is close to the center tower. If you were to check the block rising up when you raise the water level to go down further to get closer to the chest, you'd find the opening which leads to it. And yes; the original cutscene very briefly shows the opening, but if you were to keep going around I would assume since you're focused on finding anything to help; you'd eventually see the opening under the block when it rises up. The 3DS cutscene may seem like an overcorrection, especially when the other major problem of the Water Temple (pausing constantly to change the Iron Boots) was also changed as you can equip them like an item. If this wasn't to correct this pausing annoyance, it's to bring the boot usage in line with Zelda games that came after the N64 (Wind Waker and Twilight Princess Iron Boots)
Agreed. The boots pausing is obnoxious and bad design, but I think everything else about the dungeon is all right. The key is well hidden but you can find it with the map. The game has already taught you, try going to areas you were already at but with a different water level, and this is another example of that.
@@Sauraen I didn't think it was all that bad, particularly at the time. It was only in hindsight when WW gave them as an item when I thought "oh, this is way better."
@@fenixchief7 Yeah, in hindsight as like a 10 year old, I don't remember being bothered one bit by anything. I think the standard raised with newer games, and that made us realize relatively weaker mechanics of the older ones.
Honestly the key I kept forgetting about is the second floor key above Ruto which requires the water level to be at level 2 and for you to backtrack to that area before you fully raise the water level. Though now, I honestly really like the Water Temple.
Yes. That one. THAT FREAKING ONE. It's worse because every time you backtrack, you see the damn cracked wall rubbed on your face but have no idea how to get there.
I remember the third time I ever did the Water Temple, I'd finally memorized that there was that one room in the basement with a key, so I was all gung-ho, but then on the way to Dark Link I was still short a key and I was like 'what now?' That key on 2F turned out to be the one I forgot. Now I can do all the dungeons in OoT without getting the Map or the Compass. Well I mean, I can also get all the Stray Fairies in all of Majora's Masks dungeons without getting the Map or Compass, so by comparison OoT's dungeons don't really compare, but....
2:10 It was like that for us, we were stuck for so long (my cousin and my sisters). Turns out what we missed was that song of time block after the long shot. It’s in the ground so easy to miss
When I was little this temple was an absolute nightmare, but in my recent play through I actually found it to be the most intuitive dungeon. Everything made a lot of sense and seemed to just flow for me whereas I got stuck and had to run around trying to find what to do at least once in every other dungeon. I know that definitely goes contrary to the normal opinion, but I think the layout is really well made and has become my favorite in the game!
5:11 The original cutscene in the N64 version is even worse for one underrated reason: most of the little cutscenes and other interruptions thus far are very easy to tune out of as, up to this point, they have generally communicated obvious information that the player would have been able to see if the gameplay weren't interrupted anyway.
The part that had me convinced I broke the game was the fact that there are two different directions on the water temple which require two small keys back to back. If I used the keys in different spots and was convinced I was stuck. One had a small hallway with two locked doors and the other hand the place with the sinking platforms. This detail needs to be discussed in this temple.
The Water Temple, has a path you take through it, and if you follow it and make sure not to skip a side room or key, you basically just do a few laps around the whole thing and it easy enough.
Definitely the trickiest key in the game, though somehow it didn't ruin the dungeon for me when I was a kid. The cutscene was lost on me, so the map was actually how I figured it out. I obsessed over the mysterious unexplored basement room. So I combed over every space above it until I finally stumbled into the entrance. I was definitely stuck there for a bit, but I can't remember how long due to the time compression of my memory lol I would have been 10 at the time. I want to say I beat the game within the span of a couple months, but it could have easily been more.
The song of time block behind the chest with the longshot was also made more conspicuous in the 3ds remake. In the n64 game, it was level with the ground.
I got stuck at this temple for years as a kid as well, but it was the time block behind the long shot chest that got me. I actually beat master quest first and that’s how I discovered that block was there, so I was finally able to go back and beat the regular oot lol. Never missed the key below the center structure though. Didn’t realize people struggled on that one.
That was the one that got me, too. I had read online back then about the Hover Boots, and thought they let you fly. Because it's easy to see the end of that path in the whirlpool room with the dragon statue. So teen me thought the boots would help me get up there. Early 2000s was an odd time for finding info on what to do in a game. No wonder there were so many rumors about finding the Triforce in game, etc.
@@BingFox for real. I wasn’t allowed to use the family computer when I was a kid so I didn’t figure out that block was there for literally years haha. In master quest you go through the whirlpool river in reverse via the room with the statue you mentioned and when I ended up in the long shot room and put 2 and 2 together my mind was absolutely blown.
This has always been my favorite dungeon. It was actually engaging for once. It feels like, from my perspective, that the complaints against this dungeon amount to "I didn't sign up to use my brain when playing an rpg. How dare they force me to." Maybe that's an oversimplification, but other than constantly having to pause and equip different boots, I don't see anything frustrating or tedious about this dungeon. It just challenges your mind, that's all. Many of us would think of that as a good thing. 🙂
@@abstractdaddy1384 just because you like it because it made you think, thats not what other wanted while playing. The world dont work like you want. And that quote you did in the end is nothing more than stupid
The struggle I went through as a 10 year old trying to beat the water temple was crazy. This was before walkthrough videos. I asked my older brothers for help and they gave me the good old "I forgot..." but when I finally did beat it I felt the best relief I've ever felt in my life. The cutscene where the water in Lake Hylia rises to its normal state is iconic to me because of what I went through back in 07.
I had the exact same experience when I was 7.. took me two years to beat it, I played minigames and enjoyed the ambiance instead- I also casually beat every other dungeon out of order before the water temple (minus shadow because scary)
Maybe it’s only my favorite dungeon because I happened to catch that hidden hole on my first play through and it wouldn’t be otherwise. Funnily enough I missed that hole on subsequent play throughs. What really appealed to me about the Water Temple is all the different points where you could get sucked down to seemingly infinite depths, which with the underwater statuary and creepy cool music made it the most disturbing dungeon.
i loved getting lost in the water temple, it was so unique compared to the other temples in the game and figuring out all of it's secrets was so rewarding. one of my favorite temples in the game.
That's not the key I always forget, that one is the key behind the bombable wall you pass as you float up to the first water level spot. I always inevitably end up at the last door without a key, realize what I did, and find myself going back through the dungeon a second time for just one key.
Same here. I remember as a kid being stuck and going around the water temple, where I found the key in the central pillar. I eventually looked at the map and figured out where the one missing key was.
The key i had trouble with in the water temple is the one behind the bombable wall when you go up to lower the water level for the first time. Always missed that one key, then started to remember it and the temple became a cakewalk.
I think the real problem with the water temple is that its too tedious to be constantly going to the items menu over and over again to equip and unequip the iron boots,this of course was solved in the 3ds remake,but that dosnt adress the amount of time you spend floating to the surface and/or sinking to the bottom,combinethat with 3 different water levels and you get an overall easy but tedious water dungeon in comparison to the ones in other zelda games like skyward sword's or oracle of seaons. I dislike it so much that last time i played i felt the need to learn ISG,bomb hovering and the boss door skip to get the hell outta that temple.
Nice video, but to be honest, I'm a bit tired of people claiming this dungeon is trash. I mean, I too get stuck when I was younger and it wasn't easy back in the days, but it was far from impossible. There are clues, the cutscene shows the answer, it's not that obvious like in the 3DS remake, but at least it felt challenging and rewarding, unlike on 3DS. If the player don't see it, or don't think of checking beneath the platform, he is the one to blame. When I go back to OOT, I can't wait to do both Forest Temple and Water Temple because of how good they are designed (and eerie). I respect your opinion and I get your frustration. I'm just here to share some love for this underated dungeon. The true bullshit is the Dark Link fight though. That mf is impossible without cheating... I still don't get it to this day.
Idk about that honestly, it would be one thing if it was only a handful of players who didn't get it, but if most of your fanbase agrees the temple was hard... it probably was lol
@@yasmineh.1333 I agree this dungeon is hard. But I wonder... did some of you here had ever played any Tomb Raider from the 90s? These games are still well regarded nowadays, but I never got stuck so often in a videogame because how impossible the puzzles are (and I always get lost because how awfull the level design is). In comparison, I think the water temple is a piece of cake. This is a serious question btw, I really would like to know how many people here had beat both OOT and Tomb Raider...
@@FabienCampaner II actually never beat either of those, although it's mainly because I'm a '04 kid and didn't have consoles for old Tomb Raider games, and for OoT it's a technical problem of my 3DS. I wouldn't consider myself a standard to follow for difficulty in games because I suck lol, I just feel like a dungeon's reputation doesn't come out of nowhere
The key beyond the longshot room was another hangup back in the day. Many players would save, quit, take a break, and come back later and be back at the start of the dungeon. I was a key short more than once as a kid because I did this.
In the new 3Ds remake when you bring the water to the medium level it zooms the camera on the little secret room making it easier in the N64 however isn’t the case
the Water Temple is actually quite easy once you get an idea of how the water levels work...basically, i run through one "Cycle" (dropping the water all the way down, and then raising it back up to normal) without the Longshot, to GET the Longshot, then i do Another "Cycle" WITH the Longshot, and suddenly im ready for Morpha...you just gotta explore every single room that you can at each water level...if anything, its only "hard" if you forget about the little niches, like the bomb-able wall in Ruto's Room (waterlevel-Mid), or the pathway under the block in the central tower (waterlevel-NotLow), or around the corner from the GoldSkulltula, with the rolling boulders...
I had problems with keys in this temple, but the one in the basement was not one of them. I expected this would be about the key where you have to return to Ruto's location with the water at mid-level; that one gave me trouble because I never thought I had to return there in the first place.
I don't know, I've spent many hours inside of the water temple, enjoyed it a lost and got angry at it a lot as well.. but that piece of puzzle was so satisfying to get over with once you realize you could access down below of that vertical tunnel, that everything else wasn't so bad in the end. If only the newest Zelda games had a dungeon like this, each one would have a super addition!
I got stuck on water temple for about 3 years as a kid. I eventually realized I had to explore every nook and cranny at every water flow level. Exact same situation.
Honestly that room wasn't an issue for me for very long, I'm a Metroid fan so I'm used to crap like that. But going in and out of the start menu to equip and unequip the iron boots really broke my concentration a lot and got me turned around often so I still had a lot of trouble in the Water Temple, so the 3DS version making the iron boots equip-able on the fly made things so much better.
I just played mm, finished it today and I loved the great bay temple. Probably my favorite dungeon between the 2 64 games. The way it made you work with the Zora swimming mechanic, the idea of it, the mini boss that was covered in bubbles (my one death in the playthrough, im not hating though cause it was an epic fight), I just really liked it.
That hidden room under that platform is what caused me to run around for hours trying to find the missing key. I finally gave up and called Nintendo's 900 number which lead me to that spot. I don't think I would have found it otherwise.....
That exact room is why I was stuck on oot for years as a kid lol. It was a miracle that one time while trying to get through the temple i noticed the hole.
Honestly, This is the 6th dungeon of the game, and 3 of the previous 5 have asked you to think about the dungeon vertically. You should be checking up and down and not purely laterally. Boots and Lullaby kill the pacing of the dungeon but they arent actually strikes against its design and a level
OoT3D is a real one for making sure the player won't ever be confused and the only thing challenging the player is the actual complex design of the dungeon.
I was stuck on the water temple for 3 years because that damned room haha. I replayed the game all the way to that point 3 times in that span and looked once on my last play through on a whim out of boredom. I never had trouble after discovering it and always get through it on first tries every playthrough after that.
I miss that key every time I play the game. I've played through it probably a dozen times and always forget about that room until I need to get across to the boss room and spend a few hours running in circles.
Yup , I missed this room when I was 7 years old , I was frustrated , I even thought the same thing that I had unfortunately opened the wrong doors with my keys . Luckily my friend in elementary school told me about the room and he was right , I was able to finish the game smooth sailing after finding that key . I’ll never forget how many hours I’ve spent circling that dungeon trying to find the one key I needed.
I thank my lucky stars my dad let me buy that strategy guide on that trip to Best Buy on a Saturday night, otherwise I probably would have been stuck too. Even with a book that told you exactly how to get through, the Water Temple was still an enormous pain.
Unpopular opinion: the Water Temple is imo the BEST dungeon in OoT. Is the constant Iron Boots swap annoying? Hell yea. But ignoring that: I have a tendency to explore and overanalyze every corner of each dungeon, so that hidden key inside the underwater tunnel in the ground at 3:32 wasn't anything I missed (at least not for more than 30 minutes). I also think Dark Link is the most interesting mini-boss in OoT. I totally understand the frustration other players felt with this dungeon, though; because I really believe the Water Temple is underrated.
I agree with your sentiment 100%. I specifically remember being stuck, and the exact moment I noticed that little opening in the cut scene, and it was like an epiphany. I remember telling my friends too, that they probably never checked under the platform in the central pillar. Other than that, I actually kinda like this temple! It's clever and complex, and the water level changing is actually a cool concept. If they just made the key more obvious it would likely be considered a classic IMO
The real problem was back in the 90s, when this game came out, blockbuster and other rental services were big. And developers were often told that they didnt want the games being beaten easy. So every game had SKILL CHECK LEVEL. Remember The Lion King on Snes?
I remember moving a certain block in the water temple the wrong way and trapping myself as a kid and restarting the game. I still swear to this day it’s possible to trap yourself in the original Ocarina of Time. Either that there was a glitch in the matrix or a Mandela Effect type of thing 😂😂
This is why the Dark Souls series' message feature is so good. You sometimes see messages on the ground from other random players, but they can only be made of pre-written phrases. This means for confusing or unfair situations, you can get just enough of a hint to figure it out yourself. And you have to guess what a player meant by a certain phrase combo. This system makes it so that you don't need to look up OP answers online.
Great video! I was stuck in the water temple for about 4 weeks. I eventually got so tilted that I decided to try walking on the spiked floor and eventually found it.
As a child, I really enjoyed the Water Temple, and i was extremely surprised as an adult to find out that so many people found it so absurdly difficult. I was five years old and found it simple enough. Replaying it as an adult, it was a little more confusing than it seemed twenty years earlier, but I still quite enjoyed it. I have nothing but positive memories of it, but I can certainly understand how so many people have come to loathe it.
I quit it when I was like 8, my whole family did. Who was supposed to know that a secret passage, in the water, lies beneath a discrete block that rises only when you lift the water a second time, in that bar-sealed room, which required iron boots to realize it's even a hidden passageway?
Man you're not kidding when you say that if it wasn't for that one key it would be manageable once I found that one pathway I was able to complete the dungeon. before I found it I had thought I soft locked myself from completing it
So I actually just now noticed something that almost makes it possible to get stuck, specifically the key behind the Longshot and the door you open with it to get to the boss key area in the vanilla progression (on the bottom floor, north end, raise the water level and go north, you'll see a door behind some spikes). If you were able to open that door before getting Longshot, you'd end up with a locked door, Longshot behind that locked door, and the last small key in the dungeon also behind that locked door, even if you knew about the extra key in the basement.
I quit this game when I was in elementary school because of this specific temple. I went back and played this game when I was in my late teens and managed to figure that out. What a great game lol
As a kid in the 90s, I remember giving up on the game for getting stuck because I never bothered to look behind the chest where I obtained the longshot, I just walked back the other way to where I fought shadow link. I gave up knowing where to go after stumbling on so many dead ends. I had to lend the game to a friend so they could finish it for me.
I will never forget about that key because i discovered it my first time by complete mistake. I lept off the platfom into the water by mistake and got stuck under the block so when i slowly swam out from under it i saw there wasn't spikes at that one spot. i put on the boots and found that path. i looked like the coolest kid ever when talking to my friends and going over to their houses and helping them get that key. i had more issues in the shadow temple then i did water tbh.
Having heard of the Water Temple's reputation for getting stuck, I followed a guide the first time I played through it to ensure I didn't use a key in the wrong door!
Yeah its very confusing at first but as soon as you get the map and compass its not that hard to beat as long as you don't miss the hidden room of course.
ohhhh THAT'S why everyone has troubles with the water temple!! i was always so confused as to why people thought it was so hard, especially since the forest temple was way harder in every playthrough i've done, but yeah i guess if you didn't stumble into that room it's damn hard to find. thanks for your insight!
So interesting how ppl have different experiences cuz the forest was the easiest for me. And Jabu Jabu was the hardest lol. My hardest temple was fire.
The only problem with the Water Temple are the Iron Boots which are tedious to equip and unnequip. Other than that, it's secrets actually feel like secrets. I wish more temples would do that.
I didn't know it existed myself until I checked the map and went "Hey, there is no tunnel under that middle room" My biggest problem with the dungeon was that you had to hookshot up in the middle room. That is where I got so stuck for an hour straight.
I remember never actually beating this game as a kid. I would just play up to the water temple and then restart the game because I never figured it out. I was convinced that I messed up some of the key sequence and softlocked the game; even though I now know that it’s not actually softlocked just incredibly difficult to naturally figure out
I've always loved the water temple because I'm the kind of weirdo who doesn't mind being stuck and having to backtrack. Now it's pretty trivial, but in the past it was always the one temple where I would get stuck because each time I had forgotten THAT passage in the center pillar room.
As a kid I would not unlock the middle door, save and quit the game, and jump down to the middle floor from the top. This allowed me to skip the door and keep an extra key to beat the dungeon. I was so convinced that it was the only way that on subsequent playthroughs, I would set farore's wind to warp back so I wouldn't have to save and quit.
First Zelda game I ever played and the water temple kicked my ass as a kid playing on my dad's N64. So glad you made this video because this was the exact problem I had with the level. I was so stumped I literally thought I had broken the game so I reset the entire save file and did everything over again. I can't remember if I figured it out on my own or if I had to look up the answer, probably the former rather than the latter because this was way before it was a common thing to use Google. All the family computer did back then was pinball and minesweeper. So frustrating, but so satisfying to complete!
Underrated dungeon. I enjoyed it and never got the hate for it. A dungeon is supposed to make the player think and plan things out. And it's design is most interesting with how the water levels change the layout and there are different pathways encouraging you to explore them all and keep checking new paths as they open when the water levels change or you find a key. Also the mini-boss and boss fights were unique. Not the hardest once you figure them out but fun. Overall I think a good dungeon is one that branches out and has you solve clever intuitive puzzles. This is an example of what makes a good Zelda dungeon to me. Maybe I'm an idiot for liking what's everyone's most hated dungeon in possibly not just Ocarina but the series as a whole. But it just is. I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was that bad.
You can beat it without backtracking if you start at the bottom and thoroughly explore every room on the way up while noticing things like cracked walls and changes to structures when the water level is changed etc. it’s biggest issue is how tedious it is going back and forth.
Recently replayed OOT and found the Water Temple to be not as bad as it seems. The water level mechanic changed the dynamic of the game, doing something that wasn't really thought of in the previous dungeons. Similar to how the Shadow Temple recommends the lens of truth to efficiently navigate the dungeon, finding hidden secrets and enemies. Plus it makes since that you would be changing water levels constantly, it's a temple situated at the bottom of a massive lake. It also has arguably one of the best mini boss fights in the series with Dark Link and you trying to outwit your own shadow (biggoron sword ftw). It's boss fight was kinda weak though, especially for a mid-late game dungeon.
What makes this key even harder to find is the time spent between the key being available & the door you need to use it with. By the time you reach the locked door, you'd have to adjust the water levels all over again to backtrack for it, which feels like undoing progress. It sucks.
the secret room you are complaining about was not a problem for me, what got me was the room underneath the waterfall, totally missed that. Thank god for UA-cam walkthroughs, otherwise, I would be stuck in this temple to this day xD
I believe that it's possible to get in a state where a key is locked behind a key door, however that's all it locks so you can progress normally without it
I was like 8 when I thought I got stuck because of that room, tried for 2 whole weeks 1-2 hours backtracking daily, untill I was playing and my dad said he would help me while observing, and he was the one who pointed me to that room, after that I kept breezing throught the game untill the final battle and paused untill his work shift ended it so he could see the final battle and said "this achievement is for both of us"
I do remember getting stuck here at some point, but not for long. If I get stuck I try to systematically brute force a puzzle and in this case that would mean trying to explore all the rooms at all water levels to see what changed. Honestly it doesn't take that long since a lot of sections are completely blocked off and other sections are not affected by the water in the central room. I agree this is not an ideal way of solving a puzzle, but if you are stuck in any kind of puzzle it should be something to at least consider, how much time would it take to try every possibility. Sometimes that time is shorter than thinking about it
One of my favorite things in games is exploring hidden areas and seeing if something unassuming that I did triggered something that may have opened another path. So for me, even as a kid, when I saw that platform raise, my first thought was to explore underneath it. Maybe they hid a rupee, or heart, or maybe even a piece of heart underneath it. So I naturally explored to find out. Glad I did, because I can totally understand people getting lost due to it.
Im happy I didn’t have a hard time finding that key, but when I did, I instantly knew that this key is one of the main reasons why people hate the water temple, and that feeling of instantly understanding this phenomenon has permanently etched in my brain the memory of how to get inside the key’s room. It’s like a safeguard mechanism for an eventual situation when I have to play the game again, or help someone stuck. Hahaha
I love the water dungeon, in fact is one of my favorites. And actualy is one dungeon you can actualy finish not picking one key. See, when you make the water down you use one of your keys to enter in the center room, where you find that secret passage and also the place to change the water level again but you can enter this room by the top as well. Since there is no water you can think you can't but just put a farore wind in the begning area of the game or even more simply turn off and on the game to re-start at the entrace of the dungeon and then jump to the midle area, fire the torch with your arrow and done you are inside center area witouth opening the door below. You can use this to endup the dungeon with a extra key or to avoid picking one you don't want to. That kley you talk is in the only place where link can't actualy survive without the blue tunic as well, so with this trick actualy is possible to finish the game without using the blue tunic as well. No glitches
Yep, I knew exactly what key you were going to be talking about! My god, that was so frustrating when I had to look for a game walkthrough just for that one damn key.
I remember that room.
Never expected so many people got lost because they missed it...
Neither did I.. I kept getting stuck until I realize you need to blow up that wall around 4:13
@@adventureoflinkmk2 When I was a kid I was so stuck, there. The only way I saw it was because I accidentally clipped the camera through that wall
@@adventureoflinkmk2 that one was rough too. Those 2 rooms absolutely destroyed me as a kid
Same I thought it was pretty obvious
There are a lot of stupid people out there. 83IQ is the lowest that the US army will hire, because any lower and the problems they cause more manpower than they can provide. 15% of the population is that stupid, which is a real problem for society.
The funniest thing is that you can actually complete the dungeon without that key at all. You can use another entrance to that center room by saving and starting on the top floor. I thought this was the way to do it as a kid when I restarted the whole game thinking I was permanently stuck. You can beat this dungeon with an EXTRA key!
The only dungeon I know of, if you do things right, you'll have a spare key. Shows how complex the water temple truly is. Farore's wind is MVP in the water temple.
i want to see this
Which version are you talking about, N64 or 3DS? They are different.
@@weibingchen4183 N64. I haven't tried it in 3DS
I love you so much. Thanks.
I actually think that the water temple is an acquired taste. The more I play ocarina of time, the more I come to like it. With multiple playthroughs you start to rout this thing more efficiently using farores wind for instance. Also playing this temple in OOT3D is a lot better than in the N64 Version because you don't constantly have to pause to equip/unequip the iron boots. But in the end a temple has to be fun for everyone l, not just the ever recurring players that already know how to beat it. I have to admit It sure was frustrating as a kid.
Agreed. I find my self linking water more, and disliking fire.
Idk about that chief. I played trough it multiple times and I still get lost in it. It's always that point of the game where you bang your head against the wall multiple times until you break trough somehow and can't even explain how you did it.
@Ikey Ilex It's less of an "Eureka" moment and more like of "wait, why did that work? I've been doing the exactly same thing this entire time! Or was I?", so I never understand exactly what I did wrong in the first place and how I fixed it later. It's really a matter of keep trying for long enough and I'll magically beat it, be it in 1 hour or 8 hours later.
@Ikey Ilex Like I said, I dunno. Sometimes I'm just missing keys that I have no idea how to get (and it's not the one in the video, that I figured out quite fast). I remember struggling with the cracked wall you need to blast near the first water level changing spot a lot, that block puzzle in 1F(?) that you need to get to the other side to finish and I never know how to do, and I remember an entrance near the top of the whirlpool room that drives me insane and I don't even know if I'm really supposed to get there from that room or not. The map of that place is such a mess that it doesn't help me at all, so just go around doing things over and over again until at some point, somehow, I end up finding a key somewhere I had skipped before and I can finally progress.
Even I got stuck on the water temple myself :( and got stuck until I found you need to blow up a certain wall
EDIT: 4:14 is the wall of which I speak of
“Did you miss it?” Nope, and I love hidden items like this. RIP to those who missed it back in the day.
I didn’t know anything about this issue when my cousin got stuck here in the ‘90s. I borrowed the game and beat the game in a blind playthrough within one weekend. I remember thinking the Water Temple was tedious, but not necessarily hard.
I don’t think my cousin ever forgave me for beating his game before him, but he still loves Zelda so it’s all good. Overall, I think this kind of hidden chest should be used for non-essential items. This hiding spot would be legendary if it were hiding a piece of heart instead of a key.
Didn't miss it either 😆
Haven't played the game for like 20 years and i have no memories of this specifically but my immediate reaction to something moving like that is, besides being able to climb it, check if it was hiding anything.
The strange thing is, for me, I kept looking at the gap under the block wondering how I was going to move it (since further up this room is the _second_ time you change the water level). After a while I gave up, and decided I'd come back to it later; and looked up to find something to latch onto. Needless to say, I very quickly stumbled upon the solution.
Yeah me neither, I always thought people just complained about how tedious the dungeon was or frustrating to navigate, I never heard anyone say they were missing that key, which is kinda stupid honestly.
I personally considered this temple not difficult, what most of the players forget is that there is an item that helps you A LOT with the backtracking to the water level rooms: Farore's Wind
Using Farore's Wind helps a lot and many players did not even consider using it here
That's fact!
Farore's Wind is so useful, it can open an avenue to dungeon completion, with a spare key you don't need to use.
For me, the most useful item was the Map
See, I didn't get stuck in this dungeon when I played it for the first time, so I've always liked it lol. It's my 2nd favorite Adult Dungeon, behind the Spirit Temple.
Same. I've always considered people who had a problem with this temple as either stupid, unobservant, or both.
I didn't get stuck either. I've always carefully explored everything, and I found the "hidden" room right away.
Twinrova is probably my favorite boss in Zelda games
Same, Shadow temple has always been the least favorite of mine, Never understood Water temple hate
you and I are reversed on this front. water temple my favorite, ith spirit a very close second. shadow temple would be my third (especially trying without lens of truth)
The water temple is awesome because of how challenging it is. I wish newer zelda games had dungeons as challenging as the water temple
then people would hate any inspiration water temple new dungeon 🤷♀
It primarily challenges the endurance of the start button.
No god please no one water temple was enough
You helped the rest of chat beat this after school
I want so much to think he is trolling.
THIS ISNT EVEN THE KEY IM MISSING
Same
Real.
I honestly wish more dungeons were this complex. Really made me think.
Aaaaugh
@Ikey Ilex stone tower in majora's mask is one of my favorites.
Yeah, good dungeon
calm down, satan
Twilight Princess says “hi”.
I mean; if you managed to find everything else upto that point, you'd have the map and compass. And despite how the map works, the map is working correctly. And if you have everything except that 1 key it'd be the only chest on the map that is close to the center tower. If you were to check the block rising up when you raise the water level to go down further to get closer to the chest, you'd find the opening which leads to it. And yes; the original cutscene very briefly shows the opening, but if you were to keep going around I would assume since you're focused on finding anything to help; you'd eventually see the opening under the block when it rises up.
The 3DS cutscene may seem like an overcorrection, especially when the other major problem of the Water Temple (pausing constantly to change the Iron Boots) was also changed as you can equip them like an item. If this wasn't to correct this pausing annoyance, it's to bring the boot usage in line with Zelda games that came after the N64 (Wind Waker and Twilight Princess Iron Boots)
Agreed. The boots pausing is obnoxious and bad design, but I think everything else about the dungeon is all right. The key is well hidden but you can find it with the map. The game has already taught you, try going to areas you were already at but with a different water level, and this is another example of that.
@@Sauraen I didn't think it was all that bad, particularly at the time. It was only in hindsight when WW gave them as an item when I thought "oh, this is way better."
@@fenixchief7 Yeah, in hindsight as like a 10 year old, I don't remember being bothered one bit by anything. I think the standard raised with newer games, and that made us realize relatively weaker mechanics of the older ones.
Honestly the key I kept forgetting about is the second floor key above Ruto which requires the water level to be at level 2 and for you to backtrack to that area before you fully raise the water level. Though now, I honestly really like the Water Temple.
Yeah, i did miss this one too
Yes. That one. THAT FREAKING ONE.
It's worse because every time you backtrack, you see the damn cracked wall rubbed on your face but have no idea how to get there.
I remember the third time I ever did the Water Temple, I'd finally memorized that there was that one room in the basement with a key, so I was all gung-ho, but then on the way to Dark Link I was still short a key and I was like 'what now?' That key on 2F turned out to be the one I forgot. Now I can do all the dungeons in OoT without getting the Map or the Compass. Well I mean, I can also get all the Stray Fairies in all of Majora's Masks dungeons without getting the Map or Compass, so by comparison OoT's dungeons don't really compare, but....
2:10 It was like that for us, we were stuck for so long (my cousin and my sisters). Turns out what we missed was that song of time block after the long shot. It’s in the ground so easy to miss
Thank you. I believe I've just found my solution
When I was little this temple was an absolute nightmare, but in my recent play through I actually found it to be the most intuitive dungeon. Everything made a lot of sense and seemed to just flow for me whereas I got stuck and had to run around trying to find what to do at least once in every other dungeon. I know that definitely goes contrary to the normal opinion, but I think the layout is really well made and has become my favorite in the game!
Director Eiji Aonuma actually apologized for some of the water temples design, namely having to pause the game again and again to change boots.
5:11 The original cutscene in the N64 version is even worse for one underrated reason: most of the little cutscenes and other interruptions thus far are very easy to tune out of as, up to this point, they have generally communicated obvious information that the player would have been able to see if the gameplay weren't interrupted anyway.
I honestly never understood why this temple gets so much hate. I always liked it.
The part that had me convinced I broke the game was the fact that there are two different directions on the water temple which require two small keys back to back. If I used the keys in different spots and was convinced I was stuck. One had a small hallway with two locked doors and the other hand the place with the sinking platforms.
This detail needs to be discussed in this temple.
The Water Temple, has a path you take through it, and if you follow it and make sure not to skip a side room or key, you basically just do a few laps around the whole thing and it easy enough.
I feel like the only one who could not find a key for a long time because I did not notice the whole behind the chest where you get the longshot
Definitely the trickiest key in the game, though somehow it didn't ruin the dungeon for me when I was a kid. The cutscene was lost on me, so the map was actually how I figured it out. I obsessed over the mysterious unexplored basement room. So I combed over every space above it until I finally stumbled into the entrance. I was definitely stuck there for a bit, but I can't remember how long due to the time compression of my memory lol
I would have been 10 at the time. I want to say I beat the game within the span of a couple months, but it could have easily been more.
The song of time block behind the chest with the longshot was also made more conspicuous in the 3ds remake. In the n64 game, it was level with the ground.
Wow man, taking 10 years to beat the water temple. You truly are The Hero of Time!
I got stuck at this temple for years as a kid as well, but it was the time block behind the long shot chest that got me. I actually beat master quest first and that’s how I discovered that block was there, so I was finally able to go back and beat the regular oot lol. Never missed the key below the center structure though. Didn’t realize people struggled on that one.
That is what got me too!
That was the one that got me, too. I had read online back then about the Hover Boots, and thought they let you fly. Because it's easy to see the end of that path in the whirlpool room with the dragon statue. So teen me thought the boots would help me get up there.
Early 2000s was an odd time for finding info on what to do in a game. No wonder there were so many rumors about finding the Triforce in game, etc.
@@BingFox for real. I wasn’t allowed to use the family computer when I was a kid so I didn’t figure out that block was there for literally years haha. In master quest you go through the whirlpool river in reverse via the room with the statue you mentioned and when I ended up in the long shot room and put 2 and 2 together my mind was absolutely blown.
This has always been my favorite dungeon. It was actually engaging for once.
It feels like, from my perspective, that the complaints against this dungeon amount to "I didn't sign up to use my brain when playing an rpg. How dare they force me to." Maybe that's an oversimplification, but other than constantly having to pause and equip different boots, I don't see anything frustrating or tedious about this dungeon. It just challenges your mind, that's all. Many of us would think of that as a good thing. 🙂
Zelda's not an RPG, it's action/adventure. :V
@@MrPoeGhost Yeah, it's kind of a hybrid. It struggled to find a midpoint between the two in its first several titles.
I agree. I have no compassion for people who complain about this dungeon. They might as well be saying, "hey I'm stupid and I'm proud of it!"
@@abstractdaddy1384 just because you like it because it made you think, thats not what other wanted while playing. The world dont work like you want. And that quote you did in the end is nothing more than stupid
The struggle I went through as a 10 year old trying to beat the water temple was crazy. This was before walkthrough videos. I asked my older brothers for help and they gave me the good old "I forgot..." but when I finally did beat it I felt the best relief I've ever felt in my life. The cutscene where the water in Lake Hylia rises to its normal state is iconic to me because of what I went through back in 07.
I had the exact same experience when I was 7.. took me two years to beat it, I played minigames and enjoyed the ambiance instead- I also casually beat every other dungeon out of order before the water temple (minus shadow because scary)
Ocarina of Time is still my favourite game to this day 😎
Maybe it’s only my favorite dungeon because I happened to catch that hidden hole on my first play through and it wouldn’t be otherwise. Funnily enough I missed that hole on subsequent play throughs. What really appealed to me about the Water Temple is all the different points where you could get sucked down to seemingly infinite depths, which with the underwater statuary and creepy cool music made it the most disturbing dungeon.
i loved getting lost in the water temple, it was so unique compared to the other temples in the game and figuring out all of it's secrets was so rewarding. one of my favorite temples in the game.
Same, I hated playing it but I loved it at the same time
That's not the key I always forget, that one is the key behind the bombable wall you pass as you float up to the first water level spot. I always inevitably end up at the last door without a key, realize what I did, and find myself going back through the dungeon a second time for just one key.
Same here. I remember as a kid being stuck and going around the water temple, where I found the key in the central pillar. I eventually looked at the map and figured out where the one missing key was.
The key i had trouble with in the water temple is the one behind the bombable wall when you go up to lower the water level for the first time. Always missed that one key, then started to remember it and the temple became a cakewalk.
I think the real problem with the water temple is that its too tedious to be constantly going to the items menu over and over again to equip and unequip the iron boots,this of course was solved in the 3ds remake,but that dosnt adress the amount of time you spend floating to the surface and/or sinking to the bottom,combinethat with 3 different water levels and you get an overall easy but tedious water dungeon in comparison to the ones in other zelda games like skyward sword's or oracle of seaons.
I dislike it so much that last time i played i felt the need to learn ISG,bomb hovering and the boss door skip to get the hell outta that temple.
Nice video, but to be honest, I'm a bit tired of people claiming this dungeon is trash.
I mean, I too get stuck when I was younger and it wasn't easy back in the days, but it was far from impossible. There are clues, the cutscene shows the answer, it's not that obvious like in the 3DS remake, but at least it felt challenging and rewarding, unlike on 3DS. If the player don't see it, or don't think of checking beneath the platform, he is the one to blame. When I go back to OOT, I can't wait to do both Forest Temple and Water Temple because of how good they are designed (and eerie). I respect your opinion and I get your frustration. I'm just here to share some love for this underated dungeon.
The true bullshit is the Dark Link fight though. That mf is impossible without cheating... I still don't get it to this day.
Idk about that honestly, it would be one thing if it was only a handful of players who didn't get it, but if most of your fanbase agrees the temple was hard... it probably was lol
@@yasmineh.1333 I agree this dungeon is hard. But I wonder... did some of you here had ever played any Tomb Raider from the 90s? These games are still well regarded nowadays, but I never got stuck so often in a videogame because how impossible the puzzles are (and I always get lost because how awfull the level design is). In comparison, I think the water temple is a piece of cake. This is a serious question btw, I really would like to know how many people here had beat both OOT and Tomb Raider...
Alot of millenials back in the late 90s would disagree with you
@@FabienCampaner II actually never beat either of those, although it's mainly because I'm a '04 kid and didn't have consoles for old Tomb Raider games, and for OoT it's a technical problem of my 3DS.
I wouldn't consider myself a standard to follow for difficulty in games because I suck lol, I just feel like a dungeon's reputation doesn't come out of nowhere
The water temple really isn't difficult. It's just tedious as hell. I never had an issue with it but just had the constant menu-ing.
The key beyond the longshot room was another hangup back in the day. Many players would save, quit, take a break, and come back later and be back at the start of the dungeon. I was a key short more than once as a kid because I did this.
In the new 3Ds remake when you bring the water to the medium level it zooms the camera on the little secret room making it easier in the N64 however isn’t the case
the Water Temple is actually quite easy once you get an idea of how the water levels work...basically, i run through one "Cycle" (dropping the water all the way down, and then raising it back up to normal) without the Longshot, to GET the Longshot, then i do Another "Cycle" WITH the Longshot, and suddenly im ready for Morpha...you just gotta explore every single room that you can at each water level...if anything, its only "hard" if you forget about the little niches, like the bomb-able wall in Ruto's Room (waterlevel-Mid), or the pathway under the block in the central tower (waterlevel-NotLow), or around the corner from the GoldSkulltula, with the rolling boulders...
I had problems with keys in this temple, but the one in the basement was not one of them. I expected this would be about the key where you have to return to Ruto's location with the water at mid-level; that one gave me trouble because I never thought I had to return there in the first place.
I don't know, I've spent many hours inside of the water temple, enjoyed it a lost and got angry at it a lot as well.. but that piece of puzzle was so satisfying to get over with once you realize you could access down below of that vertical tunnel, that everything else wasn't so bad in the end. If only the newest Zelda games had a dungeon like this, each one would have a super addition!
Meanwhile I just got stuck on the boat in the Shadow Temple.
I would always make it to the shadow Link locked door and forget a missing key.
I got stuck on water temple for about 3 years as a kid. I eventually realized I had to explore every nook and cranny at every water flow level. Exact same situation.
The platform that floats up has a cork plunger look to it to me. That's what immediately got my attention.
Honestly that room wasn't an issue for me for very long, I'm a Metroid fan so I'm used to crap like that. But going in and out of the start menu to equip and unequip the iron boots really broke my concentration a lot and got me turned around often so I still had a lot of trouble in the Water Temple, so the 3DS version making the iron boots equip-able on the fly made things so much better.
The Water Temple in Majora’s Mask is MUCH worse.
I just played mm, finished it today and I loved the great bay temple. Probably my favorite dungeon between the 2 64 games. The way it made you work with the Zora swimming mechanic, the idea of it, the mini boss that was covered in bubbles (my one death in the playthrough, im not hating though cause it was an epic fight), I just really liked it.
That hidden room under that platform is what caused me to run around for hours trying to find the missing key. I finally gave up and called Nintendo's 900 number which lead me to that spot. I don't think I would have found it otherwise.....
That exact room is why I was stuck on oot for years as a kid lol. It was a miracle that one time while trying to get through the temple i noticed the hole.
Honestly, This is the 6th dungeon of the game, and 3 of the previous 5 have asked you to think about the dungeon vertically. You should be checking up and down and not purely laterally.
Boots and Lullaby kill the pacing of the dungeon but they arent actually strikes against its design and a level
When a platform moves, it's generally a good idea to look underneath it, it's a reflex for me.
OoT3D is a real one for making sure the player won't ever be confused and the only thing challenging the player is the actual complex design of the dungeon.
Love the accurately cited quote at the beginning 😂😂😂
I was stuck on the water temple for 3 years because that damned room haha. I replayed the game all the way to that point 3 times in that span and looked once on my last play through on a whim out of boredom. I never had trouble after discovering it and always get through it on first tries every playthrough after that.
Shoutout to everyone who absolutely loved the water temple
I miss that key every time I play the game. I've played through it probably a dozen times and always forget about that room until I need to get across to the boss room and spend a few hours running in circles.
Yup , I missed this room when I was 7 years old , I was frustrated , I even thought the same thing that I had unfortunately opened the wrong doors with my keys . Luckily my friend in elementary school told me about the room and he was right , I was able to finish the game smooth sailing after finding that key . I’ll never forget how many hours I’ve spent circling that dungeon trying to find the one key I needed.
I thank my lucky stars my dad let me buy that strategy guide on that trip to Best Buy on a Saturday night, otherwise I probably would have been stuck too. Even with a book that told you exactly how to get through, the Water Temple was still an enormous pain.
I'm glad I was not the only one who didn't notice the hidden room
Unpopular opinion: the Water Temple is imo the BEST dungeon in OoT.
Is the constant Iron Boots swap annoying? Hell yea.
But ignoring that: I have a tendency to explore and overanalyze every corner of each dungeon, so that hidden key inside the underwater tunnel in the ground at 3:32 wasn't anything I missed (at least not for more than 30 minutes).
I also think Dark Link is the most interesting mini-boss in OoT.
I totally understand the frustration other players felt with this dungeon, though; because I really believe the Water Temple is underrated.
I agree with your sentiment 100%. I specifically remember being stuck, and the exact moment I noticed that little opening in the cut scene, and it was like an epiphany. I remember telling my friends too, that they probably never checked under the platform in the central pillar.
Other than that, I actually kinda like this temple! It's clever and complex, and the water level changing is actually a cool concept. If they just made the key more obvious it would likely be considered a classic IMO
The real problem was back in the 90s, when this game came out, blockbuster and other rental services were big. And developers were often told that they didnt want the games being beaten easy. So every game had SKILL CHECK LEVEL. Remember The Lion King on Snes?
No joke: when my brother and I were kids, we thought we missed a missable key and permanently blocked progress so we started the game over
I remember moving a certain block in the water temple the wrong way and trapping myself as a kid and restarting the game. I still swear to this day it’s possible to trap yourself in the original Ocarina of Time. Either that there was a glitch in the matrix or a Mandela Effect type of thing 😂😂
This is why the Dark Souls series' message feature is so good. You sometimes see messages on the ground from other random players, but they can only be made of pre-written phrases. This means for confusing or unfair situations, you can get just enough of a hint to figure it out yourself. And you have to guess what a player meant by a certain phrase combo. This system makes it so that you don't need to look up OP answers online.
Great video! I was stuck in the water temple for about 4 weeks. I eventually got so tilted that I decided to try walking on the spiked floor and eventually found it.
That's why you want to catch this room early on in the temple so you don't end up forgetting about that key.
That key is ONE of the reasons. But it's not THE reason the dungeon is so hated.
As a child, I really enjoyed the Water Temple, and i was extremely surprised as an adult to find out that so many people found it so absurdly difficult. I was five years old and found it simple enough. Replaying it as an adult, it was a little more confusing than it seemed twenty years earlier, but I still quite enjoyed it. I have nothing but positive memories of it, but I can certainly understand how so many people have come to loathe it.
Fun fact: my guidebook as a kid said the game testers couldn't find this key either
Wow that would have been great to add to the video. Thats crazy, it just shows how much of a problem that key was lol
@@pressaTD I’m in the fire temple as adult Link
I thought I was the only kid who missed that secret room down there lol
I quit it when I was like 8, my whole family did. Who was supposed to know that a secret passage, in the water, lies beneath a discrete block that rises only when you lift the water a second time, in that bar-sealed room, which required iron boots to realize it's even a hidden passageway?
Man you're not kidding when you say that if it wasn't for that one key it would be manageable once I found that one pathway I was able to complete the dungeon. before I found it I had thought I soft locked myself from completing it
So I actually just now noticed something that almost makes it possible to get stuck, specifically the key behind the Longshot and the door you open with it to get to the boss key area in the vanilla progression (on the bottom floor, north end, raise the water level and go north, you'll see a door behind some spikes). If you were able to open that door before getting Longshot, you'd end up with a locked door, Longshot behind that locked door, and the last small key in the dungeon also behind that locked door, even if you knew about the extra key in the basement.
I loved this dungeon as a kid but im also obsessed with puzzles and figuring out things on my own
I quit this game when I was in elementary school because of this specific temple. I went back and played this game when I was in my late teens and managed to figure that out. What a great game lol
As a kid in the 90s, I remember giving up on the game for getting stuck because I never bothered to look behind the chest where I obtained the longshot, I just walked back the other way to where I fought shadow link. I gave up knowing where to go after stumbling on so many dead ends. I had to lend the game to a friend so they could finish it for me.
I will never forget about that key because i discovered it my first time by complete mistake. I lept off the platfom into the water by mistake and got stuck under the block so when i slowly swam out from under it i saw there wasn't spikes at that one spot. i put on the boots and found that path. i looked like the coolest kid ever when talking to my friends and going over to their houses and helping them get that key. i had more issues in the shadow temple then i did water tbh.
Having heard of the Water Temple's reputation for getting stuck, I followed a guide the first time I played through it to ensure I didn't use a key in the wrong door!
Yeah its very confusing at first but as soon as you get the map and compass its not that hard to beat as long as you don't miss the hidden room of course.
ohhhh THAT'S why everyone has troubles with the water temple!! i was always so confused as to why people thought it was so hard, especially since the forest temple was way harder in every playthrough i've done, but yeah i guess if you didn't stumble into that room it's damn hard to find. thanks for your insight!
So interesting how ppl have different experiences cuz the forest was the easiest for me. And Jabu Jabu was the hardest lol. My hardest temple was fire.
The only problem with the Water Temple are the Iron Boots which are tedious to equip and unnequip. Other than that, it's secrets actually feel like secrets. I wish more temples would do that.
I didn't know it existed myself until I checked the map and went "Hey, there is no tunnel under that middle room"
My biggest problem with the dungeon was that you had to hookshot up in the middle room. That is where I got so stuck for an hour straight.
I remember never actually beating this game as a kid. I would just play up to the water temple and then restart the game because I never figured it out. I was convinced that I messed up some of the key sequence and softlocked the game; even though I now know that it’s not actually softlocked just incredibly difficult to naturally figure out
I'm just glad that the Nintendo 3DS remake fixed to iron boots pause screen problem.
Yeah…it took me MONTHS of tedious exploration of the temple to find the secret room. Once I found the room, I was like “ohhhh duh!”
I've always loved the water temple because I'm the kind of weirdo who doesn't mind being stuck and having to backtrack. Now it's pretty trivial, but in the past it was always the one temple where I would get stuck because each time I had forgotten THAT passage in the center pillar room.
As a kid I would not unlock the middle door, save and quit the game, and jump down to the middle floor from the top. This allowed me to skip the door and keep an extra key to beat the dungeon. I was so convinced that it was the only way that on subsequent playthroughs, I would set farore's wind to warp back so I wouldn't have to save and quit.
First Zelda game I ever played and the water temple kicked my ass as a kid playing on my dad's N64. So glad you made this video because this was the exact problem I had with the level. I was so stumped I literally thought I had broken the game so I reset the entire save file and did everything over again. I can't remember if I figured it out on my own or if I had to look up the answer, probably the former rather than the latter because this was way before it was a common thing to use Google. All the family computer did back then was pinball and minesweeper.
So frustrating, but so satisfying to complete!
Underrated dungeon. I enjoyed it and never got the hate for it. A dungeon is supposed to make the player think and plan things out. And it's design is most interesting with how the water levels change the layout and there are different pathways encouraging you to explore them all and keep checking new paths as they open when the water levels change or you find a key. Also the mini-boss and boss fights were unique. Not the hardest once you figure them out but fun. Overall I think a good dungeon is one that branches out and has you solve clever intuitive puzzles. This is an example of what makes a good Zelda dungeon to me. Maybe I'm an idiot for liking what's everyone's most hated dungeon in possibly not just Ocarina but the series as a whole. But it just is. I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was that bad.
You can beat it without backtracking if you start at the bottom and thoroughly explore every room on the way up while noticing things like cracked walls and changes to structures when the water level is changed etc. it’s biggest issue is how tedious it is going back and forth.
Recently replayed OOT and found the Water Temple to be not as bad as it seems. The water level mechanic changed the dynamic of the game, doing something that wasn't really thought of in the previous dungeons. Similar to how the Shadow Temple recommends the lens of truth to efficiently navigate the dungeon, finding hidden secrets and enemies. Plus it makes since that you would be changing water levels constantly, it's a temple situated at the bottom of a massive lake. It also has arguably one of the best mini boss fights in the series with Dark Link and you trying to outwit your own shadow (biggoron sword ftw). It's boss fight was kinda weak though, especially for a mid-late game dungeon.
That bloody key was one I always overlooked and forgot about. I knew it was there, but I always just spaced it.
What makes this key even harder to find is the time spent between the key being available & the door you need to use it with. By the time you reach the locked door, you'd have to adjust the water levels all over again to backtrack for it, which feels like undoing progress. It sucks.
the secret room you are complaining about was not a problem for me, what got me was the room underneath the waterfall, totally missed that. Thank god for UA-cam walkthroughs, otherwise, I would be stuck in this temple to this day xD
I believe that it's possible to get in a state where a key is locked behind a key door, however that's all it locks so you can progress normally without it
That one key in the central room is exactly why i try to pay close attention to my surroundings. Learned the hard way.
You don't really need to see that little glimpse of the room to think to explore down there though...
I was like 8 when I thought I got stuck because of that room, tried for 2 whole weeks 1-2 hours backtracking daily, untill I was playing and my dad said he would help me while observing, and he was the one who pointed me to that room, after that I kept breezing throught the game untill the final battle and paused untill his work shift ended it so he could see the final battle and said "this achievement is for both of us"
I do remember getting stuck here at some point, but not for long.
If I get stuck I try to systematically brute force a puzzle and in this case that would mean trying to explore all the rooms at all water levels to see what changed. Honestly it doesn't take that long since a lot of sections are completely blocked off and other sections are not affected by the water in the central room.
I agree this is not an ideal way of solving a puzzle, but if you are stuck in any kind of puzzle it should be something to at least consider, how much time would it take to try every possibility. Sometimes that time is shorter than thinking about it
One of my favorite things in games is exploring hidden areas and seeing if something unassuming that I did triggered something that may have opened another path. So for me, even as a kid, when I saw that platform raise, my first thought was to explore underneath it. Maybe they hid a rupee, or heart, or maybe even a piece of heart underneath it. So I naturally explored to find out. Glad I did, because I can totally understand people getting lost due to it.
That goddamn secret room. I never thought I was stuck permanently, but it caused me a lot of headache.
Im happy I didn’t have a hard time finding that key, but when I did, I instantly knew that this key is one of the main reasons why people hate the water temple, and that feeling of instantly understanding this phenomenon has permanently etched in my brain the memory of how to get inside the key’s room. It’s like a safeguard mechanism for an eventual situation when I have to play the game again, or help someone stuck. Hahaha
I love the water dungeon, in fact is one of my favorites. And actualy is one dungeon you can actualy finish not picking one key. See, when you make the water down you use one of your keys to enter in the center room, where you find that secret passage and also the place to change the water level again but you can enter this room by the top as well. Since there is no water you can think you can't but just put a farore wind in the begning area of the game or even more simply turn off and on the game to re-start at the entrace of the dungeon and then jump to the midle area, fire the torch with your arrow and done you are inside center area witouth opening the door below. You can use this to endup the dungeon with a extra key or to avoid picking one you don't want to. That kley you talk is in the only place where link can't actualy survive without the blue tunic as well, so with this trick actualy is possible to finish the game without using the blue tunic as well. No glitches
Yep, I knew exactly what key you were going to be talking about! My god, that was so frustrating when I had to look for a game walkthrough just for that one damn key.