With the addition of manual jumping in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendo had to re-examine level and dungeon designs. In the original version, Link would automatically jump when reaching an edge, allowing developers to strictly control where players could go.
Eiji Aonuma stated that once players can choose their jump points, the team needed to anticipate more possible actions and check areas in the environment that could be skipped or accidentally reached. Since Young Link and Adult Link have different jump distances, developers also had to ensure key jumps could be completed successfully in both forms.
This change also affected the dungeons. The Water Temple, long criticized for its complex layout, has been improved with better spatial visibility and simplified item-switching during exploration to reduce player disorientation.
The team also retained control options close to the original. While the new jump attack defaults to a two-button input, Eiji Aonuma himself found it difficult to adapt, so the game still offers a single-button setting, preserving the original feel while introducing modernized controls.