The temple was constructed to worship water spirits and was guarded by Zoras. It is one of the levels that the protagonist Link explores as an adult. The Water Temple originally appeared in the 1998 Nintendo 64 video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Despite the criticism, some critics have been more forgiving, praising the Water Temple for its complexities.
The difficulty players faced also caused Aonuma to apologize for the issues, while noting that the dungeon was not difficult so much as it was frustrating. The difficulty of navigation combined with the cumbersome nature of using the Iron Boots led to several changes to the dungeon to assist players in the 2011 remake of Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. It has players raising and lowering water levels to access different areas while utilizing a pair of Iron Boots to sink to the bottom. It was created by Ocarina of Time director Eiji Aonuma, who was inspired by his love of diving. It is the sixth dungeon encountered in the game. The Water Temple is an area from the 1998 Nintendo 64 video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.