It’s no secret that a great number of fans do not look back fondly on a certain Water Temple. Since the fateful day we all travelled to the bottom of Lake Hylia and felt the tedium of iron boots and water levels, we realized that Zelda could not always handle underwater segments appropriately. This fact doesn’t mean that we haven’t seen enjoyable underwater areas in Zelda since, but more than a few fans continually express their displeasure with underwater gameplay. With that said, we want to see your opinions on Zelda‘s underwater sections and to discuss the possibility of avoiding them altogether.

As dramatically described above, Ocarina of Time‘s Water Temple has been the subject of frustrated fans for years. No matter how many Water Temple apologists pop up to defend the dungeon, a large group of players will always be there to tell you how difficult, tedious, and terrible the Water Temple was. I’ve seen similar complaints aimed at Majora’s Mask‘s Great Bay Temple, Twilight PrincessLakebed Temple, and Skyward Sword‘s flooded Faron Woods section. It seems that no matter how benign a water segment may be in a Zelda game, something will ultimately get under fans’ skin. With this in mind, what would happen if the Zelda franchise avoided underwater segments in the future? Removing them from future games would remove fan frustrations surrounding them and give developers more time to devote to above-water segments. No longer would they need to worry about controlling Link underwater; they could simply focus entirely on the surface gameplay. Heck, it kinda worked already in Wind Waker.

There are of course a few reasons why underwater segments should stay. Other than water-themed dungeons being a common tradition amongst Zelda games, underwater segments always allow creative design for gameplay and puzzle solving. For example, I personally enjoyed the flooded Faron Woods segment in Skyward Sword. It allowed players to explore an already-visited environment in a new and interesting way. Sure, the motion controls didn’t always work well underwater, but I had a lot of fun swimming around completing those challenges. Removing underwater segments would also remove some creative gameplay choices in future games. For example, no underwater segments would mean no Zora Link transformations, which is arguably one of the most enjoyable parts of Majora’s Mask.

We’ll leave you to decide. Should future Zelda games avoid underwater segments completely? What would change? Would this be a bad idea for design and gameplay? Speak your mind and join the Daily Debate!

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