I like to consider myself a "gamer". The tag of gamer brings up another whole debate, but in my opinion a gamer is someone who is passionate about games and their design. Yes, leave it to someone commonly deemed a gamer to give it such a positive description, but a 35 year old man-child who still lives in his parents basement can still be considered a gamer in my eyes, as that is the most passionate (albeit sad) way one can experience video games. But I myself, with the lack of a dingy room in the basement, am a gamer, and yet up until a few months ago I had a terrible secret.
I never played The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. There, I said it. So I decided to finally do something about this horrible burden and finally play the game. Once again, I can open another can of worms with my opinion about this game (BRILLIANT!), but this is not the topic of this post (and I haven't beaten it yet). However, as one who never played the game before now, I still knew a good amount about it, whether from conversations with friends or internet references, I gained knowledge over the years about the contents of this beloved game. And one of the most debated and commonly known parts of LoZ:OoT is the Water Temple level.
As soon as I removed my Iron Boots and floated up to the surface, the dreaded name of this temple shining across my television screen, I thought of all the things I heard about this level over the years. Impossible, the most difficult in the game, frustrating, annoying, all kinds of negative buzzwords would be thrown around. I realized this overall hatred was caused by the necessity of putting on and taking off the Iron Boots throughout the temple. How it was tedious to go to the start screen and choose the desired boots. How the entire level consisted of pressing start, putting them on, sinking, pressing start, taking them off, rising. So tedious. (FYI, I'm playing it on the N64, not the 3DS).
However as I began my journey through the (then) feared dungeon, I found one thought overpowering my remembrance of these reviews of the level: WOW. This level was breathtaking; the sweet serenade of the calm waters, the amazingly detailed architecture, the soothing sounds. I was actually ENJOYING my experiences in the Water Temple. And this, above all, was surprising.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a heretic and be all, "Oh, everyone else must be terrible at this game, I find no challenge at all." Let me say this, I did have to cheat a little. Sometimes the placement of the dungeon keys were near impossible for me to find without seeking a little push in the right direction. The one under the rising pillar in the middle area was overall the hardest to find. But my expectations were risen so much by the years of criticism about this dungeon, that I was thoroughly underwhelmed when I finally found the boss key. I stood there for a while, thinking, this is it?
One thing I can say about the game so far through my first ever time playing it is that the level designs are perfect. They flow seamlessly from one room to the other, silently guiding you to the next treasure. Every part of the levels seemed to fit like a puzzle piece, not one section out of place or egregious. And I felt the same about the Water Temple. I barely noticed myself putting on and taking off the Iron Boots, as I was more focused on the soothing rising and sinking of Link, the reflection and movement of the water on the temple structures. The dungeon mysteriously commanded me when to use the boots, where to go, what to do next. I didn't think they were being overused, or that I was constantly changing to transverse a small section of the dungeon. In my opinion, it could have been much worse (and I expected it to be).
I did find two things annoying about the water temple; the separation of places you could change the water levels, and the succession of locked doors. To raise and lower the water, I had to travel almost from one end of the dungeon to the other, and for a while in the beginning I had no idea how I was supposed to do it (I totally missed the symbol on the wall, they should have made that more prominent). I addition, I found myself cursing when I opened a door with a key and traveled across some dangerous terrain (the rising and falling blocks over the waterfall, anyone?) and found out that I needed another key to finish this section. Then I would have to go all the way back and raise and lower the water and try and find the key I missed. It got a little tiring after a while.
But again, I still expected a little more of a challenge. From the tense opening scene in the dungeon to the surprisingly underwhelming battle with Shadow Link (after failing to defeat his strategically the first time, I just button mashed until he was defeated the second) to the even more underwhelming final battle with Morpha (again, failed the first time, kept my distance the second), I found myself more and more doubting the validity of what I had heard about the level and more and more learning to enjoy it. Which I did, and when looking back I can now safely say that I enjoyed the Water Temple more than all the other levels I had played up to it.
In conclusion, I just felt like I should be one of the few people to voice my positive thoughts on this highly debated level, for I feel like I hear more about the negative reactions and those who did enjoy the Water Temple and didn't find it as difficult or annoying as the vast majority seem to are drowned out. Once again, I am not trying to argue for arguments sake, in my opinion I found the Fire Temple harder and the battle with Volvagia one of the hardest boss battle I EVER experienced, I am just saying that I expected something more from everything I heard and didn't experience it. I enjoyed the Water Temple, it was calming where the Fire Temple was stressful and the Forest Temple suspenseful. I guess I can never know how good or bad a game or level is without experiencing it myself, and I am truly joyful that I finally get to play this masterpiece of a game. Now onward to the Shadow Temple...
