Aonuma: Ocarina of Time once had more temples, magic spells

The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has again come forward with new information about the Zelda series – the focus, this time, being on Ocarina of Time

In a Google translation of an interview with German website N-ZONE, Aonuma revealed that they had “eliminated a temple” from the final game. Apparently, it was in this temple and two corresponding others already in the game that Link was to learn three magic spells.

Aonuma explains that there was quite “a difference between the temples which [they] wanted to integrate and those that exist in the final game.” There also seemed to have been discussion about “integrating some actions, some plot threads, and some puzzles that [had] something to do with magic abilities.” However, according to Aonuma, it was decided that the regular items already included were “a worthy replacement,” so the new ideas were scrapped.

It leaves us wondering whether the missing elements Aonuma mentions have been incorporated into other Zelda titles in some way. Maybe the next Zelda on Wii could see these ideas return and become fundamental parts of the game?

Source: N-ZONE magazine via Nintendo Everything