Zelda’s Forgotten Dungeons are Back in the Spotlight

It's been almost 30 years since people started playing, talking about and praising The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and players are still finding ideas that were meant to be in the game but weren't. While Nintendo has not announced an official remake of Ocarina of Time, the idea is still being talked about by people.

But this time the focus is not on improving graphics and gameplay but something even more interesting: content that was planned but not implemented. Nintendo thought about a number of different dungeon ideas while working on Ocarina of Time before deciding to go in a different way.

Some were taken out completely, and others changed over time to become smaller parts of the game that people play now. People are now talking again about whether those lost ideas could be brought back through a remake, which would give returned players new adventures without changing the core of the original classic.

In almost every conversation, one place stands out above the rest: the Light Temple.

The Light Temple was planned during creation, but it was never added to the final game. Link gets the Light Medallion from Rauru instead of finishing a special dungeon. It is the only medallion he gets without having to prove himself in a big test. For many fans, that has always felt like an important part of the Hero of Time's story that was left out.

A remake would be the best chance to do that. Instead of adult Link appearing right after Link gets the Master Sword, Link could be taken to a new level in the Sacred Realm. That temple could be his last test before becoming the Hero of Time for real. This would give players a meaningful task at a crucial point in the story.

It would also make room to add to a scene that has always seemed strangely short. Some of the most important events in Zelda history still happen after Ganondorf enters the Sacred Realm and tries to claim the Triforce. However, the player doesn't have much power over these events.

A full dungeon running up to those events could naturally make things more tense and give Link's change from a child to an adult a bigger emotional impact.

The scene itself opens up a world of options. It's possible that the Light Temple is deeper in the Sacred Realm than just going back to the Temple of Time. Imagine a vast palace with bizarre architecture, ancient puzzles, and rooms that stretch the height of buildings in Hyrule.

It could even be a symbolic version of Hyrule Castle, giving players the chance to explore a whole royal fortress instead of the crumbling castles seen in later Zelda titles.

Later games in the series already give a hint of how such an area might work. In Twilight Princess, the Temple of Time, and in The Wind Waker, the Tower of the Gods, both are places where Link must prove himself by solving difficult puzzles, fighting tough enemies, and navigating intricately designed levels.

Those ideas could work well with Ocarina of Time and not feel out of place. Fans also think Nintendo could add more to the combat experience. The Dark Nuts, the heavily armored knights that have appeared in several Zelda games but never made it to Ocarina of Time, is an idea that keeps getting attention.

Dark Nuts fight with faster attacks and sword duels than Iron Knuckles, so battles are more about time and accuracy than brute force. The Master Sword would feel like it had really lived up to its legendary status when it faced one as the last guardian of the Light Temple.

The Light Temple is the most talked about cave, but it's not the only one that fans are talking about again.

During creation, an Ice Temple was also planned, but it was later changed to the much smaller Ice Cavern. The current location does its job by giving players the Iron Boots, but many people think it stops just as things start to get interesting.

A remake could add on to the Ice Cavern instead of removing it. The players could start in the familiar frozen cave and then find a whole new area buried deeper in the ice. After that, the journey could turn into a full-on dungeon with slippery floors, frozen rooms, hidden mechanisms, and puzzles in the environment that make the Iron Boots useful.

Ideas from Twilight Princess' Snowpeak Ruins could be used to make the new area better. Instead of putting simple ice puzzles in every room, Nintendo could add abandoned buildings buried under snow, frozen waterways, bridges that are falling apart, and secret paths that need to be found. It would feel a lot more like an adventure than just a short stop on the way to the Water Temple.

Another long-standing problem with extra gear could be fixed by making the Ice Temple bigger.

One of the least-used things in Ocarina of Time is the Ice Arrows. This is mostly because they show up so late and aren't very useful. Adding them straight to an expanded dungeon would make the item more important right away. Players could mix Fire Arrows, Blue Fire Arrows and Ice Arrows to solve complex environmental puzzles.

This allowed the use of a variety of elemental skills instead of just one to pass certain areas. Also, boss encounters could be helpful. One idea that is getting a lot of interest involves Blizzagia, an ice serpent that was first seen in Tri Force Heroes. The creature's shape makes it easy to use in a modern 3D fight, where players can use the Megaton Hammer to break through frozen armor and Fire Arrows to find weak spots.

It would be a whole new boss fight that still felt like it fit in with the world of Ocarina of Time.

The talk doesn't end there. Some fans have also made up optional levels that were not in the original game. Some ideas for ways to reward experienced players without changing the main story are a Wind Temple hidden above Hyrule, a Sound Temple where players must solve tasks by listening to music, or even a boss gauntlet based on Twilight Princess' Cave of Ordeals.

All of these features have not been confirmed, and Nintendo has not said anything about a remake. Every dungeon that is being talked about right now only appears as a mix of early development history and community rumors. That being said, the excitement around these ideas shows how much players still love Ocarina of Time.

Sometimes the most exciting thing about a remake isn't seeing old places rebuilt with new technology but finally getting to live out the stories that were left behind. A fresh coat of paint might not be the biggest surprise when Nintendo opens the gates to Hyrule again. The forgotten buildings beyond the Door of Time might be there.

Could Ocarina of Time still have one more secret area that needs to be found after all these years?